What’s the most gold-efficient early-game build for a support main?
Maximizing Your Gold: The Support’s Early Game Advantage
As a support player, every gold piece you earn needs to be spent strategically. Unlike carries who farm extensively, your income is often limited to your support item, assist gold, and occasional objective bounties. This makes gold efficiency in the early game paramount, allowing you to establish a strong presence, enable your team, and dictate the flow of the lane and map.
The Foundation: Support Starter Items
Your journey begins with one of four essential starter items: Spellthief’s Edge, Relic Shield, Steel Shoulderguards, or Spectral Sickle. Each offers a unique way to generate gold and provides stats crucial for your archetype. Upgrading these items quickly (e.g., to Frostfang, Targon’s Buckler, Runesteel Spaulders, or Harrowing Crescent) is a top priority, as it unlocks enhanced gold generation, better stats, and eventually the crucial warding passive, allowing you to place Stealth Wards without buying them.
Prioritize upgrading your support item on your first or second back, usually aiming for its completion around the 8-12 minute mark, depending on your lane performance. This gold generation is the backbone of your economy.
Boots & Control Wards: The Unsung Heroes
Beyond your support item, the most gold-efficient purchases are often not flashy. Tier 1 boots (Boots of Speed) are incredibly cheap and provide vital mobility for dodging skill shots, positioning for engages, or roaming. Upgrading them to Tier 2 boots (e.g., Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Plated Steelcaps, Mercury’s Treads) offers specialized advantages that can turn the tide of skirmishes.
Control Wards, at a mere 75 gold, are arguably the most impactful early-game purchase. They deny enemy vision, reveal hidden threats, and secure objectives. Always carry at least one, and use them strategically to control bushes, secure river vision, or clear crucial chokepoints.
Component Power Spikes: Value for Gold
Many support items have component parts that offer excellent value for their cost. Instead of saving up for a full item, consider buying these components to gain immediate power:
- Kindlegem (800g): Grants Health and Ability Haste, a core component for many tank and enchanter items.
- Forbidden Idol (800g): Provides Heal and Shield Power, crucial for enchanters.
- Oblivion Orb (800g): Offers Ability Power and Grievous Wounds, vital for mage and some enchanter supports against healing comps.
- Glacial Shroud (900g): Gives Armor and Mana, excellent for mana-hungry tank supports.
- Negatron Cloak (720g): Solid Magic Resist for early defensive needs.
Purchasing these items as early as possible allows you to scale effectively and contribute more to trades and fights.
Adaptive Building: Enchanters
For enchanters (e.g., Nami, Lulu, Janna), the early game revolves around boosting your healing/shielding and providing utility. After upgrading your support item, prioritize Boots of Lucidity for ability haste and lower summoner spell cooldowns. Then, a Forbidden Idol into Moonstone Renewer or Shurelya’s Battlesong is a strong path, depending on team needs. Ardent Censer or Staff of Flowing Water can be rushed as a second item if your ADC benefits greatly from their buffs.
Adaptive Building: Tanks/Engage
Tank and engage supports (e.g., Leona, Nautilus, Alistar) benefit from early durability and initiation tools. After your support item upgrade, Steel Shoulderguards, aim for Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads based on enemy damage types. A Kindlegem often builds into Locket of the Iron Solari or Redemption, providing crucial team utility. Components like Ruby Crystal or Cloth Armor are also highly efficient for early survivability.
Adaptive Building: Mages/Poke
Mage and poke supports (e.g., Brand, Zyra, Lux) want early ability power and mana regeneration. After Spectral Sickle or Spellthief’s Edge, Sorcerer’s Shoes boost your damage significantly. Early Oblivion Orb against high-healing teams, or a Lost Chapter component for mana sustain into Luden’s Tempest or Liandry’s Anguish, are common paths. Dark Seal is also a highly gold-efficient early purchase if you expect to get kills/assists.
Prioritizing Your Gold: A Quick Checklist
- Support Item Upgrade: Unlock full gold generation and warding.
- Boots: Gain essential mobility (Tier 1 then Tier 2).
- Control Wards: Maintain vision control and deny enemy sight.
- Key Component Items: Get immediate stats for your specific support type (e.g., Forbidden Idol, Kindlegem, Oblivion Orb).
- Adaptive Full Item: Complete your first full item based on match-up and team needs.
Conclusion
Gold efficiency for a support main in the early game isn’t about rushing the most expensive item; it’s about making smart, impactful purchases that provide the most value for your limited income. By prioritizing your support item, mobility, vision, and key component items, you can ensure you’re always contributing maximally to your team’s success and setting the stage for a dominant mid-to-late game.
