Support Bellona!

Guide Up to date as of: Another COG in the Machine Patch, March 18th, 2015

March 18th Patch Implications for Support Bellona

-[Master of War]'s hard nerf is completely fair. [Bellona]'s rotations, especially early game, take a noticeable hit but still allow for better positioning in team fights. Her early game tankiness remains virtually untouched and should be abused.
-[Scourge]'s heal nerf is drastic, even a bit overly heavy handed. Support [Bellona]'s sustain does take a substantial hit and is no longer a pro for her use after level 10. While this was meant to curb her boxing regeneration for solo play it makes ability to heal subpar with other warriors and guardians. While it may be able to compete in total amount, its lack of burst and reliable teamfight application put her regeneration considerably lower than many of her other support peers as the game persists. While still strong early (before level


Season 2 pvp has brought some great meta changes to Smite supporters! Supports finally have more item options at much more affordable prices. Loss of Pen boots allows guardians and other high base protection gods to finally feel tanky early game once more! While support early game has benefited the reestablishment of hunters as late game carries supports now find that that our tankiness late game can feel lacking. The upside is the nerf to Qin's Sais has allowed for a drop in the Unicorn/pseudo Unicorn builds that worked so well against tanky supports.
Along with those other changes came a new god Bellona the Roman God of War!

If you're having issue with the way Bellona's name sounds out loud I would suggest dropping the pronunciation and instead saying 'Bella-na' I think you will find it's much more pleasant to hear and say!

This is my first guide and I am still struggling to get links and presentation right. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated in message form. I would like to keep comments focused on guide content feedback and discussion :D

So why Bellona Support?
In general, she functions much in a similar way to the best warrior supports if not better with her counter hunter kit and strong objective presence.

Pros!

-early tankiness
-high-moderate mobility equals better rotations
-strong early presence and damage
-amazing lane, jungle camp, and solo minion clear
-great team fight initiations
-great objective defending/contesting
-boxing more possible than with most other supports
-strong AOE team aura ultimate
-reliable sustained healing
-strong teamfight/AOE damage
-3 abilities with decent CC
-disarm is strong CC for hunters even when they are at their strongest late game
-rest of kit is built to shut down even fed auto attack based gods
-easy to pop Magi's Blessing's bubbles from range
-kit affected very little by low damage build
-duo lane almost guarantees match up against auto attack dependent god

Cons!

-lacks long lasting hard CC
-no hard CC besides ultimate
-best form of CC has little affect on gods who are not reliant on auto attacks
-kit is not very effective against ability spamming gods
-short dash
-no burst healing
-lacks high base damage on most abilities, besides Bludgeon
-small character model does not subconsciously draw enemy attack focus as much as larger support gods

Utility, Utility Utility!!!

Now, let us briefly talk about why Bellona is a Warrior worth playing in the Support role. When I first started playing her in support a lot of people were skeptical about her CC applications but keep in mind that she has 3 CC abilities which is on par with most guardians not only in number and diversity but also application. Between her unique (or almost carbon copy abilities, looking at Preemptive Stike lol) abilities and first ever weapon stances, Bellona has plethora of utilty which is why it's no surprise to find her successfully implemented in the solo, jungle, and even support roles!

Passive: Master of War

March 18th patch update: [Master of War] takes a heavy, but fair, nerf in this last (March 18th) patch where the duration, protections, and movement speed were all reduced. The protections nerf is unnoticable. passive still allows for early game tankiness that should be abused to build up and then harass duo lane early. The max 30% movement speed for 5sec to 15% for 4sec is a big hit to her implementation. The most prominent instance where I see this is no longer getting to lane so ahead of the enemy duo. To be fair with her fast attack chain and [Bludgeon]'s strong clear should still put a duo with [Bellona] support in lane before the other team. Rotations and pursuing enemies for kill secures will suffer a noticeable amount, especially early game. Her passive is still one of the strongest in the game and one of the best for a support god with increased mobility and great early protections.

