This is what I personally like to do on my supports...
9/0/21 Masteries (should be obvious which ones to take).
9 Magic Pen reds, 5 flat Mana Regen yellows, 4 per level Mana Regen yellows, 9 MR blues, 3 gold per 10 quints (you should have enough gold for items and wards if you use these).
Items
Start with a Faerie Charm, health potions and a ward. Sometimes if I feel confident in the lane matchup I'll take two Faerie Charms and no potions on Sona because of her heal (you might find this very helpful if you don't have Mana Regen runes).
Item build after that goes like this: Philo stone, boots, Heart of Gold, Merc Treads OR Ionian boots depending on enemy CC, Mana Manipulator, Aegis of the Legion, Soul Shroud, Shurelya's Reverie (On Alistar, I don't build Soul Shroud and instead go for a Sheen which I later build into Trinity Force if the game actually lasts that long).
Final item if the game actually goes on long enough can be pretty much anything you want. Will of the Ancients is good if your team is relying a lot on abilities, and Stark's Fervor is good if your team is using a lot of autoattackers. If your team doesn't need either of them, go Rabadon's Deathcap just for the lulz. :D
Wards
Make sure your lane is warded all the time after about 4 minutes (less if your opponents have a strong early ganker as a jungler). It's good if you can also keep one watching dragon. One ward is generally enough if it's well positioned, at least if you're playing on blue team. If you're on purple you might need two to cover all angles of approach and still see the dragon.
Mid game and onwards make sure that Dragon and Baron are warded all the time, this is absolutely crucial. I suggest keeping at least two wards in your inventory all the time after the laning phase. Sometimes it's okay to prioritize an item over buying a ward, although with this build you get 75 gold very very quickly anyway because of all the gold per 10, so you can pretty much wait in fountain if you don't have enough. If the item is something big like Aegis or Soul Shroud and you already have Baron and Dragon warded, go for it, they will make a big difference in the next fight.
Once you've got Baron and Dragon warded, other places to ward include Red and Blue buff (either theirs or your own depending on how well the game's going) or the approach routes to baron or dragon if you intend on taking them or forcing a fight.
Chapter in Xenasis' jungle guide which has pictures of good ward locations.
CV
The first CV should always be at the enemy fountain. This lets your team see which items the opponents are buying and react accordingly, and it can also show if they're doing some weird laning setup.
Second CV should generally be at the enemy blue buff to see if they are setting up to defend it (unless it's a jungler that cannot start at blue). Keep CVing before minions spawn until you spot the jungler's starting point, because this provides valuable information to your jungler and you might wish to invade if he's not being defended by his team.
After that you can use CV to track the enemy jungler or to spot enemies hiding in the bushes in your lane. In mid/late game it's generally just to scout for enemies to stop you walking into all five of them. You can use it to check buffs if they're not warded.
Basically you should also ALWAYS use CV if you are fighting in or around bushes, because this removes the possibility of enemies juking in and out of the bushes. If an enemy runs away from the fight you can also CV their escape route.
Hopefully big wall of text is helpful cause it took me ages to type. I should make this into a guide or something. :P
I have an account on NA, but I don't play it very often.
9/0/21 Masteries (should be obvious which ones to take).
9 Magic Pen reds, 5 flat Mana Regen yellows, 4 per level Mana Regen yellows, 9 MR blues, 3 gold per 10 quints (you should have enough gold for items and wards if you use these).
Items
Start with a Faerie Charm, health potions and a ward. Sometimes if I feel confident in the lane matchup I'll take two Faerie Charms and no potions on Sona because of her heal (you might find this very helpful if you don't have Mana Regen runes).
Item build after that goes like this: Philo stone, boots, Heart of Gold, Merc Treads OR Ionian boots depending on enemy CC, Mana Manipulator, Aegis of the Legion, Soul Shroud, Shurelya's Reverie (On Alistar, I don't build Soul Shroud and instead go for a Sheen which I later build into Trinity Force if the game actually lasts that long).
