I originally had some builds/descriptions specifically for support Hwei, but in all honesty I removed it because I think it's suboptimal and shouldn't be played unless you're a Hwei one-trick and just really love the champion. It would also require a more dedicated section or its own guide, so I decided to focus on what I believed was Hwei's strongest position and builds. Mage supports are overall less reliable options compared to enchanters and tanks, so it hurts even more to pick one that requires even more effort with little payoff.

In my mind, the biggest issues with Hwei support are:
- He is gold-reliant because he requires items to function, meanwhile support is a low-income role
- He has a lot of AoEs which can mess up wave states and tilt your ADC
- He has high mana costs, which are exacerbated by the fact that you often have to hit the enemy instead of the wave with WE otherwise you risk tilting your ADC as mentioned previously
- His early game is weak as a support because of shared XP (takes you longer to hit level 3 which is a big power spike) and longer early CDs

Knowing his weaknesses can help you understand what your goals are, and if you're still interested in playing Hwei support, I recommend going for DPS mage builds over enchanter builds first and foremost. His support capabilities are underwhelming with enchanter items due to how restrictive his WW is and its long CD (his shield will be stronger with more AP anyway), plus it'll be impossible to gain any lead if you neuter your poking abilities.

There are a lot of cheap AP items you can get which can help with the lower econ of support (e.g. Horizon Focus, Hextech Rocketbelt, Stormsurge) and you should be more willing to get utility items like Bloodletter's and Morellonomicon to help your team when applicable. I would avoid items like Shadowflame or Deathcap unless you are extremely - and I mean extremely - far ahead. Your rune options are mostly the same as mid, except that I highly recommend taking Presence of Mind to help with mana issues. Early game runes like Scorch also gain more value since you want to try to snowball a lead rather than scale (you don't have the economy or item slots to properly scale into the late game as a support).

Hopefully this doesn't come across as too negative. I do think he's playable as support and you can certainly have success with it. I feel that it's important for me to explain what his weaknesses are though. Let me know if you have any other questions, and sorry if this is too messy!

After a bit of initial testing, I believe Deathfire Touch (DFT) is overall better than Arcane Comet. Hwei likes building haste and hitting multiple targets, allowing him to consistently apply the burn effect. Comet also has a chance of missing if you don't use CC or the enemy has mobility, plus it no longer reduces its CD when hitting enemies which makes it slightly anti-synergistic with Hwei's common builds.

However, Comet is stronger in lane since your CDs aren't low enough to consistently apply Deathfire Touch, meanwhile the higher base damage and long CD of Comet better match with Hwei's early levels. There are definitely situations where you might want Comet over DFT - similar games to when you'd want Luden's or a more bursty build - but in general DFT is likely his new go-to rune.

Edit: I will also be updating my guide as soon as possible with more information about the rune changes!

Unfortunately, it is still a very mediocre item on Hwei. :c

The buffs don't change his builds or the strengths of them much. It is all still situational and partially up to your preference whether you use the "burn" or "burst" builds. The WW buff isn't relevant until the mid/late-game since we still max it last, while the R CD being reduced is just a general buff across the board. You could argue burst builds benefit from the ult buff a little more since they don't have as much early haste, but it's not enough to change his most common build, especially since burn/haste builds will still enjoy the buff basically just as much.

If the enemy team is relatively squishy and unlikely to build magic resist, the burst build or some variation of it can be viable. The "burst" build basically just means you're slotting a flat mpen option second instead of Liandry's Torment or a haste item. If you like to play aggressively and enjoy having higher damage but longer cooldowns, you might just naturally lean towards burst builds as well.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot c:

It's hard to say without seeing your build or the enemy team composition, however, Hwei typically doesn't burst anyone unless ridiculously fed or going for a burst-oriented build (I have an example in the guide). You're more often chipping away at enemies with multiple spell rotations before you or your team finishes them off. Burst builds are viable against squishier teams, while haste-focused/DPS builds are better against tankier, more balanced team compositions.

Inspiration secondary is totally fine! I would just say to keep in mind what you're gaining/losing by taking those runes over something else. Biscuits provide a lot of lane sustain while Cosmic Insight gives you more uptime on TP and Flash. It's a safe setup that sacrifices a bit of damage for more survivability. It's not how I play, but it's absolutely viable.

Do you have any specific champions in mind?

For most comps, you can run the "Standard" build example that I have in the guide. If you're against a team with a lot of dive potential (e.g. Camille, Zed, Vi, etc.), you can try running the "Anti-Melee/Dive" build. Otherwise, Hwei itemization is very adaptable so it depends on what you're playing against.