Support starting items - which is actually the best?

The three main support items were making all the supports happy when they first were introduced. Finally, supports would gain some gold and be wanted by players to play. But which item is really the best? Let’s figure it out.

If we start with looking at the stats and passives of all items first.

Ancient coin

Passive: Upon the death of a minion nearby you gain +2 gold and heal +5 hp.
Stats:
 +3 mana regeneration.

The item is 49.3 % gold efficient.

Nomad’s Medallion

Passive: Upon the death of a minion nearby you gain +3 gold and heal +10 hp.
Stats:
  +25 % health regeneration.
  +25 % mana regeneration.
  +10 movement speed.
  +2 gold per 10 seconds.

The item is 46.24 % gold efficient.

Talisman of Ascension

Active: Gives nearby allies 40 % movement speed for 3 seconds.
Passive: Upon the death of a minion nearby you gain +3 gold and heal +10 hp.
Stats:
  +10 % cooldown reduction.
  +100 % health regeneration.
  +100 % mana regeneration.
  +20 movement speed.
  +2 gold per 10 seconds.

This item is 78.9 % gold effiecient unless the passive and active have accumulated 433 gold, the item’s been held for 37 minutes or the passive have healed you by 123 % per 5, then it can be considered 100 % gold efficient or more.

Quick notes:
- On a slow, mana hungry support champion (Janna, Blitz), the ancient coin might be a wise choice. Its mana and movement speed stats is great early on. It’s especially good against ADCs that hunt a lot.

- Ancient coin is also good for champions that spend a lot of time in lane. Its passive grants some gold each time a minion dies so if you intend to spend a lot of time somewhere else than in lane you will not gain anything by the passive buff.

- You’ll be able to recieve a total of 332 gold with the Ancient Coin.

- The Talisman of Ascension has the lowest gold efficiency of the three end items. However, if you can manage to increase its gold efficiency it’s has the highest gold efficiency of the three. Although this seems relatively unlikely.

- The Talisman of Ascension is an easy pick for new players as you only have to be in lane to recieve gold.

 

Spelltheif’s Edge

Passive: Upon dealing damage to a champion or structure you gain +10 gold and heal +5 hp. One charge is generated every 10 seconds. Can hold three charges.
Stats:
  +5 ability power.
  +25% mana regeneration.
  +2 gold per 10 seconds.

The item is 79.2 % gold efficient if you use your charges as often as possible.

Frost Fang

Passive: Upon dealing damage to a champion or structure you gain +15 gold and heal +10 hp. One charge is generated every 10 seconds. Can hold three charges.
Stats:
  +10 ability power
  +50 mana regeneration
  + 2 gold per 10 seconds

The item is 59.9 % gold efficient if you use your charges as often as possible.

Frost Queen’s Claim

Active: Shoots a projectile that detonates at target location. Slows enemies by 80 % in close range of the detonation.
Passive: Upon dealing damage to a champion or structure you gain +15 gold and heal +10 hp. One charge is generated every 10 seconds. Can hold three charges.
Stats:
  +50 ability power
  +10 cooldown reducation
  +50% mana regeneration
  +2 gold per 10 seconds

The item is 91.1% gold efficient if you use your charges as often as possible.

Quick notes
- On a champion that has a lot of poke or harass (Morgana, Karma), Spellthief’s edge is a good item. It’s passive will give you gold without hitting the ADC’s minions by poking the enemy team.

- The ability power and cooldown reduction also makes the already pokey champion a bit stronger.

- You’ll be able to recieve a total of 504 gold with the Spelltheif’s Edge.

- The Frost Queen’s Claim is the second most gold efficient end item, coming second with only 0.2%.

- The active can be hard to aim and hit with but when you do it is more valuable than movement speed for several reasons.

- This item is very gold efficient if you manage to utilise both it’s passive and active. For new players this might be tricky and might only be worth it if you know what you are doing.

- Spelltheif’s Edge is the only item that gives you offensive stats which can be useful to keep in mind.

Relic Shield

Passive: Upon killing a minion with autoattack you gain 40+ hp and grants equal gold with the closest team member. One charge is generated every 60 seconds. Can hold two charges.
Stats:
  +75 health

The item is 54.8% gold efficient.

Targon’s Brace

Passive: Upon killing a minion with autoattack you gain 50+ hp and grants equal gold with the closest team member. One charge is generated every 30 seconds. Can hold three charges.
Stats
  +175 health
  +50% health regeneration

The item is 74.7% gold efficient.

Face of the Mountain

Active: Shields a targeted ally for 10 % of your maximum health for 4 seconds.
Passive: Upon killing a minion with autoattack you gain 50+ hp plus 1% of your maximum health. Grants equal gold with the closest team member. One charge is generated every 30 seconds. Can hold four charges.

Stats:
  +500 health
  +100% health regeneration
  +10% cooldown reduction

The item is 91.3% gold efficient.

Quick notes:

- For a champion that you want to tank with (Braum, Taric), Relic Shield is the best pick. Its health and health regeneration adds to the tankiness. The active can add to your tankiness if needed.

- You might think that a squishy champion will benefit from Relic Shield but early on it will make little difference and getting the last hits to build your passive might be very risky.

- You’ll only be able to recieve a total of 320 gold with the Relic Shield but The Face of the Mountain is the most gold efficient end item! Relic Shield is the item that takes the shortest to become gold efficient.

- The active is very useful. It’s good for adding to your own tankiness as well as saving your fragile ADC’s.

- This item is very gold efficient in the end and is in between Talisman of Ascension and Frost Queen’s Claim in terms difficulty.

- Relic Shield will grant you a lot of gold without ruining the creep score for the ADC, something it might have in common with the other two items as well of course.

 

Depending on which situation you are in, all three items can be useful. However, I rarely use the Ancient Coin and it’s not that often that I find builds suggesting it either. Its movement speed buff is nice but that’s it compared to the other two items. Also, the mana regeneration can be found in the Spelltheif’s Edge and the other stats are in either of the two items as well.

I’d suggest Spelltheif’s Edge and Relic Shield to most champions and situations and keep to Ancient Coin only if I was new in the support role and felt I needed more escape possibilites.