Protoplasm Harness

Protoplasm Harness is a 2,600 gold legendary item in League of Legends for fighters and tanks who charge the backline and need to survive the burst that follows: 600 Health and 20 Ability Haste in patch 26.21. Its Lifeline passive kicks in when damage would drop you below 30% Health, granting bonus maximum Health and a heal over 5 seconds.

What does Lifeline do?

It’s an emergency button that presses itself. When a hit would take you under 30% of your Health, you gain maximum Health for 5 seconds and then heal over that same window.

While the regeneration runs, you also get 15% increased size, 10% Move Speed and 25% Tenacity. The size part is mostly cosmetic (your champion visibly swells, which the enemy team will notice), but the speed and Tenacity are what let you walk out of a fight you’d otherwise lose, or keep chasing through the slows that would normally stop you.

How much Health and how much healing? Riot’s data text names the effect without the amount, so the in-game tooltip is where you find it. It does not list a cooldown either, and that’s another figure to read in the client before you count on Lifeline twice in one fight.

Is Protoplasm Harness gold efficient?

Exactly break-even. The two stats are worth 2,600 gold, the item costs 2,600 gold, and the efficiency lands at 100%.

Per stat, using same-patch basic items: 600 Health at 2.67 gold per point equals 1,600 gold, and 20 Ability Haste at 50 gold per point equals 1,000. So you pay full price for the stats and get Lifeline on top for nothing. If we’re being picky, that’s only true if you’d want this much Health and haste anyway, which most frontliners do.

What does it build from?

Kindlegem (800 gold) and Giant’s Belt (900 gold), plus 900 gold to finish. Giant’s Belt holds most of the Health; Kindlegem adds the haste and is cheaper to buy on a short back. Look, either order works, so take whichever one you can afford when you recall.

Final item. No upgrade.

How has Protoplasm Harness changed?

Twice since Riot’s data first lists it in patch 26.1:

• Patch 26.3: Ability Haste 15 → 20.
• Patch 26.14: cost 2,500 → 2,600 gold.

A haste buff early, then a small price increase months later, which looks like Riot pulling back a little once the item settled in. Even after the 100 gold increase, the stats still cover the full price (the efficiency table above shows the split). For the change log on every other Health item, see our LoL items list.

Who should buy it?

Melee champions who go in first and take the burst: divers, juggernauts, and tanks whose job is to stand in the middle of five enemies. The Lifeline trigger hits exactly when those champions usually die, so the item buys them a few extra seconds to finish a combo, get a takedown, or escape (sure, it won’t save you from a fully committed team, but it changes a lot of close ones).

Ranged carries and mages gain less, since they want to avoid dropping low in the first place and get little from raw Health. In practice, the decision is about how often you end fights at a sliver of Health. Not sure where your champion fits? Our LoL champion guides cover individual picks, and for frontline champions who keep dying just short of a win, Protoplasm Harness is the item built for that exact situation.

FAQ

How much does Protoplasm Harness cost?

2,600 gold in patch 26.21, with 900 gold of that as the combine step. Selling it returns 1,820 gold.

What triggers Lifeline?

Taking damage that would reduce your Health below 30%. You then gain maximum Health for 5 seconds and heal over that duration.

What else does Lifeline give?

While regenerating, you gain 15% increased size, 10% Move Speed and 25% Tenacity.

Is it gold efficient?

Its Health and Ability Haste are worth 2,600 gold, exactly 100% of the price, before counting Lifeline.

What does it build from?

Kindlegem and Giant’s Belt. It does not upgrade into another item.