Another item you should put into your Item Set – an item that’s essential in your role – is an item that gives you gold, or increases your gold income. This is exceptionally beneficial, as it’ll allow you to buy your items faster and be a more powerful Support as you enter the mid-game. There are three gold income items of which I think best fit the Support role in League of Legends: Relic Shield, Spellthief’s Edge and Ancient Coin. Either one of these items help you earn in gold in some way; you should look these items up in the game’s Item Sets feature in your Summoner Profile and choose whichever one you think will best fit your play style. However, be wary of how other players may interpret your intentions when you choose a certain item. For example, the Relic Shield allows health to be transferred to a nearby teammate upon killing a minion, along with said minion’s worth in gold. As Supports aren’t meant to farm minions if they can help it, your ADC may take offense to you “stealing their farm”. A simple explanation of the item’s purpose could possible resolve the matter, but I personally would recommend the hassle. Your decision may differ however.
Another essential item the Sightstone. Buy this, as it’ll help lift the fog of war on the map and alert your teammates to incoming opponents. What’s more, it refills whenever you return to your Nexus.
Lastly, you’ll need to choose whichever Summoner Spells you think are best for your role as Support. Personally, I choose Teleport and Clairvoyance. These spells allow me to get back into the fray with my ADC or my teammates whenever I have to recall, and to expose an area anywhere on the map should I suspect any incoming opponents to either myself or my team.
Now that you’re done with building your Runes, Masteries and your Item Set, it’s time to practice with champions that have Support as their role, be it primary or secondary. A few matches against bots will help you learn your chosen champion, and it will also allow you to get to grips with the Item Set you have built and to possibly find amendments or improvements to said Set along the way. You will have to call your roll immediately once you enter the lobby, like you would normally for any other role. Hopefully things will go smoothly, and you’ll have your chosen Support champion without any qualms.
Once your game starts, buy your starting items and follow your ADC to the Bottom Lane (Bot-Lane). Whilst in Bot-Lane, it is your job to ensure your ADC stays alive and that they farm the incoming minions for gold. If you have your gold income item, which you should, you’ll be able to feed off of your ADC’s farm in some way. As far as the early-game is concerned, you should worry about three things: keeping your ADC alive, getting assists and not dying. Keeping your ADC alive will allow you to get assists, and not dying will let you keep your ADC alive to get kills. There is a co-dependence between the ADC and Support, whether players admit it or not (or even see it).
Once you enter the mid-game, you should ideally have at least a couple of your items from your Item Set already; by then you should have a fair amount of AP, mana and cooldown reduction when. From the mid- and late-game, you may decide to shift your focus slightly from your ADC to the rest of the team at large – especially when team fights start occurring.
As a Support, you should be vigilant, aware, and conscious of where everyone else is on the map and whether or not they need support. Place wards in strategic choke points where you think your opponents are likely to sneak up on you; invest in items that give your Ability Power, Ability cooldown reduction and mana; cast supportive Abilities on who you think needs it most; use your spells tactically; and do your best to keep your ADC alive in the early-game and the rest of your team alive in the mid- and late-game.
I hope my advice will do you well should you choose to try out the Support role, or if you are already a Support and are looking for guidance. If you do take my advice on board and it works out for you, please come back and leave a comment below on how your experience fared. From one Support to another: good luck out there, and have fun in League of Legends as Support!
This article is based solely on the experiences, opinions and thoughts of its author. Your experiences, opinions and thoughts may differ, and that’s okay; just don’t be rude about it.