Damage block

Damage Block is a passive ability that gives the wielding unit a chance to block some physical damage from an attack.

Mechanics

Relationship Between Effective HP % and blocked damage %

Average blocked damage %

Average damage block defense value

Damage Block has a chance to proc from attack damage, but not physical damage from abilities (except for , The Swarm, and physical damage reflected by Blade Mail or Dispersion). Only the attack damage from wards ( Death Ward, Mass Serpent Ward, Plague Ward) is not reduced by Damage Block. Unlike armor, Damage Block only reduces a set amount of damage, making it less useful over time.

Damage Block occurs as first step of incoming damage manipulation. See Final Attack Damage for the complete calculation.

All items that use Damage Block mechanics use pseudo-random distribution.

Most Damage Block items block different amounts depending on whether the user is melee or ranged. Poor Man's Shield also has a reduced chance to proc from non-hero damage.

Stacking

Only one instance of Damage Block can proc at a time. When multiple sources of Damage Block are present, the source with the highest blocked damage is checked first, and only if it does not proc any others roll. In other words, when two sources of Damage Block have the same chance to proc, the one that blocks more damage takes priority. While the amount of damage blocked from multiple Damage Block sources does not stack, the proc chance stacks multiplicatively. For example, when having two Stout Shields, the chance of blocking damage becomes 50% + 50% * 0.5, effectively having a 75% chance to block 16/8 damage.

Main Article: Item passive stacking

Sources of Damage Block

• Abyssal Blade - Damage Block
  
  Proc Chance: 50%
  Blocked Damage (Melee): 70
  Blocked Damage (Ranged): 35
  
• Crimson Guard - Damage Block
  
  Proc Chance: 50%
  Blocked Damage (Melee): 70
  Blocked Damage (Ranged): 35
  
• Crimson Guard - Guard
  
  Proc Chance: 100%
  Blocked Damage: 60
  Duration: 12
  Buff is applied to all allied heroes within 900 AoE of the caster.
• Poor Man's Shield - Damage Block
  
  Hero Proc Chance: 100%
  Non-Hero Proc Chance: 50%
  Blocked Damage (Melee): 20
  Blocked Damage (Ranged): 10
  This is an old ability.
• Stout Shield - Damage Block
  
  Proc Chance: 50%
  Blocked Damage (Melee): 16
  Blocked Damage (Ranged): 8
  This is an old ability.
• Tidehunter - Kraken Shell
  
  Proc Chance: 100%
  Blocked Damage: 12/24/36/48
  
• Vanguard - Damage Block
  
  Proc Chance: 50%
  Blocked Damage (Melee): 70
  Blocked Damage (Ranged): 35
  

Version history

Version

Description

6.87

• Damage Block now works for illusions.

6.84

• Damage Block no longer affects physical spells.
  • The following abilities no longer have their damage reduced by Damage Block:

  Counter Helix, Eye of the Storm, Anchor Smash, Slithereen Crush, Unstable Concoction, Shadow Wave, Entangling Claws, Return, Echo Stomp, Land Mines and Suicide Squad, Attack!.

  • The following are abilities that were previously getting reduced twice as part of the attack instead of just once:

  Shadow Walk, Vendetta and Meld.

  • As an example reference, here are some of the abilities that were already ignored by Damage Block before:

  Wild Axes, Exorcism, Acid Spray, Poison Touch, Diabolic Edict and Quill Spray.

See also

• Evasion
• Armor

Mechanics Main Heroes Unit Type (Heroes / Clones / Illusions) Complexity Attributes Table Buyback Level Roles Gold Experience Animations Stats Armor Attributes ( Strength / Agility / Intelligence) / Universal) Health & Mana (HP Regen & MP Regen) Magic Resistance Movement Speed / Slow Resistance Status Resistance Turn Rate Misc Creep Controling Death / Denying Vision Unit Size (Collision Size / Bound Radius / Selection Box / Model Size) Gib Type / Shades Adjectives Buildings Towers / Barracks / Ancient / Fountain Effigy Neutral Buildings (Outposts / Watchers / Twin Gates / Lotus Pools) Abilities Type Active / Passive / Autocast Aura Accuracy / Evasion Channeling Damage Barrier Damage Block Damage Manipulation Damage Over Time Talents Teleport Targeting Area No Target Point Unit Vector Combinations Casting Cast Range / Motion Buffer Cast Animation (Cast Point + Backswing) Cooldown Reduction (Flat / Current Flat / Percentage) Reset Charge-based Runes Bounty Rune Water Rune Wisdom Rune Power Runes ( Amplify Damage Rune / Arcane Rune / Haste Rune / Illusion Rune / Invisibility Rune / Regeneration Rune / Shield Rune) Misc Random Distribution Transformation Attack Damage Attack Damage Instant Attack Heroes Attack Classes Attack Range (Acquisition Range) Attack Speed (BAT / Interval) Damage Types (Physical / Magical / Pure / Instant Kill) Flags (HP Removal / No-reflection / No-Spell-Lifesteal / No-Spell-Amplification) Projectile Speed Spell Damage (Outgoing / Incoming) Modifiers Bash Cleave / Splash Corruption Critical Strike Lifesteal / Spell Lifesteal Mana Break On-hit Effects Misc Damage Instance Animation / Orb Walking Status Effects Disables Cyclone Disabling Orders Forced Movement (Knockback) / Upward Movement Fear (Hypnosis) Hide Hex Root Leash Stun Sleep Taunt Movement Move Speed Slow Flying Movement Phased / Tree Walk / Unobstructed Movement Other Attack Immune / Non-targetable Attack Speed Slow Debuff Immunity Spell Immunity Invulnerability Invisibility Blind Break Disarm Ethereal Silence Mute Trap Dispels Basic Strong Death Items Mechanics Courier Sharing / Selling Disassemble Recipes Neutral Item Drop