When to pick Doran's shield and when to pick cloth/crystal?

BlueVestGuy·Jul 26, 2015·2 votes·1,050 views

(Note : the tank I pick toplane is usually shen, if that helps). I never really pick doran's shield, because I feel like the damage reduction isn't Worth it in most cases, if the champion isn't entirely/heavily AA-based and that cloth (or ruby if AP) would be better. However the opponent sometimes does a surprisingly bigger ammount of damage than what I had expected and in those cases, I always Wonder if having started with the shield would've saved me. So when is it better to start with that round wooden plank and when is it better to start with the body armor?

8 Comments

WakamuneJul 27, 20151 votes

Doran's for things you can shrug off early game and come back more useful mid/late. Quinn, AD Nid. Cloth for high burst and when you want to finish something earlier.

LoveMeSomePenisJul 27, 20151 votes

If I can just piggy back off this, when would you say, start long sword over dorans blade? The 3 pots are nice, and the head start on whatever item you're building, but dorans blade has health attached to it with lifesteal.

RoaranorJul 27, 20151 votes

Doran's Blade is the strongest initial lane dominance you can get. If you're looking to all-in really early, this is your ideal item. It trades early sustain for early stats, so while you can't continuously pot like someone that went LS3P or cloth5, the 70hp and 3% lifesteal are stats you'll have until you decide to sell it.

LS3P gives a better first back because of how many items you can build LS into, so if you're rushing an item (ex. brutilizer on Riven), this will allow you to get that item sooner, while still retaining your early aggression.

EndlessSorcererJul 27, 20151 votes

Doran's Blade is pretty good if you expect to be able to freely attack minions or don't have to worry about getting chunked early. It offers more long-term active sustain and combat stats at the expense of passive sustain.

EndlessSorcererJul 27, 20151 votes

I prefer Doran's Shield when I'm expecting an extended laning phase. If I'm not expecting heavy early trading (but I do expect occasional harass), then Doran's Shield gives me sufficient passive sustain to stay healthy in the lane.

If you plan to kill a jungle camp at level 1 and teleport to lane, then Doran's Shield is definitely the better option in most cases. It's very hard to shove someone with Doran's Shield (or Doran's Blade) and 5 health potions out of lane.

It's hilarious to do so on a champion with innate sustain. If they have a Doran's item, potions, and innate sustain (and possibly even Health Regen Quints), you are not forcing them out of lane easily. DrMundo Chogath Irelia Trundle Maokai Akali Garen Gragas Nasus Renekton Shen Udyr XinZhao

Duke AnaxJul 27, 20151 votes

item 1054 is stronger the more often the enemy needs to hit you, so take it against AS based champions (Teemo, Kayle) or CD based champions (Ryze)

item 1029 has the distinctive advantage that it protects you from minions, which can easily do more damage than most champions. So take it when your champ needs to go deep.

junglerboy16Jul 27, 20151 votes

Doran's shield is actually pretty decent against a single target AP champ, such as Ryze , or against champs who deal primarily on-hit damage as opposed to physical damage AAers (i.e. good against Warwick , not so good against Fiora )