TANK ARMOR ITEMS
- Apr 23, 2018
- 8 min read
WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ARMOR ITEMS?
- Blade Armor
- Dominance Ice
- Demon's Advent
- Heart of Steel
Brute Force Breastplate and Thunder Belt are covered here:
<insert link>
Do read the MLBB Damage Formula post for a better understanding of how damage and defense is calculated in the game.
Many of you already know what these Armor items can do, but I just want to dig a little deeper (just a little) into when these items are best suited.
PS:
Base Armor for squishies are usually around 17, but can go as low as 14.
Base Armor for tanks are usually around 24, but can go as high as 27.
For simplification purposes, I will be using 20 Armor as an anchor, and I will be ignoring Emblem stats. The Dmg negation of items will vary depending on:
- Your hero base armor
- Emblem stat
- The order of purchase of the item
1) BLADE ARMOR - 1660 Gold
+90 Armor
Unique Passive: Counterstrike
Deals 25% of opponent's PhyAtk as PhyDmg when a basic attack is received
90 Armor roughly negates an extra 36% PhyDmg, on top of the 15% from base armor of 20. Considering that you buy this item as your first Armor item.
Blade Armor is obviously the highest Armor item in game, and alongside Base Armor, can negate roughly half the Dmg intake. This is why it is considered the tankiest Armor item in the game, which I disagree with. It grants the most Armor, but it isn't the tankiest. Don't get me wrong, it is very close to being the tankiest, but I think the tankiest Armor item is Demon's Advent.
Aside from the Armor stat, the reflect Damage is very important to take note of. Everytime you receive a Basic Attack (not Skill Dmg), 25% of the enemy's PhyAtk will be reflected. The important word here is PhyAtk. This means that their PhyAtk is reflected, not the Dmg that they are dealing to you. To tell you the difference, the Dmg they are dealing to you has been reduced by your Armor, so the Dmg dealt to you is lower than their actual PhyAtk.
To elaborate on the Reflect effect, what it means is that it is a very effective counter against lifesteal. The current lifesteal items are:
- Haas Claws (20% lifesteal, 30% lifesteal with passive)
- Demon Hunter Sword (stacks up to 12% lifesteal)
- Endless Battle (15% lifesteal)
- Rose Gold Meteor (5% lifesteal)
Most of them have a lifesteal of less than 25%. Which means that the reflected dmg will be more than the healing they receive from lifesteal, basically negating their lifesteal effect. Note that the reflected Dmg is PhyDmg, and will be reduced by enemy Armor as well. Still, the general concept holds. Blade Armor is an Anti-Lifesteal Item.
I equate Blade Armor as the Armor-version equivalent of Cursed Helmet, since both of these items:
- are super cheap
- have high defensive stats
- gives Dmg
KEEP IN MIND
- Cheapest Armor item, costing roughly 500 gold less
- Highest Armor in the game
- Reflect Dmg good counter to Physical heroes that rely on Basic Attack, such as: MM, AD Fighters (Zilong, Argus, Roger, Alucard)
- Reflect Dmg negates lifesteal, and possibly reflects more than the enemy is lifestealing
- Is only effective against Physical heroes, as it doesn't help at all whatsoever against Magical Dmg and True Dmg
- When you are under enemy turret, and the enemy lands a basic attack on you, the reflected Dmg will cause you to trigger Tower Aggro, similarly to Cursed Helmet. So, do be careful.
WHEN TO BUY
- When you need a lot of Armor early
- When you want to get items faster, since Blade Armor is ridiculously cheap
- When you want to counter enemy's lifesteal heroes
- When you want to contribute some Dmg to the team
- When you want a tank to be able to hold a 1v1 scenario better
USAGE
- Almost any hero can buy this item, as long as you see the need for it. Of course, if you are buying this on a carry hero, you will be losing out on Dmg. So weigh your options carefully.
- And if you're playing Johnson, this item is a must.
