[Top 10] LOL Wild Rift Best Supports That Are Powerful

Updated:

23 Apr 2023

1.Nautilus

Nautilus is a hard engage tank support that can really set your team up for a team fight. Nautilus is one of the best champions for initiating fights in the game, he has 4 different types of crowd control abilities in his kit. His passive can root enemies when he lands a basic attack on them this works well with his 1st ability which lets him throw his anchor forward stunning an enemy when he hits them and pulls himself toward that enemy allowing him to chain his passive to root an enemy, this gives your allies a lot of opportunities to deal damage. His 2nd ability gives Nautilus a shield base on his max HP, while the shield is up his basic attacks are also empowered. Nautilus can also slow enemies down using his 3rd ability “Riptide”, this makes him release a wave that deals damage and slows enemies. Lastly his ultimate ability “Depth Charge”, Nautilus can target an enemy champion within its range and send out his depth charge, this will follow the target knocking them up and stunning them, this will also knock up and stun other enemy champions that are hit while Depths charge is traveling to the target.

At the start of the laning phase try to play aggressive, Nautilus is really good at locking down an enemy, if you manage to land your 1st ability and combo your passive you can either get an early kill or make your enemies use up their summoner spells like flash,heal, etc. It’s important to keep your Duo’s position in mind when trying to engage on enemies, if they’re too far and you don’t signal them that you plan to engage you might just lose the trade because your allies couldn’t catch up to you. Nautilus stays strong at any stage of the game but even though you’re tanky and can lock down enemies consistently you would still have a hard time just going in and taking damage from 5 champions, try to play smart and look for the best opportunity to engage on the enemy.

There’s no specific build for Nautilus, it’s better to build items that counter your enemies in lane, remember to first buy the support item since it helps your Duo gain more gold. If enemies have a lot of heals or can sustain really well then building Thornmail early will be good, if you’re up against a Vayne or Pyke building the new item Dawnshroud is really effective since it reveals enemies around you when you Crowd control an enemy. If you’re having a hard time keeping you Duo alive try building Protectors Vow and also upgrade your boots to a Redemption enchant to be able to heal you ally. You can also upgrade it to a Veil enchantment to be able to give your ally a spell shield.

What makes Nautilus a strong support:

Can engage well and can easily lock down specific champions.
A really good tank and front for the team.
Can turn fights around with a good stun and ultimate.
Really easy to learn and hard to play against.

See Nautilus in action:

2. Lulu

Lulu is an enchanter support champion. As a champion that excels in keeping her allies alive she is one of the best supports to use with a hard carry type ADC(attack damage carry). Her laning phase is really good and can safely poke enemies while also keeping her allies safe. She can also boost some of her allies' stats, her passive “PIX, Fairy companion” can be attached to her allies and assist in attacking the enemy, Lulu’s First ability “Glitterlance” will also be fired from PIX even when it’s attached to an ally. “Whimsy” Lulu’s 2nd ability will leave a faerie ring on the ground, this will either polymorph enemies that step into the circle or boost attack speed and movement speed when an ally steps into it.Her. 3rd ability “Help, PIX” will shield her ally that she casts it to or damage and reveal an enemy she casts it to. Her ultimate ability “Wild Growth” will give bonus HP to her allies while also knocking up any enemy that is nearby.

At the start of the laning phase it’s advised to keep poking your enemy by spamming your 1st ability, this will pressure them from last hitting minions while also stacking up your support item. If you’re against a support like Nautilus it’s best to avoid getting hit by any crowd control abilities, since Lulu doesn’t have much health early on, try to position yourself well by either staying behind your minions or staying out of range from enemy crowd control. Keep in mind you're an enchanter and not a tank so staying alive to help your team by either buffing them and shielding them or disrupting enemies by using her ultimate or 2nd ability should be your priority.

