Boards›Gameplay

Lets talk about - Shields

Earl Eulrich··3 votes·550 views

So first of...let us take a look at Shields as they appear in the game currently:

  • there a roughly two categories: self-shielding (active+passive) and supportive-shielding
  • I will list primary scalings of the shield + potential uptime (40%cdr)

1. Self-Shields:

1.1a occurance in the game

  • Diana : scales offensively+defensively with ap (dmg+value) / potential uptime: 166%

  • JarvanIV : scales with ability-lvl only (slow+value), value increases as more opponents are around / potential uptime: 70%

  • Kassadin : sclaes off+def with ap (dmg+value) / potential uptime: 30%

  • Nautilus : scales off with ap/ def with hp / potential uptime: ~90%

  • Riven : scales defensivly with an offensive stat (ad)+offers mobility / potential uptime: ~40%

  • Shen : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap)+ offers a little dps/en-reg / potential uptime: 100%

  • Skarner : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap)+ offers mobility / potential uptime: ~90%

  • Urgot : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap)+ offers utility / potential uptime: ~100%

  • Viktor : scales off+def with ap, can offer mobility (augmented) / potential uptime: 100%

  • Udyr : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap) + offers lifeleech/ potential uptime: ~150%

  • Sion : scales off+def with ap / potential uptime: 4,8sec guranteed downtime

  • Rumble : scales defensivly with an offensive stat (ap) + offers mobility / potential uptime: 0,55%

  • Evelynn : not really a primary shield-spell in function, but has the same scaling-mechanic as J4/ potential uptime: once a fight

1.2a summary:

  • most self-shields offer either dmg or mobility on top of the shield-value, there´s no spell that is purely a shield
  • the potential Uptime for most Champs is ~100%, only exception seem to be CHampions that have been seen as too strong during laning
  • there´s no real consistency in scaling

1.3a conclusions:

  • Shields that offer def+off scalings on the same stat have a history of snowballing out of control fast (e.g. Diana had been very oppressive when released, Riven aswell, Victor still is a huge lanebully) -> The Nautilus-model seems the most healthy pattern for me...getting more tanky by building tanky and getting more dmg by building dmg seems appropriate and doesn´t snowball as much

  • pure Shields seem to not offer enough gameplay -> might be because shields seem to be balanced as +effective health mostly with very high uptimes, so there´s no gameplay in the shield themselves, you just press it for extra-health infight...not reactively

  • Most of the Champs have the shield to go in the midst of battle, yet J4 is the only one with a shield-mechanic that really adapts to this pattern -> I feel like J4s/Eves scaling with opponents is really the best way to balance out Shields - otherwise they get out of hand fast in 1v1 Situations or the 3v3 Map...as they tend to be either useless to survive in a 5v5 clash or to strong to be fought in a 1v1.

  • Effects coupled to the Shield cause it to snowball too harsh against the Champions ->Champs like Shen, Sion+Nauti that really suffer a lot from having their shields exploded too fast once they fall behind -> more consistency here would be needed

1.1p occurance in the game

  • Blitzcrank : scales with a stat defensive only cause of itemization: mana / potential uptime: ~9%, though it´s fair to assume it´s basically up once every clash later on
  • Malphite : sclaes with health / potential uptime: once per clash
  • Mordekaiser : scales with offense (more dmg->more/faster shield) / uptime: unlimited
  • Vi : scales with health/ potential uptime: ~35%
  • Yasuo : sort of scales with mobility / potential uptime: at least twice a fight (1prefight+ult refresh)

1.2p summary

  • Most passive shields just grant some bonus-survivability on Champions that need them ->basically just an improvement of defensive scaling, quite alright on tanks though a bit lacking in terms of gameplay

  • some passive-shields need the Champion to be active to contain them ->good idea, but the execution seems to not work out to well, as it still basically just proccs in fight when it procc without 2nd thought about it (though ok, it´s a passive yea)

1.3p conclusions

  • The Shields work alright as sort of defensive-scaling-amplifier

  • The more active Shields tend to be somewhat oppressive ->like with the active-selfshields, having off+def scaling on the same ability doesn´t seem like a healthy pattern for gameplay and leeds to binary feast or famine scenarios (morde) ->mobility already is a huge tool to survive/attack...coupling a shield with it just enhances that even further (Yasuo)

2 Supportive-Shields

2.1 occurance in the game

  • Janna : def+off (bonus ad)scaling with ap / potential uptime: ~80%

  • LeeSin : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap) + offers mobility + shields himself aswell / potential uptime: ~100% (though in reality Lee won´t go for 40%cdr, so 60-70 seems more realistic)

  • Lulu : def+off scaling with ap (passive dmg) / potential uptime: 100%

  • Lux : def scaling with an offensive stat, can protect up to 5 targets for a basevalue of 1800+3,5ap scaling (!!!) / potential uptime: ~80%

  • Morgana : def scaling with an offensive stat+ offers cc-immunity (!!!) / potential uptime: ~55%

  • Thresh : scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap) + offers mobility for the shielded ally / potential uptime: ~40%

  • Karma :scales defensivly with an offensive stat (ap)+ offers mobility / potential uptime: ~67%

