Why should anyone pick barrier over heal?
The idea of barrier was realty good at the start, but now when heal is so big and also gives bonus movement speed, barrier is a pretty noob pick
22 Comments
I think they should incorporate Clarity or Cleanse into Barrier to possibly increase their usage. Could be something as simple as;
Barrier + Clarity: Shields the champion for 115-455 damage, and restores X% mana for how much damage the barrier absorbs. or Barrier + Cleanse: Removes all CC, provides 50% reduction to all CC for 2 seconds, and Shields the champion for X-Y damage for 2 seconds.
It just sucks that Flash is an almost 100% required SS for all roles, and the secondary SS is limited to 1 or 2 options for each role.
Barrier should give bonus MR and Armor while the bubble holds. Even better if it could block the effects of any spells that don't break it.
It would make a clear line between barrier and heal. Barrier would be a force field meant to stop something bad coming at you, a pure defensive choice without extra utility.
Heal should've been merged with Cleanse, and reduce the amount it heals, only have it give MS, small heal and the CC removal.
That would leave barrier as the default defense spell, and would give cleanse a niche in keeping yourself alive in fights where CC is likely to melt you instantly (Lissandra, Amumu) or when you're against someone like Ahri who uses DFG and Charm a well timed cleanse can save you.
Zed
Heal is better for escape or for 2v2 duels.
Barrier is better for 1v1 duels.
Barrier has a shorter cd and the shield is bigger than the heal's heal.
Kind of ambitious but maybe if summoner spells got added effects depending on which tree you put 21 points in.
Such as 21 point barrier for offense would give you AD/AS/AP/dueling power of some sort, defense would give bonus MR/Arm/Slow anyone who hits it, utility would work like a spell shield that also healed you when broken.
You could do similar things to other spells; I believe it would open up some new strategies with summoner spells, and masteries. Then you could just use slightly altered/colored effects to indicate to enemy players which type you have.
The thing about barrier is that is that it doesn't gets halved by ignite as heal does, so it still has 1 v 1 duel potential in mid lane with champions that make more damage the longer they stay alive like velk.
But in bot lane, heal is pretty much a core pick due the fact it synergyzes better with your supp, allowing you to chase or escape, and also giving you bait potential. On the other hand, exhaust is no longer a core pick for supports since ignite counters heal better than exhaust making lanning kills even easier than in those days where barrier was core in adcs. Of course Exhaust offers more utility mid-late game depending on the other teams composition, exhausting a yasuo, a zed, or even an ap burster during/before their ults, will surely give you a nice advantage, not to mention the slow and armor reduction it has. Nevertheless you shouldn't call your supp "b5 noob" just because he decided to pick ignite.
I still want old Heal back.
Screw the rest of you jerks who don't want a summoner for team fights.
Heal is a good bot lane spell as the heal can hit 2 people, and a movement speed buff hits both as well, in the early game. Later on, and always in solo lanes, barrier becomes the better pick for a sudden tankiness increase to help you win a duel as it offers more overall HP, is not reduced by ignite, and has a shorter CD.
Noone uses barrier cuz there are usually better options for that specific role, such as ignite or teleport. But barrier is a solid pick for squishy mages.
I agree that Barrier is far more limited than Heal at the moment; I almost never take it now. One thing I learned from LastShadow: Barrier (temporarily) increases your max health, where Heal doesn't. There are more limited use cases, but for instance, if you know an assassin can 100-0 you, you have a larger window to cast barrier and live, than Heal, for instance.
For example, if you as the ADC know that Syndra can 100-0 you with her QER, you can cast Barrier right before she stuns you and survive her combo due to the extra health on Barrier. On the other hand, you might not have the chance to cast heal since you can't cast before she uses her spells, since it won't do anything if you're at max health, and you might not have a window to cast it later since you're stunned for a lot of the time (especially if she ignites you and you get reduced healing)
It's very limited use, but it does have some advantages in specific circumstances.
Barrier absorbs more damage, ignores reduces healing and can absorb true damage. "Situational"
But what really makes heal godly is saving a team mate
Heal WAS the go-to spell for a little while. It got buffed big-time (to the point that both members of bot lane were running it), then it kinda sorta got nerfed to what it is now. I can't remember the exact logic but I believe it was something like the speed boost was either shortened or became less of a boost, or the heal itself started healing for less. Still good in lanes where there's no Ignite, but these days with Tristana being such a dominant pick, I could see Barrier being more useful. Heal isn't really much use when she slaps her W on you as soon as you start to trade.
They both work. At this point I think it's a matter of personal preference for most folks if you're not in a position where one spell is mandatory in that free (non-flash) spot.
ughm... up?
I pick it all the time in ARAM since healing has a reduced effect in ARAM.