League of Legends Tests Higher Starting Support Item Prices

League of Legends' support items are getting a bit more expensive on the PBE, a priced increase that'll change the way support champions start their games.

The changes, as mined from the PBE by Surrender@20, show the starting support items costing 50 more gold than before. That means that Ancient Coin, Relic Shield, and Spellthief's Edge are all now priced at 400 gold on the PBE as opposed to 350, and while 50 gold might not be a big change for a late-game item, it has a much greater impact when you first pick your items. Support players will get that gold back eventually with the combine cost of the second-tier support items lowered by 50 gold.

With the support items costing more early on, it means that players won't be able to purchase a third Health Potion to start the game with. If you're a support player who prefers to instead start with your support item and a Refillable Potion to continue using the healing effects after your first back, you'll no longer be able to do so after the changes go through since you'll be 50 gold short of total cost of buying the potion and a starting item.

Over on the League of Legends boards, Riot Meddler responded to a player asking for more context by explaining what Riot Games' reasoning is behind raising the prices of starting support items.

"The goal there's to reduce the degree to which supports can bully the enemy CSer in bot lane," Riot Meddler said. "Having 3 pots lets them trade pretty hard and gives them a bit too much early influence over how the lane plays out."

While melee champions and those who can't offer as much poke as supports seem like they'll suffer more than their ranged counterparts, Riot Meddler said that that's not the goal in mind. While saying that the changes aren't quite a buff to bully supports like Zyra and Brand, he added that nerfs for champions like those might be in order if the need arises.

"We're not looking to buff poke supports though, so if needs be could pair the change with some nerfs. Having said that enchanters/tanks tend to have more inherent sustain/protection, so the pots also account for a lower proportion of their total effective health pool. Isn't necessarily a buff to poke like Zyra/Brand at least as a result, given they're down a pot too."

The changes are currently being tested on the PBE and aren't guaranteed to go live.