Armored Advance

Armored Advance is the tier-three upgrade of Plated Steelcaps in League of Legends, worth 1,200 gold: 35 Armor and 45 Move Speed in patch 26.21. Plating reduces damage from attacks by 10%, and Noxian Endurance grants a physical damage shield for 5 seconds after an enemy champion hits you with physical damage.

What does Armored Advance do?

It doubles down on what Steelcaps already do against auto attackers. The Armor cuts physical damage in general, Plating trims every attack by a further 10%, and the new passive throws up a shield the moment a champion lands physical damage on you.

Plating is the reason marksmen hate it. Each basic attack loses a tenth of its damage before Armor even applies, which adds up fast against a carry who attacks several times per second. Assassins with abilities feel it less, since Plating only touches attacks.

Noxian Endurance is the reactive part. Get hit by a physical damage champion and a shield against physical damage appears for 5 seconds. Riot’s data text gives no shield size or cooldown (the tooltip in the client has those), so treat it as a bonus layer, not something to plan a fight around.

Is it gold efficient?

A little above even, at 103%, before counting any passive. The two stats are worth 1,240 gold against a 1,200 gold total.

The split: 35 Armor is worth 700 gold at the Cloth Armor rate of 20 per point, and 45 Move Speed is worth 540 gold at 12 per point. With no extra cost over Plated Steelcaps, the upgrade is free value either way.

How do you get Armored Advance?

By upgrading Plated Steelcaps. Riot’s item data lists Steelcaps as the only component and no extra combine cost, so the total remains 1,200 gold, with a sell price of 840 gold. The item data doesn’t explain how the upgrade unlocks during a match; check the shop in the client.

What was item 3174 before?

A support item. For years the ID was Athene’s Unholy Grail, with Ability Power, Magic Resist and Mana regeneration. The 2025 season reused it for boots:

• Patch 25.S1.1: renamed from Athene’s Unholy Grail to Armored Advance, all old stats removed, Armor 40 and Move Speed 50 added, value 1,950 gold.
• 25.09 cut the value to 1,700 gold.
• Patch 26.1: value 1,700 → 1,200 gold, Armor 40 → 35, Move Speed 50 → 45.

Funny enough, an old enchanter item now lives on as boots built against marksmen. Strange path for an ID, right? The Athene’s entries remain in the table above (the ID is shared), and our LoL items database has every other boots upgrade for comparison.

Who should take Armored Advance?

Anyone already on Plated Steelcaps. That’s usually tanks, fighters and junglers facing a fed marksman, or a team with two or more auto-attack champions. Which threat is killing you? If it’s auto attacks, these are the boots. Long story short, a marksman with a crit build loses damage twice against you, once to the Armor and once to Plating, and that gap only grows as the game goes on and their Attack Speed climbs, since every extra attack per second is one more hit that Plating cuts down.

To be fair, if the physical damage comes mostly from abilities, such as Lethality assassins, Plating does less and the shield does most of the work. And against a magic-heavy team you’d have picked Mercury’s Treads at tier two anyway (that decision comes first). Our guide to LoL roles shows which positions face marksmen most, and those players get the most from Armored Advance.

FAQ

Which boots does it upgrade from?

Plated Steelcaps.

How much does Plating reduce attack damage?

Damage from attacks is reduced by 10%.

When does Noxian Endurance trigger?

After you take physical damage from an enemy champion, giving a physical shield for 5 seconds.

Which stats does it give?

35 Armor and 45 Move Speed.

What was this item called before?

Athene’s Unholy Grail, until patch 25.S1.1.