Support Role Guide for League of Legends (2026) — Warding Spots, Roam Timing, Level 2 All-In & Playing from Behind

Support is the role that controls information. Every other position on the map is defined by what they kill — minions, jungle camps, champions. Support is defined by what the team can see. Your wards determine whether your jungler invades safely or walks into a 2v1. Your roam timing determines whether mid lane gets a gank or gets ganked. Your level 2 all-in determines whether bot lane snowballs or bleeds out slowly over 15 minutes.

The support role in 2026 is more influential than it has ever been. Faelights on the map provide massive vision when warded correctly, support items generate gold faster than previous seasons, and the roaming meta means a good support touches every lane before the 10-minute mark. This guide covers the core skills that separate supports who climb from supports who feel like passengers: warding spots that actually matter, when to roam and when to stay, how to execute the level 2 all-in, and how to stay useful when your lane falls behind.

Support Archetypes

Before discussing mechanics, you need to understand the four major support archetypes. Your archetype determines your lane plan, your teamfight role, and how you approach every phase of the game.

Engage Supports

Champions like Leona, Nautilus, Alistar, Rell, and Thresh. Engage supports have hard crowd control and want to start fights. You are the one who decides when bot lane trades, when bot lane all-ins, and when teamfights begin. Your ADC follows your lead.

Lane plan: Look for all-in opportunities. Your power is highest at level 2 and level 6 when you unlock your full crowd control chain. Walk forward aggressively, zone the enemy ADC off CS with your threat range, and commit to fights when the enemy wastes a key cooldown. Engage supports who play passively are wasting their champion's entire identity.

Teamfight role: Engage onto priority targets or peel for your carries. The decision depends on the game state — if your ADC is fed, peel. If the enemy carry is out of position, engage. Read the situation and commit to one plan.

Enchanter Supports

Champions like Lulu, Nami, Janna, Soraka, Milio, and Karma. Enchanters keep their carries alive through shields, heals, and buffs. You amplify your team's strongest player rather than making plays yourself.

Lane plan: Poke with abilities when safe, sustain through enemy trades with heals and shields, and empower your ADC's trades with buffs like Nami's E or Lulu's E plus Pix damage. Enchanters win lane through attrition — you do not need to kill the enemy, you need to keep your ADC healthy and farming while chipping the enemy's health down.

Teamfight role: Stay behind your carries and keep them alive. Shield the person being focused, use your crowd control to peel divers off your backline, and save your ultimate for the moment it will save a life. An enchanter who uses their ultimate aggressively and then has nothing left when Zed dives the ADC has failed their job.

Poke Supports

Champions like Xerath, Zyra, Brand, Vel'Koz, and Lux. Poke supports deal significant damage from range and win lane by whittling the enemy down until they are too low to fight or farm.

Lane plan: Hit abilities from maximum range. Your goal is to reduce the enemy bot lane's health to the point where they cannot contest the wave, cannot contest Dragon, and cannot survive an all-in. Manage your mana carefully — a poke support with no mana is a minion with extra steps.

Teamfight role: Deal damage from the backline while providing crowd control. Poke supports often outdamage their ADC in the mid game. Position like a second carry — stay behind your frontline, land abilities on grouped enemies, and do not walk forward to auto-attack.

Catcher Supports

Champions like Blitzcrank, Pyke, Thresh, Bard, and Rakan. Catchers create picks by landing a single ability that forces a fight. One hook, one binding, one charm can win a teamfight before it starts.

Lane plan: Threaten with your hook or catch ability constantly. Even if you do not land it, the threat of the ability zones the enemy. A Blitzcrank who walks forward with Rocket Grab available forces the enemy to reposition — and that repositioning often costs them CS or puts them in a worse spot. When you do land the ability, commit immediately. Half-hearted follow-ups after a hook waste the pick.

Teamfight role: Look for picks on out-of-position enemies. Stand in fog of war, flank from angles the enemy does not expect, and land the one ability that starts the fight on your terms. A single Blitzcrank hook on the enemy ADC at 35 minutes wins the game.

The Laning Phase

Level 1 — Establishing Lane Control

The first 90 seconds of bot lane set the tone for the entire laning phase. As support, you have more influence over this window than your ADC does because you are not focused on last-hitting.

