Roam (Support) Guide

Role

Roam is a role that's 20% damage and 80% map management. You don't need to get kills yourself; your job is to give your team vision, protect (peel for) your allies, and create safe openings to engage.

Instead of staying in lane to farm, you protect the Farm Lane Marksman up to around levels 1-4 early on, and place vision (wards) around the river and the Tyrant/Overlord areas. From there, you set up ganks for your jungler and Mid to generate kills.

Since this isn't a role that wins with your own damage, it's the best role for learning the big-picture play (macro) of reading and moving around the whole map.

Playstyle

Opening vision：Be mindful of vision priority. At the opening (0:00-0:30), place vision on the enemy red buff if you're invading, or your own red buff side if you're defending. Ward the Tyrant pit ahead of its first spawn around 4 minutes to prepare for the first spawn.

Early defense：From 1-3 minutes, protect the Marksman in the Farm Lane. Don't steal minions here. Once the Farm Lane is stable, rotate to Mid around 3-4 minutes or group up to set up ganks.

Mid-game engages：From 4 minutes on, either lead the plays around Tyrant or follow up on your teammates. Your role is to land CC on the front line so your team's main carries can finish them off. Only engage when your Farm Lane teammate is nearby.

Late-game team fights：In late-game team fights, don't just stop the front line with your CC — peel the assassins diving your carries off of them.

How to think about core items

Choosing boots：Choose your boots to fit the situation. Candidates are Fortitude Boots to reduce physical damage, Tranquility Boots to shorten skill cooldowns, and Resistance Boots to shorten CC duration.

Defensive core：For defensive core items there's Spike Armor to reflect damage, Blazing Cape to burn nearby enemies, Succubus Cloak to negate magic damage, and Glacial Buckler with area damage and a slow.

Arcana：For direction: a Tank-type roamer keeps red (offense) to a minimum and loads up on green (survival = max HP / healing) and blue (utility = physical/magic defense / cooldown). A Mage-leaning Support roamer shifts its red and green toward magic and adaptation types. Pick the specific Arcana from the Arcana list.

Defense is a must：The key point is that even a Mage-leaning roamer should never skip defensive items entirely. A Tank type prepares Spike Armor or Blazing Cape by 7 minutes, and even a Mage-leaning Support should carry at least one defensive item.

Common mistakes

Stealing the Marksman's minions：Every minion you take steals gold from your main carry. Except when one is dying and lane tempo requires it, don't touch minions with basic attacks.

Not placing vision (wards)：Roam is the vision role. Light up the Tyrant and Overlord pits with wards every time they spawn.

Engaging with no carry nearby：A 1-for-1 trade where you die and the enemy Marksman survives is a loss. Never engage unless your Farm Lane teammate is within range.

All-in damage Tank build：A Tank roamer needs Spike Armor or Blazing Cape by 7 minutes. Even a Mage Support roamer should carry at least one defensive item.

Wasting escape/peel skills：Yaria's heal, Da Qiao's knock-up, and Dolia's shield can decide team fights. Don't fire them off cooldown just because you 'want to do something.'