- This item is also pretty good for Gatotkaca, due to increased Reflect Dmg.
- Also really good on Hilda and Balmond since they are always up front, and it also allows them to deal with 1v1 much more effectively if the situation ever arises.
2) DOMINANCE ICE - 2110 Gold
+500 Mana
+70 Armor
+5% Crit Chance Reduction
Unique: +15% CDR
Unique Passive: Arctic Cold
Lowers movement speed 5% and lowers attack speed 30% for nearby enemy heroes
70 Armor roughly negates an extra 29% PhyDmg, on top of the 15% from base armor of 20. Considering that you buy this item as your first Armor item.
Dominance Ice is an interesting item because it grants a bunch of different stats, similarly to Thunder Belt. It gives the 2nd highest Armor, grants quite a lot of mana, as well as a very good CDR for more skill spamming (I won't elaborate on CDR much because it is quite straight forward). It also gives a little Crit Chance Reduction which is decent.
I call Dominance Ice the Anti-Melee item because of its Unique Passive. It slows nearby enemies by 5%. You might think 5% isn't a lot, but I can tell you that 5% difference can mean the difference between an escaping enemy, or a dead enemy. 5% of 300 Mov Spd (most heroes have roughly this much Mov Spd in the game) is equal to 15 Mov Spd.
Secondly, there is the 30% Atk Spd reduction, which is particularly effective against Melee AA heroes like Roger, Zilong, Argus, Freya, or even against MM if you (as a tank) manage to get into melee range with them.
KEEP IN MIND
- Most effective against Melee AA Heroes (Mov Spd + Atk Spd slow)
- 15% CDR, which is the 2nd highest CDR given in the game (CDR caps at 40%)
- 70 Armor, 2nd highest Armor given in the game
- The fact that it is 2nd (not 1st) but being 2nd in several categories, makes this a very good item
- It isn't nearly as tanky as Blade Armour or Demon's Advent, but the stats and passive it provides are very impactful
- 1 sub-item is the same as Demon's Advent
WHEN TO BUY
- When the enemy has a lot of AA Atk Spd based heroes, especially if the heroes are melee ranged
- When you need CDR alongside tankiness
- When your hero tends to be the one in the middle of the enemy crowd, especially effective for tanks and fighter initiators
USAGE
- Heroes like Alpha who are mana hungry, skill dependent, and prone to taking Dmg can benefit a lot from Dominance Ice.
- I personally use it on Lolita as well, since CDR helps me support my team much more frequently.
- This item is also a very common item for Supports, since they usually build Enchanted Talisman (20% CDR) with Dominance Ice (15% CDR) which comes close to the 40% CDR cap. The missing CDR can also be filled by emblems, or Necklace of Durance.
- Hylos which is very effective against melee heroes, now has even more Mov Spd + Atk Spd slow, on top of the effect already granted by his Skill 2. The 500 Mana also gives him +750 HP. This item is like the offspring of Hylos . . . XD
3) DEMON'S ADVENT - 2170 Gold
+920 HP
+54 Armor
+30 HP Regen
Unique Passive: Deter
When an enemy hero attacks, this ability will reduce his/her attack power by 6%. This effect lasts 2s and can stack up to 3 times.
54 Armor roughly negates an extra 25% PhyDmg, on top of the 15% from base armor of 20. Considering that you buy this item as your first Armor item.
At first sight Demon's Advent might seem a lot less tankier than Blade Armor. However, keep in mind that Demon's Advent also grants 920 HP. Which means the Dmg negation now has another extra 920 HP to take effect on.
Aside from that, its Passive can negate up to 18% of Attack Power (for both Phy and Mag). Unlike Wings of the Apocalypse Queen, this isn't a Flat Dmg Reduction.
