Dead Man’s Plate

Dead Man’s Plate is a 2,900 gold tank item in League of Legends built for running at people: 350 Health, 55 Armor and 4% Move Speed in patch 26.21. Shipwrecker builds up to 20 bonus Move Speed while you move and spends it on your next attack for bonus physical damage, and Unsinkable reduces the effectiveness of slows by 15%.

How does Shipwrecker work?

Walk, and you speed up. Long story short, distance becomes damage. Shipwrecker stacks bonus Move Speed while you’re moving, up to 20, so a tank crossing the map or charging into a fight gets faster the longer they travel. Your next attack then cashes the stacks in for bonus physical damage.

That makes it a roaming and engage item. Rotating between lanes, chasing a fleeing carry, or running down a marksman who thought they were safe (they rarely are): all of it gets easier, to be fair even on slow tanks. The bonus hit at the end is nice, sure, and it rewards a tank who walks into the fight instead of standing still, but the speed is the main reason tanks pick it up. Riot’s data text doesn’t give the damage number (the tooltip in the client does).

Unsinkable quietly helps too. Every slow on you is 15% weaker, which matters a lot against teams that kite with slows.

Put the two passives together and you get a tank that arrives. Picture a support walking toward a marksman for five seconds, getting slowed, auto attacked, and never reaching them: the problem there usually isn’t Armor or Health, it’s distance. Shipwrecker closes that distance on the way in, Unsinkable keeps the slows from stopping you halfway, and the discharge hit at the end gives the marksman one more reason to burn Flash early. Does it make you tankier against burst? Not really. It makes you relevant against kiting, which is a different problem.

Is Dead Man’s Plate gold efficient?

On stats, 80%. Its Health, Armor and Move Speed add up to 2,333 gold against a 2,900 gold price, so you pay roughly 567 gold for the two passives.

The pieces: 350 Health at 2.67 gold per point is 933 gold, 55 Armor is 1,100 gold, and the 4% Move Speed 300 gold. Is that worth it? For a tank whose job is reaching the backline, honestly yes; for one who sits in front and soaks, other items give more Armor per gold.

What does it build from?

Winged Moonplate (800 gold), Ruby Crystal (400) and Chain Vest (800), plus a 900 gold combine. Winged Moonplate is shared with Hullbreaker, the split-push item. Chain Vest is the early Armor piece if a physical laner is pressuring you, and it holds up fine as a component to sit on for a few minutes while you save for the rest. Nothing upgrades from the finished item.

How has it changed since patch 5.14?

It first appears in Riot’s data in patch 5.14, and most of its history is Health and Armor trading places. The biggest steps:

• Patch 7.9: Armor 50 → 60, Health 500 → 425, effect text changed.
• Patch 10.23: Armor 60 → 40, Health 425 → 475.
• 11.3 and 11.9 cut Health to 400 and then 300.
• Patch 14.19: Armor 45 → 55, Health 300 → 350, Move Speed 5% → 4%.

The price, by contrast, has barely moved since patch 6.3 (the same price for roughly a decade now). Patch 14.19 was the most recent buff, and it pushed the item back toward Armor after years of Health cuts. Look at the swings in that list: Armor went from 60 down to 40 in one patch, then crept back up over the next four years. For a tank that’s a big difference against physical damage, so an older guide that calls this item “too squishy” may simply predate the change. The table above has all of it, and our LoL items database lets you compare other Armor items.

Who should build Dead Man’s Plate?

Tanks and fighters who need to close distance: engage supports, tank junglers who gank a lot, and top laners who roam or teleport into fights. In practice, it shines most against teams full of slows and ranged carries who try to kite.

Against a team that dives you instead of kiting, raw defense matters more than speed. A crit-heavy enemy, for example, makes Randuin’s Omen the better Armor item. Our guide to LoL roles covers which positions engage fights; for them, Dead Man’s Plate is a solid second or third item.

FAQ

How much does Dead Man’s Plate cost?

2,900 gold, with a 900 gold combine; sell value is 2,030 gold.

How much Move Speed does Shipwrecker give?

Up to 20 bonus Move Speed while moving, spent on your next attack.

Does it reduce slows?

Yes. Unsinkable reduces the effectiveness of slows by 15%.

Which stats are on it?

350 Health, 55 Armor and 4% Move Speed.

What does it build from?

Winged Moonplate, Ruby Crystal and Chain Vest.