  • Orianna : scales off+def with ap, offers defstats on top, moves the ball / potential uptime: ~74%

  • Sona : primarly a Heal, scales defensivly with an offensive ability, AoE-potential / potential uptime: 25%

2.2 summary

  • again, the only shield in the game that is purely a shield is Lux W - which offers gameplay through beeing a sort of skillshot + has incredible oppressive basevalues/scalings -> Shields per se don´t seem to offer any gameplay, as they are always coupled with additional effects -> Shields that focus more on the additional effect like Morgana and Thresh have a much lower uptime

  • the uptimes of Shields still tends to be ~100%

  • again, we see that many shields scale off+def from the same stat...leading to a more snowbally game-pattern

2.3 conclusions

  • Shields that focus more on the additional effect like Morgana and Thresh have a much lower uptime -> I think the pattern here is kinda right, especially for Thresh you often forget about the shield and focus just on the good use of the lantern-grab -> I feel like the uptime/duration is still to long to really offer sort of reactive gameplay, often the abilities still get used just in case/with a very forgiving time-window

  • Again, Shield-uptime is very high...so instead of timing it to clutchly save an ally they just offer more effective health over the course of a fight, not adding much gameplay there (and thus needing additional effects to be somewhat interessting)

3 TL/DR...or final conclusions

  • In general shields don´t offer much gameplay at all due to very high uptimes (and therefor get coupled with additional effects most of the time) ->so basically, shields just add effective health in fights an can be spammed on important charackters without much attention -> I think it would be a lot healthier for gameplay if especially supportive-shields would get a more reactive character...meaning much less duration, so you would have to time them depending on the fight to effectively block dmg instead of just spamming them, as they will absorb the dmg anyway ->~100%uptimes don´t offer gameplay for either side...as attacker your only option is to bruteforce through the shield, as shielder you can just keep it up anyway

  • I feel the J4-Shield actually has a healthier design than most shields ->it scales with the number of opponents you face, so it´s not as oppressive/snowbally in 1v1 fights and still protects you well in a 5v5 ->I feel like this pattern should be used on other shields aswell

  • Shields that scale offensive and defensive the same time tend to snowball a lot ->Naut is a great example of a shield that gains survivability as you build survivability and dmg if you go for an offensive stat ->that pattern offers a lot more choice for the player/buildpath and is a lot more healthy for the game I feel

  • Shields that have the additional effect tied to the shield-uptime tend to snowball (in both directions) aswell -> A good example here is the old "no counterplay" Skarner...if he got ahead and his Shield couldn´t be exploded fast he just ran at you and then beat you up mercilessly, but if he ever fell behind the shield exploded before he had been half-way towards you and you could kite him for years without problems -> that pattern leads to very snowbally gameplay and should really be avoided ->effects that are really important for a champion to be strong should never be tied to their shield-uptime, but last for the full duration of the spell weather the shield gets destroyed or not...good examples here would be Shen (he really gets energy-starved incredible fast if the shield dies quick) and Naut (just no dmg whatsoever once he falls behind)

So basically I think there is a lot of potential to improve the gameplay of Shields, as right now they are mostly just spammy snowball tools (+same can be said about heals for the most part)

5 Comments

Sire Hippington3 votes

I agree in nearly all points, but the shield-list is incomplete, so let me fix it.

1. Self-Shields:

1.1a occurance in the game

  • Evelynn : damage scales with ap and value with number of hit enemys, slows, potential uptime: ~11%
  • Rumble : value scales with ap, grants speedbuff, potential uptime: ~60%
  • Udyr : value scales with ap(a seldome used stat on him), grants lifesteal, potential uptime: ~160%

1. Supportive-Shields:

1.1a occurance in the game

  • Karma : value scales with ap, grants speedbuff, potential uptime: 66,6%
  • Orianna : damage and value scale with ap, grants bonus armor/mr, potential uptime: ~75%

My generall thoughts on shields:

  • I definitly agree that shields scaling with the number off enemys are the most healthy(every bruiser actually should have an defensive mechanic scaling with the number of enemys to be usfull 5v5 without beeing oppresive 1v1)

  • Scaleing from an offstat leads to snowbally patterns, for ap champs however it's somewhat ok to scale defensivly off ap as unlike ad-champs they don't have the option to go for lifesteal, which grants ad-champs some sutainabillity scaling with offens. The scaling however needs to be watched, release Diana for example simply had way to high numbers.

  • Effekts that stay aslong as the shield is up tend to be extremly snowbally in both directions. Either u are ahead, ur enemy can'T burst through ur shield(especially in a 1v1 scenario) and u become an opressive force as u have increased damage or utillity while ur enemy can't trade back through ur shield. If ur behind, the shield usually brakes to quickly, leaving u vulnerable and often without tools to strike back(Nauti for example has the majority of his dps bound to his shield), wich usually is even worse in 5v5 fights as often random aoe alrewady pops ur shield, denying an important part of ur kit.

