The Race to Get a Sightstone
Sightstone is the best Support Item, and Better Than Philosopher’s Stone
I feel it has been hammered into the ground and is self-evident, but I need to make sure you understand something before I continue with this article and the one after it. Sightstone is the most important item a support can get, and should almost always be the first one purchased. You get 300 gold’s worth of health from it, and then you get 2 wards at a time for life, 4 per trip. 400 gold’s worth of wards is 5 wards. To pay itself off entirely, simply use 9 of them. It’s two at a time, so if they don’t disappear and you don’t need to replace any of them before the time is up (another benefit that we aren’t even calculating the gold cost of), it takes 12 minutes to use up your 8, and after that 12 minutes the 9th can be plopped down. The upgrade gives you an extra ward, costs 600, gives 175 health…you only need to use two sets of 3 wards to pay that one off entirely.
Furthermore, there’s the ambient gold change. In Season 2, you had a base 13 gp/10, or 18 gp/10 with Greed and quints at the start. Then, you’d have to buy your Stone and Heart of Gold to have 28 gp/10 and buy heaps of wards all game. You’d have 18 gp/10 with which to buy 1625 gold’s worth of gp/10 items, all while buying wards and pots throughout. Now, you have 21 gp/10 off the bait, no waiting. This is stronger than it looks; yeah, there’s no Heart of Gold, but you didn’t have Heart of Gold at the beginning of the game, and there was no Sightstone then, and the bonus here starts right away. Sightstone and the gold gain is enough to compensate. Let the junglers and tops worry about what to do instead of Heart of Gold. Supports shouldn’t have to think about it.
A Philosopher’s Stone is a nice item still, of course, and it gives you 30 gold per minute. But that’s one ward every 2.5 minutes, or every 150 seconds. It is not as ward-friendly. Sightstone is one ward every 90 seconds, assuming you have two out a time (two every three minutes equals one every one and half minutes, or 90 seconds). You can, however, get it more quickly, as it’s only 700 gold, and the pieces are both cheaper. Still, Sightstone is safer and more helpful, and as far as sustain goes Phil Stone gives 7/hp 5 compared to the 15/hp 5 of old. Effectively, Sightstone gives you more gold’s worth of stuff, it’s just that its health and wards and not health, mana, and gold regen.
Plus, in teamfights and out of the lane phase, the Sightstone stats are more applicable. Regen is for the laning phase—health and wards are for all phases.
Why Getting Sightstone First is better for your lane
Do you want to lock down your lane before the other support? This is what you do. You get the Sightstone first. Seriously everyone: if you can get Sightstone on your first trip back, or at least one trip before the other support, then bottom lane scores a huge victory. The enemy jungler will find you an even bigger waste of time than he previously did, and you will have better bush control. If it is equivalent bush control, it will be because the other support has to buy more wards, and the next time, when he goes back, you will have Sightstone and some real items, and he will only be getting Sightstone.
How to get it first
You have 21/GP 10 to get to Sightstone. At 122 gold per minute, that’s 5:57 of waiting in order to get it, or the 7:27 mark. If your goal is to get a Sightstone before the other support, there’s basically two things that help you toward this. First, you make your stuff last long so you don’t have to buy more wards or recall before 700 gold, setting the timer back. Second, you simply get there before the other support does by earning money.
The second item, getting more gold first, is simple in concept. This mark is reduced by assists/kills, pickpockets, and minions your carry spares you out of the generosity of his soul or the noobiness of his death. You obviously don’t want to get the kills, though you do want to the stuff a support always does, set up kills or force recalls. If you force recalls and make the other support have to recall before he has 700 gold, or buy more wards or pots before Sightstone, good job. You’re beating him. If you’re ranged, and you get 1 assist for 80 gold, 1 minion for 15 gold, and 10 pickpocket hits for 30 gold, you’ve earned 125 gold and reduced the time by about one minute.
Of course, kills and assists are no guarantee, there’s matchups, your carry’s skills, and you might get ganked but not receive any of your own. But you must do the best you can.
Making your stuff last longer is all on you though. Ways to do this:
- Take Wealth, which is 50 gold. That’s 24 seconds off your time, taking it to 7:03.
- Either take flask and four wards, or charm, two pots, and four wards. Note you can only do these if you take Wealth. These should be your typical setups. Flask is safer, but it doesn’t help you get Philosopher’s Stone afterwards.
- Take the Explorer’s Ward and the Biscuit. This buys you more time. Remember the Biscuit can be used with a flask or pot, but a pot and flask cannot be used together.
- Learn how to make the wards last until at least the 7:27/7:03 mark.
