Practically impossible to level up as support.

I am sick and tired of people complaining about how I am such a low level as a support player. Well I wonder why I am so low when I can't level up because the ADC won't let me level up at a steady rate. Is it any wonder why no-one wants to play support. They're tired of people complaining how bad they are most of the time. I was literally level 11 when the match ended because the nieth I was with wouldn't let me level. I had no choice, but to go Chronos' Pendant first so I could use my abilities faster and got griped at because of it. I love playing support, but I am seriously doubting whether or not it's worth it to continue to play as support.

P.S. This is in conquest just to clarify.

@Branmuffin

Hey Greek. Support is definitely a tough role to play. Let's assume you are able to level all the way. What would your build route be? As you already know, Chronos' Pendant isn't a typical support item. As a support, you're supposed to let your ADC get the most farm possible so he can level up ASAP and carry/end the game. So could you elaborate how the Neith wouldn't let you level?

Supports are usually the last to level, but you shouldn't be laning with your ADC the whole game. Rotate around the map and pick up farm as needed. The guide I will link you explains it better.

I recommend you read the support section of this guide:
https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/the-overarching-conquest-guide-s5-patch-5-11-12069

I'll redirect any questions you may have about support towards BranMuffin17, as he is the author of the linked guide. He's also a very solid support player and knows the concepts of conquest fairly well.

Thanks for the quick reply Boogiebass, I play Aphro support so first I go for mage's blessing, since Aphro burns through mana quickly early game. Then I go for defense if the enemy is pushing hard or if they are still hanging back I would go for Book of Thoth to help with mana regen. My third item would be Rod of Asclepius so I can do more healing mid game. Would then sell my mage's blessing to get book of the dead to get more magical power to do more healing. After that I would get another (or first) defense item. Like hide of the Nemean to get more mana and it has a good passive. Now that we have entered late into mid game I would go for shoes of focus and then end with Rod of Tahuti with it's major increase to magical power. Depending on how the match lasts I might end up selling Shoes to go for Chronos's pendant to get more cooldown reduction.

Now how the Neith wasn't letting me level was I would go for minion kills, and this is mid game, and I am only level six at this time. She comes right behind me and kills the minions. I go for jungle and well maybe not Neith, but someone else is right there to take the xp in jungle. I just could not level. in other games I have at least made it to level 17 before the game ended and had all the items I needed. I was keeping my team alive and we ended up winning. I even got a couple of kills as I used my 2 to get the enemy away from my teammate.

I also checked out the link and read through that. I have never thought about using guardians blessing as I have done just fine with Mage's, but I may take that into consideration.

Sorry about not having pictures to go with names, I don't know how the coding works on this site. I have tried, but I just can't seem to figure it out.

If you're playing Aphrodite support you should be getting Guardian's Blessing not Mage's Blessing. You also wouldn't be going for damage items like Book of Thoth. If you want to do that play her in Mid lane.

Book of the Dead is a terrible item and I don't recommend it.

You should be getting items like Lotus Crown and Pythagorem's Piece.

E.g.: Shoes of Focus, Lotus Crown, Breastplate of Valor, Rod of Asclepius, Bulwark of Hope, Mantle of Discord.

@kriega id advocate pestilence instead of bulwark of hope.

Greek, You are esentially playing more of a mid laner with that build than a support. If you're new to the game, i suggest trying a guardian for support.

Also, your neith was correct in taking the minion kills. Thats what an adc is supposed to do-get fed and reach level 20 ASAP so he can end the game.
The person taking your jungle camp kills was probably the jungler. One of his main sources of xp is from camps, so he did the right thing to take the camps.

The only stacking item you should build is gauntlet of thebes (but that stacks with assists on minion kills, so you dont need to get last hit)

As a support, your two main sources of xp should be assists, sharing minions with your adc for the first few levels, then sharing minions with the rest of your team as you rotate.

If you have further questions, ill try to answer them. Love to hear back from you.

