plays akin to...

+ with her kiting and mobility, but Kindred's dash can hop over short walls.
+ 's late game scaling as a hyper carry with a similarly strong ultimate.
+ with her scaling as a marksman support.
+ 's ghoul/pet zoning, except yours can't be targeted.
+ + 's ultimates combined, in AoE form.
+ 's sustain and gamechanging ultimate Heal.
(max rank Soraka's Ult heals allies for 350(+55% AP) HP while Kindred heals all units for 400 HP)
+ 's roaming and general jungle invading/similarity to Kindred's ultimate.
*hint: highlight BARD during champ select in solo queue

( if you get Serylda's Grudge )

+ 's slows and general kiting/utility (Wolf gives vision and applies slows, even over walls)
+ (blue build) with a similarly effective playstyle based around Wolf's Frenzy

( if you get Moonstone Renewer )

+ with her recent kiting/healing playstyle.




Support Kindred is a mobile marksman with scaling range and strong laning/sustain/kill potential, whose damage/utility scale into the late game through Marks and her gamechanging ultimate, Lamb's Respite.

Later amplified by Redemption / Locket of the Iron Solari, Lamb's Respite has the potential to completely turn a teamfight around - negating the enemy's healing, and granting yours a MASSIVE heal - almost guaranteeing a teamfight win, if your team can follow up.

PASSIVE - MARK OF THE KINDRED

Kindred's Marks allow her to (almost) infinitely scale. Like Senna, Kindred's overall abilities are enhanced, and her range increases with her Marks.

On a support budget, Kindred can luckily make efficient use of her minimal Gold income, and scale into late game -- as long as she has a decent amount of , at least 4, incredible with 7.

For example, just from Marks, without including the base damage, she gains...

At 4 Marks,
Q - grants 20% Attack Speed
W - 4% current HP% dealt as magic damage
E - gains an additional 2% of targets missing HP
Gains 75 range for a total of 575 (higher than most ADCs)

further Marks
Q - +5% Attack Speed
W - +1% current HP dealt as magic damage
E - +0.5% of targets missing HP
Basic Attack Range +25


Important things to note:

+ Marks disappear 10 seconds after they've been taken, AKA Enemy Jungler was here 10 seconds ago.
+ You can "assist" your jungle Marks. As a support, you'd rather the ADC/Jungler gets the Gold.
+ 3:15 Scuttle Mark, ask your Jungler to be ready for the 3:15 Scuttle Mark -- if it spawns Bot you'll be ready to assist.
+ You can re-mark targets after 4 minutes. Rotate marking Bot > Support > Jungler.
+ It takes 8 seconds for the Mark to apply. Keep this in mind when roaming Mid or invading the enemies Jungle.
* You can Mark a splitpushing enemy to scare them into retreating.

With lane pressure, or their first bot tower down, it's fairly easy to invade/ward and take your Mark at Krugs/Gromp. And the more overall influence your team has over the game, the easier it'll be for you to claim Marks.

It's not rare to end a game with 11+ Marks.







Q - DANCE OF ARROWS

Active: Lamb hops in a direction, gaining Attack Speed and shooting up to 3 arrows to 3 targets.
Deals 60/80/100/120/140 (+65% bonus AD) physical damage and gains 25%(+5% per Mark) bonus Attack Speed for 4 seconds.



Dance of Arrows is your main damage ability/gapcloser/mobility tool with deceptively strong sustained damage combined with a Basic Attacks and Wolf's Frenzy, and unlike most short dashes, Kindred is able to go over small walls. Be sure to spend some time with your wall hops in Practice Mode. (Kindred wall jump guide)



* Maxing Q does not reduce its cooldown - only the static cooldown when inside Wolf's Frenzy (from 4 seconds to 2 seconds at max rank.)

* It's quite easy to cancel Basic Attacks when weaving in Basic Attacks with this ability, make sure to let the animation play out to make sure the 3 arrows actually go off. You can actually lose a significant amount of damage by cancelling either your Basic Attacks or the Q arrows.

* Dance of Arrows is usually maxed for its higher DPS. However, in our Support build, we want to use our Q mainly as a mobility tool to dodge/hop over walls.

* Also an Attack Reset, allowing a 4th Hail of Blades Attack.








W - WOLF'S FRENZY

Passive: like an Energized passive, moving/attacking builds up stacks of Hunter's Vigor. At 100 stacks, the Lamb's next attack heals for up to 49 − 100 HP (based on level), based on missing HP.