Lasting at bottom lane
How do you do that last one? Again, all you. You need to learn how to watch the other jungler. Where did he start? Red or blue? If you’re purple and he starts blue, don’t ward for jungle ganks so quickly. He will either go top or need to go wraiths and then probably red before he even tries to go to you. Try to make sure you have the bushes in your control so you can go wardless longer. If you’re blue, and he starts red, the same thing applies. In the opposite situation, stay around tri or the gank bush. If a jungler doesn’t come by 3:00 or even 2:45, he almost certainly has moved on to the other side of the map and you can forget about him for about a minute (or longer). If he goes top, you have at least 30 seconds in the clear. If he goes mid, watch which way he goes out. If it’s bott, wait for about 20-seconds, then ward against him.
As for bushes, that’s just the matchup. If you are ranged and it’s Taric or someone you don’t want to get close to you, use the Explorer’s Ward (if you didn’t use it for invade/counterinvade stuff) for bushes at a point when the minions are locked at a certain point. It will only last a minute, but the wave will push strongly one way or the other by the time it’s over, and you will have some breathing room to let the bushes be wardless for a little bit.
Learn to control one area or have your on it, and keep the other warded. If you have four wards and an Explorer’s Ward, and you have one bush and one gank ward up at basically all times, that’s 6 minutes. You are set.
If you deviate from this setup, let’s say you don’t take wealth, you will then have 3 wards or fewer pots. Or, if you take flask and a pot, or you take a vision ward instead of sight ward, or you get a cloth armor + 2 wards + 2 pots or whatever…then that means you have put yourself at risk. You are saying, “I can make up for this deficit through skills, knowledge, and control until the 7:27/7:03 mark, and I know I can do it with the partner I have.” That can be a true statement. Just know it is one you are making, and that you can back it up.
You don’t want to go back when your wards are out, buy a ward or two, and not have Sightstone for a few minutes. Or go back again soon, having to ditch your retard AD Carry who is upset he has to 1v2 already and then out of frustration for missing cs, tries to cs, then gets stunned by Taric and blames you for his death.
Don’t be that guy.
This season, you are the guy who makes your lane retard-proof for the sake of TWO people, not just one. You aren’t the AD Carry. You are the support.
You know what your goal is. Get that Sightstone first. You are the boss.
You own the bushes. They are yours!
The jungler on the other team will whine when your lane opponents ask for a gank. If their mid comes, he will have wasted his time.
You will maybe actually deal damage!
You can be more aggressive because you will have more wards, pickpocket (if you’re ranged at least), and perhaps a flask.
The jungles are less safe. You are warding them now (right?)! You will buy one or two on top of your stone sometimes!
You will buy all sorts of crap. You will buy Aegis, Twin Shadows, Shard of True Ice, Crucible, Shurelya’s, or Locket! The enemy will blame you for their frustrations. Sometimes your team will even credit you with awesome play. And if they don’t, you can mute them, and get yourself to a higher elo.
It’s a good time to be support, gentlemen. It really is.
Old Man Eyebrows
This week's eyebrows:
Did you enjoy today's article? Check out my past blogs here!
Follow me on Twitter @OldManEyebrows! Feel free to send me eyebrows you find!
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/27/2012 4:09:29 PMClearly you know how to do the math, however this is not how support is supposed to be played and your tips give bad habbits to people. Your goal is not to be ahead of the enemy support, your only goal is for your carry to be ahead of the enemy carry. If you make the enemy AD miss 4 cs by warding a bush for an exchange or taking harass (even if it means you have to recall early) you already denied the enemy 100+ gold. Support isn't a competitive role, to beat the enemy support you simply have to put your carry ahead. If your carry is ahead you will be ahead when you get a double kill. Being greedy for wards and making your carry feel unsafe (even if the jungler is near top) isn't something you should do. If this guide is meant for soloq, communication between teammates isn't perfect and AD carries (and you too) should be more focused in looking for opportunities to deny cs or get a good trade from your lane rather than constantly stressing/putting a burden on your AD calling MIA's or saying "careful" every 30 seconds.
When I was in the 1300's I used to think like you, but trust me, being a support at a higher elo means you don't think about saving wards but rather denying the enemy AD/putting your AD ahead.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/28/2012 4:57:20 AMI'd say he's pretty correct about that you have to beat the other support. Because if you do beat the enemy support through better warding, positioning and lane control then you automatically give paradise to your ADC and hell to the enemy ADC. It's been too many times for me when the enemy support's done heavy warding and I can't gank or have bush control (depending on if I play jungle or Support, which are my most frequent roles), which usually results in the ADC screaming at me.
By saving the money it takes to normally buy all those wards, and instead taking an early Sightstone you will automatically save money to use on other things - and by using that money (you probably) won't have to use on a ridicilous amount of wards, you will probably get even better bush control, easier ways to escape from or prepare for ganks and you will probably have better trades with the enemy support and ADC.
