Make Shield Duration a Power Budget Item

What if we made the duration of a shield an item in its power budget? The longer a shield lasts, the longer its recipient is protected, and consequently the longer its attackers must extend to reach them when the shield is down. When shields are re-applied, shield duration also narrows the window to strike a target when its shield is down. Therefore, it seems reasonable to balance shields around their duration as well as their strength, mana cost, and effects.

I am not just talking about Support shields, which reach such low cooldowns later in the game that only a fraction of a second separates one cast from another, frustrating divers and assassins. Riven has shields. Tahm Kench has a shield. Even Rakan has a small one. Balancing all shields around their durations could create interesting choices for champion design and itemization and, where duration is reduced, free power in champion’s budgets to enable those choices. Here’s an example of each one.

Design Janna’s E - Eye of The Storm -Duration reduced from 5 to 2 seconds. -Grants target 10-20% bonus movement speed based on percent missing health.

Janna is a defensive support, meant to protect a vulnerable hypercarry like Kog’Maw. Reducing her shield duration while granting movement speed scaling with missing health would keep her shields avoidable late but help carry trade and escape.

Itemization Redemption -Cooldown reduction removed -Healing and Shielding Power increase doubled from 10% to 20%

Ardent Censer -Healing and Shielding Power increase removed -Cooldown reduction doubled to 20%.

Redemption’s active emphasizes big plays. Removing its cooldown reduction but granting it more healing and shielding power, rarer early because Ardent Censer lost it, would strengthen this emphasis when it’s rushed. Ardent Censer, on the other hand, is a passive item that emphasizes slinging shields and heals. More cooldown reduction but no healing and shielding Power would strengthen this emphasis, too. Supports buying both items would reach the same 2-Item power but face a meaningful choice about which item to buy. Soraka, for example, would always want Redemption because of her health costs, but Sona would love Ardent Censer’s big CDR powerspike. Both would benefit from shielding supports being further from the meta, since they are healers.