tl;dr...movement speed and prots makes for great early tankiness and positioning

Master of War is an amazing passive regardless of class. The +5 per landed and received auto attacks (or AA), up to +25 protections, make her incredibly tanky starting from lvl 1, if not the tankiest. This buff lasts for 5secs since last stack. This is by far the best defensive passive in the game! Approximately half of all guardians have defensive passives (not ability passives) and even less warriors. A combined 5 hits puts her passive equal to 3 points spent in Tyr's Change Stance (24 prots), more prats than 5 points spent in Chaac's Torrent, 2 points spent in Ares's Bolster Defenses, and 2 points in Cabrakan's Refraction Shield's passive, which is the most comparable ability/passive in the game. It supersedes Sobek's passive. Blessing of the Nile, in a multitude of ways even before talking about the movement speed increase stacks (much to Reddit Sobek fans), etc, etc.

On top of the incredible amount of protections Bellona also receives a 6% moment speed increase per stack of her passive for a total of +30%. This aspect of the passive is akin to Ra's passive Speed of Light and while it he isn't a support he does use this part of his kit for the entirety of his mobility, which only maxes out at 18% total for 10secs. Early game it almost be used to the effect of a Fatalis for pressure.

This passive is so good it's in fact, too good and no one should be surprised if it gets nerfed in the next update. In the mean time it gives early bulk and agility on par or better with most supports in the game. Allowing her rotations to be fast and to tank hits early. Along with her great early and solo jungle clear I often find myself first to lane minions far ahead of my duo lane opponents giving us early lane advantage. Even with a modest nerf, lets say +3 prots and +3% movement speed it still is a great passive for a support.

tl;dr...movement speed and prots makes for great early tankiness and positioning still noticeable in the late game

1: Shield Bash

First thing I thought of when I read this ability was Athena's Preemptive Strike's passive. Not only is it similar but is far better in the passive that Shield Bash provides. Each enemy hit provides one stack of Block which not only absorbs an auto attack but reflects 30% of it in an area around her. These stacks persist until out of combat, unlike Athena's Block stacks. This is silly good. Hunters are now back to being the late game carries they were meant to be and this allows you to stay toe-to-toe with them even into those late matches. The fact that you can build continuous stacks every 3 of your successfully landed auto attacks means that more attack speed is more defense when staring down an auto attack focused god. That aside even if hunters or their supports are trying to poke early game with AA you can negate and reflect the damage to minions or enemy gods. I more than once cleared a lane early game by simply absorbing AA's from an Ah Muzen Cab's or someone's AA's while only taking a few of them myself, the easy 3 starting stacks guarantees that. This makes you an amazing front line presence against hunters of AA focused warriors/assassins/mages in team fights even into late game. The 2sec 30% slow puts it on par with 3 points spend in Athena's Preemptive Strike, even in damage. The down side to this ability is the range. The distance covered is pitiful but the upside compared to Preemptive Strike is that it is instantaneous, and the cone of slow range is very large. The large AOE of this slow makes it arguably the best initiating movement based ability after Bacchus' Belly Flop allowing for CC on multiple enemies. I constantly peel, initiate, reposition, and help secure with ability. With a consistent CD, passive, cost, slow %, and slow duration there is little reason to invest any points in this ability until necessary.

tl;dr...Short but sweet dash that AOE slows and gives AA reflection stacks good against hunters in duo lane and late game. Level last after 1 point of investment early.

