Does Gyrocopter's Rocket Barrage go through Stout Shield and armor?

Question

Last game as Axe I had a Stout Shield and a Ring of Protection as starting items. I faced Gyrocopter who gave me quite some trouble with his Rocket Barrage ability, which makes me wonder:

Does block (from the shield) and/or armor (from the ring) help vs Rocket Barrage?

I've searched, and merely came up with the ability description in turn leading me to investigate how Magical damage works, but that gave me nothing definitive. The Stout Shield and Ring of Protection articles gave no direct answer either.

I'd guess from "flavor" that shields and rings are ineffective against magical damage, but then again I would think them to be effective against "rockets". But then again, in Dota 2 mechanics don't always flow logically from flavor.

Anyone got a definitive answer (preferably with some explanation how I could / should have figured this out on my own)?

Answer 1

Rocket barrage is only affected by Magic Resistance. The Blocking mechanic only works with right click attacks at all.

Armor does not have any effect on Magic Resistance, thus no. Rocket Barrage goes through stout shield (block mechanic) and ring of protection (Armour).

Dota 2 is mechanics based, and not at all based on what would seem realistic. So an easy way to look at the basic mechanics would be to look at damage types (Physical, Magical, Pure, HP Removal etc.) and then at what effects them. After that, look at the exceptions. Also see if abilities can be countered by Spell Immunity or not.

From the wiki on magical damage:

Magical Damage is caused primarily by spells, although not all do magic damage. Magic damage is reduced by magic resistance, and deals higher damage against ethereal units.

Form the wiki on Physical Damage:

Physical Damage can be inflicted by regular attacks from all units (including structures), and by certain abilities. Physical damage is modified by both armor and damage block, is unaffected by magic resistance, and cannot affect ethereal units.