Back to Blog

How Does Armor and MR Work in LoL

9/24/2023

Armor and Magic Resistance are cornerstones of the League of Legends. They work in the same way. Also, armor and MR are qualities possessed by all units in the game. They reduce the damage received from a particular source (physical or magical) as a percentage.

 

In this guide, we explain how they work in the league of legends.

 

What Is an Armor?

 

Armor is a defensive characteristic found in all units, including monsters, creatures, and structures. Increasing armor reduces the physical damage a group takes. All champions start the game with a champion-specific value.

 

It is possible to increase your armor with skills, items, and runes. The bonuses increasing this feature are accumulated additionally, and each bonus contributes directly to the final figure.

 

The Formula for Calculating Magical Resistance/Armor

 

With this secure method, you can calculate the damage reduction yourself:

 

Examples with real numbers:

 

    25 resistance: 80% damage results in 20% damage reduction and 125% effective health.

 

    50 resistance: 66% of the damage results in 33% reduction and 150% effective health.

 

    100 resistance: 50% of damage results in 50% reduction and 200% effective health.

 

    200 resistance: 33% of damage results in 67% reduction and 300% effective health.

 

    300 resistance: 25% of damage results in 75% reduction and 400% effective health.

 

Champion With the Most Significant and Lowest Starting Armor

 

Although the armor and MR in LoL work similarly, there are some essential differences. Each champion initially has between 16 and 35 points of armor. It increases with each level up to 65 to 97 points at level 18.

 

The magical starting resistance is always equal to 30, and only mixed champions gain it per level. However, there are some exceptions among the diverse winners whose magic resistance may not increase with the scale, namely Yasuo, Kassadin, Poppy.

 

Armor and Magic Resistance work very well with shields because they increase their effectiveness. For example, a 250 HP shield with 100 RM can give 500 extra health points against magic damage.

 

Armor/Magical Resistance or HP?

 

During a game, you don't always know if you need to buy armor/magical resistance or HP to spend your gold efficiently, you can use this graph to make a decision :

 

Examples of how you can use this graph for calculations in League of Legends:

 

At 50 armor/magical resistance, you should have at least 1,100 HP.

 

At 100 armor/magic resistance, you should have at least 1500 HP.

 

At 150 armor/magic resistance, you should have at least 1900 HP.

 

At 200 armor/magic resistance, you should have at least 2400 HP.

 

If you don't have any defensive items yet, most of the time, it may be better to start with HP. However, when the champions level goes beyond level 10, you should consider buying armor/magical resistance.

 

The Bottom Line

 

Armor and MR work in precisely the same way to reduce damage. Magic penetration is a feature that allows magic damage inflicted by a champion to ignore some of the target's magic resistance. All winners have a base value of 0 for this feature. However, it can be increased with items, runes, or specific skills.

 

Magic Resistance Reduction is an effect possessed by certain items and champion skills that temporarily reduces the magic resistance of affected enemies. All allied champions benefit when an enemy's magic resistance is reduced. This effect can reduce a target's magic resistance below 0, further increasing the magic damage they take.