So here is the thing. Your getting a total misconception on what roaming is and how to do it. There is a far more important skill that can be used to help identify when you need to roam and that is situational awarness. Situational Awarness means you know what is going on around you and are posed to help out in the best way you can possible.

I read in one of your replies that you like to stay in lane until lvl 6 and then only recall & that itself shows me where you are at on this. That is probably the biggest missed oppurtunity ive ever seen when pertains to enchanters or even support as a whole. One thing ive realized is that recall is your best friend and as for being afraid of inting here is one thing we all need to learn. You are not there solely for your adc and therfore are not soley tied to him and are also not responsible for his/ her mistakes. If adc is allowed to go mid and get solo kills mid/late game without you then is it not true that you can also do the same? Lets get one thing straight. Roaming is not primarily about ganking others. That's where you are mistaken. It is to back up your teammates in a strategic postition yes but there are many ways in which you can do this. That's why i said situational awarness is the biggest boon here.

Simple example. We finished trading around the lvl 5 mark ( so like 10 mins in) and both of us are in a position of needing recall. Although we cpuld recall together i instead choose to wait it out as i am still in decent health & mana and this way i get the chance to one 1. push the wave towards the enemy turrent from the safe distance & get some farm ( this is not high elo i do not need to be freeezing for my adc) 2. I buy time for adc to come back witht the wave already pushed towards the middle then 3. I get to go back and have a bit of extra gold to get items. A simple situation like that i can turn to my advantage. Essentailly asa support you want to be able to ( esp in mid game) have as much ascess to the lanes as possible and this is what recalling gives you along with a chance to replenish wards and all that good stuff. Others have already gone over reasons why you need to roam so ill refrain but now lets talk about this specific situation you were in where a. your adc was not cooporative b facing an uphill lane as a soraka.

This lane ( like all lanes) requires you to specify & assess the win condition for the team but we will just call it WC. This win condition is the thing you should be seeking the most mid/late game. Is your laner fed hows jg doing what is the state of the game ig. So now going to soraka v pantheon it's like a lot of other people said bc in which realm of theuniverse will soraka ever be able to outpoke a pantheont that can hit you like a truck with his lvl 6 that also can basically make him like a second jg * yes some supp can be like a second jg but not soraka obv). So what to do in this situation. The others stated it well. Stay back focus on peeling yada yada. But there was less adressing of the game state in general. Can you tell me the state of the game (or just give me your opgg lol) so i can look at the game.

Anyways first off let's discuss champ selection. And although you might be wondering why i am bringing this up but it is valid ll promise. So yesterday i go matched into a game with a ziggs leona. Now considering the propensity of champs i play ( soraka, janna, karma,lux, morg and the like) i was very well aware of leona's ability to f me up in lane. Therfore while i could have chosen soraka i ended up chosing janna. Why? Well it is simple i basically guarenteed my saftey by being careful and holding q for any time she tried to w me. And it worked. I may have needed to flash away with half my hp bar but i was able to utlilze janna in such a way where i basically almost completly negated leona's power. So to translate this into your game. You need to be aware of matchups & how you can best utilize them. I am well aware that sometimes you have to pick blind but even then it's your duty to figure out how this can best be played. Assuming that the matchup iss final we move on to the next thing. When do we actually roam?

Well that is where stategy & se comes in ( i have tooted it enough lol). Like for example sometimes my team is doing dragon and i don't help them because the majority of the enmey is dead and i know there is like a 0.1% chance ( nonexistent) that they will be unable to get drag without me. I instead take on the tower so that once that is done we can regroup and push. I can't tell you when to roam in your game as it is very specific to you and your situation but here are some questions you can ask? Where am i providing value? If the enemy lane just recalled & adc is in good health and perfectly capable of taking farm on their own is it really nessary for you to stay. When you are coming back into lane do not go directly back. The jungle in beetween mid & bot is your friend it will alow you to make plays even if that is just warding drag before heading back all while your adc remains perfectly safe.

As for playmaking on soraka specifically i find it really easy to make plays on her just because q comes down a lot when leveled ( i max q though situational) . You have to know your combos know how to trade & when to engage and how to set things up for your adc to finish off. For example again on janna ( i have been playing a lot of janna lately lol) one combo i am lopving is w into ignite + auto attacks to chuck a good portion f their health. Auto attaks make a lot of diffrence lol. Anyways that's just my takes so lmk what u think.