That guide will teach how to play with diferent kinds of Supports, since the Tanky one (Taric) to a more.. mage one (Karma)

Everyone have is way to build supports, I do them from diferent ways, but u will see later :)

I hope u like it :D

PS: If u see some error, have some question or some suggestion, PLZ COMMENT!

I don't have a lot of patience to do a Wards Zone of my guide so, i talked with "Panglot" to put his own guide into my guide, and here it is:

"http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/warding-helper-more-than-your-eyes-can-see-54337"

If u need warding help see that amazing guide.

Thanks for ur help Panglot.

15/9/2011 - Some changes made on Taric because of patch 1.0.0.125
29/9/2011 - Some changes made to Janna so she can get cooldown reduction earlier in game. I also made her build cheaper.
22/11/2011 - A lot of changes due to Fizz Patch.
11/12/2011 - I'm currently trying to remove my own RoA-Meta. I'll testing new builds without it and I'll actualize this everytime I find a better build. Karma will keep the RoA since she's a Mage-Support and since she farms.

Sona: Switched RoA to Raduin's Omen. Raduin's have +/- same price as RoA , but , still, gives you a reason to do Heart of Gold, that will provide you enough gold to compensate it. Also changed Sorcerer's Shoes to Mercury Treads.
Janna: Removed RoA, didn't add any new item. Changed Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction to Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power because now Janna hit the 40% Cooldown Cap earlier.

13/12/2011 - Added Build By Yourself Chapter.
12/02/2012 - Added Zeke's Herald and Locket of the Iron Solari to build by yourself and list of support itens.
18/02/2012 - Changes to Soraka's, Janna's, Taric's and Karma's masteries and Taric's and Sona's Itens

Soraka, Janna and Karma : Removed Wealth Mastery and adde Mana Regen and Ward Vision Range.
They dont need more money at the start since they can't do wards anyway due to builds.
Taric: Removed points to swiftness and added to mana regen. Changed the orded of doing the itens. Removed SunFire Cape and added Locket of Iron Solari, Revoed Eleisa's Miracle to give a slot to wards.
Sona: Changed Raduin's Omen to Locket of Iron Solari.

Future Changes: Add new champions to the build such as Alistar, Kayle or Nidalee

RUNES:

• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - The only Marks u should choose to any Support. (Ideal to ALL)
• Greater Seal of Vitality - Good for every support, anyway , Mana-Hungry supports shouldn't pick it (Ideal to Janna, Soraka and Karma)
• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Good for almost all Supports but, for some, isn't that necessary (Ideal to Sona and Taric)
• Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction - Awesome to Support, better in the supports that just build Coodlwon Reduction late game or to the ones that dont reach the 40% barrer. (Ideal to Sona)
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - Ideal to the champions that need the most AP (Ideal to Karma and Soraka and Janna)
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - Only good to tanks / off-tank, or ... to Taric (Ideal to Taric)
• Greater Quintessence of Health - Good for EVERY support. (Ideal to all)
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - Ideal to the champions that need AP early game (Ideal to Soraka, Janna, Sona and is almost essencial to Karma)
• Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration - Ideal to the spell casters (My choice to Karma, but Potency are awesome too)

MASTERIES:

In my personal opinion 0-15-15 is the best choice. But you can also do 9-0-21, 9-21-0 or something else. I just recommend you to pick 1 Gold mastery, 1 Exprience mastery and 1 cooldown reduction mastery. Plus to that is a bit of personal "like"

SPELLS:

My Own Choices:

• Flash is good for run through walls, best spell on game in my opinion. (Ideal to ALL)
• Clairvoyance is great for support, since u can use it almost like a ward. (Ideal to ALL)
• Heal Is a supporting skill, since it heal ur mates, it gives huge amount of heal so it's perfect after the buff :D (Ideal to ALL)

Decent Choices:

• Promote It's a good spell to backdoor without the atention of your enemies (Ideal to All)
• Ghost If u fail with Flash (Always flashing to walls instead of through them) pick it. (Ideal to Janna, Sona, Taric and Maybe Karma)
• Clarity Good for newbies, those who don't have runes yet. (Ideal to Sona and Taric)

Janna is one of the best supports on game, she's a disabler, Crowd Control Based have Knocked Airbornes and a slow that allows her to catch and to run away from enemies. She also helps her team as the hell she have a shield with a buff that give 50 AD! And an AoE Heal! Pretty Awesome huh? ;)

PROS:

• Zephyr Allows her to help her team catching enemies, also, his passive helps her run away from any complicated situation.
• Howling Gale Allows her to knocked her enemies in a fight, to disable them, or to stop them while they're trying to catch u
• Monsoon Gives a awesome knocked airborne that can save ur allies from a lot of situations as well as gives a great heal.
• Eye of the Storm Gives a great shield aswell of a AWESOME AD BUFF and the best, can be used in towers!
• Her passive, Tailwind gives an Movement Speed boost to all the team, it is pretty useful to runs and catchs too.