  • The way to long duration of most shields takes away any counterplay to the shield it'self, as u have no chice than to bruteforce through it, as ur enemy has enough time to go through a entire skillrotation and retaliate, or just go away, or simply refreshes the shield as the uptime is often close to 100%. Imho, the counterplay to shields should be to bait them out and Go all-in once they expire, which would force the shield-user to be more carefull about his timeing. 2-3sec should be enough on anyshield that doesn't grant mobillity. shields that grant mobillity shouldn't have more than 1.5 sec duration. This would turn shields to reaktive damage-prevention opposed to heals/current-shields that just grant sustained tankiness in prolonged fights with not much gameplay involved

I have to say that i don't agree with u about passive shields. Passiveshields are actually those with most gameplay involved, as they usually have pretty limited uptimes. most of that gameplay gets kind lost in big fights though, but those passives define the laneing patterns of those champs alot.

  • Blitzcrank : after poping the passive u can just ignore him and 10 sec later a huge part off his survivabillity is gone, allowing for serious pressure against him. However, in those 10 sec he can be a real pain in the ass or just get away, but his passive needs to do some good for him i guess

  • Malphite : the refreshing shield helps him to stay somewhat sustained in his rather rough laneing, while enemys can counterplay it by dealing damage atleast once every 7sec, forcing agrresive play. On top of that it gives him the needed survivabillity as a frontline tank.

  • Mordekaiser : He needs to be dealing damage to gain his shield, so reduceing his damage via def-stats or debuffs will also hurt his defense. It also makes him very vulnerable to longranged poke as he needs enemys in short range to gain his shield, and it makes cc hitting him very hard. Maybe thats overall to much counterplay for the shield to have it healthy, as the worst and best case-scenarios deffer greatly, but it atleast got counterplay.

  • Vi : not allowed to write more

Earl Eulrich3 votes

already fixed in the missing ones...and yea, it´s true the passive Shields tend to affect laningphase more than i made them up to do. I mostly focused on 5v5 fights whhile looking at their role/gameplay.

Sire Hippington2 votes

  • Vi : she needs to deal damage with an abillity to gain the shield, so it promotes agressive plays and allows her to use her Q for a turnaround if her passive comes up rather than an escape(which wouldn'T proc the shield), complementing her agressive charakter. if played on lane, timeing the all-ins with ur passive while avoiding engages while it's down is crutial for succes

  • Yasuo : in theory, u can proc it with a low damage attack, wait till it expires, and then go in. The problem however is that yasus mobillity easily allows to force a trade as soon as his shield gets popped, or even better befor it's popped, and beeing a light fighter, the usuall counterplay would be fast burst+cc, but thx to the shield u would have to poke, wait, and then burst, wich simply isn't what u would want to do. So while the shield got counterplay, yasou him self got counters to that counterplay in his kit, kinda makeing it pointless

p.s. why do we have a(allready questionable) post-length-restriction if u can simply reply to urself to post as much as u want?

Phoenix Kotori 2 votes

most self-shields offer either dmg or mobility on top of the shield-value, there´s no spell that is purely a shield

you list the skill and then say this Shen is just a shield unless you count passive timer going down faster as "damage".

Thresh scales defensivly with a stat the champ seldom uses (ap)

you realize he gets free AP from his passive, right?, seldom is a very strange word choice.

Also you missed a handful of champions with shields Karma Orianna Evelynn Rumble Sion Sona Udyr and personally I think Evelynn 's another great example of a shield used right.

Earl Eulrich3 votes

hm yea, forgot about some of the shields and will probably add them later on...not sure about eve though, as the ult really does just feature a shield but is not really a shield-spell in it´s primary function. It still pretty much is a great mechanic, the only other shield that scales with champs like J4 does.

Sona only features a Shield since a few hours...so I´m really not exactly sure on how it does work out now.

For SHen you really have to take the passive-boost into account, as its his major source of enegery and dps.

And yea, THresh passive will increase his ap...but he will not primarily build towards ap. THat´s pretty much what i mean with the statement...the Champions will really sacrifice a lot of their usual power if they want to enhance their shields with item-builds.

Edit: did include those CHamps, nothing really new in terms of gameplay/patterns (except maybe Sion, the only Shield with a CD only refreshing after it´s gone).

But appart from your valuable input on what Champs I missed...I´d be happy about more of a discussion focused on the Gameplay aspects of shields, as this is the Area that really is missingout bigtime currently I think.

More from Gameplay

3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay764 comments
7,167
votes
3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay156 comments
3,510
votes
UPVOTE FOR URF
Gameplay606 comments
2,440
votes
Yes plz.
Gameplay456 comments
1,721
votes
3 Refunds per season, up vote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay114 comments
1,716
votes
When is ANYONE at riot going to address the awful new player experience?
Gameplay634 comments
1,383
votes

More by Earl Eulrich

Aram - mabye make the "r" finally stand for random?
Maps & Modes52 comments
21
votes
The same old lies...
Gameplay21 comments
19
votes
About Zenons recent statement regarding "Counterplay"
Gameplay47 comments
15
votes
So...where did the "recently replied"-sorting disappear to?
Boards Feedback5 comments
9
votes
When is the last time you have seen a Shen in one of your Games?
Gameplay34 comments
8
votes
So now that Koggy gets reverted...
Gameplay11 comments
8
votes