Final item if the game actually goes on long enough can be pretty much anything you want. Will of the Ancients is good if your team is relying a lot on abilities, and Stark's Fervor is good if your team is using a lot of autoattackers. If your team doesn't need either of them, go Rabadon's Deathcap just for the lulz. :D
Wards
Make sure your lane is warded all the time after about 4 minutes (less if your opponents have a strong early ganker as a jungler). It's good if you can also keep one watching dragon. One ward is generally enough if it's well positioned, at least if you're playing on blue team. If you're on purple you might need two to cover all angles of approach and still see the dragon.
Mid game and onwards make sure that Dragon and Baron are warded all the time, this is absolutely crucial. I suggest keeping at least two wards in your inventory all the time after the laning phase. Sometimes it's okay to prioritize an item over buying a ward, although with this build you get 75 gold very very quickly anyway because of all the gold per 10, so you can pretty much wait in fountain if you don't have enough. If the item is something big like Aegis or Soul Shroud and you already have Baron and Dragon warded, go for it, they will make a big difference in the next fight.
Once you've got Baron and Dragon warded, other places to ward include Red and Blue buff (either theirs or your own depending on how well the game's going) or the approach routes to baron or dragon if you intend on taking them or forcing a fight.
Chapter in Xenasis' jungle guide which has pictures of good ward locations.
CV
The first CV should always be at the enemy fountain. This lets your team see which items the opponents are buying and react accordingly, and it can also show if they're doing some weird laning setup.
Second CV should generally be at the enemy blue buff to see if they are setting up to defend it (unless it's a jungler that cannot start at blue). Keep CVing before minions spawn until you spot the jungler's starting point, because this provides valuable information to your jungler and you might wish to invade if he's not being defended by his team.
After that you can use CV to track the enemy jungler or to spot enemies hiding in the bushes in your lane. In mid/late game it's generally just to scout for enemies to stop you walking into all five of them. You can use it to check buffs if they're not warded.
Basically you should also ALWAYS use CV if you are fighting in or around bushes, because this removes the possibility of enemies juking in and out of the bushes. If an enemy runs away from the fight you can also CV their escape route.
Hopefully big wall of text is helpful cause it took me ages to type. I should make this into a guide or something. :P
I have an account on NA, but I don't play it very often.
GrimmFate
<Member>
<Member>
Beeswarm17 wrote:
And where the hell should I use CV?
EVERYWHERE.
THE BASE AT THE START OF THE GAME.
THE BLUE GOLEM BUFF TO KNOW IF YOU CAN INVADE THEIR JUNGLE/THEIR INVADING YOURS.
THE SOLO-TOPS BUSH/YOUR BUSH BY THE RIVER TO SEE IF YOU'RE GOING TO GET GANKED.
THE ENEMIES BLUE/RED TO SEE IF YOU CAN GANK THEM THERE OR FIND OUT WHERE HE IS/HOW FAR ALONG HE IS.
EVERYYYYYYYWHEREEEEEEEEE
When I play support I usually take Soraka. I have 72% victory with her in both seasons.
Masteries are 9/0/21.
Runes are 9 Magic Penetration Marks, 9 Flat Armor/Healt per Level Seals, 9 Cooldown reduction/level Glyphs and 3 Flat Health Quits.
Explanation for runes:
Marks are obvius. I take flat Armor/ health/level seals for better defensive stats because Soraka doesn't need mana regen runes, she has mana gain skill. I take 9 Cooldown per level Glyphs, because Soraka's cooldowns are pretty high since that patch. I take 3 health Quints for better defensive stats. Even without Gold/10 Quint I usually end up with 4 final items, because its so easy to get ***its with her global ultimate.
Masteries are 9/0/21.
Runes are 9 Magic Penetration Marks, 9 Flat Armor/Healt per Level Seals, 9 Cooldown reduction/level Glyphs and 3 Flat Health Quits.
Explanation for runes:
Marks are obvius. I take flat Armor/ health/level seals for better defensive stats because Soraka doesn't need mana regen runes, she has mana gain skill. I take 9 Cooldown per level Glyphs, because Soraka's cooldowns are pretty high since that patch. I take 3 health Quints for better defensive stats. Even without Gold/10 Quint I usually end up with 4 final items, because its so easy to get ***its with her global ultimate.
