A Reign of Gaming article I just read made the point that the +15% minion damage buff on Banner of Command also applies to pets. This includes not only Annie and Malzahar, but also Elise. Since the banner also gives AP and AR, it feels like it might have some quite fearful synergy when she's in her spider form. Has anyone tried this yet?
It also occured to me that Yorick's ghouls also benefit from the Banner, although he doesn't get as much benefit from the stats (his W has a 100% AP ratio, but that's his only one). Still might be worth a try.
Heimerdinger might be good as well. But then again, Heimerdinger is still just plain bad.
That aside, assuming it did work for those units, what if you don't have a unit like that? The usual split pushers (Shen, Teemo, Nidalee, etc.) do scale with AP, but don't generally split push with Promote, nor is 15% more minion damage especially useful when you could just have X% more of your own damage from some other item(s).
Banner of command wasn't really intended to for split pushers like the ones you listed.
Since Banner of command builds out of emblem of valor, the intent was for pure supports who get emblem early in lane to have an option to build an aggressive siege item rather than have to build Aegis for defense (if, for example, your jungler or your top is getting Aegis.)
We don't really intend to support split-pushing primarily. It's okay if it works sometimes - but the tactic doesn't need to be itemized for particularly I find.
I can't imagine building anything but Aegis on a support, even if an ally already has one. Two makes the other holder tankier, and is insurance in case they die. The banner seems really, really niche.
In general, being niche is a kind of bad thing - but it's perfectly obvious what the item is intended to do (push down towers). It's actually pretty effective at that. It's meant to support some off-strategies if people want to go down that route.
If it's something a support would build - and it's supposed to be for taking down towers - then wouldn't they get an Ohmwrecker? At the stage of the game this sort of item might be picked up, minions are much, much less of an issue, and wouldn't live long enough to make use of that 15% damage. Taking a tower out of the equation for 2.5 seconds is a lot more powerful and game-changing than making the stuff that gets wave cleared by the AP or an Ez ult or what have you do 15% more damage.
Mostly because Catalyst the Protector doesn't really fit all that well into a Support build path. You might pick up Emblem of Valor in lane if you have low sustain or they have particularly heavy harass. Catalyst, however, is a really awkward item on a support as they don't tend to level up that quickly to benefit from the Valor's Reward passive.
But like I was saying in a previous post: AP doesn't really fit on a Support, either. Sure, many Supports have AP-scaling abilities, but they don't get as much bang out of AP as mages do. Banner of Command has a ton of AP on it.
AP helps almost all supports far more than you think it does. Granted, it tends to make their support abilities really good on Bruisers/Fighters - but there are some absolutely ridiculous ratios on Support abilities that can render targets unkillable if you can position your support properly.
There's a reason that whenever a support character can go raw AP that something breaks in our game - it's because they typically benefit from AP far more than is apparent in a lot of ways.
Quote:
Ohmwrecker would be the better item for a support to carry between the two
Ohmwrecker's active is actually pretty terrible for most supports - even if it is a little weak now. Your support doesn't initiate - thus being able to find the correct time to use Ohmwrecker always suffers from communication delays. It vastly increases communication demands between diver type characters / support characters and thus weakens the power of the effect.
Ohmwrecker does two things: Disable the turret and reset the turret damage - both of which are far better calls for the diver/tank/initiator to make than the backline support to make.
Elise+Banner of Command
It also occured to me that Yorick's ghouls also benefit from the Banner, although he doesn't get as much benefit from the stats (his W has a 100% AP ratio, but that's his only one). Still might be worth a try.
Heimerdinger might be good as well. But then again, Heimerdinger is still just plain bad.
Banner was intended to both be a support / push item and a minion master / defense item.
Since Banner of command builds out of emblem of valor, the intent was for pure supports who get emblem early in lane to have an option to build an aggressive siege item rather than have to build Aegis for defense (if, for example, your jungler or your top is getting Aegis.)
We don't really intend to support split-pushing primarily. It's okay if it works sometimes - but the tactic doesn't need to be itemized for particularly I find.
Does Banner work with Zyra's plants?
There's a reason that whenever a support character can go raw AP that something breaks in our game - it's because they typically benefit from AP far more than is apparent in a lot of ways.
Ohmwrecker does two things: Disable the turret and reset the turret damage - both of which are far better calls for the diver/tank/initiator to make than the backline support to make.