CONS:

• Like almost all the Supports she's pretty squishy.
• Tailwind doesn't work while she's dead (Not a big problem)
• Zephyr's passive don't work when u use the active
• Monsoon have a long cooldown and use tons of mana, but the worst is that is Heal over time :S

CORE BUILD

• Doran's Ring
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity
• Kage's Lucky Pick
• Philosopher's Stone
• Eleisa's Miracle

ITENS EXPLANATION

• Doran's Ring - Life, MP5 , AP early game, solve all her problems early game.
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity - It will help with the cooldowns early game.
• Kage's Lucky Pick - Free Money! :DD No srsly, do it or Heart of Gold.
• Philosopher's Stone - If you have an item that gives money as an Ingredient to another, why not buy it early?
• Eleisa's Miracle - This gives you Tenacity.
• Shurelya's Battlesong - Your speed... It's OVER 9000!
• Soul Shroud - Now you hit the 40% Cooldown Reduction Cap. Gives Cdr and Mana Regen to all nearby allies, this is pretty useful to all mages and to tanks like Amumu
• Rabadon's Deathcap - This will empower your shield and ulti, and as excepted, your damage.

OPTIONAL/SITUATIONAL ITENS A.K.A. OTHER ITENS I LIKE

• Guardian Angel She have a HUGE run mechanism so revive again can be good, since it gives another chance to u to escape also, is good if u are dying a lot early on team fights.
• Aegis of the Legion She's not a lot of an aura support, but... why not?
• Zhonya's Hourglass Survability + A lot of AP + Awesome Passive, need to say more?
• Heart of Gold As I said before u can use it instead of Kage's Lucky Pick.
• Rod of Ages I used to do this but removed due to the High-Price.

Karma isn't the traditional Baby Sitter, she needs to farm, she do a lot of damage and is probably the support of this guide that can kill better enemies, unfortunaltly she can't do BabySitting so well.. (Ocasionally she can let ur childs without eat :O)

PROS:

• Great Damage
• Do tons of damage to low-life targets, even more if she's low-life too.
• Great Shield
• Ultimate lvl 1
• Good Farming and not too dependent support

CONS:

• Needs to farm to be good
• Her heal lets say that have... a long cooldown
• Spirit Bondis hard to use if ur team don't know karma well.

CORE BUILD:

• Doran's Ring
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity
• Philosopher's Stone
• Catalyst The Protector
  ITENS EXPLANATION
  • Doran's Ring - HP , MP5 and AP early game.
  • Ionian Boots of Lucidity - She doesn't have a lot of Cooldown Reduction on this build , so it helps her having what she needs
  • Philosopher's Stone - MONEY!
  • Rod of Ages - Our Big Doran's Ring, gives almost the same... aplified lots of times :)
  • Shurelya's Battlesong + Spirit Bond = :D
  • Rabadon's Deathcap As I said she needs a lot of AP, this will give a huge buff :D
  • Zhonya's Hourglass "" " """" """ """"" " """ "" "" """" """" """" " """" """" and have a good passive and armor :D
  OPTIONAL/SITUATIONAL ITENS A.K.A. OTHER ITENS I LIKE
  • Soul Shroud If u dont like Shurelya, pick it :D
  • Abyssal Mask Is awesome, one of my favorite itens
  • Will of the Ancients A lot of people like it on Karma, I dont.
  • Mejai's Soulstealer Same.

Sona is an Aura focused support, she have auras for everything! Attack, Defense and Speed! Why not add some more with itens? She's one of the best baby sitters, she have a spam heal, that's awesome if there's someone dying with a mordekaiser head and ignite on the head, u will probably have heal at time to save the person. Oh, don't forget.. She knows music *-*

PROS:

• All of her skills (Except ultimate) are spam skills
• All of her skills (Except ultimate) provides a aura
• Power Chord can do amazing things...
• She looks so cute *.*

CONS:

• Mana Hungry early game
• Squishy
• Low AP rate on heal

CORE BUILD

• Meki Pendant
• Mercury Treads
• Tear of the Goddess
• Heart of Gold

ITENS EXPLAINATION

• Meki Pendant - She's A LOT mana HUNGRY! She really need it as first item
• Mercury Treads - Add some more Resistance to Mages and give tenacity. In my opinion tenacity is really important to Supports because, if they're stunned / silenced etc, they can't support their allies, and probably will end in a loss teamfight.
• Tear of the Goddess - As a said before all of her skills except ultimate are spam skills, Tear of the Goddess will grow really bad
• Heart of Gold Money to Raduin's Omen :D
• Shurelya's Battlesong + Song of Celerity = Bye Bye everyone! :D
• Aegis of the Legion She's an aura support... she gives auras... duh! xD
• Soul Shroud Another Aura! :D
• Raduin's Omen + Shurelya's Battlesong + Song of Celerity = No... comments...

