Doran’s Shield

Doran’s Shield is the defensive starting item in League of Legends, 450 gold for 110 Health and two passives in patch 26.21: Enduring Focus restores 4 Health every 5 seconds and heals you over 8 seconds after a champion damages you, and Helping Hand adds 5 bonus physical damage to attacks on minions. It builds into nothing. You sell it later.

What do Enduring Focus and Helping Hand do?

Enduring Focus is the reason you buy it. On top of a flat 4 Health every 5 seconds, any damage from an enemy champion starts a heal that ticks over the next 8 seconds, and the amount scales with how much Health you are missing, so the item gives the most when slow poke is wearing you down.

That is a very specific job. Against a Teemo or a Vayne top, a Caitlyn bot or a Zoe mid, the heal after every poke adds up to hundreds of Health over a laning phase, and it is the difference between recalling at 40% and staying for another wave (the shop tooltip has the exact numbers for melee and ranged users, which differ). Against an all-in champion like Darius or Renekton it does far less, because an eight second heal does not matter when the trade ends in three. Helping Hand is the quiet half: 5 extra damage on minions makes last hitting under tower easier for champions with low base Attack Damage, which is most of the ones who buy the Shield in the first place. Doran’s Helm, the other defensive Doran’s starter, carries the same Helping Hand passive.

Is Doran’s Shield gold efficient?

Not by our numbers: 65%, since our method prices only the 110 Health (293 gold at 2.67 gold per point) and counts both passives as nothing. In practice the heal is worth the gap and more in any poke lane, and worth almost nothing in a lane where you never take chip damage.

The sell value is 180 gold, a deliberately poor return. Riot prices starting items to help early and to cost little when you throw them away, and the Shield usually goes last, when you need a sixth slot somewhere past thirty minutes. Thing is, the other common starts follow the same logic: Doran’s Blade for damage, Doran’s Ring for mages, and the Shield for anyone who expects to be poked.

Who should start with it?

Top laners in ranged or poke matchups, marksmen against a poke bot lane, and mid laners who know they will lose early trades and want to farm through them. Melee champions with weak early games (Kayle, Nasus, Gwen in a bad matchup) are the classic Shield starters.

Who should not? Anyone who plans to win lane through trades, since the 450 gold would do more as a Doran’s Blade or a Long Sword and potions. Honestly, starting Shield is a statement that you expect the first ten minutes to be unpleasant and want to arrive at your first item intact, and that is a perfectly good plan in a lot of matchups. Is it ever right to buy it later than the start? Occasionally, on a recall at 450 gold against heavy poke, though most players would rather hold for a real component.

How has Doran’s Shield changed over the patches?

Eleven times since 2013, which makes it one of the most adjusted starting items. The bigger moves:

• Patch 3.8: cost 475 → 440, Armor removed, regen raised.
• Patch 4.3: Health 100 → 80, regen cut.
• Patch 7.9 and 7.12: cost down to 400, then back up again.
• Patch 13.20: Health 80 → 110.
• Patch 14.2: effect text changed, the current Enduring Focus wording.

Funny enough, the item once gave Armor and no missing-Health heal at all, so the version in the shop today has a different purpose from the 2013 one. The table above lists every entry, and the LoL items database tracks the other starting items on the same timeline.

Doran’s Shield or Doran’s Blade?

Shield when the enemy pokes, Blade when you trade. Put simply, the Shield heals you back from damage you did not want to take, and the Blade helps you win the trades you chose to take; most top lane matchups make the choice obvious in champion select. For a wider picture of which positions start defensive and which start aggressive, the guide to LoL roles covers it, and Doran’s Shield is the default start for the cautious half of the top lane roster.

FAQ

How much does Doran’s Shield cost?

450 gold in patch 26.21. It sells for only 180 gold.

What does it give?

110 Health, 4 Health regenerated every 5 seconds, a missing-Health heal over 8 seconds after champion damage, and 5 bonus damage to minions.

Does it build into anything?

No. It is a starting item you eventually sell.

Does the heal work against minion damage?

Only the flat regen does. The larger heal over time starts only after damage from an enemy champion.

Can you buy more than one?

You can, but the passives do not stack, so a second Shield only adds Health. Almost nobody does it.

When should you sell it?

When you need the slot for a full item, usually after five completed items. Until then the Health and regen cost you nothing to keep.