Step into the lane brush immediately. When the game starts and you walk to lane, stand in the bottom lane brush closest to the river. This gives you two advantages: the enemy cannot see you (which means they do not know your exact position), and you can walk out of the brush to trade or zone without the enemy reacting in time.

Auto-attack the enemy when they walk up to CS. At level 1, every champion has low health and low sustain. One or two auto-attacks from you on the enemy ADC while they are mid-last-hit animation is free damage. It costs you nothing and costs them health, a potion, or both.

Help push the wave. Auto-attack enemy minions between trades to help your ADC push the first wave. Hitting level 2 first in bot lane is the single biggest early advantage you can create — and the support's damage on the wave is what makes the difference.

Level 2 — The All-In Window

The level 2 all-in is the most important play in the support role during the laning phase. Hitting level 2 first means both you and your ADC have two abilities while the enemy still has one. This is an enormous power advantage that lasts only a few seconds.

How to hit level 2 first: You hit level 2 after clearing the first wave (6 minions) plus one melee minion from the second wave — 7 minions total. Help your ADC push by auto-attacking minions from the start. Do not take last hits — just help push.

How to execute the all-in:

1. As the seventh minion dies and you hit level 2, immediately level your second ability
2. Walk forward aggressively toward the enemy ADC or support
3. Use your crowd control — Leona E, Nautilus Q, Alistar W-Q combo, Thresh Q
4. Ping your ADC to follow up so they commit with you
5. Ignite early if you have it — the healing reduction matters more at the start of the fight than at the end
6. If the enemy Flashes, decide instantly whether to chase or back off. If you can still kill them, Flash to follow. If not, take the Flash advantage and play around their missing summoner spell

If the enemy hits level 2 first: Back off immediately. Do not contest CS in the wave. Walk behind your ADC's minion line and concede the push. Getting killed at level 2 because you did not respect the enemy's level advantage is one of the most common bot lane deaths. Losing two or three CS is nothing compared to giving up a double kill.

The best level 2 all-in supports: Leona is the strongest level 2 all-in support in the game. Her Zenith Blade into Shield of Daybreak provides 1.5 seconds of hard crowd control at level 2, plus her passive Sunlight adds bonus damage when your ADC auto-attacks the target. Nautilus, Alistar, Thresh, and Rell are also excellent level 2 all-in champions.

Levels 3–5 — The Trading Phase

After the level 2 spike, bot lane settles into a trading phase where both sides exchange damage while farming. Your job during this phase depends on your archetype.

Engage supports: Look for cooldown windows. When the enemy ADC uses their escape ability to trade (Ezreal E, Lucian E, Kai'Sa E), they have a long window where they cannot dodge your engage. Punish immediately. Also watch for the enemy support's key ability — if Morgana misses her Dark Binding, she cannot Black Shield your engage for the next 10 seconds. That is your window.

Enchanter supports: Shield or heal your ADC during trades, poke with abilities when the enemy is locked in last-hit animation, and manage your mana for sustain rather than burning it all on poke. If your ADC trades and you shield them simultaneously, the effective trade is always in your favor because the enemy does not have a support shield reducing their damage taken.

Poke supports: Land abilities on the enemy who is easier to hit. If the enemy ADC is standing behind minions but the enemy support is standing to the side, hit the support. Low health on either enemy creates all-in pressure. Do not use all your mana in two minutes — pace yourself. One ability per wave on the enemy is sustainable. Three abilities per wave is not.

Level 6 — Ultimate Timing

Level 6 is the second major power spike for support. Many support ultimates are fight-winning abilities that transform how your lane plays.

Game-changing level 6 ultimates: Leona's Solar Flare is a ranged AoE stun. Thresh's The Box creates a zone that slows and damages anyone who walks through it. Nami's Tidal Wave is a massive engage or disengage tool. Sona's Crescendo is an AoE stun. Alistar's Unbreakable Will makes him nearly unkillable for the duration.

When to use your ultimate in lane: Use it when you have a guaranteed follow-up from your ADC, when the enemy has no Flash available, or when your jungler is ganking and the extra crowd control guarantees the kill. Do not waste your ultimate on a trade you are not going to finish — support ultimates have long cooldowns in the early game, and the enemy will punish you for the next 90 to 120 seconds while it is down.

Warding Spots That Matter

Vision wins games, and the support is responsible for the majority of the team's vision. Knowing where to ward — and where to clear enemy wards — is what separates a support who climbs from one who stays stuck.