OPTIONAL/SITUATIONAL ITENS A.K.A. OTHER ITENS I LIKE

• Archangel's Staff U stack it fast, so is viable
• Rabadon's Deathcap I dont like her too agressive, but is viable
• Rod of Ages It's just perfect... and just expensive >.>

Soraka is a heavy healer with a Awesome damaging power, she is an awesome Armor and Magic Resist changer since her heal buffs the ally with Armor and Magic Resist and Starcall debbufs the target with Magic Resist Reduction. She also have an heal to EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE as ultimate and an Awesome Mana-Giver / Silencer.

PROS:

• Astral Blessing and Wishcan turn a lost battle in a won battle ! :D
• Abyssal Mask and Starcallcan turn the magic resist of almost all champions (probably not the tank but everyone else) below 0 to a minimum of -110 MR!!!
• Is the only support that give mana without clarity.
• Infuse grants a 2.5 seconds silence!
• Consecration grants an hour of 16 MR that makes a lot of diference during all the game, especially early game.

CONS:

• Pretty Squishy
• Long Cooldown on heals
• Small Range on Starcall
• Looks like an Unicorn Alien.

CORE BUILD:

• Doran's Ring
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity
• Philosopher's Stone
• Tear of the Goddess

ITENS EXPLANATION:

• Doran's Ring - I really need to repeat iT? ok... Life, Mana, AP, blabla, good :D X(
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity - Early Cooldown Reduction FTW :D
• Philosopher's Stone - I think I dont need to say why u should pick it early... MONEY!
• Tear of the Goddess - Starcall = Spam Skill . Spam Skill + Tear of the Goddess = Tons of Mana :D
• Rabadon's Deathcap - An big AP boost that will make u do some hot damage
• Shurelya's Battlesong - Gives the rest of Cooldown Reduction u needed and that yummy speed buff :)
• Archangel's Staff - Same as Tear of the Goddess but it turn the mana into AP :D
• Abyssal Mask - Adding this to ur StarCall u make ur enemies MR drop down to -110 MR... that's a Negative Magic Resist Tank :D

OPTIONAL/SITUATIONAL ITENS A.K.A. OTHER ITENS I LIKE

• Zhonya's Hourglass - U can use it instead of Archangel's Staff sincerely I dunno what's better, but I pick Archangel's cause of the mana.
• Soul Shroud - I really love Shurelya's Battlesong but if u dont, pick it instead
• Rod of Ages - Uh... hard choice! This or Archangel's... I like more Rod of Ages, but it have the time condition, so I really dunno what to choose, choose for me ;)

Taric is an anti-AD tank cause he have a heavy armor aura. He's also a good support, have an heal a stun, and the aura. He's ulti also provides and aura to help his allies in team fights, his only problem is that he's a lot Mana-Hungry.

PROS:

• Not squishy like the other supports
• Shatter provides an huge armor aura.
• Imbue heals more in the tank (Himself x9) + Radiance provides an good aura
• Have a stun ( Dazzle)

CONS:

• With his new build he's Mana Hungry
• Shatter's passive doesn't work when u use the active.

CORE BUILD:

• Doran's Ring
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity
• Eleisa's Miracle
• Philosopher's Stone

ITENS EXPLANATION:

• Doran's Ring - Mana to the Hungry , Life to the Tank, and AP to the Support
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity - Cause of the Riven's Patch, Eleisa's Miracle now provides same tenacity as Mercury Treads, and, because I removed Frozen Heart he need now more Cooldown Reduction
• Eleisa's Miracle - Gives u Mana Regen and Tenacity.
• Philosopher's Stone - Money!!
• Sunfire Aegis - Armor and Life to early game, and, SunFire Cape Passive is always good to tank
• Abyssal Mask - One of the most supportive itens in that build. Magic Resist Reduction to all enemies around, magic resist and a bit AP to ur heals :D
• Shurelya's Battlesong - U really needed some HP! And speed...
• Aegis of Legion - Gives u a Supportive Aura and all u need for a Tank.

