Brand and low magic damage dealt

[quote=Light Ryuk][quote=Vino Lamar]Also is the support supposed to rank up the slowest? i've just been noticing the last few games now that i'm finally lvl 30 and our now ranked. i'll be lvl 10 while the rest of the champs are lvl 13-14 and 15. i eventually catch up to lvl 14 while they are at lvl 16 and etc.[/quote] Hey there, mate! You finally hit the spot. The answer is yes and there's a good reason for, and you'll see that by yourself eventually as you keep at playing. Let's forget a bit about Brand and think about those champions considered "classic" supports: focusing on some who are (off-)tanks and others who are enchanters. Regardless of being melee or ranged, AP or Ad, what do they have in common? What makes them being able to perform their deeds isn't exactly their items (not that they are not important), but their kits: 3 out 4 skills in Leona's kit are CCs (Q is a hard one, W a slow, and R can be a stun and/or a slow,) the only one aside is a gap closer. Nami has a very hard CC on her Q (if it lands properly, of course) and R, can heal and poke with W and boost an ally or herself with E, which when under its effect if hits an enemy champion, slows them briefly. And the list goes on and on. We can see then that for such champions early LEVELs are important, so that they can unlock their abilities. Once all of them are enabled (counting their R too at level 6,) their utility (which is their strengths) will be there the rest of the game. They will prefer items that can allow them to make use of their abilities more often (CDR or, now, haste,) synergize with their skills and/or give them abilities that usually don't belong to their kits (ie. revealing hidden enemies with (extinct after 10.22?) Twin Shadows.) If you look at those items price tag, they are relatively cheap - which go in accordance with the low income a support usually get. Also, a champion support is not supposed to babysit their adc the whole time. They do have to care about him, allowing him, somewhat weak in the beginning, to evolve into a threatening entity so that he can one-shot targets, allowing the team to get those objectives done. Despite that, many support champions are expected to perform actions according to their kits: Leona is supposed to initiate fights (hoping that her team follows her up lol), while Nami can mass-CC opponents to start a fight or rather to disengage when it's convenient for her team, for example. If we come to think about it, their items won't make such a difference. And as they roam around to place wards to give vision to their team - or to destroy the enemies' to deny them the same thing, patiently await at the mid brush to CC the enemy midlaner so that their own can get a kill, or any other thing, they'll be far from XP-earning sources and, then, won't be at the same exp. level as their teammates. Now going back to Brand and any other mage support - I know it's not exactly an answer to your question, but I believe it may bring you some new perspectives, - a mage-mage (heh!) who usually goes solo on that midlane is able to solo-farm (gets more gold) and doesn't have to share XP with another person. It makes sense, innit? Many of them have powerspikes depending whether on level (Kassadin, for instance) and/or items, and their items are expensive! Bringing one of them under the role of a support would definitely weakens them, don't you think? Keeping that in mind, unless your matches are always truly long to a point everyone is equal when it comes to finishing a build, your mage turned into support won't dish out frightening damage compared to what he would do if going solo, and it's about that that you're suppose to work around - ok, I'm not doing THAT damage, but I'm also able to perform other tasks (enabled by supp items) I normally wouldn't. And when it comes to Brand, his AoE damage even being a support is undeniably big and rest asure that your opponents hate it! Although, as already mentioned, unless it's an endless long match, it's quite likely that you'll be "underleveled." If you need a standard to be able to compare yourself with - about levelling only - look at your ADC level. It's fine being like 2 levels bellow him. What makes a support being succeeded has more to do with what they have brought to table than anything else. Carrying a game doesn't necessarily means being a killing machine (kills are a tool in order to: earn gold, some low XP, and mainly denying the enemies to accomplish something,) but allow the team to complete those many objectives (since enemy's nexus won't blow up on its own.)[/quote]