Original video by dpei · Written summary by TFT Ninja 2026-03-16

This written guide is TFT Ninja's summary of dpei's video above — not an article by dpei. Watch the original or read the breakdown below.

set-17fundamentalsitemstankintermediate

TL;DR

dpei applies the same three-bucket logic from his damage formula video to tanking: Effective HP = HP × Resists × Durability. Stacking one bucket wastes slots and hands free value to the enemy's Sunder or Shred. The rule: identify which bucket your tank's trait already covers, then build items to fill the other two. CC tanks are the one exception — they ignore the formula entirely and want mana, not survivability.

Key Takeaways

  • EHP = HP × Resists × Durability. The three buckets multiply — if one is near zero, the whole tank collapses.
  • Every 100 points of a resist doubles your EHP against that damage type. So 1,000 HP plus 100 armor effectively absorbs 2,000 physical damage.
  • Stacking one resist is punished by Sunder and Shred. 300 armor gets cut to 210 (−90) vs 100 armor cut to 70 (−30) — the more you stack, the more you hand back for free.
  • Durability stacks multiplicatively, not additively. Two 10% durability sources reduce damage to 81% of original, not 80%. You can never reach 100%.
  • Build what your tank trait doesn't already give you. HP-trait tanks (Bruisers) want resists and durability. Resist-trait tanks (Defenders, Bastions, Sentinels) want HP and durability. Durability-trait tanks (Juggernauts, Watchers) want HP and resists.
  • Pick augments that fill the weak bucket, not pile on the strong one. For a bruiser front line, Big Friend (durability) beats Boxing Lessons (HP) because HP is already covered by the trait.
  • CC tanks ignore the formula entirely. They stop damage by stunning, not absorbing. Build mana items (Protector's Vow, Adaptive Helm, Spirit Visage) so they cast faster.
  • A CC tank is never your main tank. Someone still has to absorb the damage that isn't stunned. Don't put tank items on the CC unit or mana items on the real tank.

Timestamps

  • 0:00 Intro — your tank had the "right" items and died anyway
  • 0:35 The Effective HP (EHP) formula
  • 1:11 HP — the foundation
  • 1:40 Resists and the Sunder/Shred trap
  • 3:02 Durability — the multiplicative damage reducer
  • 4:24 The 3-Bramble / 3-Warmog mistake
  • 5:05 Match items to your tank trait
  • 8:10 CC tanks — the one exception
  • 9:17 CC tank vs main tank
  • 9:45 Closing — fill weak buckets, not strong ones

The Effective HP formula

The number most players watch on their tank is HP. dpei argues that's the wrong number. The real measure of how long a tank survives is Effective HP (EHP), and it comes from three sources multiplied together:

EHP = HP × Resists × Durability

This is the same multiplicative structure as his damage formula — three buckets, each independent, all multiplying into a single number. If any one bucket is near zero, the whole expression collapses. A tank with huge HP and zero resists dies fast; a tank with huge resists and zero HP dies fast; same for durability.

Good tank itemization is about filling all three buckets to multiply well, not overstacking the one bucket your unit already has.

HP — the foundation

HP is the base that everything else multiplies off of. The more HP you have, the more value every point of resists and durability provides on top. Shields work the same way — treat them as temporary bonus HP.

HP items:

  • Warmog's Armor
  • Sunfire Cape
  • Spirit Visage

HP is always your starting point, but it's not a standalone win condition. 3,000 HP with zero resists dies to a single-crit burst because there's nothing multiplying the HP.

Resists and the Sunder/Shred trap

There are two resistance types:

  • Armor reduces physical damage
  • Magic resist reduces magic damage

Every 100 points of a resist doubles your EHP against that damage type. A tank with 1,000 HP and 100 armor effectively absorbs 2,000 physical damage before dying.

Resist items:

  • Bramble Vest — armor
  • Dragon's Claw — magic resist
  • Gargoyle Stoneplate — both

The Sunder/Shred punishment

Your opponents should always be building Sunder (−30% armor) and Shred (−30% magic resist) — they're mandatory items in every TFT game (see the Shred/Sunder/Anti-Heal guide for why).

Here's the trap: the more you stack one resist, the more you hand back in absolute terms when it's reduced.

Your armor After Sunder Lost
100 armor 70 armor 30
300 armor 210 armor 90

Stacking 300 armor hands the enemy 90 points of free value. Stacking 100 hands them 30. Distribute between armor and MR based on the lobby composition. And if you stack armor but ignore MR, any AP carry walks straight through anyway.