2: Bludgeon

What a fabulous ability. Baring being invaded, this should be where your first point investment goes. The clear damage is excellent for jungle and in lane. In typical minion formation it allows you to damage all minions with the first swing and then almost kill archer minions at low levels. I often try to use the 2nd swing of Bludgeon to poke enemy gods in addition to back archers in lane. With a 30% damage increase to the second swing per enemy god hit on the first swing I regularly find the follow up damage from minions due to the poke well worth it when I use this move in the midst of minions and the 2 duo lane gods. Usually allowing me to heavily poke the adc and clear archers at the start of a grouping. This move CAN be interrupted and is not knock up immune like similar charged abilities. Competent opponents will interrupt this ability often and easily. I use that to my advantage and try to bait out Ymir's Frost Breath and similar support CC, of which usually has a longer CD than the 10sec on Bludgeon, even starting it seeing the CC coming, cancelling and dashing to avoid the CC. This allows me to help my adc farm and us to poke at our leisure for the next ~18 seconds which I can get an uncontested Bludgeon in the meantime. The 30% damage increase makes it a decent invade and spectacular team fight ability. Getting a mid, adc, and support with this as they take their dmg buff allows me to hard chunk the adc or mid hard as the invade starts. A Heavy Hammer follow up can have great effects. This ability hits hard into late game and can often still chunk squishy gods and secure kills which is sorely lacking in many common support gods. A bulky support built will undeniably hurt it's damage output but that is compensated by being able to fully utilize it's 30% per god damage increase by being tanky enough to execute it in the middle of a hectic teamfight without paying with your life in turn.

If this ability wasn't impressive enough the weapons stance it puts you in after causes your AA's to cleave (hits multiple enemies) in a normal attack range. This amazing clear just got better. With this you can out clear most gods, let alone other supports with one ability and follow up. Jungle camps are no different and usually only require a few AA to finish off after a well placed Bludgeon. It should be noted that your attack chain is slower but hits harder compared with all your other weapon stances. With a combined base damage of 460 (first swing+second swing) with 5 points investment (553 actually since there is a 30% slam increase due to hitting a single god, and more with additional gods) Bludgeon should be the first ability you should finish to keep your pokes strong, your clear persistent, and your teamfight damage noticeable.

tl;dr...Great clear, poke, and teamfight attack with low CD. Level first.

3: Scourge

A very interesting ability. With this Smite introduces a new form of CC. An instant long range attack Scourge disarms enemy gods and prevents them from using any AA's for a duration. I love this ability for so many reasons. With few ability options early game I have managed to save my adc's life countless times will simply disarming the enemy duo with ability, or just preventing their early clear so we can secure minion advantage. The 3sec disarm late game completely shuts down even the most fed enemy adc's allowing your team to counter and focus target. This attack pops Magi's Blessing's bubble at range much like a Thor's Tectonic Rift. While teams are dancing around Fire Giant or Gold Fury I try to pop as many of these bubbles on enemy gods as possible, especially the other support to help CC him out and away from the team objective. When invading objectives I might even use it to pop the bubble and follow it up with a Eagle's Rally after the CC immunity fades. With the range and width this ability has great poke and kill secure applications. As far as I know you cannot Purification Beads the disarm once it has already bean applied. (please someone confirm or deny in comments) which is a scary strong form of CC late game for hunters you rely on AA lifesteal for boxing and team fight sustain.

As with her previous 2 abilities Scourge places Bellona in a weapon stance with increased AA range (units anyone?), which heals her for a set amount of health every successful 3rd hit. The increased range is mostly noticeable when trying to AA gods on the edge of their tower allowing you to avoid tower shots while constantly whipping people in the face. The longer a wave of minions lasts in a lane the better the health regeneration from this ability. You can heal upwards of 50% of your health if not harassed in lane. Allowing for aggressive Bludgeon and Scourge pokes that push low health enemies away from minions very worth while since you can heal off most of the damage taken in turn once you and your adc are able to free farm. This ability has allowed me to survive in 1v1 jungle situations long enough for my team to rotate and make a play. One of the best support applications is for allowing Bellona to tank Gold Fury very early compared with other supports. This stance combined with some switching off with your adc can make for very early GF grabs, or even soloing a GF late game (albeit slowly) when the opportunity presents itself. The 'lifesteal' also does not benefit from any physical power investment like other warriors' heal: i.e. Chaac's Rain Dance making it a reliable form of healing for a low damage support build. It also justifies defensive items with attack speed like Winged Blade and Witchblade, already great items on a support. High prots with low health build allow for larger portions of your hard to remove health to be recovered easily, a different but effective support build further augmented by the 25 prots from her passive. I find his less viable with the heal nerf in the mid-late game. I believe Scourge should be finished second after Bludgeon], if I find our duo lane being hard pressed back from pokes I might throw additional point or two into this to give more healing off waves, but for the most part the healing is secondary to [[Bludgeon's clear and the time it takes hunter adc's to come online the increased disarm duration can wait until mid game to be maxed out.

tl;dr...Great CC form for shutting down hunters any stage in the game, accompanied by reliable 'lifesteal' stance for objective tanking. Level second, earlier if the heal is absolutely necessary.

