I think shields should be overhauled in this game.

Ok sure but why·Feb 22, 2018·2 votes·253 views

Don't just downvote with your "LOL I SEARCHED YOU ON OP.GG AND YOU HAD A BAD GAME ONCE THEREFORE YOU KNOW NOTHING" malarkey.

I just think they can do a whole lot with shields in this game!

For example, they can rework Lethality so that on top of armour pen, it also makes you deal bonus physical damage to shields.

Or a new Resolve rune! Where shields grant you %damage reduction based on the shield size (33% effective if shield was given to you by an ally). It could replace the Revitalise rune, and then the Revitalise rune can be put in the Inspiration tree where it actually belongs!!!

Literally, anything could be done about this! It would make stuff like Overheal and Bloodthirster more viable, and it would make champions that give shields something more interesting than being just some shield dispenser.

7 Comments

Final Spark LuxFeb 22, 20182 votes

If we're talking about doing something that makes shields more manageable for the enemy, I think we should simply reduce the duration of some shields. This would give more openings for enemies to retaliate because there wouldn't have 100% uptime anymore, while also increasing the possibility for skill expression without directly nerfing the shields ability to negate damage. That or make a new stat that effects shields that people have to buy into separately. It shouldn't be loaded into something that already makes the enemy do more damage to you.

Adding damage reduction to shields would make shields stronger, but I thought the point you wanted to make was that they need to be toned down? Or are you saying just remove all actual shielding and convert it to damage reduction? That isn't a shield at that point, that's basically just an armor / MR buff at that point. I'm confused by the proposed change here.

Ok sure but whyFeb 22, 20181 votes

I was actually trying to imply that shields should be tweaked and edited so that there are both ways to make your own shields more powerful AND make the enemy's shields weaker --- to add an extra layer of thought into shields as a whole, instead of the most intricate, thought-provoking thing a shielder can saw being just "This item makes my shields 10% stronger!" It's the same reason Physical damage and Magic damage are two different things, too: to give tanks more to think about than "OOGA BOOGA ME GET MUCH ARMOUR!!!"

I've heard a lot of people on these boards complain that "As an assassin, it's so hard killing people with all these shields everywhere!" I haven't had that problem myself, but I think assassins should have some utility to work around it with lethality. It would give Assassins a better chance at doing anything at all, and it would keep the poor, squishy ADC from being forced to endure the punishment of mages and tanks without any form of protection whatsoever. You might say, "Then a couple tanks would get lethality, too!" But that would make them less tanky, and therefore easier to duel against. It's all just as balance-able as everything else Riot has been putting out, lately, and I think it would make the game a lot more interesting and fun without actually making legitimate changes to gameplay!

KhristophorosFeb 22, 20181 votes

I don't think they should do any of that because it hurts the clarity shields have. When you see a shield on somebody's health bar you can tell visually how much more effective health they have compared to their non-shielded health. That is the most clarity of any mechanic in the game.

That clarity is absolutely gone when there are mechanics that modify damage taken by the shield because then the extra shieldhealth you see is not equivalent to the same amount of normal health, so the visualization doesn't give you as much information. I don't think anything like that should be done.

Ok sure but whyFeb 22, 20181 votes

Then they could add visual cues, like give the shield a green tint if someone has that new rune!

Literally, if someone gives a reason why it's bad, Riot should be able to work around it. All it takes is someone willing to try.

ZephyrDrakeFeb 22, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ok sure but why,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=4l0Y0Kvq,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2018-02-22T06:56:20.577+0000)

Then they could add visual cues, like give the shield a green tint if someone has that new rune!

Literally, if someone gives a reason why it's bad, Riot should be able to work around it. All it takes is someone willing to try.

"willing to try" if you told me it would be "this rune gives your shields X% damage reduction" that would be fine but then you have to add "if the shield is Y you get Z% damage reduction, if it's A you get B% damage reduction, if it's R you get I% damage reduction" there is no clarity on anyone's part in that case and it's just confusing no matter what you do.

Yes they could make it so lethality does bonus damage to shields but it already does in a sense since you are still dealing more damage to the opponent than if you didn't had any lethality/magic pen... so you are just doubling down on it at that point which can cause issues since then either shields would be too strong or too weak depending on how you balance them (too weak if balanced without pen items in mind and people building them or too strong if balanced around said items and people not building them)

Ok sure but whyFeb 22, 20181 votes

Do you think the people at Riot might have said the same thing about Physical and Magic damage when they first made this game?

"Oh, why two damage types? Then people would get too confused, and balancing everything would become a mess!"

After a while, I'm pretty sure they'd be able to find something that works! Since basically every champion that's come out as of lately had some form of balance issues. That's how people learn! And with that, they improve! And they could improve a lot if they were ballsy enough to give it a shot.

ZephyrDrakeFeb 22, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ok sure but why,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=4l0Y0Kvq,comment-id=0000000000000000,timestamp=2018-02-22T07:30:53.320+0000)

Do you think the people at Riot might have said the same thing about Physical and Magic damage when they first made this game?

"Oh, why two damage types? Then people would get too confused, and balancing everything would become a mess!"

After a while, I'm pretty sure they'd be able to find something that works! Since basically every champion that's come out as of lately had some form of balance issues. That's how people learn! And with that, they improve! And they could improve a lot if they were ballsy enough to give it a shot.

ok two types of damages have nothing to do with my shield giving me something like 20% damage reduction one moment then i buy one item that gives me more shields and then it jumps to 30% damage reduction and then some other random item that gives me more shields and it jumps to now 50% damage reduction... there is no clarity at all on how this works on me or the opponent. He would just randomly see that somehow he is doing even less damage to me out of nowhere just because i bought an AP item for instance... like what? why does my shield becomes then so much more powerful like that? when you mess with clarity the change is awful. Change for the sake of change is awful but change for the sake of change at the cost of clarity is even worst.

This is not even mentioning the nightmare of a balance this would be, specially when you are trying to tie the things that affect shield strength to essentially damage related stats (and the support items)