Glacial Buckler

Glacial Buckler is the Armor and Mana component in League of Legends: 25 Armor, 300 Mana and 10 Ability Haste for 900 gold in patch 26.22, with no passive. It combines a Cloth Armor, a Sapphire Crystal and a Glowing Mote for a combine cost of only 50 gold, builds into Frozen Heart alone, and is one of the most gold-efficient items in the shop.

What does Glacial Buckler do?

Three stats, nothing else. 25 Armor against physical damage, 300 Mana for champions who run dry, and 10 Ability Haste so the spells come back sooner.

That combination fits a narrow group: tanks and fighters who use Mana and are facing physical damage. For a Malphite, a Sejuani or a Jarvan the Buckler on the first or second recall solves two problems at once, since those champions run out of Mana in long trades and are usually standing in front of an AD carry, and the Haste is the extra that makes the whole thing feel generous. Does the Mana matter on a champion with a small pool? More than it looks, because 300 Mana on a tank is often a full extra rotation of spells in a fight (and a tank’s rotation is where all the crowd control lives).

Is Glacial Buckler gold efficient?

Extremely: 144%. At the basic item rates of 20 gold per point of Armor, 1 gold per point of Mana and 50 gold per point of Ability Haste, the stats are worth 1,300 gold (500 from Armor, 300 from Mana, 500 from Haste) on a 900 gold item.

Where does a 44% surplus come from on a component? From the combine price. The three pieces inside it cost 850 gold together, and Riot charges just 50 gold to merge them, so the Buckler is simply the cheapest way to hold Armor, Mana and Haste in one slot, with no premium at all for the convenience. Thing is, the efficiency is real but it only matters if you wanted those three stats in the first place; a marksman with a Buckler is still a marksman with 25 Armor. The sell price is 630 gold, which is 70% back, standard for an epic item.

What does Glacial Buckler build into?

One item: Frozen Heart, the Armor and Mana tank item that slows the attack speed of enemies around you.

So the Buckler is not a flexible piece. You buy it when you have already decided on Frozen Heart, which is to say when the enemy team has two or three auto-attackers and you are the one standing next to them. Honestly, that is a cleaner decision than most components ask for: either the enemy has a Jinx, a Yasuo and a Master Yi and you want this, or they do not and you build Armor somewhere else. The LoL items database shows the finished item’s current price.

Who buys it?

Mana tanks into physical damage: Malphite, Sejuani, Jarvan IV, Nautilus, Rell, Poppy, Galio and Cho'Gath, plus the occasional Mana-hungry fighter like Jax who wants Frozen Heart against a crit team. Supports who build Frozen Heart take it too, usually as a second item. Who skips it? Any champion without Mana (Garen, Mundo, Sett, Shen), because the 300 Mana is wasted on them, and anyone facing a magic damage team, where the Armor does nothing.

The order of the pieces is worth getting right. Cloth Armor first if the lane is physical, Sapphire Crystal first if Mana is the problem, and the Glowing Mote last, since its 5 Haste is the least urgent of the three.

How has Glacial Buckler changed over the patches?

A lot, over a long time. The item is in Riot’s data from 2013 or earlier, when it was called Glacial Shroud, and its price and Armor have swung back and forth ever since:

• Patch 3.6: Cost 1500 → 1350 gold, Armor 40 → 45.
• Patch 4.5: Cost 1350 → 950 gold, Armor 45 → 20, Mana 300 → 250.
• Patch 5.16 to 7.12: Cost moved 950 → 900 → 1000 → 900 gold, Armor between 20 and 25.
• Patch 10.23: Renamed from Glacial Shroud to Glacial Buckler.
• Patch 14.6: Cost 900 → 950 gold.
• Patch 14.19: Cost 950 → 900 gold, Armor 20 → 25, Mana 250 → 300.

Funny enough, the 14.19 version is the most generous the item has been since 2014: more Armor and more Mana for less gold. Put simply, Riot wanted more Frozen Hearts built. Buffing the component is the quiet way to get that.

When should you buy it?

On the recall where you have 900 gold, the enemy team’s damage is mostly physical, and your champion uses Mana. For a jungler that is often the second back; for a top laner it is the first, if the lane opponent is an AD bruiser. For what it’s worth, the Buckler is also a fine item to sit on for a while, because its stats are good enough on their own that there is no rush to finish Frozen Heart before the Armor is needed. If you are still deciding whether your champion belongs to the Mana tank group, the guide to LoL roles covers what tanks in top lane, jungle and support are built to do, and Glacial Buckler is the component that group shares.

FAQ

How much does Glacial Buckler cost?

900 gold in patch 26.22, with a 50 gold combine cost over its three components. It sells for 630 gold.

What stats does it give?

25 Armor, 300 Mana and 10 Ability Haste.

What does it build from?

Cloth Armor, Sapphire Crystal and Glowing Mote.

What does it build into?

Frozen Heart only.

Why is it so gold efficient?

Because the combine cost is only 50 gold, so you pay almost nothing above the price of the three components for having all three stats in one slot.

Was it always called that?

No. It was Glacial Shroud until patch 10.23, when Riot renamed it.