- It is similar to a Flat Dmg Reduction, but only for Basic Attacks
- It makes Skill Dmg gain less from the AD/AP Bonus due to reduction of attack power
- In other words, the Base Dmg of a hero's skills are not affected
For basic attack Dmg, the 18% reduction, on top of the 40% Phy Dmg negation, means that you will be negating roughly 51% (similar to Blade Armor). Note that this only applies for Physical Basic Attacks, and the values are assuming Demon's Advent as the first Armor item.
On top of being able to negate roughly equal the Dmg of Blade Armor. It also Reduces the enemy's Atk Power. Which means that the enemy will be dealing less damage, not just to you, but to your allies as well. The effect can reduce both Physical Attack and Magical Power, and the 920 HP works both against Physical, Magical and True Damage. This is why I call Demon's Advent the Tankiest Armor item instead of Blade Armor (because it has more situations where it is useful). I call Demon's Advent the Armor-version equivalent of Athena's Shield.
Note, the PhyAtk reduction reduces the bonus Dmg gained from Alpha's passive, but doesn't negate the actual True Dmg itself. However, it doesn't work against Karrie's Passive.
KEEP IN MIND
- Moderately tanky in terms of Armor
- Reduces enemy Dmg output to your whole team
- Passive works for both PhyAtk and MagPwr
- Grants HP as well, so somewhat helps against True Dmg
- Sub-item (Dreadnought Armor) has a similar Passive to the full item, except it is 4% per stack, so it stacks up to 12%, not 18%. This is also a sub-item for Dominance Ice.
- Dreadnought Armor is a really good sub-item, and can be bought early, and complete into Demon's Advent late, similarly to how some players buy Molten Essence but complete Cursed Helmet only later on.
WHEN TO BUY
- When you need raw tankiness (that's basically it)
- When you want to reduce enemy Dmg output
USAGE
Any tank that wants to be much tankier than you already are.
4) HEART OF STEEL
+880 HP
+30 Armor
+35 HP Regen
Unique: +20% Crit Chance Reduction
30 Armor roughly negates an extra 16% PhyDmg, on top of the 15% from base armor of 20. Considering that you buy this item as your first Armor item.
As you can already tell, Heart of Steel isn't exactly a very effective early game item, for several reasons:
- Very low Armor, making it not very tanky
- Heroes have low Crit Chance early game
Knowing that Armor devalues in late game, as well as heroes having a higher Crit Chance in late game due to itemization, Heart of Steel is much better suited in the mid to late game. Obviously, due to its Unique Stat (not Unique Passive), this item is often classified as an Anti-Crit item.
That said, Heart of Steel isn't a top tier item because:
- Blade Armor, Demon's Advent are way tankier
- Other slots are usually allocated for MagRes
- Other slots are also allocated for HP, Survivability and Sustain, eg: Wings, Bloodthirsty King, Immortality, etc.
Break down:
6 item slots
- Boots
- MagRes
- Armor
- MagRes
- Armor
- An item with a really good late game passive (Wings, Bloodthirsty, Immortality)
However, it is a very effective item given the correct circumstances. Heart of Steel shines particularly when dealing against Crit oriented heroes. Crit Dmg by nature is 200% of Basic Attack Dmg. So assuming that a Marksman has 50% Crit Chance, this means that the hero will actually be dealing roughly 150% of DPS more than if the hero has 0% Crit. So, by removing 20% Crit Chance, essentially, you are removing an approximate (I say approximate because Crit Chance is still Chance, so values aren't accurate) 20% of the enemy's Basic Attack Dmg output, which is somewhat similar to Demon's Advent reducing 18%.
KEEP IN MIND
- Mainly buy for Crit Chance Reduction
- Not very tanky
WHEN TO BUY
- When enemy has Crit heavy heroes, especially if they have several, eg: Bruno + Natalia
USAGE
- Since it isn't very beneficial to non-tanks due to its lack of raw tankiness, Heart of Steel is almost always only purchased on tanks that have an extra slot in their item build.
Side note:
Lolita and Johnson have the Highest base Armor for tanks +27 Armor
Hylos has the Lowest base Armor for tanks +17 Armor
The more you know 😉
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