Vainglory Forums

Hope this is in the right place. Anyway, I"m trying to learn Roam but, I'm not really sure the ideal things to do. Really just looking for any advice on being decent as a Support.

Well first of all, learn how to Ironguard if you haven't.


The build for it is. First Fountain, then crucible, then one offensive item which can be experimented e.g aftershock or breaking point, then Shiversteel or atlas Pauldron, then warhorn or contraption. Remember to get tier 1 boots early game, tier 2 boots mid and tier 3 boots end game last after all your items are done. Anyway that's my build.

The fountain restores your allies health. How to use fountain: The more health your team mate has lost, the more they'll gain so use it when there really low health and it'll be like they have 2 lives.

Crucible will give your team a barrier of health which will stop negative effects like stuns. For someone learning support and being nooby at it I reccomended just comboing it with the fountain.

Third item can be experimented with. Could be clock work, after shock, Bonesaw, breaking point. Experiment with those to see which one you like.

Fourth item is Shiversteel or atlas Pauldron, these are situational to counter the enemy team and/or suit your own teams needs. Shiversteel will slow people down from escaping so it's good for people like Vox or Skye. Atlas Pauldron will slow down enemy attack speed so it's good for someone lik saw, ringo or Krul.

Fifth item is just what playstyle you have. Either warhorn or contraption. If you prefer quick emergency escapes for your team pick warhorn, if you prefer wide whole map spam able vision pick contraption.

As a support, your job is to take care of your teammates. Make sure they survive the battle.

The support is the leader. Just because support players don't have many kills doesn't mean support players aren't important to the game.

Anyways, you have to be the one that leads your team into and out of battle. Always go in a bush first. Decide on whether you should engage the enemy or leave them be. Decide on whether you should invade their jungle or gank their laner.

Buy support oriented items like the ones uncrudable mentioned above. Try to keep your teammates up and running.

Buy an offensive item last. Even though you're a support, it's still important to deal damage, especially if you are the last person in the battle. For Ardan, you should get a Breaking Point. For Catherine, you should get an Aftershock and/or Clockwork.

That's all I can think of right now. Just do your best to keep your team alive and lead them to victory.

Just a note to the posts above. Your job is to keep everyone alive so although the first post was very informative not enough love was given to atlas pauldren. You need to counter build right of the start for these defensive items. If they are heavy WP I always finish atlas pauldren first. Any extra gold put into building towards the fountain.
I agree. Offensive item last. But always upgrade to stormguard banner to help your damage.
Also depending on the support you play boots and warhorn may be very important!

Always give both your jungle and lane mates last hits and BODYBLOCK! Not enough roams BODYBLOCK for their teammates.

I find rushing fountain over any tier 3 item is more informant then any other item though, keeping your whole team alive is much more important that slowing someone's attack speed for only 5 seconds.

Thanks for all the help. I've been trying Ardan in casuals and I'm feeling more comfortable with him by following this advice. I'll try to play Ranked with him after I get some more experience with him.

Nice support info!

Another thing I can't stress enough, specifically as Ardan, is mastering the art of timing your Vanguard's. What has made playing Roam more fun for me is using Vanguard's as an offensive ability. When you entire a team fight or you are roaming up to lane and see your laner in trouble, don't immediately Vanguard. This will waste your Vanguard for a time when you need it more desperately. Let your carries do some work and then last second Vanguard. Often the carries will swap damage and the last second Vanguard is what will swing the momentum to your side. Of course the timing is key, wait too long and your carry is dead lol. But seriously throwing up your Vanguard when it's not absolutely necessary is often the difference maker, especially early game. Save it until it's absolutely necessary to make a play. It's almost an unfair advantage once you have gotten a good grip on when to use it.

One thing that isn't mentioned here is picking the right support hero. Ardan isn't a bad support hero, but it doesn't match with certain junglers/laners, like Koshka. You're better off with a Fortress or Catherine there.

Also, offensive items for a support should really only be those that either excel in long fights, e.g Bonesaw, Breaking Point, BM, or Aftershock.