Active: Wolf covers an 800 radius area, granting vision, and attacking enemies.
Each bite deals 25/30/35/40/45 (+20% bonus AD) (+1.5% (+1% per Mark) current HP% as magic damage.

Wolf scales with 25% of your bonus Attack Speed.



Wolf's Frenzy is basically a...
+ built-in scaling BotRK,
+ that attacks through an untargettable "pet",
+ that grants vision over walls/inside bushes,
+ tethered to you at an 800 range radius.

- has an internal cooldown of 4 seconds no matter what.

The Hunter's Vigor passive offers one of the strongest lane sustain for a Marksman. It's essentially a built-in Fleet Footwork - doesn't cost any mana and only requires movement, Basic Attacks and a target. Also boosted by Revitalize and +Heal/Shield Power.


In-game clips of Hunter's Vigor:

Practice Tool: Vampire Kindred's insane sustain



In-game clips of Wolf's Frenzy:

Laning: The early game power of Aery + Wolf's Frenzy
Teamfight: The power of Serylda's Grudge and Lethal Tempo (RIP)



Important things to note:

+ Cast W inside bushes during fights for vision (especially Bot).
+ Casting W from inside a bush/behind a wall DOES NOT REVEAL YOU, DRAW AGGRO OR SHOW WOLF'S FRENZY'S RADIUS TO THE ENEMY.









E - MOUNTING DREAD

Active: A point-and-click active scaling with your Basic Attack range, Wolf slows your target by 50% for 1 second and applies a 3-hit Mark. On Lamb's 3rd hit, it deals 80/ 100/120/140/160 (+80% bonus AD) (+8% (+0.5% per Mark) of missing HP) physical damage.

If the target is below 15% HP (or up to 60% HP scaling with Critical Strike chance), the attack then Critical Strikes, dealing 50% bonus physical damage.



This ability is both an execute, and your engage tool. Sometimes you have to make the decision of whether to E for the slow early and miss out on the bonus damage, or E late, and execute (kill secure) your target. As a support, you want to be the better judge.

* note: it's essential to master Mounting Dread with your Ultimate. Lamb's Respite, by stacking it twice, waiting for it to end, then Attacking for the 3rd stack and execute, "securing the kill".






R - LAMB'S RESPITE

Active: Lamb blesses a (500 range radius) circle around her for 4 seconds, receiving a Heal at the end.

ALL units (ally/enemy) inside the circle CANNOT DIE but still take damage. If enemies are reduced to 10% HP, they are LOCKED to 10% HP.

Units cannot heal or life steal or take any damage beyond the 10% locked HP.

At the end of the 4 seconds, all units are healed for 250/325/400 HP



THE most dualistic, double-edged gamechanging ultimate ability...
Fortunately, it's in your control, and through smart itemization ( / + Grievous Wounds) we can skew it in favor of your allies. With a high base cooldown, Ability Haste is always welcome (recommend Ultimate Hunter).

Support Kindred lives/dies for the Lamb's Respite + Redemption play, which is exactly why Grievous Wounds is so crucial. Since you are not only healing your allies but the enemy as well, you need to skew those numbers in your favor.

At max rank, 40% Grievous Wounds reduces your enemy's heal from 400 HP to 240 HP, 60% further reduces it to 160 HP.



*scroll to the bottom of the guide / check the "¿?" chapter for detailed math healing numbers on Lamb Respite / Grievous Wounds and more info on "the play"

GUARDIAN / LAMB

+ Save teammates (and teamfights).
+ Kill/damage denial.
+ Heals/Shields.
+ Runes + Item Actives + Ultimate = 4 seconds of Invulnerability + Ridiculous amount of Effective HP.
(maximum Effective HP per Ally: 1374 HP + (462 decaying Shield)
+ High Ability Haste through Items/Runes = Ultimate uptime.

- Relatively low offense outside of scaling base damage

Kindred can excel at a very defensive, more passive, playstyle. Although Guardian doesn't quite synergize with Kindred's ultimate, the item actives ( / ) and combined +Heal/Shield Power massively amplify her in a Support role.


The amount of damage denied from the combination of + + + (+ + ) is absolutely unmatched.


May need to run some form of Tenacity against high CC comps, Kindred has no hard CC and is hard countered by hard CC herself.



