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 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.
No champion, trait, item, or augment on this site currently uses Flat Damage Reduction.
See also
What counters Flat Damage Reduction
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 a champion passive that reduces the damage of incoming attacks by a small flat number per stack, rather than by 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 from an item or ability effect 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. Some flat-reduction passives are worded to cover "incoming damage," which includes autos, abilities, and item ticks alike, while others are worded "reduce the damage of incoming attacks" and apply 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)