Buildwise it’s better to build items that counter your enemy laner or assist your ally, for example if your ADC benefits having more attack speed then going for Ardent Censer to boost their attack speed is good if your ADC is having a hard time surviving building Harmonic Echo will give your shields an extra heal. If you want extra damage for your ADC try building Imperial Mandate to deal extra damage when you slow or immobilize an enemy.

What makes Lulu a strong support:

Lulu is really good at keeping her ADC alive and boosting their stats.
When the enemies try to focus on one champion in your team her ultimate ability can turn the fight around by keeping that ally alive with the extra HP boost and it also knocks up every enemy nearby.
Really good at the early laning phase but also remains strong all throughout the game without losing any impact in team fights.

See Lulu in action:

3.Leona

Leona is a tanky support that excels in engaging enemies with her stuns and slows, she can lock down anyone she gets close to but she can also get close to enemies with her 3rd ability “Zenith Blade” this ability makes Leona throw a ability shot forward this goes through minions and champions and the last champion hit by the ability will be rooted and Leona will dash to that enemy. Landing her 3rd ability and then chaining it with her 1st ability “Shield of Daybreak” to stun lock the enemy. Leona can take a lot of hits, thanks to her 2nd ability “ Eclipse”, this ability gives Leona a boost in her armor and magic resist letting her survive a lot longer when she goes in or engages.

In the start of the game try to hit lvl 2 before trying to engage, although Leona can start with a crowd control it’s better to have your 1st and 3rd ability before engaging. You will lose early trades if you can’t land your stuns on the enemy ADC so try to land your stuns and avoid taking too much minion damage. Leona’s 2nd ability is really good if you stack it with the Aftershock rune, this will give you a huge boost in your magic resist and armor when you engage with your 3rd ability. Your ultimate ability has a pretty good range, if you’re low on health but your ultimate is almost up try to stick with your team, don’t stand in front but try to disrupt the enemy’s engage on your ally with your crowd control and even set up for your team with your ultimate.

Leona is pretty weak below level 5, since she doesn’t have any way to protect her allies. You would want to build a Protector's Vow to help with taking more hits while also giving you a way to shield your allies. Building more magic resist and armor will work well with your 2nd ability and the rune Aftershock, Leona doesn't really have abilities that scale with the Health stat so try not to focus on items that only increase health.

New tank items have given tanks a huge buff, and Leona is one of the champions that can benefit heavily from it, the new tank item Amaranth’s Blessing synergizes well with her kit giving an even bigger boost in her armor and magic resist stats. The item also gives tenacity allowing her to be affected less by crowd controls.

What makes Leona a strong support:

Leona can engage enemies and even crowd control enemies that are standing behind their allies, her AoE stun and slow can really turn a fight around.
She does well in team fights and can survive with her high armor and magic resistance.
She can set up for her team when enemies are trying to take objectives like Dragons and Baron.

See Leona in action:

4. Pyke

Pyke is a support that excels in catching enemies and giving his team a big gold lead through his ultimate ability that can execute enemies with low health and sharing the gold he gets from that take down to his ally. Pyke can be really annoying to play against, his 1st ability “Bone Skewer” can slow enemies down but he can charge it so that the range can increase and enemies that are hit by it will be pulled towards him and they will be slowed as well. Pyke's 2nd ability “Ghostwater Dive” will make him become camouflaged, this makes enemies be unable to see him within a certain range but this ability also works well with his passive “Gift of the Drowned Ones” which lets him heal when he is not visible to the enemy. His 3rd ability “Phantom Undertow” is a dash that leaves behind a phantom, after a few seconds the phantom will go back to Pyke stunning enemies that are caught by it. Pyke’s ultimate “Death from Below” can execute enemies below a certain health, a successful execute will let him recast his ultimate ability. Gold that is gained from executed enemies is shared to the last assisting ally, if enemies die from an ally under the cross of his ultimate ability Pyke will receive gold.

