Description
Combat Start is a trigger that fires once, as the round's fighting begins.
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It fires before any attack lands.
Items and traits use it to hand out value up front:
- A Shield.
- A stat boost.
- A block of Mana.
The value is already on the unit for the whole fight. The unit does not have to earn it during the fight.
Note: Some of these effects read the board at that instant. They can check how many allies start beside the holder, or which ally has the most Health. So how you set up the team decides what the effect gives.
What enables Combat Start (21)
Traits with Combat Start effects (2)
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At Combat Start and after dropping below 50% Health, Vanguards gain a max Health Shield for 10 seconds.
Completed items with Combat Start effects (4)
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- +30% AP
- +1 Mana Regen
Combat start: Gain 20% Ability Power every 5 seconds in combat.
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- +100 HP
- +20 Armor
- +20% AP
Combat start: Gain a 25% max Health Shield for 8 seconds. When the shield expires, gain 20% Ability Power.
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- +25 Armor
- +25 MR
- +1 Mana Regen
Combat Start: Gain 20 Mana. At 40% Health, gain 15 Mana and a Shield equal to 20% max Health.
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- +20 MR
- +15% AS
- +20% Crit
Combat Start: Unstoppable for 18 seconds. Gain 3% stacking Attack Speed every second.
Emblems with Combat Start effects (1)
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- +30 Armor
- +30 MR
The holder gains the Defender trait. Combat Start: Gain 6% Attack Speed for every ally that starts in the front row.
Your team gains 12 Armor and Magic Resist. Defenders gain more.
- 2
- 25
- 4
- 60
- 6
- 115
Radiant items with Combat Start effects (4)
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- +60% AP
- +2 Mana Regen
Combat start: Gain 40% Ability Power every 5 seconds in combat.
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- +200 HP
- +40 Armor
- +40% AP
Combat start: Gain a 50% max Health Shield for 8 seconds. When the shield expires, gain 50% Ability Power.
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- +50 Armor
- +50 MR
- +2 Mana Regen
Combat Start: Gain 40 Mana. At 40% Health, gain 30 Mana and a Shield equal to 50% max Health
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- +40 MR
- +40% AS
- +40% Crit
Combat Start: Unstoppable for 45 seconds. Gain 6% stacking Attack Speed every second.
Artifacts with Combat Start effects (2)
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- +35% AP
- +1 Mana Regen
Combat start: Form a pact with the highest Health allied champion, If they die, gain 10 Mana regen and 40% Ability Power. When the ally uses their ability, gain 10 Mana. Every 6 seconds, shield your ally for 200% of the holder's Ability Power.
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- +300 HP
- +10% Durability
Combat Start: Store 30% max Health and 2.5% more every second. On death, unleash the stored Health as magic damage split between enemies within 4 hexes. Unique - only 1 per champion
Augments with Combat Start effects (4)
Prismatic (1)
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Soul Awakening Prismatic Combat start: Your team gains 1.5% Attack Damage and Ability Power per second for 10 seconds. At max stacks, deal 12% bonus true damage.
Gold (2)
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Challenger's Grace Gold At the start of combat, allies gain 25% Attack Speed for 4 seconds. On takedown, allies dash to their next target and gain this bonus again.
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Group Hug II Gold Combat start: Champions grant other adjacent champions 10 Armor and Magic Resist. This effect stacks.
Silver (1)
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Group Hug I Silver Combat start: Champions grant other adjacent champions 7 Armor and Magic Resist. This effect stacks.
Wisps with Combat Start effects (4)
- Borrowed Gear Combat
At the start of combat, a champion gains a temporary recommended item.
- Phantom Splash Combat
Combat start: Up to 2 inactive traits activate at the lowest level.
- Scrappy Combat
Combat start: 2 champions without items gain a temporary recommended item.
- Terraforming Other
Gain 7 seeds at start of combat.
See also
Frequently asked questions
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What does "Combat Start" mean in TFT — when exactly does the effect fire?
It fires once, as the round's fighting opens and before the holder has acted.
Nothing has happened yet, so the effect lands on a clean board:
- Full Health.
- No damage dealt.
- Units still where you left them in the planning phase.
That is why these effects pay up front. A shield, a stat boost or a block of Mana is already on the unit for the whole fight. It is not earned during it.
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Do two copies of the same Combat Start item on one unit stack?
The card tells you.
A few items are printed as limited to one per champion. That line is the restriction, and it is the exception, not the rule. Most completed items carry no such clause. So a unit can hold more than one copy, and each copy fires as combat begins. Same-kind grants add together.
Note: Whether two identical duration windows merge into one longer one is not stated on the cards. Do not count on it.
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Do Combat Start effects from different sources stack on the same unit?
Yes.
An item grant, a trait grant and an augment grant are separate effects that happen to share one trigger. So they all fire together and all apply. A unit can open a fight with a trait shield and an item shield at once.
The caution is the stat, not the trigger. Each buff keeps its own duration and expires on its own schedule.
Note: Whether same-kind percentages add or multiply is not printed on the cards. Treat the total as approximate.
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Some Combat Start effects read the board — does where my units stand change what they give?
Yes, for the ones that read the board.
A Combat Start effect resolves the moment fighting begins. It uses the board exactly as you left it in the planning phase. For example, who stands next to whom, which hex a unit holds, or which ally has the most Health.
That pick is made once. Cards that fire again later name their own second trigger, such as a timer or a Health threshold.
Note: A card whose chosen ally dies states what happens instead of choosing again.
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If a Combat Start effect says "every few seconds", does it fire once or keep repeating?
Both, and the wording splits it.
The Combat Start label marks when the clock starts. A clause like "every few seconds in combat" repeats while the holder lives. So the effect grows with fight length.
Read the text closely. Some cards fire at combat start and again on the interval. Others name only the interval. That decides whether the first helping is immediate. A grant with no interval clause is one and done.
See stacking in combat.
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Does Mana already on the bar when the fight opens let a unit cast right away?
It can.
Every unit begins the round with a fixed amount of Mana already on its bar. The card shows it as starting over maximum. If that starting figure matches or beats the maximum, the ability fires at the start of the round instead of building up first.
Surplus Mana is not wasted. What overflows carries forward, up to one cast's worth.
Note: Anything that lowers a unit's maximum Mana shortens the same gap.
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Do Combat Start buffs carry over into the next round?
Treat them as combat state.
The grants come with in-fight windows measured in seconds. The trigger fires again from scratch each combat. So the next round opens the same way, whatever happened last round. That dependable opening is the point.
Gains that genuinely survive a round say so in their own text. Those belong on the permanent stats page.
Note: On current cards this trigger pays into the fight, not past it.
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What happens when a Combat Start buff's timer runs out mid-fight?
It ends, and the unit fights on without it.
Value paid up front means the strongest stretch is the opening seconds. But read the card, because two shapes soften that:
- Some pay a second bonus the moment the first one expires. That turns the timer into a handover rather than an ending.
- Others re-arm later in the same fight on a condition, such as the holder dropping below a share of its Health.
Note: Waiting out a timed defensive buff is still real counterplay.
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Can crowd control or a debuff stop a Combat Start effect from firing?
No, not by beating it to the punch.
The grant does not need the unit to act, so being disabled does not stop it landing. One common use of the trigger is handing the holder an opening window of crowd-control immunity.
What crowd control can do is waste it. A unit locked down for the length of its own opening buff still has the stats but no actions to spend them on.
Note: That is a use problem, not a trigger problem.