Also, I thought that supports usually were the ones calling MIA and/or care (usually been what I've had to do since all my ADCs've been busy either raging at me for doing well overall or being busy about how good and pro they are because they can't do sheit on their own).
(...No, I don't have luck in soloq)
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/28/2012 5:15:15 AMThe point is: If the enemy support gets ahead (ADs equal) by not taking too many risks, you (your AD/your lane) will get denied. Because they have more vision, more sustain, more everything.
The article doesn't want to say "Get ahead no matter what, wait for your Sightstone whatever comes", it tries to tell you how not to waste gold. Of course the safe play differs in every game, but in general: Try to get Sightstone asap with minimum risk, this saves you tons of money. And if this doesn't put you ahead, it doesn't put you behind at least.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/28/2012 5:24:50 AMAs long as people will believe this is true i'll be disappointed. Your role as a support is to put your whole team ahead, the "carry" (by which i assume you refer to a bot lane ranged ADC) is merely the part of it with the highest sustained damage with full build (a point rarely reached) because of multiplicative stats, which also work on melee ADCs by the way.
My carry who cleansed every Ignite+Exhaust combo and thus never died, while i was digging a huge gap compared to the enemy support, is genuinely happy to enjoy +20AD, +lifesteal, armor MR regen auras etc that also benefit our Olaf/Lee Sin/whatever, and complete map coverage.
Meanwhile the enemy carry who might have gotten a couple extra cs from ultra-aggressive try-to-zone-a-guy-who's-got-a-healing-support-just-like-yourself-while-drawing-minion-aggro-at-low-levels play in lane (and wasted alot of his jungler's time asking ganks bot lane because he noticed i was rushing sightstone, but said sightstone prevented said ganks), is now getting killed repeatedly because they have to facecheck bushes (hard to avoid 8 perma-wards) to farm their own jungle, while their top who got underfed because he got no ganks because jungler camped bot lane in vain because i was rushing sightstone and that makes enemies overexcited, is busy feeding our aura-boosted, Locket-shielded, Shard-of-true-Ice-active wearing, top laner.
I am aware that i'm exaggerating here but i have to, given how hard it is to make players realize that supports can be far more than the ADC's girlfriend or lack-of-CC fixer.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 5:58:43 PM"Let the junglers and tops worry about what to do instead of Heart of Gold."
Sightstone isnt that bad on junglers either
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 4:18:22 PMI've mained mid for awhile now, and I've found that you truly CAN carry teams as support if you are an exceptional one. I cannot emphasize enough how hard you can carry your team if you do the following:
- Give your team exceptional map vision
- Keep timers on dragon and other objectives
- Get your adc fed (or at least help him win lane... or at the very least, not feed the enemy adc)
- Take away vision from the opposing team
- Set up good initiations (if you are a support such as Blitzcrank or Sona)
Most people in higher elo (1500+) got there carrying, and so I find that few players there actually know how to support properly. Being a good support can REALLY make a bigger difference for your team than most people reaize.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 1:22:12 PMI start bead+charm+2 wards and explorer's ward+biscuit. I only need 1040 G when I back to get both Philo and Sightstone, a very doable amount. Granted this means I am relying on my lane partner to not totally eff up the lane right at the start, but mostly I play with friends so its not an issue.
If I was worried about my lane partner, I might consider the more defensive option of flask or extra pots.
A sig I guess.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 4:19:33 PMNot a bad strat, but only 2 wards for so long is pretty risky... you are going to be prone to ganks, as well as lose bush control.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/27/2012 8:31:35 AMIts true, I only take this when my lane partner is on skype with me. When I only have 2+1(60 second) ward, we tend to have to fight a little more for bush control and we have to be careful not to push out past the river. My secondary role, the one I run when I solo queue normally, is Jungle, so knowing their routes inately helps my warding role as support. I also tend to spend a little less time zoning and a little more time standing in bushes, but some supports love this(taric comes to mind) as standing in a bush means you own that bush and threaten alot of space around the bush as long as they have no vision.
A sig I guess.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/27/2012 11:36:14 AMAs an aside, if I am forced to base early, I choose sightstone before philo, so the OP still stands, regardless of my start. if I could start with pieces of sightstone first I would, but it has no pieces.
A sig I guess.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 1:15:07 PMI love how i told supports to rush sightstone and then they tried to argue by saying you can buy wards in shop. So dumb. The whole point of the sightstone is to rush it so you have money for real items later on, instead of blowing gold on wards. Xpecial's opinion is that sightstone is worth about 10gp10 practically, although if you do the math on it its more like 8gp10. Regardless, sightstone is the best thing to happen to supports, and its a damn good item for junglers too. If both jungle and support have ruby stone, you should always have at least 6 wards on the map at all times with 4 spares, theres absolutely no reason not to have wards out at all times.