Ultimate: Eagle's Rally

This is a fabulous ability, especially for a support. The utility on this ultimate is beyond most any other. It has a leap, CC immunity, AOE stun, damage, fabulously low CD, and significant AOE team buff perfect for defending and contesting objectives. The closet ability or ultimate in the game for comparison is Tyr's Lawbringer which fits many of the same criteria of Eagle's Rally. While the damage from this ult is subpar and small in area it greatly makes up for it in an incredibly low CD and teamfight presence. The only aspect affected by not building damage, as would a solo laner Bellona, is the already low damage (only 50% scaling on an ultimate). There is virtually nothing lost in this ultimate by building low damage and high defense. While other supports struggle to achieve CD reduction for their ultimates and high defense with items, Bellona is not restricted at all by this with her amazing 55 second (level 20) ult CD before CD reduction items(even lower than Ymir's ult Shards of Ice). This allows you to contest jungle camps and objectives literally every time your Wrath of the Gods is off CD (60 seconds). Not to mention it allows her to easily avoid ganks over walls and not feel guilty for selfishly using your ult to escape and then have it on CD for the next team/objective fight as you would if you were Geb}} using [[Cataclysm for self preservation. With a Winged Blade and Spirit Robe the CD on this ult is almost sinful, both items already practical items for a support and her. The leap is an excellent pursuit and kill secure move. While I usually save my dashes to catch targets after they have used their movement abilities I don't have that problem with Bellona. I can freely close distance with my Shield Bash the sudden attack along with the cripple will usually spur on a leap or dash from an adc which I can than easily guarantee the stun my predicting the leap/dash distance, allowing for uninterrupted Bludgeon follow up along with my adc or team's attacks. With the speed, CD, and range of this ult think that "Pros" seen on her in game card should include "High Mobility" along side "High Defenses".

Many people have issue with the size of the AOE stun for a support if the low CD wasn't enough to make it a viable team fight form of CC I would like to say that I have had no problem finding 2,3,4 and very very rarely 5 targets in the stun. 2-3 stunned targets is very attainable considering the range and speed which the ultimate is executed. It does not suffer from the telltale wind up that Tyr's Lawbringer possesses, making execution a much more practical thing to accomplish.

In addition, the AOE team buff is so strong. While the offensive buff is only for physical gods it still enough to help adc's burn down objectives, towers, and phoenixes a like. The protections for 14 seconds is icing on the cake when it comes to the team fight. I will just pop this before an early FG or GF and it's already worth it. At max CD ( Breastplate of Valor/ Jotunn's Wrath and ~ Winged Blade/Anclie/ Spirit Robe) Eagle's Rally has a 33 seond CD. With a buff duration of 16 seconds that means at max CD, you can have the buff up for ~50% of the time (only 17 seconds of down time between end of buff and CD refresh). 50 physical power and 35 prots for the whole team for 50% of the time. That is crazy but also needs some team coordination. One should put points in this at every opportunity mostly for the CD reduction. On occasion I will forgo a point investment in the ult only if it's CD and I'd rather have an increase in healing from leveling my Scourge and I believe that I'll gain a level before my ult comes off CD.

tl;dr...Crazy low CD on leap/stun/CC immune ult with AOE buff allows for strong objective defense and contention. Level early and often.

