Support: What is a support role in MOBA games like League of Legends?

The role of support is widely considered to be the most simple one because, instead of getting kills themselves, their job is to help others stay alive, get stronger, and take out the enemy. However, it is arguably the most important role as well.

The reason we say this is that supports are crucial for any team wanting to achieve victory in the Rift, especially for bot champions. Since supports go in the bottom lane alongside bot champions and share the lane’s XP with them, it’s their job to help their duo farm minions and buy important items that will help them get stronger.

Supports are also extremely important for winning team fights as, unlike everyone else who focuses on taking out the enemy, they focus on keeping their teammates alive long enough for that to happen. Unfortunately, supports do rely on their teammates being skilled enough to win team fights.

What are the types of supports?

A common misconception is that supports have to be healers, but that isn’t true. The different types of supports are:

• Tank (absorb damage and protect teammates)
• Enchanters (Heal, shield, and buff teammates)
• Pokers (deal damage from a distance)
• Pickers (Have an ability that hooks the enemy and pulls them in)

In addition, champions that deal high damage in long bursts and champions that have a unique ability that can assist teammates can also be used as support. For example, Zilean’s ultimate ability is to revive a teammate and is extremely useful in team fights.