OPTIONAL/SITUATIONAL ITENS A.K.A. OTHER ITENS I LIKE

• Guardian Angel - Armor + Magic Resist + Another Life = Guardian Angel :D
• Rod of Ages - Also Awesome since it gives HP, Mana and AP :D
• Soul Shroud - As I said before if u dont like Shurelya's use it instead.
• Banshee's Veil - Live, Mana , MR and Spell Block, specially good to ulti like the one from Karthus
• Frozen Heart - In my opinion probably the best Armor Supportive-Tank item, good for champions like Leona too.

FAQ ABOUT JANNA:

• How should I use Howling Gale?

The 2 best ways to use that skill are: Use it on the mid of a team fight to make ur enemies fly! :D
Use it from the bushs to out of them, ur enemy dont know from where it is neither where it is going... They'll just ignore it and keep doing what they are doing.

• In who should I use Eye of the Storm?

Who should always use on ur AD Carry, the Ranged or The Melee, maybe the melee is better since he's more focused. U should use it too in someone that is dying or being focused, but just if it save him.

• How should I use Monsoon?

U can use it to a lot o situations like to divide the enemy team, to save someone from dying, or even to save ur self.

FAQ ABOUT KARMA:

• When should I use Mantra?

I recommend u to use it like that:

In a team fight u should use it to Heavenly Wave So, heal ur enemies.
In a Catching situation u should use it on Spirit Bond and Soul Shield obviously, if Soul Shield can catch any of ur dying enemies.
In a Running away situation u should use it on Spirit Bond and Heavenly Wave

FAQ ABOUT SONA:

• Why do u pick Hymn of Valor instead of Aria of Perserverance at lvl 1?

If u charge 2x Hymn of Valor while u are at base, and than use one in battle, ur next attack will use of passive, dealing tons of damage that will certainly help ur team getting FirstBlood.

• In a running away Situation what should I use? Aria of Perserverance or Song of Celerity ?

Both. First use Aria of Perserverance, then Song of Celerity never the opposite! Why? If u use Song of Celerity and then Aria of Perserverance while u wait for the Cooldowns u will have a defense aura instead of a movement speed one, if one of ur allies get stun on a emergency situation, the defense will do him nothing.. he will probably die.

• Why do u use Tear of the Goddess and not Chalice of Harmony?

All the 3 main skills from Sona are Spam skills so, u will stack a lot of mana from Tear of the Goddess on a pretty small time.

FAQ ABOUT SORAKA:

• In who should I use Infuse ?

Lets Guess that ALL ur team needs mana:

First silence that annoying enemy spell caster.
Second give mana to ur SpellCaster.
Third give mana to ur Tank.

These are the 3 priorities. Why to tank? Tankies like Singed and Malphite that can be used as Tank, need tons of Mana to use their spells.

• Who are my Priorities to use Astral Blessing ?

1st always heal the person in the most critical situation!
2nd Heal ur self, if u die u can't heal the others!
3rd Ur biggest Killing spree, if he dies we will give tons of money to the enemy team, and don't have what is probably ur best ally next to u on the fight, will be hard.

• Why to do Archangel's Staff and Abyssal Mask?

They're both a bit supportive itens and they combine in an excelent way with Starcall
Why Archangel's Staff and Abyssal Mask are a bit supportive? Archangel's Staff gives tons of Mana that will help u dont go out of mana, and lots of AP that will help ur heals and damage. Abyssal Mask will not just be good for u but to everyone in ur team that deals Magic Damage, since it reduces enemies Magic Resist

FAQ ABOUT TARIC:

• Why do u worry so bad about Taric's Mana?

Taric is like a "Mana Drunk" he drinks mana like the hell! His ulti is a awesome supporting and tanking tool, but it drinks so much mana, his skills require a bit of Mana too, so, believe me is better if u start worring about his mana too.

• Why do u Max Shatter before Imbue?

Let's think, he's Tank and Support, while Imbue is a more Supportive Skill, Shatter combine both, it gives Armor not just for u, but to ur allies. Max Shatter early game, Imbue mid game and Dazzle Late game

FAQ ABOUT WARDS:

• Why should I buy wards? I've made some maths and if I place 2 wards every 3 minutes for 30 minutes I'll need 1500 GOLD!

