User blog comment:Zilverdael/Seperate itemsets and why they are good/@comment-5168889-20140621222406/@comment-6281696-20140623231848

Yes & No. It is possible there'd be a role I'm currently unaware off or would deem a subclass of one of the roles that exist in the real meta, however, adding those itemsets to my suggestion I'd be fine with. I'm not omniscient, I might have missed a relevant (sub)-class that needs an itemset. Also, if it turns out certain itemsets are used like once in every 1000 matches it might not be worth to keep it. Similarly if certain champions would have kits that'd encourage currently non existing roles it might be needed to add another set.

And nope, I would always start classifying champions into roles. In basis all RPG & strategy games have at the following roles:

1) Tanks; used to eat damage and guiding opponents movement, usually pinning them down or blocking certain paths. 2) Glass cannons; pure damage dealers, extremely fragile. 3) Guerillia/Skirmishers/Assasins; Avoid retaliation like the plaque, focussing on speed, stealth and quick hit & run tactics to stay safe. Low defenses, actual level of offense depends on the style. And yes I'm aware the name is awefull. The common part in this class being quick engagements that don't allow for retaliation. 4) Bruisers/fighters; somwhere between tanks & glass cannons, fullfill both roles, but less effectivly 5) Utility/Support; focusses on either improving allies or hampering opponents, generally kind of weak on their own. Often only a role on its own if the game has healers as most any unit tends to have some supporting skills & dedicated support units tend to be overlooked due to their lack of individual value making it difficult to stand out as important.

Obviously there's overlap, but that's roughly the archetypes games use. At least the ones that go beyond a certain level of complexity. Obviously more abstract games with less shiny pieces/units have less roles. There aren't any roles I can think of at the moment that I wouldn't file as a subclass of one of the 5 I just gave. For example those roamers would most likely be a subclass of assasins or fighters depending on how exactly you'd fill them in. Tanks don't like roaming as they tend to prefer to hold down enemies, Glass cannons risk being randomly killed if they run around on their own lacking the protection they so badly need, and supports don't want to roam on their own as well, if you're on your own it's rather difficult to support others...

Some subclasses might warrant individual itemsets depending on how much variation you make within any given archetype & how frequently each subclass is played (once every 3904834058 matches might not be worth the effort of balancing).