The role of support is without a doubt the least popular in Smite, but why is that? When you ask most people, it's because they feel that the role simply isn't as impactful on the game as the others. And in some ways, this is true. A support will never be able to box down the enemy hunter, or be able to push lanes by themselves. So how does a support impact the game? And can they carry?

Let's take a look at each role. The ADC is focused on winning lane and then doing damage late game. The midlaner is often worrying about rotations and maximising the damage they do. The jungler is making sure that the jungle is cleared and that each lane is being pressured. The solo laner is initially focusing on their own lane and then on being the frontliner or diving the enemy's backlines. So where does that leave you?

As a support, you often don't need reflexes as fast as your ADC and you don't need to manage your damage as much as your midlaner or jungler. This is not to say the role isnt as demanding as any of the others. The thing with the support is that the issues you deal with are often more mental so they are more difficult to pin down and teach. You can teach someone to hit basic attacks, but how do you teach someone to shotcall? Or which teammate to help in a teamfight situation? Both of these abilities can let you carry the game as a support. This is what we are going to discuss today.

Let's start with shotcalling. First of all, what is it? Shotcalling is dictating a teamfight, making sure your team does the best thing with the situation presented to them. Now this may sound incredibly broad and simple at first. What's so difficult about telling your team to gank left or gank right? It's a lot more complex than it seems. In any situation, early, mid or late, the game of Smite has many different facets and you have to take all of those into account. You have to be the one thinking about all of them and make an decision on what your team should do. Let's consider some examples.

Voice communication software that has an integrated Smite overlay can help increase the effectiveness of your shotcalling

Gold Fury

The first big objective any team should look to, the Gold Fury grants a massive boon and is extremely valued. So what do you need to consider when making the decision of if your team should attempt it?

Well first, you need to look at how many of the enemy team are alive and the timers on their respawns if any of them are dead. Obviously, if the entire enemy team is dead, the map is open to you to do as you please, but which enemy will come back first? Is it the enemy support, whose mobility and CC will allow them to steal it? If 3 of the enemy team are dead, but the 2 alive are their tanky frontliners, who can and will dive your team, is risking the gold fury worth it? You may say, "Yes, obviously", but consider that if they do manage to steal it, they negate the lead you just gained by winning the previous teamfight. Furthermore, late game, if the entire enemy team is dead, don't go for the gold fury. Simply put, the amount of gold it gives is not as important as getting towers or even the Fire Giant late game.

The Gold Fury gives a lot of gold and experience but this is only meaningful early and midgame

The next thing to consider is vision. Do you have ward vision on and around the Gold Fury? Do you know enemy positions in and around the jungle to be able to predict where they will try and contest you from? Furthermore, does the enemy have vision on the Gold Fury? It's all well and good to have vision, but, if the enemy does as well, they can track and see your movements, and as soon as they see you going for it they can formulate their counter attack, whether it be a steal attempt or going for a different, bigger objective somewhere else on the map. Keeping the Gold Fury sentry warded means you control both aspects of vision on the objective and are in charge of everything that goes on around it. This will result on you being able to make the most informed decision.

The sentry ward is extremely valuable and should be used wherever possible by the Support

Finally, you have to consider the tools available to you. What does your team have that can help you take the objective? If you've just finished a teamfight, your team are all low on health and a lot of your abilities are expended you do not have a lot at your disposal to help you. This makes trying to do the Gold Fury dangerous as it will take a long time, giving your enemies more time to react and respond to your attempt. One of your most valuable tools is your midlaner's ultimate, which is very often a huge amount of burst damage that can be used to secure the Gold Fury from a fairly high amount of health. Another tool is your ADC. Your ADC is the member of your team most adept at taking the objective on by themselves, and if they are a high level and have built correctly it is very possible to have the entire rest of your team zone and protect them while they do it themselves. These are just two examples but you should always consider what you have before deciding how many people to commit to the attempt or if you should try it at all.

Making the call to do the Fire Giant is similar. An even more important objective to the Gold Fury, when considering making the call to go for the Fire Giant you have to take into account everything mentioned above but even more drastically. You need even more of a stark player differential, more vision and even more tools at your disposal before you should think about making the call.