Lets guess that ur enemy ganks 3 times in that 30 minutes and kill 2 of u each time and 1 tower. Each base kill give around 300 gold. 300 x 6 = 1800 GOLD and more! The towers give 150 GOLD each enemy! 450 x 5 = 2250 !
What do u prefer? Spend 1500 Gold or let ur enemies win +/- 4000 Gold? UR choice. (Not counting with the money from the assists)

Supports are as the name say to suuport their allies. U should play defensive with most of them, in the back of the fight healing and damage from far away. There are some exceptions like when u gotta use Janna's or Sona's ultimate, or when playing Taric since he's a tank. U Should always pick Clairvoyance and Sight Wards with support. U would have more informations about Clairvoyance down below.

FARMING CONDITIONS:

1-In normal situations you shouldn't farm.
2-When your carry isn't in the lane then, carefully u should farm, is better u get the money instead of no one right?
3-Help your carry farming, make the minions go low-life so your carry can last-hit them easier.

List of the Supporting Itens A.K.A. Build Yourself (+ Explanation of why they are supportive)

• Locket of the Iron Solari - God for supportive tanks, not really expensive and provides an good active and aura.
• Zeke's Herald - Really helpful early game since it provides an awesome buff to your carry.
• Aegis of the Legion - The aura talk alone
• Raduin's Omen - I just recommend it to Supportive Tanks cause u have to be next to ur enemies to slow them, it help u grating assists too.
• Shurelya's Battlesong - Cooldown Reductions and Supportive Aura.
• Soul Shroud - Aura and Cooldown reductions.
• Guardian Angel - It probably will not save u, but can help u save other allies
• Frozen Heart - Same as Raduin's Omen.
  Offensive Itens:
• Archangel's Staff - Tons of Mana and AP , good for Supports with Spam Skills
• Morello's EvilTome - AP, MP5 and Cooldown Reduction. I think I don't need to say more.
• Rabadon's Deathcap - Good for Supports with High-Rates since it just give AP.
  Both them Itens:
• Rod of Ages - As I said in all build a mega Doran's Ring.
• Abyssal Mask - Gives u some defense with magic rasist, AP and a good supportive aura!
• Zhonya's Hourglass - His active will help u soo much!

These are the main supportive itens, anyway there are more itens that even I use in support builds like Chalice of Harmony.

Actives Use:

• Raduin's Omen if u are playing tanky-support then, u should try to get close to running enemies and Slow them to avoid them from running. If u are playing as Squishy-Support u should use it when u are being followed and the champions get close to u, use it to avoid them from attack u.
  
• Shurelya's Battlesong use it next to ur allies tu make them catch ur enemies while they're running, or to run away in ganks or after a lost teamfight.
  
• Zhonya's Hourglass use it when: U are on a dangerous situation and ur Allies are still going to save u / u are almost having a skill that can save u like Flash, Howling Gale , Monsoon, Heal , Shurelya's Battlesong's Active, etc
• Locket of the Iron Solari This active aura is just awesome againist the best mages. When the enemy team have AoE mages such as Brand, Annie or Anivia using their ultimates to do massive damage you can use this item to protect all of them from the damage. It's also grea to protect yourself and your allies from Ignite Brand's passive etc.

Special thanks to Maramix to remember from doing that :D

Ok so, here I'll give you some tips about how to build a support by yourself. This process can change from support to support but I'll talk about the generality.

Pick your boots:

Mercury Treads
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Boots of Swiftness

First, you need 30% + cooldown reduction, so you have you heal available really often, so choose 2 itens that together can make you reach the 30% cooldown (If you have Ionian Boots it's counted as 1/2 itens):

Frozen Heart
Raduin's Omen
Shurelya's Battlesong
Soul Shroud
Zeke's Herald

Now do one item for life, so you have survivability:

Aegis of Legion
Raduin's Omen
Rod of Ages
Shurelya's Battlesong
Soul Shroud
Zeke's Herald

Pick one for any other defensive attribute (Armor, MR or tenacity):

Abyssal Mask
Aegis of Legion
Chalice of Harmony
Eleisa's Miracle
Frozen Heart
Guardian Angel
Raduin's Omen
Zhonya's Hourglass
Locket of the Iron Solari

One for your mana issues:

Chalice of Harmony
Eleisa's Miracle
Frozen Heart
Rod of Ages
Shurelya's Battlesong
Soul Shroud
Tear of the Goddess

And finally, if you still have 1 slot left, buy one aura item:

Abyssal Mask
Aegis of Legion
Frozen Heart
Raduin's Omen
Shurelya's Battlesong
Soul Shroud
Locket of the Iron Solari
Zeke's Herald

Try not to make your build too expensive. Balancing the Benefits from the item with it's cost.

Please Comment and Vote, I want to give a special thanks to Panglot and to everyone who will see my guide in a close future :)