Starting Items

Standard Warrior Support Items:
Bluestone Pendant, Hand of the Gods, with 4xHealth Potions and 4x Mana Potions is a typical Support start. Bluestone Pendant is preferred over the Mark of the Vanguard because part of the reason you play a warrior is for the early damage and lane aggression. The physical power and impressive mana regeneration on Bluestone Pendant allow for this play style at the cost of receiving most damage from minions which Mark of the Vanguard excels in doing. For Bellonda this loss in bulk is not as harsh with other warrior supports. After a few auto attacks Bellona has sufficient protections akin to the damage mitigation that Mark of the Vanguard provides. In addition, the heal off her Scourge allows for respectable healing that allows for you to auto attack minions and give last hit to your adc and heal off an impressive amount of health after pokes gain lane dominance (best case scenario but common with her play style). The health, mana, and gold bonus from Watcher's Gift is still sub-par compared to regeneration from Bluestone Pendant and Scourge and the passive play style that it promotes is lost on Bellona.

Paranoid Starting Items:
In this season 2 meta I find solo side invades rather common, but duo/mid side invades very infrequent and easy to spot out. I usually roam jungle until 5 seconds after match start to ensure no invades. If that isn't enough to satisfy you can start Bluestone Pendant Hand of the Gods and 2x Wards. Place the wards early, enemy blue buff and mid camps most likely, back and grab 3xHealth Potions and 3xMana Potions. With these wards, spotting out an invade is fairly easy. I find the potions are not as necessary on her, early items with Bluestone Pendand and Scourge provide such excellent forms of regeneration, and while mana wont be topped off it will always allow for that just enough mana for 1 more ability akin to the Bluestone Pendent. But high aggression and poking cost you health and mana so the potions are still a safer start. Rage of the Gods and 1 of each potion is viable on her but demands farm focused safer play than usual.

tl;dr... Bluestone Pendant+ Hand of the Gods+4xHealth Potions and 4x Mana Potion, 2x Wards if you prefer but not as important as last season.

Core Support Build

For the most part I recommend the standard warrior season 2 meta build for Bellona in the Support role. I try to get Sovereignty and Heartward Amulet completed asap after my movement item and Wrath of the Gods. The biggest change in my core is going straight Winged Blade or straight Reinforced Greaves. If I think my team needs defense online asap I finish greaves and go straight into Sovereignty. If I feel that there is going to be a longer laning phase I finish Winged Blade boots 2, to ensure I can make speedy rotations with my 2 movement speed items during the long laning phase and then finish Reinforced Greaves followed by Sovereignty. Sovereinty and Heartward Amulet are great cheap, safe, and team efficient support items that should rarely forsaken for others. Unless a specific counter build is needed early you will see me grab these two items early. The Hp5 and Mp5 add greatly to mid and even late game regeneration and should be given the respect it deserves. Along with Bluestone Pendant mana regeneration mid and late game far exceeds that of guardian supports, but it's not uncommon for me to grab a Mana Potion along with a couple Wards every time I go back to ensure I'm not out of mana if people are grouping for a Gold Fury.

Magi's Blessing is a solid post Hearward Amulet item that helps you defend objectives. I find it's not as necessary on her as other supports because I rarely rely on the CC immunity to escape accidental over extension or allow for objective stealing (uninterrupted leap through walls with 1 second is so strong), abusing the low CD and CC immunity of Eagle's Rally in place of it. Spirit Robe is a great alternative with its passive, CD reduction, and stalwart protections, and should be considered for low CC teams.

I do not have a set second active after Wrath of the Gods and usually wait until mid game to determine which active best benefits my team. This is largely game specific but if you are looking to walk away with 'never wrong' second active for this build then I'd say Shell of Absorption is that item, but I'll address actives individually at the end of this section.

tl;dr...
Long laning phase Winged Blade-> Reinforced Greaves-> Sovereignty-> Heartward Amulet-> Shell of Absorption->Magi's Blessing/ Spirit Robe
Short laning phase Reinforced Greaves-> Sovereignty-> Heartward Amulet-> Shell of Absorption->Magi's Blessing/ Spirit Robe.

Counter Builds

It goes without saying that the rest of your items should be picked more for countering more so than any other person on your team. Building for your kit comes second to your teammates' and it falls on you build counter aura items like Runic Shield, Pestilence, Witchblade, etc.