Yes Pestilence is fine as well if you need it. Gauntlet of Thebes is decent as well if you're not behind.

If you want to learn more about support role check out EmilZy and Jeffhindla on youtube.

I only brought up gauntlet of thebes because Greek mentioned he builds book of thoth. Offensive stacking items are extremely unconventional on supports. But yea im definitely looking forward to that support buff in tweet you linked.

@greek, have you tried playing mid? I think you might enjoy that role more than support.

@boogie, well done with your explanations.

@Kriega holy **** thanks for that link, hadn't heard it but that is a LONG time coming. Also good suggestions on build.

@Greek Lover, I think it's great you've presented your issues here and are open to criticism/suggestions.

As boogie has said in a different way, your concept of how a Support should work isn't quite right. Not sure if you've played other MOBAs (where Supports often function quite a bit differently), but in this game, the standard Support is going to be a tanky character that can soak up a lot of damage, and either initiate a fight or help peel (use crowd control to prevent enemies from killing your squishy, high-damage teammates). It's not always this way, as some non-tank gods can work in a support role, such as Nox, Aphrodite, and Ne Zha, but as a general concept, learning to be a standard Support is probably best before you get into the unique ones.

If you're hooked on the idea of being a Support, then your first step should be to branch out and use the more common Supports. They're most often Guardians, and if you want suggestions for these, I might suggest Ganesha or Athena. You'll build them mostly tanky, with items that give you protections, CDR for more ability use, and counter items. Here are some examples:

• Common AURA protections (auras help protect nearby teammates as well): Sovereignty, Gauntlet of Thebes, Heartward Amulet
• CDR: Breastplate of Valor, Genji's Guard, Spirit Robe, Mantle of Discord
• Counter items: Pestilence (anti-heal), Witchblade & Midgardian Mail (anti-basic attack), Hide of the Nemean Lion (anti-crit basic attack)

Some further thoughts based on comments you've supplied:

• Aphrodite Support is a thing. She does have some major weaknesses, though. One thing you really need to do earlier, with ANY god, is get your full movement speed online. Your choice of Shoes should be picked up as either 1st or 2nd main item (not including a Blessing).
  
  
• You don't want to lock yourself into just one god...especially Aphro. You need to mind the rest of your teammates' choices. Regarding magical/physical balance, you might find that teammates want to go with a magical Solo (e.g. Cerberus), Mid (any standard mage), and Jungle (e.g. Ao Kuang) or something like that...you don't want to make it very easy for the enemy to counter-build your team, so you might need to go with a physical Support, like Odin, Hercules, or Guan Yu. Regarding tankiness, you might have only 1 tanky god in Solo...and so an inherently tankier god, like a Guardian, would really help your team's balance that way. Just things to consider.
  
  
• The main concept of a Support is to support your teammates. You attend the ADC early in the game in the Duo lane...but THEY get the last hit. You do NOT take it, if you can help it, and thus you do NOT build items like Book of Thoth, where YOU need to get the last hit to stack. This is why things like Guardian's Blessing and Gauntlet of Thebes are available. Take advantage of it.
  
  
• Speaking of Guardian's Blessing and mana consumption, you stated you get Book of Thoth to help with Aphro's high mana use. Guardian's passive provides you with a decent amount of mana, IF you don't last hit. Supplement that with Chalice of Mana at the start, and you should find you don't have too many mana issues.

We'll also look forward to Patch 5.13's boost to XP sharing, which should definitely help with the Support's level being behind the rest of their teammates.

Hope this helps.

A note about Gauntlet of Thebes: it can put you behind while you're stacking it because it doesn't provide much of anything before it's stacked. If you're being bullied in lane (pushed back to your tower because your ADC's clear isn't as good as the enemy's or if the enemy jungler is harassing you constantly), grab another protection aura item like Sovereignty or Heartward Amulet depending upon where most of the aggression is coming from: if both the ADC and jungler are magical gods, grab HW, otherwise grab Sov. There's nothing wrong with buying Thebes 4th because it's more of a late game item than an early one.