Faelights

Season 2026 introduced Faelights to the Summoner's Rift map. These are fixed locations on the map where placing a ward grants a much larger vision radius than a normal ward. There are two Faelights on each side of the river and two near each team's base gates.

When to ward Faelights: In the early game, the river Faelights are extremely high-value ward spots. A single Stealth Ward placed on a Faelight reveals the majority of the river, letting you spot the enemy jungler, mid lane roams, and support roams all from one ward. Prioritize Faelight wards over standard brush wards in the first 10 minutes.

When to clear Faelight wards: If the enemy has a Faelight warded, your Oracle Lens or Control Ward can clear it. Denying a Faelight ward removes a massive amount of enemy vision with a single clear. Always check enemy Faelights when you rotate through the river.

Early Game Ward Spots (Levels 1–8)

During the laning phase, your ward spots should protect you and your ADC from ganks while tracking the enemy jungler.

Tri-brush (blue side) or river brush (red side): This is your default early ward. Place it after the first wave arrives to protect against level 2 or level 3 ganks. Replace it whenever it expires.

River pixel brush: The small brush in the river between mid lane and bot lane. A ward here catches the enemy jungler crossing the river and mid lane roams heading bot. It does not protect against lane ganks from the tri-brush, so use it as a complement to your tri-brush ward, not a replacement.

Enemy jungle entrance (near Krugs or Gromp): If your jungler is topside and you push the wave, place a deep ward at the enemy jungle entrance. This reveals the enemy jungler's pathing and gives your entire team information about where they are heading next.

Lane brushes: If the enemy support is playing a hook champion like Blitzcrank or Thresh and standing in the lane brush, ward it immediately. You cannot dodge what you cannot see. A 75-gold Control Ward in the lane brush against a hook champion saves you hundreds of gold in deaths.

Mid Game Ward Spots (Levels 9–14)

After the laning phase, your warding shifts from protecting bot lane to controlling objectives and providing vision around the areas where your team is playing.

Dragon pit entrance: Before Dragon spawns, ward the pit entrance and the brush behind Dragon pit. This reveals enemy attempts to start Dragon and prevents your team from face-checking the pit.

Baron pit entrance: Same concept as Dragon but on the top side of the map. Ward the pit and the brush behind Baron, especially after 20 minutes when Baron becomes available.

Enemy jungle choke points: Ward the narrow passages in the enemy jungle where champions must walk to rotate between lanes. These wards catch rotations before they arrive, giving your team time to react.

Mid lane side brushes: If your team is sieging mid, ward both side brushes. Flanks from these brushes are how teams get engaged on from unexpected angles.

Late Game Ward Spots (Level 15+)

In the late game, vision is the difference between winning and losing the game. One pick on a carry ends the game. One unwarded brush conceals the assassination that decides the outcome.

Deep wards in the enemy jungle: Place wards deep in the enemy jungle near their buffs and camps. These wards reveal where the enemy team is grouped and whether they are preparing Baron, Dragon, or a push.

Defensive wards around your own jungle: If your team is behind, ward your own jungle entrances so you can see the enemy invading. Playing from behind requires defensive vision — you need to know where the enemy is so you can avoid them, not so you can fight them.

Objective wards 60 seconds before spawn: Always have a ward on the objective (Baron or Dragon) at least 60 seconds before it spawns. This reveals early starts and gives your team time to contest or trade the objective on the opposite side of the map.

Control Ward Placement

Control Wards are your most important vision tool. Buy one every time you recall — every single time. A support who does not buy Control Wards is not playing support.

Where to place Control Wards: Put them in locations your team controls. A Control Ward in the river brush when your team has lane priority reveals enemy wards and denies vision. A Control Ward in your own jungle when you are behind protects your team from picks. Never place Control Wards in locations the enemy can easily clear — a Control Ward in the enemy jungle brush is a wasted 75 gold if they clear it 30 seconds later.

When to Roam

Roaming is what transforms a good support into a great support. A support who sits in bot lane for 20 minutes and only wards the tri-brush is playing half the role. Roaming lets you create advantages across the entire map.

The Right Time to Roam

After pushing the wave into the enemy tower. If you and your ADC push the wave under the enemy tower, the enemy ADC is forced to farm under tower and cannot punish your absence. Your ADC can farm safely near the middle of the lane because the wave will bounce back. This is the ideal roam window — you lose nothing by leaving.