* note: can also go Inspiration secondary with Biscuit Delivery + Cosmic Insight


In-game clips:

Game: Kai'sa/Kindred vs Ashe/Thresh, Laning, Bot Tower Dive, Inhibitor Tower Dive ft. suicidal teamates.
Laning: Jhin/Kindred vs Tristana/Blitzcrank, showcasing a fully defensive Support Kindred against a very dangerous lane
Teamfight: Saving Wukong, showcasing Lamb's defensive power.





PRESS THE ATTACK

+ Strong all-In.
+ Overwhelmingly powerful with Exhaust/Ignite.
+ Amplifies Ally damage.
+ Huge Offense on a budget - exposing enemies for up to +12% more damage (and -60% reduced healing from Grievous Wounds.
+ Late game scaling.

- Can be difficult to proc. in-lane
- Switching targets restarts the 3-hit stack
- Kindred's biggest weakness is CC. Press the Attack encourages Basic Attacking putting you in vulnerable positions.


Press the Attack is Kindred's strongest offensive Keystone, exposing enemies allows you and your team to deal up to 12% additional damage on top of the proc. damage.


On a support budget, + 's Sepsis allows you to severely weaken enemies, amplifying your team's damage.


* note: Revitalize boosts Triumph's HP gain to 13.75% HP (14.4% HP with )


In-game clips:

Roaming: Defending our Top turret, notice the increase in damage after PtA/Mortal Reminder





FLEET FOOTWORK

+ Strongest sustain in the game, even more than Grasp of the Undying, but no stacking HP
+ Win most trades through sustain

- Needs to Basic Attack during trades/minions to heal.


The combination of Fleet Footwork + Revitalize or Taste of Blood + (W) Wolf's Frenzy's passive allows you to maintain your health high against oppressive laners like Xerath/Lux etc.





ELECTROCUTE

+ Safe Poke/Burst damage
+ Easy to proc with Dance of Arrows > Basic Attack + Wolf's Frenzy


Kindred's Q > Auto + W combo instantly procs , allowing you to safely burst and disengage during laning phase - very similar to First Strike but giving you more damage instead of Gold.

The Domination rune tree is really good for Support Kindred, allowing for utility runes like Taste of Blood, Zombie Ward, and Ingenious Hunter

Depending on what items/runes you build, having Lethality items/runes like Umbral Glaive, Eclipse with Sudden Impact can really amplify your damage against squishier targets.





HAIL OF BLADES

+ Kindred's Q is an auto-attack reset, allowing for a 4th+ Hail of Blades attack
+ Low cooldown
+ Synergizes well with Kindred's E - Mounting Dread

- Kindred's biggest weakness is CC. Hail of Blades encourages Basic Attacking putting you in vulnerable positions.


Hail of Blades allows Kindred to be a threat in the laning phase, especially combined with Bone Plating, you can ensure that you come out on top of trades.

Depending on what items/runes you build, having Lethality items/runes like Umbral Glaive, Eclipse with Sudden Impact can really amplify your damage against squishier targets.





AERY

+ Mage-like playstyle with a W max.
+ High poke damage.
+ Aery applies Grievous Wounds (with Executioner's Calling)
+ Excels at early-mid Game trading/skirmishes
+ Though minimal, Aery shields teammates during your Ultimate.

- Lacks innate Attack Speed (can be solved with Berserker's Greaves / Mortal Reminder)


Aery + Scorch + Cheap Shot, combined with Serylda's Grudge, amplifies all of Kindred's abilities, from harassing/poking in lane, zoning with Wolf, chasing/kiting enemies. Not only does it have 30% armor penetration, it has a 30% slow on top of the AD / Ability Haste.

These add up to a LOT of free-mixed damage (physical / magic / true).

Aery shines during the early-mid game and extended trades, later becoming more of a physical damage DoT that applies Grievous Wounds.
Scorch's additional magic damage mainly shines during laning phase, but will continue adding up.
Cheap Shot starts small but starts stacking up serious true damage with the help of Serylda's Grudge.

