Description
On Being Hit is an effect that fires on the unit getting attacked, not on the attacker.
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It pays you for taking hits. There are two shapes today.
- Bramble Vest answers any attack on its holder with magic damage to every enemy beside it. A cooldown means it fires often, not on every hit.
- Electrocharge counts instead. After a set number of attacks land on an ally, that ally shocks the enemies near it. It also has a cooldown.
Both read basic attacks landing on the unit. So the effect is only worth something on a champion the enemy will actually swing at. That means a tough unit up front that draws the attacks, not a backline damage dealer nobody reaches.
Note: It is the mirror image of on-hit, which pays the attacker.
What enables On Being Hit (6)
Completed items with On Being Hit effects (1)
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- +50 Armor
Gain 6% max Health. Take 5% reduced damage from attacks. When struck by any attack, deal 100 magic damage to all adjacent enemies. Cooldown: 2 seconds
Radiant items with On Being Hit effects (1)
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- +100 Armor
Gain 12% max Health. Take 10% reduced damage from attacks. When struck by any attack, deal 200 magic damage to all adjacent enemies. Cooldown: 2 seconds
Augments with On Being Hit effects (2)
Gold (1)
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Electrocharge II Gold Every 4 attacks an ally takes, they deal 50-140 (based on current Stage) magic damage to nearby enemies (1 second cooldown).
Silver (1)
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Electrocharge I Silver Every 4 attacks an ally takes, they deal 25-80 (based on current Stage) magic damage to nearby enemies (1 second cooldown).
Wisps with On Being Hit effects (2)
- Phantom Vest Combat
Gain a temporary Bramble Vest.
- Wrapped In Thorns Combat
Your Tanks reflect 12% of damage taken to adjacent enemies every 4 seconds.
See also
Frequently asked questions
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Is "when struck" the same thing as on-hit?
No. They are two sides of one event.
- On-hit is printed on the attacker. The tooltip reads "Attacks grant…" and it fires when that unit's own basic attack lands.
- This one is printed on the defender. The tooltip reads "When struck by any attack" and the unit taking the hit answers back.
- Both key off a basic attack, not an ability.
- A single attack can set off both.
The difference is where each belongs. On-hit wants a unit that attacks often. When-struck wants a tough unit the enemy swings at.
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If one champion holds two copies of the same when-struck item, does the effect double?
No current public source spells out how two copies of the same retaliation item interact.
The copies do fit. A unit has three item slots, so two copies physically fit. Past that, be careful. Two things are not spelled out:
- Whether both stat lines add in full.
- Whether each copy runs its own cooldown or they share one.
Treat the stats as probably additive. Treat the second copy's extra damage as unconfirmed rather than proven.
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Why doesn't the retaliation fire on every single attack that lands on my unit?
The effect prints a cooldown, and that is the reason.
- The item shape answers one attack, then sits quiet for two seconds.
- The base tier and the upgraded tier share the same two seconds.
- Other sources in this family print their own cooldowns too.
So against a fast attacker most hits land for free. The payout is a steady trickle. It does not grow the harder your unit is being beaten on.
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My attacker is barely scratching a unit that hits back. What is going on?
One printed effect explains it. The item cuts a slice off every attack landing on its holder.
- The cut is five percent at the base tier.
- It is ten percent at the upgraded tier.
That is all the current text claims. The reduction is written against attacks, so abilities and burns pass untouched.
Note: Older write-ups also say this family cancels bonus critical strike damage. That clause is absent from the current description, so do not count on it.
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Does an ability that hits my unit set these effects off?
Mostly no.
The lasting sources are written around attacks. The trigger reads "when struck by any attack". So ability damage, burns and other non-attack damage slip past. Against a board that kills mainly with abilities, this family does little.
Note: Some temporary shop buys are written the other way, around damage taken rather than attacks. But you buy one per round and it lasts about a round, so it is not a plan.
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It fires every few attacks — is that count kept per unit or shared across my team?
For the item shape, the count is per unit.
- The trigger and its cooldown sit on the wearer.
- A front unit soaking everything fires again and again.
- An untouched back unit never fires.
- The upgraded tier keeps the same two-second cooldown and only raises the damage, so the rhythm in a fight does not change.
Note: Some versions count attacks instead. For those, no current public source documents whether that tally is per ally or shared.
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Does the damage grow with star level or with my unit's stats?
The item shape prints one flat damage number. It is a single value, not a per-star figure.
- So star level does not move it.
- Whether the holder's Ability Power lifts it is not stated in the current text, so assume not.
- A tougher holder simply survives to fire more often. That is where the value sits.
The damage is magic damage. So enemy magic resist cuts it and armor does not.
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Can I run two different when-struck sources on the same unit?
Yes.
- A unit has three item slots.
- Augment-based versions sit outside those slots entirely, so they coexist.
- Each source prints its own cooldown, so neither is written to replace the other.
What they do not do is add into something huge. Each stays capped by its own timer. You get two small regular payouts.
Note: No current source says they share a timer. Treat that as untested rather than ruled out.
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Is a when-struck item ever a wasted slot?
Often, yes.
Everything here pays per attack that lands on the wearer. A unit the enemy never reaches earns nothing. The slot is dead on a protected back-row carry.
The damage lands on every enemy standing next to the wearer, with no printed cap. So a spread-out board eats only a fraction.
It wants a durable front unit, ideally one that forces enemies to attack it. It wants to face a board that mostly attacks.