Are changes coming to Doran’s Shield?

Changes are on the horizon for Doran’s Shield, the popular starting item in League of Legends due to it being inexpensive.

When it comes to starting items in a match, the majority of Summoners in League of Legends will almost always select Doran’s Shield to begin. Right off the bat at just 400g, Doran’s Shield gives you +80 health and has three crucial passives.

It restores health every five seconds, basic attacks on minions deal additional damage, and to top it all off, taking any damage from enemy champions will proc a heal over 10 seconds. Needless to say, most Summoners keep Doran’s Shield throughout the majority of a match and even towards the end.

Could developers be considering to make some changes to Doran’s Shield? In an article written by James “Obscurica” Chen for PvPLive.net, here is what League of Legends developer Meddler had to say about what is on the horizon:

"According to Meddler, who’s returned after a week without the Gameplay Thoughts column, they’ll be aiming a cost increase at it so that Shield users don’t just start off the lane with two health potions to keep themselves topped off."

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In the grand scheme of things, it would actually make sense for League of Legends to increase the cost of Doran’s Shield to where it will only allow Summoners the ability to buy one health potion.

It would help balance things out since just like Chen said in his article, ADCs are using it to gain leverage in case things get rough in the bottom lane. They get two potions and Doran’s Shield which means they can go a while without worrying much about dying due to the health over time it gives and popping a potion.

While they should leave the stats as they are, a price increase should do the trick to help balance things out. As the game continues to progress to ensure a balanced, high-quality experience, this will help in the long term to emphasize if you make a critical mistake in the Summoner’s Rift, you won’t have many second chances to bounce back.