Pyke can become a huge threat early on, if you can hit enemies with his 1st ability they will most likely be forced to flash, heal or barrier. You can chain your 1st ability with your third ability, enemies are slowed a lot by his 1st ability so they will not be able to walk out of your 3rd ability if you can position yourself well. Be aggressive at all stages of the game but don’t be greedy, keep pressuring enemies with your 1st ability and save your 2nd ability and third ability for getting out of danger. Your ultimate ability can be used as a gap closer but avoid using it if enemies still have flashes or Stasis enchantment on their boots. One thing to keep in mind is if you use your third ability and then your ultimate you can stun enemies pretty well, but it’s a waste if your team can’t follow up.

Pyke doesn’t build your usual support items, since health stats he receives from items will be converted to AD or attack damage, this lets you build him like an assassin. Building armor penetration works well with him since his ability scales with the stat. That being said you can still build items that can counter your enemy, if the enemy team has a lot of barriers, build Serpent's Fang this can reduce enemy shields by 50%, this can really help against champions like Karma or when the enemy ADC has Barrier as their summoner spell. You can also build an anti healing like Mortal Reminder against enemies that can heal or sustain a lot.

What makes Pyke a strong support:

Can play really aggressively and still be safe thanks to his kit allowing him to get out of danger.
Really hard to play against at early stages, if you get caught by his 1st ability you’ll be put in a bad position and you can’t overstay when you have low health since he has an execution ability.
Getting kills with his ultimate lets him share the gold he receives, this is really good for snowballing since it doesn’t matter if Pyke gets the kill since the ADC gets gold as well.

See Pyke in action:

5.Nami

Nami is an enchanter support that has two crowd control abilities, a heal and two buffs that enhances basic attacks and increases the movement speed of allies. Nami can boost the movement speed of her allies when her abilities get in contact with them, this can help your ally get into a better position or even chase down enemies. Her first ability “Aqua Prison'' will make Nami throw a bubble of water, enemies that are hit by it will take damage and be knocked up. Her 2nd ability “EBB and Flow” is an ability that will bounce between enemies and allies for a maximum of three times, this will damage enemies and heal allies. The 3rd ability “Tidecaller’s Blessing” will buff the basic attack of you or your ally, this buff will help your ally deal a lot more damage and because it scales with Nami’s AP(Ability Power) this means it will deal more damage as you build more items that increase AP. Nami’s ultimate ability “Tidal Wave” is a really good ability to set up a teamfight, Enemies that are hit by it will be knocked up and slowed, meanwhile allies will receive double the movement speed buff from your passive.

The first ability you should take level 1 is her 2nd ability, this ability has a good range and since this will lock-on to enemy champions this will make it easy for you to kite enemies during the laning phase allowing you to get gold through your support item, and since this ability can also heal you, you won’t lose trades. Nami isn’t good for starting fights early but once you hit level 3 and get all your basic abilities you’ll be able to engage on enemies that are hit with your 1st ability, once you land it buff your ally with your 3rd ability to boost their damage and gain movement speed through your passive, don’t forget to use your 2nd ability this will heal your ally or you when it bounces back after hitting an enemy. Your ultimate ability works really well as a way to engage enemies but you can use it to save your allies so don’t hesitate to use it.

Nami works well with support items that buff her allies while also giving her more AP since her buffs and heal scale with it. Items like Ardent’s Censer that can buff attack speed and improve basic attack damage is a good first item to build. Your next items would depend on what will help you more, if you need to be able to heal your ally more you would go for Harmonic Echo if you want to help your team deal more damage building Imperial Mandate will be great since your allies will deal bonus magic damage to your enemies whose movement you impaire. Going for items that give more AP like a Rabadon’s Deathcap is still viable as a last item since your buffs and heals scale with AP but building items that helps your team win team fights or counter enemy team compositions is your priority since your main goal is to either keep your team alive or set up a team fight for your team.

