Heal vs Barrier- Here's why they both exist:

Recently I created a post about how I think Riot has actually done a good job with the new Sated Devourer, despite some minor tuning issues. This time, I just want to make a much shorter post about the viability of both and .

For a long time, we would see either exclusively heal or barrier being used by players. One would get buffed and the other would be left in the dust, and then another change would reverse it and so on and so forth. However, in the past few months, a true balance has been struck between the two. Heal and Barrier are now both taken quite often (heal of course moreso due to the presence of every ADC taking it every game). Here's what allowed this to happen:

is an excellent spell for ADCs for several reasons, but the main reason is because it affects you AND ANOTHER TARGET. This makes it perfect for the bot lane, which is of course a primarily 2-on-2 lane. The fact that it can help keep both of you healthy, making it more difficult to choose a target to focus, is more useful than Barrier in this situation and is the main reason that heal is taken by ADCs. It's also worth noting that the speed boost is also a bit more useful for escaping together, and it can also be used to kite more effectively, which is of course extremely useful on an ADC. Sustain is also somewhat more valued in the bot lane because it ADCs tend to be good at taking towers quickly when you port to base, which makes an actual heal better for this lane than a shield.

, on the other hand, is much more suited to the 1v1 environment of the mid lane. Champions like and prefer the individual survivability i provides and don't necessarily require the movement speed aspect of it, especially since most of the champs they'd take it against are pretty much already on their faces by the time they use it (looking at you, ). The fact that it blocks more raw damage than heal and can't be countered as easily by the extremely prevalent makes this spell more attractive on these immobile mage champions.

I just wanted to pass along this little under-appreciated piece of game info to all you summoners out there, especially with the recent discussion of there being 10 s in every game. Good on you for striking a balance, Riot! If you could do the same with the juggernaut reworks that'd be greeeaaaat.