Resistances apply before the shield does, which means the same 300 shield is worth far more on a tank than on a carry. Here's how shields stack, why you can't see your own, and why a spell shield isn't one at all.
League of Legends Guide
Shields
Temporary HealthA shield absorbs damage in place of your health bar while sitting outside it. Nothing that reads your current, maximum or missing health can see it.
Which means an execute threshold, a missing-health heal and a percent-health hit all behave as though the shield isn't there. It stops damage. It never changes what you count as.
Three colors, three jobs
Greyish-white shields absorb everything. Purple shields absorb magic damage only. Orange shields absorb physical damage only.
The color sits on the health bar in every fight and almost nobody looks at it, which is a shame, because it tells you exactly which of your two damage types is currently being thrown away.
Resistances apply first, then the shield
Armor and magic resist reduce the damage before any of it reaches the shield, so the shield only ever absorbs what's already been cut down.
This is the most important rule here. A 300 shield on somebody with high resistances stops far more raw damage than the same 300 on a squishy target, because each point of shield is buying more. Shielding the tank is not a wasted cast, and shielding the carry is worth less than the number implies.
Heal and shield power makes them bigger
The same stat that amplifies healing amplifies shield strength, on the shields you cast onto other people as well as on your own.
Which is why a support carrying that stat is doing considerably more than their damage numbers suggest, and why the item that provides it goes early on shield champions rather than as a fifth-slot luxury.
One thing that does not touch shields: Grievous Wounds. Anti-heal cuts healing by 40% and leaves shields completely alone, so a team whose sustain is shielding rather than healing is not a reason to buy it.
What you want instead is Serpent's Fang. It shrinks the shields an enemy gains for a few seconds after you damage them, and it takes a bite out of whatever they're already wearing the first time you connect. The one gap in it: magic damage shields are exempt, so it does nothing to the purple ones.
Multiple shields get eaten shortest first
Carrying more than one, damage always chews through whichever expires soonest. Two effects jump that queue and are always spent first: Adaptive Defenses [Passive] and Black Shield [E].
That ordering is why double-shielding somebody wastes less than it looks like it should. The short one is spent first and the long one is still standing afterward.
You also can't see your own. Shields render on the health bar for everyone watching you, but not on the version inside your own HUD, though most do leave a buff icon on your status bar. The enemy has a clearer picture of how much shield you're hiding behind than you do, which is worth remembering before deciding you can take one more trade.
A spell shield is not a shield
The effects that block one incoming spell entirely are a separate mechanic with separate rules. They don't absorb an amount, they cancel an event.
Nothing on this page applies to them. Shield strength doesn't raise them, shield reduction doesn't shrink them, and they aren't drawn on the health bar at all.
Frequently asked questions
Do shields count as health?
No. Executes, percent-health effects and missing-health heals all ignore them.
Do resistances apply before shields?
Yes, which makes a shield worth more on a high-resistance target.
Does anti-heal reduce shields?
No. Grievous Wounds only touches healing.
Which shield is used first?
The one expiring soonest, apart from two effects that jump the queue.
Why can't I see my own shield?
Your own HUD health bar doesn't draw it. Everyone else's view of you does.
The short version
Shield the target with resistances, watch the color to see which damage type is being wasted, and stop buying anti-heal against a shielding team. Your own shield is the one piece of information the enemy has and you don't.
For the numbers underneath all of it, our resistances guide covers effective health, and our anti-heal guide covers the debuff that shields walk straight through.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to comment or leave a message :)