When it comes to supporting your ADC in League of Legends, there are a few key steps you should master to set your ADC up for success. As you enter botlane, your ADC relies on you to assist them every step of the way, and it can be hard to know exactly what to do, when to do it, and how it will turn out.

Poking and Trading

As you and your ADC enter lane after leashing your jungler, the laning phase has officially begun, and you will meet your enemy duo face-to-face. Both ADCs have to last hit their minions in order to gain Gold, while both supports will need to find a balance between protecting their ally carry and attacking the enemy carry; the advantage in lane can start as early as level one to two, depending on your pressure and trading. You want to make sure you are not spending too much Mana or Health when trying to poke and trade with the enemy, as it will make you weaker and weaker until the enemy is ready to engage on you with little risk. If you end up getting especially low on resources, you will have to recall back to base, leaving your carry alone and vulnerable.

The best way to trade with your enemy is to damage them without losing your own Health, or at least losing less Health than they did. If you are playing a tankier support, you can instead use your Health as a tool to block incoming damage from hitting your ADC, keeping them healthy and ready for a fight. Supports with healing and shielding abilities can use said abilities to mitigate the damage done when the enemy attacks, taking Mana instead of Health from you when they poke. Always keep an eye out on everyone’s Health and Mana pools to get a good idea on who has the advantage and when it might be time to act on it.

If you are afraid of using up too much Mana, remember that you can always use your auto attacks to poke the enemy, especially if you are a ranged champion. It is a good idea to avoid using your abilities on the minion wave (unless your ADC asks you to) so that you do not steal CS away from your ADC. Lastly, try not to use important abilities with long cooldowns if you are only using it to poke the enemy, as it can leave you vulnerable if the enemy counterattacks.

Engaging and Counter Engaging

When poking and trading becomes more of a full on fight, it is your job to ensure your ADC is assisted as much as possible to maintain a successful outcome. Something to keep in mind is that you should not engage in fights that you know you do not have the advantage in, whether it is in champion levels, health bars, or even items. The best fights are one that are uneven with the odds weighing in your favor, as it involves a lot less risk for you and your allies. Whether you wait for your jungler to come down and help, or you wait for the enemy to use up their resources, always be on the lookout for ways to maximize your advantages. Another important factor in engaging is to keep good communication up with your team, especially your ADC, whether it be through quickly typed messages, or pings on the map.

If the odds are not in your favor and the enemy has the advantage, they may very well engage on you and try to shut you down. When being engaged on, it is important to try and immobilize the enemy ADC in any way possible, whether it be a Summoner Spell or simply one of your champion’s abilities. If the enemy ADC is slowed, rooted, stunned, or even Exhausted, they will not be able to fully utilize the engage to their advantage, hopefully allowing you and your ADC to get away safely. Immobilizing them also gives you a window of opportunity to turn the fight around in your favor, as long as you are not low on resources or are at a huge disadvantage. Remember that the enemy ADC is the one dealing most of the damage, and should be focused whenever you engage or counter-engage.

You want to always keep yourself between your ADC and the enemy duo

Rotating and Roaming

As a support, it is your job to assist more than just your ADC, but it is important that you do not completely abandon them. If you see a good opportunity to rotate and assist your other teammates, be sure to communicate this with your ADC, to either let them know to stay back or to allow them to follow you and make a full rotation to your team. Farming up minions is one of the most important tasks for an ADC, as it allows them to purchase more items to complete their build and truly ‘carry’ the team. With that being said, your ADC will not want to leave the lane unless they absolutely have to, so it is important to keep this in mind and to only make rotations if your ADC can be safe during them. Sometimes you just can not control what your ADC does, and sometimes they might just find themselves into a risky situation all on their own, so it is your duty to ensure you have done everything you can to keep them safe and assisted.

If you want your ADC to follow you when going to roam, especially for things like Dragon, help them clear the minion wave and push it against the enemy turret so that their lane is not left in disarray when they go with you to roam. Helping your ADC clear the minion wave should only be done if you are both trying to shove the lane, usually when you are getting ready for Dragon or simply recalling back to base. Be sure not to last-hit the minions when helping clear the wave, as it will take a lot of Gold away from your ADC and leave them without important purchases.

Warding and Vision Control

Warding is one of the most important jobs for a support, since you have access to a lot more wards than your allies do, thanks to your support items. Keeping up vision in the bot lane not only keeps you safe, but allows you to make decisive plays against the enemy duo. You want to make sure you keep dangerous areas like the river brushes filled with Stealth Wards and Control Wards, and you may even want to throw a few towards the alcoves as you play through the laning phase. Having vision while your enemy does not is one of the biggest advantages you could have in League of Legends, and it can be easy to do once you make a habit out of it. Another good habit to have when warding is to communicate that you are doing so, whether it be through words or a ping, so that your ADC knows you are moving away from them to place vision.

Vision is important since it keeps you and your ADC aware of who may be lurking in the enemy jungle or in the dark brush. If you spot an enemy, you can use this advantage to either move away safely, or to engage on them while they are least expecting it. Once you gain the advantage in lane, ensure that your vision is always kept up with, as the enemy jungler can easily punish you for being overextended. The river and the entrance to the enemy jungle are going to be your main points of lookout. Wards in the river can catch the jungler or the mid laner when they try to rotate down and gank the lane, while wards in the entrances of the enemy's jungle can catch the jungler as they finish camps and make their way down to your lane.

Objectives and Teamfights

As the laning phase ends, your job as a support is far from over, as you now have to keep your ADC ready for any teamfight or objective, not to mention the rest of your team. When you start to come together as a full team, your supportive capabilities must reach multiple ally champions, but this does not mean you leave your ADC in the dust. Throughout a fight, you want to make sure you have eyes on your ADC at all times so that you are ready to keep them buffed up and protected no matter what goes down. Your ADC is more often than not your team’s main form of constant damage, and every teamfight relies on them to stay up and ready to shut the enemy down. Doing your best possible job as a support allows your ADC to do their best job, which will only help you and your team secure more victories. A support may seem lackluster at first, but in reality, you are the core of the team, since they are relying on you to keep them assisted throughout every fight and objective.

Conclusion

Whether you are tasked with peeling and protecting your ADC, or simply keep them funneled with heals and buffs, it is ultimately up to you and you alone to set your ADC up for success. You may not be the strongest on your own, but paired with your ADC and plenty of supportive knowledge, you can both be an unstoppable force.