Durability — the multiplicative damage reducer

Durability is a flat damage reduction that applies after your resists have done their job. It reduces whatever damage is left, regardless of whether the incoming damage is physical or magical.

Durability items:

  • Steadfast Heart (primary durability source)
  • Spirit Visage (also gives HP)

Durability stacks multiplicatively

Durability doesn't add — it multiplies on what's left. Two 10% durability sources don't stack to 20% reduction. They stack like this:

  • First 10%: take 90% of damage
  • Second 10%: take 90% of that remaining 90% = 81% of original

So the total reduction is 19%, not 20%. You can never reach 100% durability (that would make you unkillable, which doesn't exist in TFT), but it's still a powerful multiplier.

The 3-Bramble / 3-Warmog mistake

Most tank items already carry a mix of stats across buckets. Bramble Vest gives a lot of armor but also some HP. Steadfast Heart gives durability but also armor and HP. Good tank items naturally diversify.

The mistake is going all-in on one bucket:

  • 3 Bramble Vests — your armor bucket overflows, but HP, MR, and durability are starving. Sunder hands the enemy huge value, and any AP carry walks through unopposed.
  • 3 Warmog's — your HP is massive but it's multiplying nothing. No resists, no durability, no multipliers.

The sweet spot is always somewhere in the middle. The question is which middle — and that's where your tank's trait tells you where to start.

Match items to your tank trait

Tank traits each pre-fill one bucket. Your items should fill the other two.

HP traits (Bruisers and equivalents)

Bruisers get bonus HP from their trait — that bucket is already covered. HP items are fine but they're your lowest priority. What you actually want is resists and durability to multiply off the HP the trait is handing you.

Good items: Bramble Vest, Steadfast Heart, Spirit Visage.

Augment example: three tank augments you might see — Lineup (resists), Big Friend (durability), Boxing Lessons (HP). For a bruiser front line:

  • Boxing Lessons is the worst pick — HP is already covered
  • Lineup fills the resist bucket — solid
  • Big Friend is the best pick — fills the durability bucket, and Big Friend requires a unit above 1,750 HP to trigger. Bruisers hit that threshold easily, so your HP lead actually makes the augment stronger

Resist traits (Defenders, Bastions, Sentinels, and equivalents)

These traits show up in every set under different names, but they all do the same thing — give your tanks a ton of armor and magic resist. Your resist bucket is full, so piling on more hands free value to Sunder and Shred.

What you want: HP and durability. Spirit Visage is the perfect item here because it gives both.

For the same three augments:

  • Lineup is the worst pick — resists are already covered
  • Big Friend and Boxing Lessons both fill weak buckets — either is a great pick

Durability traits (Juggernauts, Watchers, and equivalents)

These traits give your tanks flat damage reduction. Your durability bucket is already full, so you want HP and resists.

Good compositions: Warmog's + Bramble Vest or Warmog's + Dragon's Claw.

For the augments:

  • Big Friend is the worst — durability is already covered
  • Lineup fills the resist bucket — great
  • Boxing Lessons fills the HP bucket — great

CC tanks — the one exception

Everything above assumes your tank survives by absorbing damage. But there's another way to stop taking damage: prevent it from happening in the first place.

If your frontliner has a hard CC ability — a stun or knockup — every second the enemy team is locked is a second they aren't attacking. That's perfect tanking.

Every set has at least one unit like this. The Set 16 example dpei uses is Swain, whose ability stuns the largest group of nearby enemies for roughly two seconds. While he's casting, the entire enemy team is paused.

Building CC tanks

The goal is to make them cast faster and more often, not to survive indefinitely. Build mana items:

  • Protector's Vow
  • Adaptive Helm
  • Spirit Visage (mana-on-hit bonus)

Give them enough survival to reach the cast — no more. They don't need to be unkillable. They need to keep stunning.

A CC tank is never your main tank

This is the critical rule: a CC tank interrupts the fight. Someone still has to absorb the damage that the CC tank isn't stopping. Every comp has both roles, and they don't overlap.

  • Don't put tank items (HP/resists/durability) on the CC tank — they need mana
  • Don't put mana items on the main tank — they need to survive

Identify which unit is each role and item them accordingly.

Fill weak buckets, not strong ones

The whole formula reduces to one rule: build what your tank trait doesn't already inherently have. Identify the bucket the trait is filling, and use your item slots for the other two.

"Items may change, but the formula never changes." — dpei

Your tank dies because you stacked the wrong bucket. Know what your trait already covers, build around what it doesn't, and if your frontliner is a CC tank, give them mana — not survivability items. Do that and your front line stops melting.

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