Shurelia rush isnt used much anymore, so philo loses even more relevance. Either start flask 4, or get one or both of the philo components. An early philo can be ok, but that still delays the sightstone which is of paramount importance
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 8:54:56 AMVery useful article.
As for ways to get sightstone as early as decently possible, here's a recent discussion that might give some insight.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 8:31:54 AMI like how people are trying to argue points here. Mathematically speaking, Sightstone and Flask are the most efficient items in the game. If, for whatever reason, you really want the HP5, MP5, or GP5 from a Philo Stone or the AP from Kage before getting Sightstone, try re-tooling your runes and masteries. You can get the early benefit from those items while also enjoying way more gold by rushing Sightstone instead of something else that, honestly, is always inferior on a support.
As an example, say you're currently running the old GP5 Quints, Armor Reds, GP5 Yellows, and Flat MR Blues. You're a smart support and are running something like 0/9/21. You really like getting Philo Stone as your first item because the sustain is so nice. However, Sightstone ultimately grants tons and tons of extra gold in comparison, and helps control your lane much more than Philo does, so you decide rushing it would be great. To make up for the lack of Philo Stone, you can do a couple of things...
1) Go more into the Defensive Tree. If you're a ranged support you only really need to go down to Pickpocket in Utility, and melee supports can afford to go no deeper than Wealth/Biscuiteer/Explorer. This can and will more than make up for the lack of the HP5 of Philo.
2) Dump your GP5 Yellows and go for some flat MP5 or MP5/level. While you will eventually end up with less gold overall, you will have significantly more gold in lane by rushing Sightstone over Philo, even without the GP5 Yellows.
3) Remove your flat MR Blues and go for some MP5 there, instead. To make up for it, build Chalice and/or Merc Treads after Sightstone and, possibly, Philo. This actually works on many supports, albeit not in every situation.
I'm sure there are other things you could do here, and there are obviously many other potential examples, but Sighstone really is the superior option when compared to Kage or Philo. The only item I would, personally, never forget to grab before Sightstone is Flask. If I don't start with it - not a common occurrence, but it does happen with certain really aggressive supports when I start boots - I want a Flask before I get a Sightstone.
In entirely unrelated news, Sona is once again the queen of supports. She gets better in comparison to other supports the longer she lives in team fights, and supports now have a tendency to be much, much tankier. Add in the fact that she can still contribute to short fights with her ultimate and can build Chalice without losing out on a solid support item for that slot, and she's back on top - assuming you can manage her horrendous squishiness at the beginning of the game, that is.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 1/1/2013 3:03:18 PMYou normally take GP10 Seals just on "passive" ranged support champions like Soraka, who wouldn't anyway win the lane by forcing trades themselves or poking, but just outlasting the enemy lane abusing their stronger Armor buff, heal and mana regen whilst their carry trades a bit and benefits from bigger recovery power. Also, no one gets flat/lev MP5 seals bottom, because Flat Armor are just better; on some spammy/mana hungry supports like Sona, Nami, Taric, etc, you can ran flat MP5 Glyphs though, or a mix of those and per lever MR (or lev MP5 but I wouldn't advice that). Flask early and Philo Stone + Chalice right after Sight Stone (and Shurelya's + Crucible later) are all the manaregen a support may ever need.
Also, there's nothing smart in going 0/9/21 or every support... Some perform better with 0/9/21, some with 9/0/21, some with 1/13/16.
Sona is not strong because she's the best teamfight support in the game (in terms of raw buffs Taric offers comparable stats (Rank 5 Shatter + Bulwark Taric is a big boost to tanky setup teams) whilst speaking of CC power and utility -probably the most important factors in teamfights for a support- Lulu and Janna simply eat Sona alive, and champions like Leona, Blitz, Alistar, Nami are at least on the same footing of Sona); Sona is so powerful because she's very strong from lev 1 to the end game, and she mashes well with almost any comp; also, her early game poking power is quite obscene, and everyone who fought against some skilled Sona + Ezreal lanes know that they're a nightmare early on and the only possible thing you can do against them is try not to get poked too much and don't fall too much behind in CS. Anyway, I'm not sure if Sona is better than Lulu in the current state of the game (of course they're both T1), even though for sure Flask and new itemization helped a lot Sona's early poke potential.
Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.
Mongol General: That is good! That is good.
- Conan the Barbarian -
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted 12/26/2012 6:50:23 AMYou get 250 golds with +100 HP, i don't get it your 300 golds :(