How to play as support in League of Legends: Wild Rift

Supports can be a great addition to the team or a very confusing one. And by this, I mean players who claim to be "supports" but end up doing none of the things that normal supports would do. 

However, depending on the meta, that might or might not be such a good thing. Choosing the right support can make the difference between a good team composition and a great one.

Stay up to date with all the latest League of Legends: Wild Rift strategy guides and tips by checking out our League of Legends: Wild Rift hub.

The role of supports:

Supports' role is, initially, to enable their fellow bot laner to farm efficiently and scale-up. They will provide buffs, heals, shields, engage, or even body block incoming shots depending on their kit.

- They have to place vision around key areas in the map to spot the enemy jungler's location and possible ganks

- Supports should roam, similar to the jungler, and help lanes in need (could even double up with the jungler and go mid lane to secure a kill and a few turret plates)

- They have to place vision in the areas around the lane, so the ADC can farm freely

- They should provide utility, shields, heals, and so on.

- They should not farm for themselves, but help the bot laner farm (attack the minions to lower their HP, so the ADC can last hit them, properly set up lane freeze, etc)

These are just a few of the roles support has on the team. Being a support main myself, I would probably go on for another week writing about the roles of supports, but these would be the basics.

What it means to actually support in Wild Rift, and how to do it:

First things first, supporting means enabling your teammates to become meaningful: letting them get the kills, the farm, and some solo turret plates when possible. Then, you want to set up kills for them if you play aggressive support. You can do that by slowly poking the enemies, CC'ing them, or driving them out of the lane.

Remember that you don't have to give your life to poke an enemy or drive them out of lane because that will only result in an advantage for them. Try to make decisions which will make it easier for the entire team to win the game, such as roaming together with the jungler, pinging when an enemy is missing in the lane, and building small advantages for your team such as freezing lanes, building up minion waves to be picked up by other players, and much more. 

How to position as a support player:

Positioning is all about the type of support you play. For tank and engage supports (like Blitzcrank), you want to always be at the front, and threaten the enemies. If you are a constant threat to them, they will slowly lose minions, EXP, and probably even fall behind in farm. 

For enchanter supports, such as Sona and Janna, you want to be on the move constantly. You never want to stay too far behind, but also never overextend, because these kinds of supports don't have strong defenses. Of course, you can position aggressively with enchanters, but only if you know you're about to get a gank from your jungler, or your ultimate or Flash is ready, in case you need to escape. 

Overall, you want to roam when you have the chance. In low elo, almost no support player roams, because it's not something they deem necessary. However, if you learn to roam at the right time, you can build huge advantages for both your mid laner and bot laner alike. When you leave your bot laner alone in lane, make sure they're safe to get some solo EXP. 

What to build as support:

One of the first items I will mention is the normal support item (based on the type of support you play, of course). That's the core of every support player, no matter if they're a tank or enchanter. Apart from that, you want to build items that give buffs to the rest of the team, such as Ardent Censer for Janna, that boosts the Attack Speed of allies that receive your shield. 

There are a number of super useful support items that will greatly benefit your teammates, so you should always focus on these. 

Furthermore, one thing you want to always pay attention to is their price. Since you won't make much Gold as support (you won't farm, you generate Gold through your support item), you always want to buy the cheapest and most gold-efficient items. Never buy items that cost too much, and bring too little value, because they will place you behind your opponent who might be building full support items.

Conclusion:

Supports are units that don't rely on Gold to become relevant. They become relevant by making their teammates shine and keeping them alive at all costs. Vision is the number one priority of each support, no matter if they're a tank or enchanter, and then is their kit. A good support will roam and help all the lanes, not just their bot laner. An even better support will double up with the jungler and bring some really great advantages to the team, by either helping in securing objectives or ganking lanes together.