Description
Subtracts a fixed amount from each instance of incoming damage. In the documented case (per the LoL Wiki's one explicit ordering statement) the flat amount comes off after Armor / Magic Resist, so it is compared to the already-resisted number, not the raw hit; whether every Set 17 source follows this exact ordering isn't stated as a single generalized rule. Because the reduction is flat rather than percent-based, an attack whose post-resist damage is below the threshold deals zero — distinct from Durability, which always lets some damage through. Set 17 sources are Jax's Counter Star-ike and Rammus's Astronaut Meep Bonus.
What enables Flat Damage Reduction (2)
Champions (2)
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Counter Star-ike Enter a defensive stance for 3 seconds, reducing incoming damage by 20 / 25 / 30 and gaining 400 / 450 / 500 Shield. When the stance ends, strike all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage and Stunning them for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 second(s). -
Gravitational Spin Gain 675 / 825 / 2000 shield for 4 seconds. Then, strike enemies in a three hex line, dealing 50.5 / 75.75 / 711 magic damage. Meep Bonus: Reduce the damage of incoming attacks by ? . After being attacked 20 times, deal magic damage in a two hex radius.
What scales with Flat Damage Reduction (2)
Champions (2)
Refine champions…
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Counter Star-ike Enter a defensive stance for 3 seconds, reducing incoming damage by 20 / 25 / 30 and gaining 400 / 450 / 500 Shield. When the stance ends, strike all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage and Stunning them for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 second(s). -
Gravitational Spin Gain 675 / 825 / 2000 shield for 4 seconds. Then, strike enemies in a three hex line, dealing 50.5 / 75.75 / 711 magic damage. Meep Bonus: Reduce the damage of incoming attacks by ? . After being attacked 20 times, deal magic damage in a two hex radius.
Frequently asked questions
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What is flat damage reduction in TFT, and how is it different from Durability?
Flat damage reduction subtracts a fixed amount from each incoming hit, while Durability is a percent multiplier on incoming damage. The clearest current example is Rammus's Meep Bonus, which "reduce[s] the damage of incoming attacks by" a flat number (4 per Meep) rather than a percentage. Durability scales with hit size — a percent source saves the same fraction of a small or large hit — while flat reduction saves the same absolute number regardless. That makes flat reduction disproportionately strong against many small hits and weaker against a few large ones. Multiple Durability sources stack multiplicatively.
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Can flat damage reduction actually reduce an attack to zero damage?
Yes. The TFT wiki's Resistances page documents "Blocking Damage" as a mechanic that "reduces damage by a flat amount which can result in the damage taken being Blocked, causing no damage" — so a hit can be fully zeroed out. It works best alongside high Armor or Magic Resist: resistances shrink each hit through their percentage mitigation, and the flat subtraction then erases what little remains of a small post-mitigation hit. A large hit is only shaved. No general minimum-1-damage floor on unit-vs-unit combat damage is documented in TFT.
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Does flat damage reduction apply before or after Armor and Magic Resist?
TFT doesn't publish a single generalized ordering rule for flat damage reduction, so treat the exact internal step as undocumented. What is clear: Armor and Magic Resist each apply a percentage mitigation to the raw hit (Armor to physical damage, Magic Resist to magic damage), and a flat block like Rammus's Meep Bonus removes a fixed amount on top of that. In practice the two layers compound — high resistances plus a flat block make a unit disproportionately tanky against many small hits and nearly unaffected by a single very large hit, regardless of the precise calculation order.
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Does flat damage reduction reduce true damage or percent-max-Health Burn ticks?
No. The TFT wiki states bluntly that "True damage ignores resistances (armor and magic resistance), damage reduction, and damage amplification" — the "damage reduction" clause covers both percent-multiplier and flat-block effects. Burn in TFT is defined on the wiki as true damage based on a percentage of the target's maximum Health per second, so flat reduction doesn't shave anything off a Burn tick either. That makes true-damage and percent-max-Health Burn sources the standard answer to a stacked flat-DR or high-resistance frontline.
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Do multiple sources of flat damage reduction stack additively?
In principle, flat reductions sum — two "−5" sources behave as "−10" on each incoming hit. This contrasts with percent-based Durability, which stacks multiplicatively (two 50% layers cap near 75% total, not 100%). In practice, the question is mostly hypothetical: stacking two distinct flat-reduction sources on the same unit is rare in current TFT, since trait-, ability-, and item-based flat layers usually don't co-occur on one carrier. Treat additive stacking as the mental model, not as a routinely realized state.
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Does a unit still generate Mana on an attack that flat damage reduction fully blocks?
Yes — on the attacker's side. The TFT Mana page notes that basic attacks "generate mana on-attack, even if the triggering attack misses or is parried," so the attacker still banks its role-based mana (10 for Assassins/Marksmen/Fighters, 7 for Casters, 5 for Tanks) whether or not the hit is blocked. The defending tank is different: tank mana from damage taken is percentage-based (1% of pre-mitigation and 3% of post-mitigation damage taken), so a hit that flat reduction fully blocks to 0 contributes almost nothing from the damage-taken channel.
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Is flat damage reduction stronger against many small hits or against single big hits?
Many small hits, by the math. A fixed subtraction is a larger fraction of a small hit than of a large one — a −5 layer is half of a 10-damage auto but a sliver of a 500-damage burst. This isn't a Riot-stated rule, just a property of subtractive vs. percent-multiplier defenses: flat reduction shines against fast multi-hit or chip-style damage, while percent-based Durability holds up better against single burst spikes. Pair both layers if you want a unit durable across damage profiles.
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Does flat damage reduction affect spell and ability damage, or only auto-attacks?
It depends on the tooltip's exact wording. Jax's Counter Star-ike reduces "incoming damage," which covers autos, abilities, and item ticks alike, whereas Rammus's Meep Bonus is worded "reduce the damage of incoming attacks" and applies only to basic attacks — TFT tooltip convention reserves "attack" for basic / auto-attacks while ability hits get called spell or ability damage. Always read the tooltip — the scope difference can shift a flat-DR unit from a broad mitigator to one that only blunts auto chip.
Sources
- Rammus (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki (Meep Bonus reduces "incoming attacks" — autos only) (opens in new tab)
- Jax (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki (Counter Star-ike reduces "incoming damage" — all sources) (opens in new tab)
- How Armor and Magic Resistance works in TFT — LeDuck (Tacter, physical/attack vs magic/ability) (opens in new tab)