When your ADC recalls. If your ADC backs to buy items, you have 30 to 40 seconds where they are not in lane. Instead of standing in lane alone waiting for them, roam mid or place deep wards. You are accomplishing nothing by standing in an empty lane.

When the enemy bot lane recalls. If the enemy ADC and support back, your ADC can farm safely alone. Use this window to roam mid, help your jungler with a crab fight, or deep ward the enemy jungle.

When your ADC is safe under tower. If the wave is pushing toward your tower and your ADC can farm under tower without dying, you can roam. The enemy cannot dive your ADC alone under tower in most situations, and the wave pushing to your ADC means they are not missing CS.

The Wrong Time to Roam

When your ADC is pushed up with no vision. If your ADC is overextended past the river with no wards, leaving them alone is a death sentence. Stay until the wave is in a safe position or until you place vision to protect them.

When a large wave is crashing into your tower. Your ADC will lose CS and might die if the enemy dives them under tower with a big wave. Stay for the crash, help them survive the dive if it comes, and roam after the wave resets.

When your ADC is in a kill lane and needs you. Some ADCs — Draven, Lucian, Kalista — need their support present to threaten the lane. Leaving a Draven alone against a Caitlyn-Lux lane means Draven gets zoned, loses CS, and loses his snowball. Know your ADC's champion and whether they can survive alone.

Where to Roam

Mid lane is the most common and highest-value roam target. The mid lane is short, which means mid laners are often pushed up and vulnerable to ganks from the river. Walk through the river, use the mid lane alcove or side brush to hide, and coordinate with your mid laner for a gank. If the enemy mid laner does not have vision, one crowd control ability from you often burns their Flash or kills them.

Enemy jungle is valuable for deep warding and collapsing on the enemy jungler. If your jungler is invading, roam to provide backup. A 2v1 in the enemy jungle secures a kill, steals a buff, and creates a massive jungle advantage.

Top lane is a less common roam target because of the distance, but it can be devastating if the enemy top laner is overextended. Coordinate with your jungler or top laner for a dive — the long top lane means the enemy has a long walk back if they burn Flash.

Roaming Pathing

Take unexpected routes. If the enemy has the river warded, your roam through the river will be seen. Instead, walk through your own jungle and loop around behind mid lane. The longer path costs 10 extra seconds but arrives without warning.

Clear wards along the way. Use Oracle Lens while roaming to deny the enemy vision of your movement. If the enemy cannot see you leave bot lane, they cannot ping their mid laner to back off.

Place wards while roaming. Roaming through the river or enemy jungle is an opportunity to place wards in high-value spots. Even if your gank fails, you gained vision.

Playing from Behind

Not every lane goes well. Sometimes the enemy jungler camps bot, sometimes you miss the level 2 all-in and die, sometimes your ADC makes mistakes. Knowing how to play from behind is what prevents a lost lane from becoming a lost game.

In Lane — Surviving the Deficit

Let the wave push to your tower. When behind, do not contest the wave in the middle of the lane. Let the enemy push the wave toward your tower where you are safe. Your ADC can farm under tower, and the enemy must overextend to continue pressuring you, making them vulnerable to ganks.

Ward defensively. When behind, your wards should protect you, not give you aggressive information. Ward your own jungle entrances, the tri-brush, and the river to see ganks and dives coming. You do not need to know where the enemy jungler is starting their next clear — you need to know when they are walking toward you.

Do not force trades. If you are behind in items and levels, your trades will lose. Every time you take a trade and lose more health than the enemy, you get further behind. Farm safely, let your ADC reach their item spike, and wait for the enemy to make a mistake or for your jungler to gank.

Absorb pressure, do not feed more. Your most important job when behind is to not die again. Every death accelerates the enemy's lead. A support who is 0/2 and stops dying allows their team to stabilize. A support who is 0/5 because they keep trying to "make plays" has single-handedly lost the game.

Conceding Objectives

When behind, you often cannot contest Dragon or Rift Herald. That is okay. A Dragon taken by the enemy when you are alive and farming is better than a Dragon fight that results in a double kill for the enemy.

Trade objectives. If the enemy is doing Dragon, ping your team to take the Rift Herald or a tower on the opposite side of the map. Losing Dragon but taking two tower plates is a net-gold positive trade.

