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League of Legends (LoL) Question: When to build Doran's Shield as support and Why?

Posted in General | Tags: Alistar Blitzcrank Doran's Shield Janna Karma Leona Lulu Nunu Sona Soraka Thresh 18,091

  • Burnboy37

    When to build Doran's Shield as support and Why?

    So recently I've seen a lot of higher level players and professional players building Doran's Shield when playing support. Specifically I've seen a lot of Leona, Thresh, and Lulu players building Doran's Shield.

    So I was just wondering why would you build Doran's Shield as support and when would building one be useful.

    Any insight at all is greatly appreciated.
  • Answers (3)

    6
    PsiGuard (1495) | March 16, 2013 11:00pm
    Why - For a lot of durability in lane (plus some sustain). You can also keep if for most if not all of the game because supports usually don't finish 5 or 6 item builds. It's a very cost-efficient item, which is great for a support since your gold will be rather scarce.

    When - If you need sustain and durability more than your gp10/sightstone/locket/aegis/whatever. If there isn't much action in lane and you would prefer to itemize for mid game or focus on wards, then you don't need to build it. If there are a lot of 2v2 fights in lane and/or you want to make some aggressive plays, you should consider building it.

    Personally I forgot to build it a lot on my supports (heh heh...), but when I remember to do so, I really like it on Leona. Taric and Alistar would probably use it well too. The melee supports tend to get poked and kited a bit more, plus you have to be in the fray to use your abilities, so I would expect to buy it more often on those ( Thresh is sorta like a melee, since his combo is close range), though it can be good on ranged supports too.
    0
    Pluckin Penguin (117) | March 17, 2013 4:56am
    I have same problem, but PsiGuard is correct as usual.
    0
    Meiyjhe (539) | March 17, 2013 2:31am
    Y CANT I PRESS DAT +1 BUTTON D:
    1
    SteppenKat (29) | September 8, 2013 9:35pm
    You build Doran's Shield when you expect to trade a lot in the earlygame. It gives you solid defense against poke, so you'll end up winning the fights. I think it's a very good purchase if you wish to be aggresive and you're not behind.
    1
    Nada | March 18, 2013 7:36am
    I can see the use of that item for tanky support characters like Taric, Leona, but Lulu better start with other items, she needs mana alot so building philosopher's stone or chalice of harmony before deeping in defense items may be wiser, and just don't take risks and get killed. Lulu is a ranged support so she needs to stay behind her mobs and poke the enemy from that place.
    0
    Nada | April 30, 2013 5:13am
    I just say there are better options. Doran's Shield is a solid starting item, but one that is of more use on a guy who deal in hand to hand combat. On the other hand, Doran's Ring give ap and mana regen, so you can poke and keep poking with ur skills, and Doran's Blade give some sustain and a little more ad, so they may also be used as starting items for Lulu. Doran's Blade is a very good choice especialy if u plan on building as+on hit items like malady and wit's end next.
    0
    PsiGuard (1495) | March 18, 2013 5:37pm
    You should never start with Doran's Shield, if that's what you're saying.
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