What makes Nami a strong support:

Nami can harass enemies early on thanks to her 2nd ability that can lock-on to enemy champions this will help you complete your support item’s quest quickly.
Has a lot of ways to keep her allies alive while also having a good ultimate ability to set up for a team fight.
Nami stays strong all throughout the game and since you’re playing support you don’t need to be fed or have items all you need to do is land your abilities and use them at the right timing.

See Nami in action:

6.Soraka

Soraka is a healer support that excels in keeping her allies alive while also having a silence that can disrupt enemy champions from escaping or using abilities that can be fatal to your team. Her passive gives a huge movement speed bonus when you’re moving towards allies whose HP is below 35%, this is really good for being able to get to your teammates faster allowing you to assist them quickly. Her first ability “Starcall” is a damaging ability that also gives Soraka a buff when she hits an enemy champion. The buff is called “Rejuvenation” this regenerates her health for a short period of time, this allows Her to be able to sustain her health against enemy champions but this is also important since her 2nd ability, which can only heal her allies and not herself, besides the mana cost of the ability it also cost a percentage of her HP. Her 2nd ability, “Astral Infusion” can heal her allies at the cost of some mana and a percentage of her health this ability has a low cooldown making it easy to fully heal your teammate in a few seconds but be careful in using it continuously as it will drain your health fast and since Soraka isn’t the tankiest support she can be picked off if you aren’t careful. Her 3rd ability “Equinox” will create a zone that will silence enemies that are inside, enemies that are still inside the zone after it disappears will take damage and be rooted. Soraka’s ultimate ability “WIsh”, is an ability that will heal the whole team including herself, the heals effect also increases by 50% if the ally is below 35%.

Early game you will take your 1st ability first since you can use it to poke your enemy laner. Soraka doesn’t have a good way to engage so poking your enemies and keeping your allies alive is your main focus. Avoid being in front of your team before a team fight happens and avoid going to lanes alone as Soraka is really easy for assassins to pick off. Your 2nd ability can heal your allies but it cost HP to use but another good thing about her 2nd ability is that the buff she gains from hitting enemy champions with her 1st ability can be also given to allies, whenever you have the “Rejuvenation” buff from your first ability your 2nd ability will also give that to your ally while also reducing the HP cost of the ability, so don’t hesitate to heal your allies whenever you hit your 1st ability. Your third ability is a silence but will also root enemies that stay inside it, this ability is really good for disrupting enemies that are trying to engage on your team. Your ultimate ability can heal everyone on the map so whenever the ability is off cooldown frequently check the map and the health of your team, but even if your ally from across the map is low and you can heal them with your heal try to analyze if your heal can actually save them, delaying the inevitable will only waste your ultimate and since it has a long cooldown it would be bad for your team if you couldn’t use it in a more important team fight.

Buildwise you would want to start with your support item and complete the quest as fast as you can by continuously poking the enemy with your first ability. The enemy has a high chance of countering your heal with items that can apply the “Grevious wounds” debuff, but don’t be discouraged as you can still be effective in the long run. Upgrading your boots to the Protect enchantment, this will help boost the healing of your 2nd ability or your ultimate ability. Going for Ardent Censer is also really good as it can give the buff to your whole team and you can also build Harmonic Echo to give your healing abilities a boost. As a last item you can choose to build more AP but it’s also viable to build tank items so you can have more HP to heal your allies continuously.