Ward the objective even if you cannot contest it. If the enemy is doing Dragon and your team cannot fight, ward the pit so you at least see the timer and can prepare for the next spawn.

Mid Game Recovery

Roam to lanes that are winning. If your bot lane lost but your mid lane is ahead, roam mid and help your mid laner snowball. Your job is to amplify your team's strongest player. If that player is not your ADC this game, go find the player who is carrying and support them.

Group for objectives with your team. Even when behind, you have crowd control, vision, and teamfight utility. Group with your team for Dragons, Baron, and towers. Your engage or peel is just as valuable from behind as it is when ahead.

Focus on vision denial. Clear enemy wards aggressively with Oracle Lens. If the enemy cannot see your team, they cannot make informed decisions about when to push, when to baron, or where to roam. Vision denial creates uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to enemy mistakes that let your team come back.

Mid and Late Game Support Play

Objective Setup

Supports are responsible for vision control around objectives before they spawn. Sixty seconds before Dragon or Baron spawns, you should be placing wards around the pit, clearing enemy vision with Oracle Lens, and positioning to either start the fight or peel for your team.

Dragon setup: Ward the Dragon pit, the brush behind the pit, and the river entrance from mid lane. Clear any enemy wards you find. Stand with your team, not alone in the river — getting picked before the objective fight starts is the worst outcome.

Baron setup: Ward the Baron pit, the brush behind the pit, the enemy jungle entrance nearest to Baron, and the mid lane side brushes. Baron is the game-deciding objective — vision around it must be flawless.

Teamfight Decision-Making

In teamfights, supports make the most impactful decisions on the team. You choose who lives and who dies, whether through engaging the right target, peeling the right diver, or shielding the right carry.

Engage or peel — choose one. The worst support teamfight pattern is trying to do both. If you engage onto the enemy backline and then try to run back to peel for your ADC, you accomplish neither. Decide before the fight starts: am I engaging or am I peeling? Then commit.

Peel when your carry is the win condition. If your ADC is 8/2 with three items and the enemy Zed is trying to kill them, your job is to keep your ADC alive. Exhaust the Zed, Lulu polymorph the Zed, Janna tornado the Zed — whatever it takes to keep your carry dealing damage.

Engage when the enemy is out of position. If the enemy ADC is standing in front of their team with no Flash, engage onto them. A dead enemy carry means the teamfight is essentially won regardless of what else happens.

Track enemy cooldowns. If the enemy Malphite has already used Unstoppable Force, he is not a threat for 100 seconds. If the enemy Zed used Death Mark on your top laner, he cannot assassinate your ADC for the next 90 seconds. Knowing what abilities are available changes your decision-making in real time.

Peeling Fundamentals

Peeling means using your abilities to keep threats away from your carries. This is the most important teamfight skill for the majority of support champions.

Layer your crowd control. Do not use all your abilities at once. If Leona hits a Zenith Blade stun on the enemy diver, do not immediately follow with your Shield of Daybreak. Wait for the first stun to end, then apply the second. Layered crowd control keeps the threat locked down for twice as long.

Position between your carry and the threat. Stand between your ADC and the enemy assassin or diver. This forces the enemy to go through you to reach your carry, and going through you means eating your crowd control.

Save your key ability for the right moment. Janna's Monsoon should not be used the instant a fight starts. Save it for when the enemy diver is on top of your ADC. Lulu's polymorph should not be used on the enemy tank — save it for the assassin. Your most powerful defensive ability should protect against the most dangerous threat.

Support Economy and Itemization

Gold Generation

Support items generate gold through either poking enemies (Spellthief's Edge line) or being near dying minions (Relic Shield line). Understanding which to take and how to generate gold efficiently is essential.

Spellthief's Edge is for ranged supports and poke supports. You generate gold by hitting enemies with auto-attacks and abilities. Take this on enchanters and mages — Lulu, Nami, Zyra, Xerath, Brand.

Relic Shield is for melee supports and engage supports. You generate gold by executing low-health minions with your Spoils of War charges. Take this on tanks and engage champions — Leona, Nautilus, Alistar, Thresh, Braum.

Maximize your gold generation. Spellthief's users should auto-attack the enemy whenever safe to proc gold stacks. Relic Shield users should save charges for cannon minions (which give the most gold) and share the heal with their ADC.