Hunter Counter Suppoort Builds:
Although Bellona's kit is build for countering AA dependent gods, hunters are still hard late game carries they were meant to be and additional items may likely be needed to give your team the advantage. The movement speed on Witchblade is sorely missed but less so with Bellona's passive Master of War and it is a must item for shutting down a late game hunter or a team with 2 or more AA dependent gods ( Bakasura solo, Artemis adc, and Kali jungle for example]]. This takes priority over Healthward Amulet if their hunter does manage to get fed. An early Enfeebling Curse can help greatly. If I decide to get this item I try to rush it allowing for the low CD to help use it in almost every engagement, the slow helps stop enemy team pursuits and escapes wonderfully. Midgardian Mail is a great counter option and even finds a way onto the end of many of core builds because of it's great stats attack speed debuff, and psuedo self-peel options. Breatplate of Valor is not the first pick but is practical not only for the high physical protections but also for the 25% CD reduction alow for more Scourges and less autos from a fed hunter. Frostbound Hammer is a very applicable item for a Bellona support. Early purchase is risky but combined with her passive Master of War and the lack of boots on the enemy, kills are very manageable. Just remember that a failure to secure a kill in the first few minutes will result in the advantage going to the enemy duo. Frostbound Hammer is just as good late game for her. The health allows you to get in the face of hunters and apply the slow and attack speed debuff that almost completely shuts down hunters. The attack speed from Winged Blade, Witchblade, and her fast attack chain allows for constant debuff application. With these items and her kit Bellona is the best late game hunter counter aside from an unAegised Release The Kraken!

tl;dr... Witchblade Enfeebling Curse Midgardian Mail Frostbound Hammer

Anti-Heal Support Build:
This build is pretty self intuitive, magical prots and magical debuff auras. One great advantage of a warrior support is access to many items with magical defense not available to guardians. Runic Shield being the prime example. A -50 magical power debuff aura becomes more necessary the more mages on the enemy team ( Janus mid, Chang'e solo, and Ares support for example]]. Many of said items give physical power instead of health though. This not ideal for a support but after finished your tanky core build it is still an option and can allow you to apply unignorable pressure to squishy mages while shrugging of their abilities. Since Belona's kit gives her no advantages over mages tankiness is important and should be prioritized over magical protections/physical power items that would be akin to an anti-mage solo Bellona build. Stone of Gaia is a great mid early item doe to the regeneration allowing you stay on the map longer and keep rotating. Bulwark of Hope is about as bulky as you get and with its massive amount of health is always a solid choice if you find your first line presence lacking regardless of the enemy team comp. This item is great late game when mages like Scylla and Janus start hitting exceptionally hard. Ancile is wroth mentioning but not worth buying unless you are ahead and anticipate late game mage carries, Bellona's excellent mid/late game clear makes stacks easily attainable compared to other warrior supports. The CD reduction with the magical protctions is the real draw here and obviously shouldn't be bought for the physical power. Shell of Absorption is the preferred second item in this situation allowing your team to shrug off the very predictable panic Release The Kraken!s that comes from pressuring mages in a team fight.

tl;dr... Stone of Gaia-> Runic Shield-> Bulwark of Hope-> Shell of Absorption

Healing Counter Build:
This is very straight forward for those of you who know the items. Early Weakening Curse is very potent and strong against gods like Hel, Aphrodite, high lifesteal hunters, etc. Warriors and Chang'e heals are minimal and spread out over time and Weakening Curse's anti-healing is only mildly effective in this situation. I also don't bother getting this item against teams with a Ra not because the heal isn't substantial, but because it is usually used to its greatest out of combat, prior to tower pushes and after objectives. Anti-heals aren't effective in this situation and CD reduction for initiation to scare people off the heal is a better approach. The two items that are specific to a Bellona/or warrior support is Pestilence and Brawler's Beat Stick. Pestilence solid support item with a mildly effective passive. This the item to have against warriors and Chang'es alike. Passively halving their long term but consistent healing. Brawler's Beat Stick is an item that should only be considered after achieving a solid level of tackiness in your build. It goes well with Bellona's attack speed, and movement speed allowing her to stay stuck to a healer and harass to great effect and is something that acts in place of Divine Ruin rarely seen on more common guardian supports.