In-game clips:

Laning: First 3 minutes of Ezreal/Kindred vs Kaisa/Morgana until first kill, showcases Aery Kindred strengths pretty well.
Laning: How to apply pressure under tower
Laning: Wolf on a hunt. Corruption Potion + Aery helps Wolf targeting
Laning: Ashe/Kindred vs Ezreal/Alistar, body blocking/peeling example

(Actually Support Kindred) Aery + Scorch + Cheap Shot with Serylda's Grudge/Executioner's Calling in action(fed af though)





GRASP OF THE UNDYING / VAMPIRE KINDRED

+ Win trades through sustain
+ Ridiculously strong sustain
+ Stack HP from Grasp of the Undying procs

- No innate Ability Haste/Attack Speed
- Needs to Basic Attack during trades to be effective.


The combination of Grasp of the Undying + Revitalize + Taste of Blood + (W) Wolf's Frenzy's passive makes Kindred deceptively tanky with the strongest sustain in lane next to Vlad.

With proper usage of your Keystone + Runes, you should be able to out-sustain your opponents. Grasp's +HP gain helps you tank a healthy amount of damage later on.



In-game clips:

Laning: Draven/Kindred vs Caitlyn/Rakan, decent sustain against a Caitlyn lane
Laning: 3 min. video early game, messy gameplay but the sustain is evident
Teamfight: Late game Ultimate + Redemption + Locket play, ft. redundant Shen Ult. Part 1, Part 2





FIRST STRIKE

+ Gold generation + Damage
+ Kindred's Combo, Dance of Arrows > Basic Attack + Wolf's Frenzy is easy/safe to use can net you a good amount of gold early on

- Can be easily disabled against high harassing laners


First Strike (combined with Future's Market) allows you to rush your power spikes/items earlier than you typically would. Although it works with any build, the secondary marksman build:

Kircheis Shard > Rapid Firecannon > Sheen > Divine Sunderer,

gives you solid power spikes at every item. Use your Q > Auto + W combo with the empowered attacks (Energized + Spellblade) to chunk enemies. It's also very difficult for enemies to trade back if you poke then disengage.

In-Game Clips"

Laning: Poking with Q > Auto + W with First Strike

LOCKET OF THE IRON SOLARI

+200 HP
+30 Armor
+30 Magic Resistance
+20 Ability Haste (ability uptime)

Passive: Consecrate: gives allies (not Kindred) a 5 Armor/5 Magic Resist Aura, that's later enhanced by +2/2 for each Legendary item.

Active: Grants you and allies around you a decaying Shield that scales from 285-360 per level.

LOCKET OF THE IRON SOLARI IS SUPPORT KINDRED'S BEST MYTHIC ITEM. Although we'd prefer Redemption's +10 Heal/Shield Power and its Active, Locket is still a great item. Its passive, Consecrate, negates a lot of damage passively just from your presence and it strengthens the shield on Guardian for example.







REDEMPTION

+200 HP
+20 Heal/Shield Power
+20 Ability Haste
+100% base mana regeneration

Active: You reveal the target area for 3 seconds. After 2.5 seconds, allies within are healed for 180 − 360 HP (based on level), enemies take -10% max HP as true damage.

+10% Heal/Shield Power -- amplifies W's Heal, R's Heal, Locket's Shield, Redemption's Heal.

REDEMPTION IS SUPPORT KINDRED'S BEST UTILITY ITEM, and a perfect 2nd item to Locket of the Iron Solari. These two, along with a Grievous Wounds item ( / ) are essential to skew Lamb's Respite entirely in your team's favor.

With max item haste, ( + ) Redemption's cooldown goes down to 60 seconds, do not hesitate to use it off cooldown to assist teammates during combat, but it's best use is combined with your ultimate Lamb's Respite.




For example, lowest base HP at level 18, a dismounted Kled with 1530 HP.

's Active would only deal -10% HP / 153 true damage.
A fully debuffed Lamb's Respite would then heal enemies for only +192 HP.

Totaling +40 HP (at least) for the enemy team, +912 HP to yours, not to mention the 4 seconds if Invulnerability.

On the flipside, a level 18 mounted with 2950 HP would net gain: -103 HP


* scroll to the bottom of the guide to the see detailed healing math on on "the play."







MOONSTONE RENEWER

+200 HP
+40 Ability Power (only Guardian/Aery scale with AP)
+20 Ability Haste (ability uptime)
+100% base mana regeneration

Passive: Starlit Grace: heals the nearest ally with the lowest health periodically. Each second spent in combat with champions grants 7% heal and shield power, stacking up to 5 times for maximum of 35%. Works similarly to an in-combat spellblade proc, that heals allies.