Core Items

Boots of choice: Boots of Swiftness for roaming, Boots of Mobility for heavy roaming, Plated Steelcaps against heavy AD, Mercury's Treads against heavy CC and AP. Buy boots early — movement speed is the support's most important stat for roaming and positioning.

First completed item: Your first item should match the game state. If you need to keep your carry alive, rush a defensive item like Locket of the Iron Solari. If you are ahead and want to press the advantage, build damage or utility like Shurelya's Battlesong for engage speed.

Control Wards every recall. This cannot be stated enough. Buy a Control Ward every time you back. Vision is your primary job, and Control Wards are the most efficient vision tool in the game.

Common Support Mistakes

1. Not helping push level 2. If you stand behind your ADC auto-attacking nothing at level 1, the enemy will hit level 2 first and zone or kill your lane. Help push the first wave by auto-attacking minions.

2. Standing behind the ADC doing nothing. A support who stands 500 units behind their ADC at all times is playing a minion. Walk forward, trade, zone, apply pressure. Your presence in the lane should threaten the enemy, not be invisible.

3. Roaming at the wrong time. Leaving your ADC when a large wave is crashing into your tower, or when the enemy bot lane is all-in range with full health, is a death sentence for your ADC. Roam when the wave state allows it.

4. Not buying Control Wards. Every recall. Every single recall. If you have 75 spare gold, you buy a Control Ward. There is no excuse for a support with zero Control Wards purchased at 20 minutes.

5. Warding the same spot every time. If you place your ward in the tri-brush at 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00, the enemy knows exactly where your ward is. Vary your ward placements. Use Faelights, deep wards, lane brush wards, and river wards interchangeably.

6. Dying for wards. Do not walk into the enemy jungle alone at 25 minutes to place a ward. If you get caught and die, the enemy gets Baron for free. Ward with your team, or use Blue Trinket for safe long-range vision.

7. Using all abilities at once in teamfights. Layer your crowd control and shields. Using everything at once wastes half your kit because the effects overlap instead of extending the duration.

8. Ignoring your ADC's champion. If your ADC picks Jinx, they want to farm to two items. If your ADC picks Draven, they want to fight immediately. Adapt your playstyle to your ADC's champion, not the other way around.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best champions for learning support?

Start with Leona or Nautilus if you want to learn engage — they have straightforward kits with clear engage patterns and their crowd control teaches you timing and commitment. Start with Nami or Lulu if you want to learn enchanting — Nami teaches trading with her W bounce and Lulu teaches peeling with her polymorph. Once you are comfortable, add Thresh (the highest skill ceiling support), Bard (roaming specialist), or Pyke (assassin support) to your pool.

Should I take Ignite or Exhaust?

Ignite is the default for most supports in 2026. It gives you kill pressure in lane and applies Grievous Wounds against healing. Take Exhaust when the enemy team has a fed assassin (Zed, Talon, Katarina) or a hypercarry ADC (Jinx, Kog'Maw, Vayne) who needs to be shut down in teamfights. Some enchanters like Soraka prefer Exhaust by default because they already have healing and want the defensive utility.

How do I deal with hook champions in lane?

Stand behind your minion wave — hooks from Blitzcrank, Thresh, Nautilus, and Pyke cannot pass through minions. If the enemy hook champion walks around the wave to get an angle, mirror their movement and keep minions between you. Buy a Control Ward for the lane brush if they are hiding in it. If they miss their hook, punish them immediately — hook champions without their hook are extremely vulnerable for 10 to 16 seconds.

When should I leave bot lane permanently?

Leave bot lane permanently after the first tower falls (yours or theirs), or around the 14-minute mark, whichever comes first. After that, you should be rotating with your team for objectives, roaming to other lanes, and establishing vision control around the next major objective. Your ADC should be farming a side lane alone while you play the map.

How do I support a bad ADC?

Lower your expectations and look for other win conditions. If your ADC is struggling, roam to other lanes more frequently and invest your time in teammates who are performing. In teamfights, peel for whoever on your team is actually carrying — that might be your mid laner or jungler instead of your ADC. Your job is to help your team win, not to babysit one player.

Should I take CS when my ADC is gone?

Yes, but only if the minions would die to the tower otherwise. If your ADC recalled and a wave is crashing under your tower, last-hit the minions. Gold that would be lost to the tower is better in your pocket. Do not push waves or take CS when your ADC is present and farming — support gold generation comes from your item, not from stealing CS.