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Ideas for adding counterplay against shields

Hovila·1/21/2018, 5:24:10 PM·2 votes·340 views

One of the problems in the game since last season (atleast in my own mind), has been the lack of counterplay against shields. There exists 2 possibilities when dealing with shields - either you waste your cooldowns and mana/energy as well as burst potential to go through the shield, or you wait for the shield to disappear and then take your shot. Now the latter one is rarely an option, as many shields can be refreshed very quickly after the fade out, which means trying to wait them out will do you very little good. Also when it comes to comparing shields and heals, it should be noted that while heals can only be used during the window of a champion having somewhere between "no health and full health", meaning they cannot be used prematurely, shields on the other hand can be applied almost whenever (except something like morgana's black shield). What I mean to say is, that whereas heals have to be timed (and therefore are harder to use), shields do not have the same issue. Yet these two effects can be grouped together, as they are both amplified by "forbidden idol" item line. And now to the real issue - > Heals can be reduced by grievous wounds, which are nowadays plentiful, yet shields have no similar counter-option. Shields can only be buffed. I have some potential ideas as to how to increase the choices that you have in-game, so that you can itemize towards a shield-heavy team.

How about adding an item that has a unique passive along the lines of "when dealing physical damage to a target who has a damage-absorption effect, deals bonus x dmg that only applies to breaking the shield" or "your first autoattack against a target that has a damage-absorption effect will let x% of your damage to ignore the shield" or "taking damage from a shielded target will let you steal a portion of their shield".

Now I do understand that this would require multiple items to be added, to let different roles contribute to the war against shields, but it has worked well for grievous wounds, so... I truly wish that Riot has some ideas to add counterplay, because truthfully last season was the worst one I've seen and seeing the new adc shield meta is giving me PTSD.

1 Comments

Terakali1/21/2018, 7:45:54 PM2 votes

I got you.

Earthbreaker item 1037 item 3052 item 1036 item 1036 Total cost: 3200. Combine Cost: 525. 50 AD 350 HP Unique Passive: Gulliman's Gorge - 35% of damage that would be absorbed by a shield is instead dealt to the targets health directly.

Alchemist's Wall item 3105 item 1011 Total Cost: 3000. Combine Cost: 900. 40 Armor 40 Magic Resist 400 HP Unique Passive: Siphon Barrier - While being damaged by a unit with a shield, 10% of taken damage is dealt to them (does not exceed the shield). Unique Active: Equivalent Exchange - After two seconds, gain a shield equal to the damage you took in the last 2 seconds.

Rain God's Coat item 3191 item 3113 item 1027 item 1028 Total Cost: 3200. 80 AP 250 HP 250 MP 7% movement speed Unique Passive: Storm - Gain an additional 8% movement speed towards visible enemy units within 1000 units with a shield. Upon dealing damage to them, lose the movement speed from this item but slow them by 35% for 2 seconds. Unique Passive: Shelter - Gain a shield equal to 15% of magic damage dealt to units with shields.