Although the item has 870 gold worth of Ability Power, it really doesn't matter - its healing passive more than covers that cost. The item is pretty powerful right now (it might legitimately get nerfed as the combination of Moonstone Renewer and Staff of Flowing Water is strong on anyone who can use it consistently).

Wolf's Frenzy allows you to easily damage enemy champions, healing your allies periodically.

Moonstone's stacking Heal/Shield Power also amplifies your lifesteal/shield from other items.




In-game clips:

Teamfight: Mid-Late Game Healing from Moonstone Renewer
Ending the Game: Moonstone Renewer's cooldown reduced to 1.2 seconds with 45 Item Haste







SERYLDA'S GRUDGE

+45 Attack Damage
+15 Ability Haste
+30% Armor Penetration (penetrates tanks / amplifies damage)

Passive: Bitter Cold: Attacks and Abilities apply a 1 second 30% slow.


KINDRED'S BEST OFFENSIVE UTILITY ITEM, amplifying all of Kindred's offensive capabilities. Allows you to Kite/Chase extremely well and soft-peel for Allies. For a relatively low 3200 Gold (considering what it offers), you get the most Offensive Utility out of any item for Support Kindred. Any build/keystone will benefit from this item, especially on a budget.

Wolf's Frenzy is massively amplified by Serylda's 30% slow. Combine with Aery for a slight damage increase. Aery's physical damage proc applies Grievous Wounds.


In-game clips:

Teamfight: The power of Serylda's Grudge and Lethal Tempo







UMBRAL GLAIVE

+50 Attack Damage (damage)
+15 Ability Haste (ability uptime)
+12 Lethality (amplifies damage)

Passive: Blackout: Your basic attacks instantly kill revealed traps and deal triple damage to wards. When spotted by enemy wards or traps, gain Blackout, disabling and exposing them.

Incredible item. Combined with Zombie Ward, an early allows you to dominate the vision game.

Running Ingenious Hunter and Cosmic Insight reduces the Blackout passve from 35 seconds to 22 seconds, allowing you to swap your Oracle's Lens for Farsight Orb.

's Lethality + Sudden Impact also increases your all-in damage against squishier targets.







EXECUTIONER'S CALLING / MORTAL REMINDER / CHEMPUNK CHAINSWORD

You can think of Grievous Wounds as an "anti-dot" ~

Champions have innate HP regen, many have sustain/lifesteal through their abilities/items. Season 11 brought us Omnivamp and its massively boosted healing for practically every champion. Applying Grievous Wounds reduces ALL healing/regeneration and is especially crucial for Support Kindred.

Less Healing/Regeneration = Less HP = "Damage"




Sepsis can apply the 60% Grievous Wounds to targets above 50% HP while Chempunk Chainsword's Hackshorn can automatically apply it through any physical damage to targets below 50% HP, which can be VERY beneficial without having to apply the 3-hit passive.

I prefer Mortal Reminder for its Movement Speed, Attack Speed and the 3-hit passive from Sepsis.


* note: be sure to check the number of healing negated throughout the game. Executioner's Calling healing reduction stat doesn't carry over to its final items, probably a bug.

"THE PLAY."

Cast Lamb's Respite > wait at least 1.5 sec. > Redemption ( + / when needed.)

By casting 1.5 seconds after you essentially NEGATE THE ENEMY TEAM HEALING while granting yours a MASSIVE HEAL.


* note: make sure Allys DO NOT WASTE other Heals/Shields during your ultimate, tell them to only use them afterwards.







(assuming max rank ultimate/level 18 with Revitalize and Redemption's innate +10% Heal/Shield Power)


Lamb's Respite heals for 480 HP
40% Grievous Wounds reduces enemy healing to 288 HP
60% further reduces it to 192 HP.

+

Redemption heals for 432 HP
Reduced Enemy Heal: 192 HP
-10% MAX HP true damage from the Active

(+)

Locket of the Iron Solari AoE Shield: 462
Heal 414 HP to Kindred + Ally

=

Total Ally Heal: 912 HP (1326 HP with Heal to Kindred + Ally)
Total Unit Effective HP: 1,374 Effective HP (462 decays over 2.5 seconds)






In-game clips:

Gamewinning Teamfight: Lamb's Respite + Redemption + Locket, prevents team wipe
Teamfight: Lamb's Respite + Redemption + Locket play, heals for +925 HP
Teamfight: Helping Wukong, showcasing Lamb's defensive power.