Which item is the most gold efficient at this moment for Support?

Several months ago I remember that Aegis of the Legion was one of the most gold efficient items.

But right now, with all those changes in items, it is still the more efficient one?

Solution 1:

As of patch 7.9 this is no longer necessarily true, the 3 items were slightly changed (May 2017)

(This will be updated during the 20-22 of May weekend)

• Spellthief's Edge/Frostfang

  • Gives 2 gold per 10 seconds, and additional 8/15 for spells & basic attacks (3 stacks) respectively. Each stack recharges in 10 seconds. Note that killing a minion disables this passive.

• Ancient Coin/Nomad's Medallion

  • Gives 2 gold per 10 seconds, and additional 4/6 per enemy minion that die near you (if you didn't kill it) respectively. Additionally heals for 5/10 health for activating the previous effect respectively.

• Relic Shield/Targon's Brace

  • Gives 2 gold per 10 seconds, melee autoattacks execute minions below 200 - 285 (based on level) health. Killing a minion by any means heals you and the nearest allied champion for 15 health and grants them kill gold. (2/3 stacks respectively). Each stack recharges in 40/30 seconds respectively.

On paper the Relic line gives you 45.5 + 2*20.5 (Cannon + 2 Melee Minions) = 86.5 gold every 90 seconds.

On paper the Spellthief's line gives you 15*3 = 45 every gold every 30 seconds (135 every 90 seconds)

On paper the Talisman line gives you 6*6 = 36 gold per wave (54 gold every 90 seconds)

The problem is that realistically you can't always proc the Relic Shield's passive (Because sometimes your ADC just won't let you), or because doing so results in you dying. Same is valid for Spellthief's Edge, where not being able to hit the enemy or disabling the passive can mess up your gold income. As for Ancient Coin, you must be near minions for it to work (it's the most reliable), but gives a bit less, but it's balanced around the others not being able to be procced all the time (or at least risk dying to do so).

In the end it really depends on what your Champion is good at, and what stats you need the most early game (AP/Mana Regen, Health/dual-heals, self-heals/Mana Regen). This is true because on average all 3 items give the same amount of gold, and as such they have the same gold efficiency. Although ideally Frostfang has the most gold potential.

Solution 2:

Usually you build some gold per 5 items such as philosopher's stone and heart of gold. You constantly buy wards and would get a Shurelya's and an Aegis. This is mainly all I build when playing a support and also to occasionally buy an Oracle's Elixir.

Note that this answer is no longer relevant due to:

• Oracle's Elixir was removed in patch 3.14
• Philosopher's Stone was reworked into Nomad's Medallion in patch 3.14
• Shurelya's Reverie was reworked into Talisman of Ascension in patch 3.14
• Heart of Gold was removed in patch 1.0.0.152