What makes Soraka a strong support:

Soraka can heal her allies really well and her kit revolves around being a walking health potion, with her low cooldown heals and sustain you can stay healthy in lane early allowing you to soak a lot of XP and gold early on.
Her silence can really disrupt enemy champions from engaging on your allies, stopping enemies from using their abilities will interrupt their combos and also stop them from using dashes or blinks to try to escape.
Soraka can effectively support her team even when she is still far away from team fights

See Soraka in action:

7.Karma

Karma is an enchanter support that excels at shielding multiple allies, dealing damage, and crowd controlling multiple enemies. Karma’s passive ability “Mantra”, will make her gain a stack every time she uses her abilities excluding her ultimate ability, at 3 stacks her next ability will become empowered giving it a better effect. Her 1st ability “Inner Flame '' is an ability shot that fires in a straight line, when it hits an enemy the ability will slow and deal damage to the target and to anyone nearby. The 1st ability’s empowered state will increase its range while also increasing the damage it deals, it will also leave a zone that slows enemies and after a short while will explode and deal additional damage to enemies still inside the zone. Her 2nd ability “Focused Resolve” will create a tether between her and the enemies, this will deal damage and also reveal them while the tether is active, enemies can break this tether when they manage to get a certain distance away from Karma, enemies that cannot break the tether after a certain period of time will take additional damage and be rooted for a few seconds. The empowered 2nd ability will still create a tether between her and her enemies, but it will also create a tether between her enemies, this means that enemies will also have to get away from their allies to break the tether, enemies that cannot break the tether will take damage and be rooted for a longer period of time. Her 3rd ability “Inspire” gives her or an ally a shield while also boosting their movement speed. The empowered 3rd ability will give a bigger shield and even more movement speed, a ring will also form around the target and the first ally to enter the ring will be given the same amount of shield and movement speed. Her Ultimate ability “Transcendent Embrace” will make a circular zone around the target location, this will explode after 1 second, enemies that are inside the zone will take damage and be slowed, additionally enemies on the outer part of the zone will be knocked back towards the center, this will also immediately put Karma in her Mantra state, allowing her to use and empowered ability.

At the start of the game you will get your 1st ability first so that you can poke your enemies, this will also let you proc your support item passive allowing you to get gold. Karma can deal quite a burst of damage with her empowered 1st ability, once your enemies are at a low enough health and you’re confident you get a takedown set up for your empowered 2nd ability, after the tether is formed stick close to the enemy champion so that you can land a root on them and if their support decides to get close to help the this will make a new tether between the target and the support giving you a chance to root both of them. Karma also has a good way of protecting her allies thanks to her 3rd ability, this shield will also grant a boost in movement speed giving your ally a better chance at running away or repositioning. Her ultimate ability is also a really good way to crowd control multiple enemy champions, and don’t forget that this will also instantly put Karma in her Mantra state allowing her to use another empowered ability. Just remember to use an empowered ability before using her ultimate. A good combo for engaging is throwing an empowered 1st ability to deal a burst of damage and then using your ultimate ability the slow from the first ability will buy enough time for your ultimate to explode while they are still inside of it, after that you can use your 2nd ability to root your enemies, they will have a hard time running away because of the slow from your ultimate ability, unless they have Flashes or Dashes available.

Buildwise you can go for a mage build or support item build, building her like a mage will make her deal more damage to the enemy while also boosting the shield she can give, while building her like a regular mage support is also not bad since some support items will help your allies in a pinch, even though you can build her as a mage, always buy the support item Spectral Sickle first since you don’t want to be stealing gold from minions from your Duo lane.

What makes Karma a strong support:

She can deal a lot of burst damage from her empowered 1st ability, this can let your ADC kill the enemies a lot faster.
Her Shields are hard to counter unless the enemy builds a certain item.
She has a good kit for engaging and also chasing enemies down.

