Today’s patch introduced a new tank/support item called the Locket of the Iron Solari. I know supports have been complaining for a while that there aren’t enough support items. I have so little sympathy for them, mostly because I think the current version of support is really toxic to LoL as a game, that I’m sad to see Riot adding these kinds of items. That’s to say nothing of the fact that it adds yet another shield to a game in which shields already have huge presence. Hello survivability creep. How you doin?

Here are the stats for the new item:

+300 Health
+35 Armor
UNIQUE Aura: Nearby allied Champions gain 15 Health Regen per 5 seconds.
UNIQUE Active: Shield yourself and nearby allies for 5 seconds, absorbing up to 50 (+10 per level) damage (60 second cooldown).

I don’t think the shield is too big, and I will agree that as long as support is going to be a cornerstone of gameplay that they need to have more support options. This though? More survivability? I played a game today against a Galio/Janna combo. Janna built one of these early, which meant we could never get through the shields. At least with healing there is some counterplay; use ignite or an Executioner’s or play a champion with counter-healing. The only counterplay to shielding is more damage, but building more damage in an already tanky metagame isn’t really an option. The tanky DPS gets tankier and can deal out just as much pain as a carry buying damage items.

What do you think? Is this a good thing for LoL or pushing survivability even higher than it needs to be?