An item that gives an armor aura?

ADepressedLeona·Feb 16, 2016·4 votes·441 views

As a support main, whenever I play against an AD heavy comp, the only item that I can get that comes to mind that benefits my entire team is Frozen Heart. And even that is only strong against auto attackers, most assassins don't care about the attack speed slow. We already have an aura item that gives MR, why can't we have one that gives armor as well? Or maybe an armor item that has an active pulse that increases ally armor based off of a % of the users armor.

6 Comments

AthenasVendettaFeb 16, 20167 votes

Start playing Taric

MisterHealYoGirlFeb 16, 20162 votes

Generally speaking (all-AD teams aside), armor auras tend to be much harder to balance than magic resist auras. The main source of physical damage is ADCs or assassins, both of whom go for a single target; magic damage, on the other hand, tends to splash all over your team. Compare Caitlyn to Syndra, for example. With that being so, something like Aegis of the Legion helps your whole team at once, so you get the full value of the MR; with armor, only one or two people on your team are taking large amounts of physical damage at a time. With that being so, at any particular value, the armor given by the aura would either be

Too low for it to provide a noticeable gold value, since only 2/5 of your team is using it at a time, as opposed to 5/5 with Aegis. OR
Too high, rendering it utterly oppressive against AD-heavy teams. Balancing it for an average situation (one ADC and maybe one other significant physical damage threat) would make it obscenely powerful against AD-based teams, far beyond the already fantastic Aegis of the Legion, and balancing it against 4 or 5 AD teams would make it incredibly overcosted for any other scenario, rendering it a VERY niche item.

ADepressedLeonaFeb 16, 20161 votes

Then what about an item that can increase the armor of a single target by a % of the users armor? Kinda like a Mikaels, but with armor instead of a cleanse and heal.