tl;dr... Weakening Curse-> Pestilence-> Brawler's Beat Stick

Builds for Playing Behind:
When you find your team or yourself behind compared to the enemy team make sure to prioritize aura actives, aura items, and regeneration items. Even if you are not engaging directly you are still contributing to your team. The regeneration allows you to stay on map or defend a tower for longer to prevent their map control of your side and allow you to farm longer to be able to catch up late game. A finished Wrath of the Gods is an absolute early must. The threat of a low leveled support stealing a Fire Giant buff can check a snowballing enemy team and the attempt is worth the death of an underleveled support when weighted with possibly buying time for your team to catch up. Wards are even more important when plying from behind as they allow you to chose when to engage the enemy team till a more favorable time. Happening upon a 1v1 situation is not a disadvantage when you have a lead and is even favorable for your team. Even if it is more money from your build the ward investment is absolutely necessary and this should be the mindset for any support not just a Bellona support.

tl;dr... Wrath of the Gods, aura actives, aura items, regeneration items, Wards! Wards! Wards!!!

Builds for Playing with a Lead:
Focus on finishing your core build in Winged Blade-> Reinforced Greaves-> Sovereignty-> Heartward Amulet->Magi's Blessing/ Spirit Robe. Once this is completed you can consider 1-2 hybrid damage items where your build looks like a solo build but with more team play elements still. Complete defensive core builds are the best thing for maintaining a lead over under leveled opponents. At this point you should be very tanky for the enemy team and they should now start to not even bother to focus you at all, hoping rather to avoid you long enough to kill the always squishy and still killable adc or mage. This can and should be used to your advantage and allow you to build some damage to punish enemy gods for ignoring you in a way they would not suspect. Qin's Sais are effective on a low damage, high bulk, and high attack speed build but the price is outrageous for a support and should only be purchased as a 6th item against a very tanky team, when you have more gold than you know what you do with. Better items that are simiar are The Executioner and Ichaival both of which can benefit your adc, jungler, or soloer at a very low cost. The reduction in protections allow for better single target team focus while the reduction in power in Ichaival helps counter hunters and warriors while allowing you to inflict decent damage with it. Frostbound Hammer is a great hybrid weapon that I consider a damage item, I mentioned most of its advantages in the Hunter Counter Support Build section. Shifter's Shield gives physical power and solid protections and is a safe damage item for a support warrior. Mystical Mail is definitely a tanky item that can fit on a support but many of the other tank items are preferable. Bellona remains present even into late game and the damage aura is unnecessary. Unable to pair with a Void Stone like guardian supports it isn't able to inflict the same damage and not as worthwhile in team fights as other tanky aura items on her. With Bellona's attack speed and a Fire Giant buff The Crusher is worth a mention but unless your team is severely lacking in split pushers I would leave this to more deserving gods. Luckily the cleave AA from the Bludgeon stance reward Rage stacks and allow for numerous crits, along with her fast attack chain a 6th item Rage can spell disaster for most squishy gods that are trying to avoid you in the late game. Titan's Bane's penetration is solid for spamming abilities and goes well with CD reduction but The Executioner is still preferable for the debuff that can be utilized by team members. Ancile is a solid item to pick up while your team has a lead allowing for easy stack farming, but only viable if they have a heavy magic comp and you find yourself spamming abilities offensively as to benefit from the CD reduction.

If you find that you no longer are feeling tanky it is time to sell the damages items and pick up more tanky items which should not come at a noticeable gold loss if your team is indeed ahead. If things do go well you are more likely going to win the game early rather than pick up a 6th item Qin's Sais on a support.

tl;dr...Finish Core build, pick damage item based on situation Frostbound Hammer, Rage, or The Executioner most likely.

Coming soon!

Coming soon!