How To Play Support And Hard Support

Support and hard support and close to the same role. The only difference is usually the power of your core and how much farm you are allowed to take. Sometimes a greedy 5 and a 5 from the 4 allows the 5 to take the farm, but that’s game by game basis. In general, the farming is where you can but it’s really only 1-2 minutes per 10. You’re not going to sit in a lane until you have an 18 minute BKB and call it proper supporting.

The laning stage is about setting your core up to get uninterrupted free farm. That’s the ideal at least. However you do that changes, from getting your cores kills to accelerate farm to items to make them powerful or just spamming the shit out of the enemy to make them scared to walk up to lane. Lane manipulation is used to make it as safe for your team as possible while as dangerous for the enemy. Supports, if the lane is in a good position, are allowed to leave and help other lanes for a few minutes.

Mid game is using your power spikes to take skirmishes or team fights to your advantage. Power spikes can be anything from an ult coming off cool down to a core getting an item. You’re fighting over objectives: towers and farm. If your team can farm more of the map (read: 55% to their 45%, usually the difference of the hard+small near the safe lane tower) then you can get items faster than them, taking team fights earlier.

This is the hard point of a lot of supports. Stand behind those that need protecting or you think they will gank/fight. Force an enemy to split up by pushing lanes. Gather information on where the enemy team is using any means possible.

Late game most people are alright with. Push your buttons in big team fights to win them. How easy or hard that is depends on the state of the mid game.