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I finally hit level 20, meaning I can start buying nice shiny new runes. But one question I have only found discussion (but no numbers/calculations) about is the potential damage mitigation of dodge vs armor.

Leaving out Quints for the moment, if I got a full set of armor Seals, I'd have 12.69 extra armor.

If I got a full set of dodge Seals, I'd have 6.75% chance of dodging.

Is there any math anywhere to support which will reduce damage more over time? I'm just trying to figure it out for the sake of knowledge.

I don't just want opinions of which you think is better, although you're welcome to include your opinion in your answer. I simply want some sort of reference to which absorbs more over a period of time, based on which I could make decisions for my rune page.

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    Why are you buying Armor Marks? Seals cost the same in IP and give 1.41 each, for 12.69 Armor at full count. And it'd actually be a point of contention in that scenario. – Grace Note♦ Jun 21 '11 at 13:48
  • Apologies. I thought Marks were better for armor. Will update the question. Thanks Grace Note! – Tux Jun 21 '11 at 14:21
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    As a note: This is closed because dodge was removed from the game. – Invader Skoodge Mar 23 '12 at 12:11
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The usefulness of dodge is that it is only present on a single item - if you use dodge runes, you have a chance to dodge auto attacks, while other champions without dodge runes of their own (or without a ninja tabi) will not.

Dodge is an HP multiplier -- it works better when used with armor and health bonuses than when just used as a defensive stat alone. Ultimately, dodge works best (and is most noticeable) in the early game, both since there is no scaling dodge / level runes, and because at low levels, attack speeds are low enough that a single dodged attack is highly relevant. Armor retains a similar effectiveness throughout the game.

One last thing to consider is that some champions want to get hit, and so armor runes are a better choice on a per champion basis. Shen, for example, has a passive that triggers more often when he gets hit. Rammus too would rather take the armor (as it both directly feeds his passive and allows his taunt / defensive curl combo to deal more self-inflicted damage). Jax, on the otherhand, makes good use of dodging, and it might be worth it to take dodge runes on him.

Ultimately, I find armor to be a little bit better stat defensively, but you're much more likely to note a survival due to a lucky dodge than to static armor reduction.

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    This was my theory on it, too - Armor is better for preserving your life, while Dodge is better for saving your life. Also, very solid point on the whole accessibility of a Dodge statistic. – Grace Note♦ Jun 21 '11 at 16:48
  • What about jungling? Are better armor or dodge runes? – Drake Jun 21 '11 at 20:45
  • @Drake - most junglers use flat armor runes, because a streak of unlucky dodges can leave you deader than you were expecting. This was more pronounced before the implementation of pseudorandom numbers, but can still happen. – Raven Dreamer Jun 21 '11 at 20:58
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    I second Raven Dreamer's answer. Most of it, if not all, is fact. – I take Drukqs Jun 23 '11 at 11:26
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Dan Dinh covered the topic of Dodge rune versus Armor runes better than I could, in his Amumu guide:

A lot of people asked me why I get dodge seals on Amumu. At first, it seems counter intuitive because Amumu gets CDR on tantrum when he gets hit. I've done some theory crafting and the numbers shows that If you start your jungle with an armor piece, dodge runes and flat armor's break-even point for how much effective health it gives you is at level 4. Every level you get past level 4 dodge becomes increasingly powerful against basic attacks. It is this way because each extra armor you get makes the next point less effective, while dodge is flat all the way across until you hit the cap at 40%.

Here is the trade off to armor/dodge:

  • Armor is trivially better at lower.
  • Dodge is A LOT BETTER at higher levels.
  • Each percent of dodge literally gives you that much extra percent in effective health versus basic attacks
  • Each point of armor of makes the next point less effective.
  • Dodge doesn't work on towers
  • Dodge procs nimbleness which is good for ganking and running away.
  • You cannot dodge skills.
  • Dodge runes is effectively so much better than Armor once you've had 70 armor.
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Dodge will be cut by Riot Games soon.

Armor: The damage done to you = (Original Damage)/((100+Armor)/100)

The percentage of armor reduction: Armor/(100+Armor)

if your armor is 50, ArR=50/150=33.3%

if your armor is 300 (that's crazy), ArR=300/400=75%

That's why the higher your armor, the slower the growth of Armor Resistance Percentage.

Thus the percentage will never reach 100%.

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  • Indeed. I think its irrelevant to talk about something is just going to be chucked out of the window in not too long. – Jay Dec 8 '11 at 15:38

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