General DiscussionTranquil or Mana boots for Supp?

depends on a hero and situational. If ur team has mana issues then arcanes are worth it, if neither of u have that issue go for other boots that benefit u the most.

depends on the sexuality of the hero

I think Arcanes is pretty underrated, 160 mana is a lot to give to a lot of carries.

Not sure how you can go 500 games as a ‘pos 5 only’ but its situational.

Rule of thumb is:
1. If your hero has its own source of mana regen (e.g Lion, Kotl, CM), build tranquils
2. If you hero is an intelligence support that does not fit the above criteria build mana boots (eg. Shadow Shaman, Disruptor)
3. If your hero is a strength support build tranquils (eg. Tusk, Pudge) UNLESS they have high mana costs ans require spells to be functional (e.g Earthshaker)
4. If your hero has passives that modify their attack with damage over time or added power then power treads are also viable (e.g Silencer, Venomancer, Vengeful Spirit) BUT if you have no intention of fighting then get tranquils on these heros.

At the end of the day the ingame guides will always tell you what boots are optimal on your hero 99% of the time so idk why you cant just look at that...

if u want to go aether lens or guardian greaves later, it makes sense, otherwise maybe if u are rich and winning lane, its about timing if u cant buy it on good timing dont go for it.
consider carries too, most carries going drum nowadays and they dont have mana problems cause of that

+ dont buy drums on supports, after removing aura its not a support item anymore!
+ im not suggesting to buy greaves on pos 5 after cost increased, its not worth unless u had a very good game

Always Tranquil as pos 5. Tranquil + Wind Lace gives you good movespeed and lets you cast follow-up spells easily.
Almost never bought Arcane because I will always quick-buy Tranquils when I'm getting killed.

Your team needs mana? Bring 2-5 Clarity in your back pack.

I only get Arcane on heroes like Bane, Oracle and AA, who will disassemble it to make Aether Lens.

Go arcane if u want to build aether then straight travel 2 for max movement speed and global presence

Mana boots can be the difference in a won or lost team fight mid game.

Tranquils + clarities better if you are busy running around the map ganking though.

There are so many edge cases though and hard to really answer the question without writing a wall of text.

arcanes are pretty much always useless on pos 5 tranquils>arcanes

I think parmaviolets summed it up pretty good, If your hero doesnt have a way to get mana and needs it to survive in lane then arcanes

if your hero goes aether I think arcane + wind lace then disassemble for aether tranquils rather than tranqs > energy booster > aether is better, since boots + wind lace give similar ms to tranquils and usually more when they're broken cos tranquils lose the +20 ms.

if your hero

Lemme buy Arcane Boots on Phoenix real quick

I think its about time to learn mana-management.

I used to always like mana boots even tho tranquil is clearly superior. Because I hate mana management

Just pack some mangoes/clarities and feed them to your carry as needed. 1/2 Kappa

Depends.

Usually if the lane is 2x2 or 3x2 and there is kill potential, if both have enough mana, I go for Arcanes - because I know I will not get the regen (and extra MS) anyway from boots as I will need to harass and fight a lot in lane. Arcanes just gives you on the lane advantage, especially if you manage to get them early (FB+deward+some pulls and following kills). It is snowballing item for some supports (WD, SD) if you get them early - for example WD/SD+PL/Gyro can just use their spells all the time on low CD, so they can actually win a lane which would be unwinnable without that extra mana. If you have Ogre+Drow/PA/Jugg, you dont need them in the lane.

If there is situation 2x1 and you force enemy out of lane and you can be pulling/ganking/running around a lot, I go for tranquils. But that is when I am sure carry can sustain and stay alone in the lane while I get smokes and manage ganks.

But babysitting 20 minutes on the lane with tranquils - you will not get anyway the extra MS bonus or healing most of the time.

IF YOU ARE GONNA DELAY BUYING WARDS FOR YOUR ARCANES THEN DONT FUCKING BUY THEM EASY AS THAT :)