See Karma in action:

8.Seraphine

Seraphine is an enchanter support that excels in team fights, she can heal and shield everyone around her, she also excels in dealing damage and crowd controlling multiple enemies. Her passive ability “Stage Presence'' is split in two parts, the first part Echo, will let let Seraphine gain a stack every time she uses a ability, this stacks up to three after which the next ability that Seraphine uses, excluding her ultimate ability, will be casted twice. The second part of her passive is Harmony, casting abilities will grant nearby allies notes, each note will increase Seraphine’s basic attack range while also dealing additional damage. Her 1st ability “High Note” is an ability that deals damage based on enemies missing health in a targeted area, this is a really good way to poke since it has decent range and can deal damage to a pretty big area allowing you to hit multiple enemies. Her 2nd ability “Surround Sound” Shields her and all nearby allies around her while also granting them movement speed. If Seraphine already has a shield she will also heal herself and nearby allies. Her 3rd ability “ Beat Drop” is an ability that deals damage to an area while also slowing enemies, if enemies are already slowed they will be rooted instead, if they are rooted they will be stunned instead. Lastly her ultimate ability “Encore”, this ability will deal damage and charm enemies in a wide area, the the range of this ability will also increase if it touches an ally or enemy champion.

Early on you’d put a point on your 3rd ability as this will be your main way to poke enemies, although your 1st ability is also good for poking it isn’t as easy to land as your 3rd ability. For engaging you will want to always use your passive Echo with your 3rd ability, this will make sure you can root enemies in place, after that throw your 1st ability since it deals more damage the more missing health the enemy has you’d always want to throw this last. If you have your ultimate ready you’d want to start with your 3rd ability to root enemies in place, followed by your ultimate and then your first ability to deal maximum damage. Your 2nd ability can shield multiple allies and also give them some movement speed, you can use this in between abilities to charge your passive so that you can deal more damage. Seraphine excels in team fights and stays strong all throughout the game but she isn’t very tanky so try to avoid getting picked off by going solo or getting caught out of position.

Buildwise you’d want to start with your support item Spectral Sickle, and then rushing Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, this item works really well with your 3rd ability allowing it to root enemies even if you don’t have your passive fully stacked, and when you do instead of rooting the enemy it will stun them. If you’re wondering how, the slow of the Rylai’s Crystal Scepter applies first and the first hit of your 3rd ability will apply a root and since the passive will cast it twice the second wave will stun the enemies. After building the first item, building Ardent Censer is really good since your shield can apply to multiple allies. Building mage items aren’t that bad on Seraphine since she doesn’t have as many abilities that can heal or shield allies.

What makes Seraphine a strong support:

She has one of the best poke in game, allowing her to dominate and pressure enemies early.
She excels in teamfights, she can shield and heal multiple allies while also deal a lot of AoE damage.
She has a lot of ways to give her team a big advantage in teamfights, her ability to stun or charm multiple enemies can win games.

See Seraphine in action:

9.Morgana

Morgana is an AP mage support that can deal a lot of damage and crowd control enemies for long periods of time. Morgana’s passive ability “Soul Siphon” will heal her base on a percentage of the damage she deals with her abilities. Her 1st ability “Dark Binding” deals damage and roots a single enemy hit by it, although it can only root one enemy the root lasts for a few seconds, that doesn’t seem much but in those few seconds your ally can deal a lot of damage or even get a takedown. Her 2nd ability “Tormented Shadow” curses a targeted area, enemies that stand on that area will take damage overtime, the cooldown on this ability gets reduced everytime Morgana’s passive is triggered. Her 3rd ability is a shield ability that blocks magic damage but also lets the target be immune to crowd control, this ability is really good when placed on an ally that can deal a lot of damage in teamfights, if you place this on your ally like Master Yi they can engage on the enemy without worrying about getting stunned or immobilized. Morgana’s ultimate ability “Soul Shackle” is an AoE crowd controlling ability, chains will form between her and all enemy champions in range damaging them in the process, if the enemies cannot break the chains they will take damage based on their maximum health and will be stunned for a few seconds.

Early on you’d want to take your 2nd ability first to poke your enemies and get gold through your support item passive. After that you’d want to get your first ability, landing this ability isn’t easy since enemies can hide behind minions to avoid getting hit by it but once you land it you’ll be able to deal a lot of damage to that enemy. Avoid spamming your 1st ability if you can’t get a sure hit, using it defensively is also possible by waiting for the enemy to engage on you or your ADC before throwing it, since they won’t be focused on dodging the ability you’ll have an easier time landing it. Your 2nd ability can be spammed pretty well since the cooldown will be reduced every time your passive is triggered. Your third ability is really great at making enemy crowd controls useless and giving it to an ally that can engage on the enemies is good too since they won’t be disrupted and they can go straight for the enemy damage dealers.