The Fire Giant is a lot more valuable than the Gold Fury, so the call to attempt it should be made with even more consideration

Late Game Teamfight

Let's say your team wants fight but the game is relatively even, which means the enemy team will fight back. What do you need to know before initiating the fight?

Once again, the tools are important but this time on both sides. Yes, knowing what you have at your disposal is important but for these situations you must also know what the enemy has. Does the enemy midlaner have their ultimate? Do most of the enemies still have their Purification relic? All of this is important because it contributes to the order in which you focus the enemies in the fight. If you know that the enemy ADC has no Purification and that their ult and escape ability are down, they should be the first one your team should look for as they will be picked off the easiest. However, you should always be careful to make sure you avoid tunnel visioning, because it can lead to your team getting pincered and wiped out.

The cooldown for Purification is ridiculously long, so forcing it out of the enemy team is an extremely valuable asset for any fight

The next thing you should consider is the overall goal. If you're forcing a fight, you have to have some sort of aim. If you don't, the fight will wash, with a lot ventured but nothing gained. Always have in mind what you can get from winning the fight. Don't fight without at least one of the big map objectives (Gold fury/Fire Giant) being up. If not those, fight in a position where when you win you can take towers or phoenixes, to apply pressure on the enemy team and punish them for losing the fight.

Finally, consider the motives of the enemy team. Why are only four of them here? Is one split pushing? Are they trying to bait you? Is it a trap. Try to put yourself in their position and think about what you would do. Make sure you've considered all known possibilities for their response and if it ends up being a different one, consider that one as well next time. When you make the call to start the fight you should be sure it is the right decision, as a fight you don't commit hard enough on could result in a terrible loss.

So that was shotcalling, which is the main overarching way a support carries in a game of smite. How about what you do once the exchange or fight starts? As a support, you're usually the one to start fights and then when they're happening, your job is to help your teammates do the damage and win the fight. So how can you do this?

Your main tool in this situation is your crowd control abilities, which have two uses. They can either be used to take enemies out of position for your team to be able to kill them or used to stop enemies from aggressing on your teammates. In some situations, they can take both roles at once, CCing an enemy so they stop attacking your ally and allowing your ally to do enough damage to kill them or force them to back off. This is all well and good, but you physically cannot be everywhere at once. So who should you focus on?

This is not a question that has the same answer every time. It all depends on your team composition. What you need to ask yourself first is who is your main source of damage? Usually this is an answer that varies between the Midlaner and ADC, although sometimes it could be your Jungler as well. Let's, as an example, take a situation where your ADC is an Apollo and your midlaner is a Zeus. Both of these characters are late game powerhouses, able to carry fights with their damage, so both equally as important. So who should you focus on? Well, in this situation, Apollo is an incredibly mobile, safe god who is able to handle himself in teamfights. However, Zeus is a very immobile god and prone to getting out of position when dealing his damage. Therefore, you should spend more of your time defending and setting up for Zeus. This doesn't mean you should ignore Apollo, if he gets into trouble while Zeus is fine you should go and help, and if he gets into trouble but you need to help Zeus as well another member of your team can help them.

Both Zeus and Apollo are late game gods, but Zeus is far riskier, so requires more protection and help

It should be noted that not all Supports are natural protectors, some are more aggressive, more suited to setting up kills rather than lending a helping hand in a teamfight. So how can you fulfil the same role when its required? While an aggressive god like Ares will never be as good at it as a defensive one like Athena, damage is most definitely a form of peel. Simply doing enough damage to the aggressor could cause them to back off enough to defuse the situation. If you do end up drafting an aggressive support, consider getting a CC heavy Jungler or Solo laner, to make up for your lower overall crowd control and peel.

So there we have it, two essential skills which the support player can use to help carry and increase their impact on the game. It should be noted that both of these skills become more prominent when you play with a 5-man party with you all communicating and playing as a team. I hope what you've read here will help you appreciate the role more and maybe even change your mind about its impact on the game.

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