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
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I agree with most of Luther's post, so check that out. The main thing you need to do is pick the RIGHT support for the situation, though. For example, Urgot is frequently mana starved but does massive burst when he has mana, so Soraka is often the best choice. Graves does a lot of burst but he fears retaliation, so Alistar or Taric works well with him. Kog'Maw can't do much of anything early on and needs heals and defense constantly, so people run Sona. It's all about situational picks more than anything.
I agree with most of Luther's post, so check that out. The main thing you need to do is pick the RIGHT support for the situation, though. For example, Urgot is frequently mana starved but does massive burst when he has mana, so Soraka is often the best choice. Graves does a lot of burst but he fears retaliation, so Alistar or Taric works well with him. Kog'Maw can't do much of anything early on and needs heals and defense constantly, so people run Sona. It's all about situational picks more than anything.
ZioSerpe
<Member>
<Member>
Periphetes wrote:
I agree with most of Luther's post, so check that out. The main thing you need to do is pick the RIGHT support for the situation, though. For example, Urgot is frequently mana starved but does massive burst when he has mana, so Soraka is often the best choice. Graves does a lot of burst but he fears retaliation, so Alistar or Taric works well with him. Kog'Maw can't do much of anything early on and needs heals and defense constantly, so people run Sona. It's all about situational picks more than anything.
This guy is right.
When your carries b, farm the lane. Harass the enemy as much as possible and heal your carry as much as possible. CV everywhere. If they don't have a jungle...well cv bushes and **** then. And even if they do have a jungle you should know his route and times. That's super important for a support.
Beeswarm17
<Member>
<Member>
ZioSerpe wrote:
brb adding you and making u a pro
Also your AP carry runes are armorpen, might wanna use mpen
Oh wow, thank you for noticing that. It was originally my AD carry page, but I forgot to change the marks out, it seems. Appreciated. :)
Nighthawk wrote:
This guy is right.
When your carries b, farm the lane. Harass the enemy as much as possible and heal your carry as much as possible. CV everywhere. If they don't have a jungle...well cv bushes and **** then. And even if they do have a jungle you should know his route and times. That's super important for a support.
I still only get one CV every 30 seconds or however long that is. I don't like spamming it, since I just won't have it when I need it if I do, but I don't want it to sit unused. I know the routes (still learning every champ's possible routes, but I know most of them), but I don't know it down to the exact times yet. I have a general idea since I've started jungling much more myself, but I always forget the numbers. I should work on that, too.
ZioSerpe
<Member>
<Member>
Beeswarm17 wrote:
Oh wow, thank you for noticing that. It was originally my AD carry page, but I forgot to change the marks out, it seems. Appreciated. :)
I still only get one CV every 30 seconds or however long that is. I don't like spamming it, since I just won't have it when I need it if I do, but I don't want it to sit unused. I know the routes (still learning every champ's possible routes, but I know most of them), but I don't know it down to the exact times yet. I have a general idea since I've started jungling much more myself, but I always forget the numbers. I should work on that, too.
Anyway I added you, as soon as I solve the lag I've been having these last days (going back to my place should be enough) I'll be more than glad o show you on the field how to play support, expecially the goddess **** of assists.
For all you questions about jungling
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Specifically what I'd need some help learning is how to deal with the incredibly low gold income that you have to work with and what to spend that gold on. I know to get GP/10 items, but how many/how often should I buy wards? When should I sacrifice a ward purchase for another item?
And where the hell should I use CV?
I don't think these are things that I can learn strictly from guides (I've looked at them), and playing in normals has given me mixed signals on what to do and what not to do. I don't even know if I'm doing well or not. Every time my lane partner dies, I honestly can't always tell if it was my fault or his.
So any help would be appreciated. I'm on the NA servers, and I'm usually on in the afternoons and evenings. Post in this thread or shoot me a PM if you'd like to help me.