Allied shielding got a little bit less effective in patch 8.12

Riot has been talking about shield changes for the better part of two seasons now, and now the changes have finally come through. Almost every character that had the ability to put a shield on an ally has been nerfed in one way or another. Even the items that augmented those shields weren’t safe from Riot’s hands.

The most immediate nerfs that players will notice are to caster supports. Even though they aren’t prominent in the meta right now, champions like Lulu and Janna are always somewhat in favor, so nerfs to those champions will hit players especially hard.

Janna’s shield — which has always been at the center of any conversation about shields being too strong in League of Legends — was the first to get hit in this patch, with the shield now decaying over time rather than lasting a set duration. Meanwhile, Orianna, Karma and Lulu all got nerfs to the duration of their shields, although Pix will stay on targets the same amount of time she always did.

As for items, component piece Forbidden Idol, which builds into nearly every shielding item in the game, is receiving a baseline nerf that reduces its cooldown reduction as well as its heal and shield power increase stat. Ardent Censer, Mikael’s Crucible and Redemption are all also receiving nerfs to their heal and shield power stats to fall in line with the Forbidden Idol nerf. Athene’s Unholy Grail is also getting a small buff, to give players another option for their builts, which takes its “pre-mitigation damage” up 10 percent, making it a great replacement for players who’s favorite shield item got nerfed.

For more information on all the changes in patch 8.12, be sure to check out our patch notes.