- Support
Vision control is placing your own wards from as far away as their range allows and clearing the enemy's wards so they cannot see you set up. Done well, your team picks the fights at objectives and you stop being the player who dies alone in the river.
What it is
A ward grants sight of the area around it, but its vision does not extend over terrain. Your trinket and your support item place wards at a target spot within a fixed range, so you can drop one on the far side of a wall without ever walking into that area. The Stealth Ward trinket places from 625 range, and the support item's Ward active places from 600 range. Both wards turn invisible to the enemy a moment after landing, and you can only have three trinket wards on the map at once. A fourth replaces your oldest.
Clearing is the other half. The Oracle Lens trinket summons a Sweeper Drone that escorts you for 8 seconds, and it can see over terrain and into brush. Stealthed wards inside its radius are revealed and disabled. The radius grows from 600 to 750 with level, and the trinket holds two charges. A disabled ward is not dead yet: you still have to attack it. While you hit a ward with the lens active, your whole team sees it for 2 seconds.
The Control Ward is the permanent option. It is visible, it disables enemy wards and traps around it, and it reveals camouflaged champions. You can place only one at a time and carry two. Once you finish the support quest, it costs less and sits in its own quest slot, so it no longer takes an item slot. Because it can be killed, the enemy will try to clear it, so place it where your team can contest.
Charges and limits change between patches, so read the in-game tooltip for exact numbers. The method below does not depend on them.
How to do it
- Know your tools before the wave arrives
Open the shop and check three things: how many wards your trinket holds, how many charges your support item has left, and whether you carry a Control Ward. Visiting the shop refills the support item's ward charges, so a recall before an objective is also a restocking trip. Decide what each ward is for before you leave.
- Place from the maximum range, not the minimum
Aim the ward at the far edge of its placement range so your character stays back. The ward lands on the spot you pointed at, and its sight covers the area around it. In practice, this lets you ward the enemy side of a wall while standing in your own jungle or lane. The range circle appears when you press the ward key, so walk up until the target spot is just inside it and no further.
- Ward with an escape and your carry in range
Most support deaths in the fog happen at the moment you step forward to ward. Place wards from the edge of a bush, with Flash or a dash ready, and while your ADC stands close behind. If you need to go further, sweep first and walk second.
- Swap to the lens before an objective and sweep one spot at a time
Before a dragon, Herald or Baron, swap to the Oracle Lens on your recall. Activate it just before the pit entrance and walk through the likely ward spots while the drone follows you. Eight seconds covers about one spot, so take one at a time. Attack every ward the drone reveals, and with two charges you can check a second spot before the long recharge.
- Replace every ward you clear
A swept spot with no ward of yours lets the enemy rebuild their vision in seconds. Put a Control Ward or trinket ward on the same spot you cleared. Clearing in a loop that starts at the river and ends at the pit stops the enemy from watching your route.
- Time the sweep a minute before the objective
Clear early enough that the enemy has time to notice and cannot replace the ward. A swept pit lets your team choose when to start. Sweep again after each fight, because the enemy will re-ward the pit once they lose the fight.
Watch it
What to watch for: From 0:28 the chapters cover early vision, from 4:18 midgame vision, and from 10:57 a closing must-know concept. Watch where the support stands relative to the team when placing.
Video: Why You Keep Getting Caught Warding — Support Guide — Coach K
Common mistakes
- You walk into the pit to ward it. Place from range and let the drone do the scouting, so you are never the first thing the enemy sees.
- You activate the lens as you arrive, and the drone has only a few seconds left when you reach the spot. Activate it a few steps before the entrance, then walk through.
- You reveal a ward but never attack it. A disabled ward only stays disabled for about 2 seconds after the drone leaves, so kill it.
- You clear a ward and walk off. Without your own ward on the spot, the clear is wasted. Replace it before you leave.
- You ward alone, far ahead of your team. Place wards behind your teammates and keep your escape ready.
Practice drill
- In a Practice Tool game, place the Stealth Ward from the very edge of its range onto the other side of three different walls. Count how often you can ward without stepping closer than the edge.
- In a custom game, ask a friend to place two wards in a pit. Swap to the Oracle Lens, activate it a few steps from the entrance, and clear both within one drone duration.