Building mage items is your go to, but try to build more on countering enemies and helping your team, rushing Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is really good since it will allow enemies to stay inside your 2nd ability longer and then building Imperial Mandate after letting your allies deal a lot more damage. There aren’t many support items that work well with Morgana’s kit and staking more AP will let your team have an easier time killing enemies.

What makes Morgana a strong support?

She can counter most supports, letting your ADC have an easier time getting fed.
Her crowd controls last a pretty long time, catching an enemy with your 1st ability mid to late game will most of the time guarantee a kill.
Her 3rd ability can let your carries win the game since they won’t be stopped unless the shield is broken.

See Morgana in action:

10. Thresh

Thresh is a tank support that can engage enemies really well, his kit can crowd control multiple enemies at once and he can even save allies who are caught out of position. Thresh's passive “Damnation” makes thresh not gain armor through leveling up, in exchange he can gather souls that are dropped by enemies to gain armor and AP, this lets him stack a lot of armor and AP if he is allowed to stack. His 1st ability “Death Sentence” will make him throw his hook forward, enemies hit will be stunned and pulled towards him, Thresh can choose to recast this ability anytime after it hits, after casting again he will pull himself towards the target, this is good for getting close onto an enemy champion to combo his 3rd ability. You can also use this as a way to escape from being chased, if you hit this on a monster on the other side of a wall you can then pull yourself towards that monster to increase the distance between you and your pursuers. His 2nd ability “Dark Passage” will make him throw his lantern to a targeted area, allies that get into contact with the lantern will receive a shield. Your allies can also use this lantern to get pulled towards Thresh. This ability can be used offensively as well, if you land your hook onto an enemy champion you can throw your lantern to an ally so when you choose to engage your ally can follow up really quickly. His 3rd ability “Flay” can knock back enemies to the direction you choose, this is good for pushing enemies away from you if you're running away or pushing enemies towards your team when you engage them. His ultimate ability “The Box” will put up a cage that will slow enemies that try to leave it, it will also deal a burst of damage to the first enemy that tries to leave it.

Early on you don’t want to engage with just your 1st ability, instead wait until you get level 2 or level 3 before trying anything. You can safely farm and proc your support item’s passive since Thresh’s basic attack has a pretty long range. Your hook can be blocked by minions so don’t use it unless you have a high chance of landing it. Keep stacking your passive early on by collecting souls, the more you stack the tankier you are allowing you engage more on the enemies. Using your flay to chain crowd control an enemy is a basic combo, but you can als use it to cancel some abilities like Tristana’s jump. Your ultimate will deal a lot of damage to the first enemy that tries to break out of it, but you can use your flay to push them into the cage; this will let them take the damage immediately.

Build mostly tank items that can help your team or counter the enemy team, for example building Dawnshroud to counter champions that have invisibility like Vayne or Akali or building Thornmail if you’re up against a healer type support or hard sustaining champion. You can also build Frozen heart or Randuin’s Omen to counter champions that rely on attack speed and critical strike. You can also build more on magic resist if the enemy team has more magic damage, since Thresh can stack armor through his passive you can focus more on magic resist.

What makes Thresh a strong support.

He has a really good way to engage, he can stun and pull in a target for a decent amount of time, while also being able to easily close the distance between him and the target allowing him to crowd control them again with his 3rd ability.
He can stack armor really well with his passive, this lets him focus on building magic resist against an enemy team composition that has a lot of magic damage.
He can save allies in a pinch with his lantern, but he can also let an ally take the lantern to get close to the enemy.