History Main / ManaShield

* ''FinalFantasyTactics'' has the Time Mage ability "MP Switch" for this effect. ''FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' and ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' have the "Damage > MP" and "MP Shield" abilities respectively. The former didn't put any overflow damage into HP (Which made it incredibly useful for the main character to have for those 1-on-1 story fights), while the latter does, and since MP also starts at 0 in the second game, this skill is a really bad choice for classes that actually use MP.

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* In the first ''{{Fable}}'', this spell (dubbed "Physical Shield") is quite a [[GameBreaker game breaker]]. The game features a combat multiplier, which goes up as you're dealing damage to enemies and multiplies the experience you receive. Being hit resets it back to zero, but only if your hitpoints go down. If you absorb the damage into your mana, the multiplier stays. Using the mana shield constantly thus allows you to get the multiplier ridiculously high and level up much faster than you could without it.

* The original ''{{Diablo}}'' is the TropeNamer. The eponymous spell, which is the lifeblood of the middle-to-late-game Sorceror, not only reduced all damage by a third but redirected ''all the rest of the damage'' to mana instead of health. In fact, due to a famous glitch, a high-level Sorceror is well-advised to have ''as low of a health count as possible'', enabling him to completely avoid stun from high damage attacks.
* In ''[[{{Diablo}} Diablo 2]]'', the Sorceress has an Energy shield that diverts a proportion of damage to Magic points.

* ''[[{{Diablo}} Diablo 2]]'', the Sorceress has an Energy shield that diverts a proportion of damage to Magic points.
** In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' Lady Deathwhisper casts one of these at the start of the fight, and doesn't drop it until her mana has been entirely depleted. Not that it stops her from [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules casting spells after anyway]].

** [[RaulJulia Of course]], ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' did this before with ManaShield on the Naga Sea Witch.
*** [[MemeticMutation Of course]] ''{{Diablo}}'' did it before that with the Mana Shield spell. All by [[TropeNamer Blizzard]] of course.

* ''[[{{Diablo}} Diablo 2]]'', the Sorceress has an Energy shield that diverts a proportion of damage to Magic points.
** ...but it's nowhere near as good as the one in the original ''Diablo'', which completely diverted all damage to mana. Vitality is for the weak!

* ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'' grants this to [[HumanoidAbomination System U-D]] in her FinalBoss form. As long as it's up, only a throw or a [[LimitBreak Full Drive Burst]] could damage her HitPoints and she's ImmuneToFlinching. Combine this with tons of painful attacks, and you have a recipe for an SNKBoss.

* ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'' grants this to [[HumanoidAbomination System U-D]] in her FinalBoss form. As long as it's up, only a [[LimitBreak Full Drive Burst]] could damage her HitPoints and she's ImmuneToFlinching. Combine this with tons of painful attacks, and you have a recipe for an SNKBoss.

* Flynn from ''TalesOfVesperia'' can have a rather [[GameBreaker overpowered]] version of this, where as long as he has TP remaining, the damage of any attacks that strike him will be reduced by around 75%, while reducing TP by a very small amount for each hit taken.

* ''OracleOfTao'' has a variant. Yazim Jianne, the hero that can use this can't actually use it to defend against attacks, but rather it heals him after the fact by shifting massive amounts of mana over to health.

* The Magic Armor in ''TheLegendOfZelda: [[TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' is a variation- it diverts damage to your money supply while also draining it at a steady pace to fuel its effects (as there is [[DummiedOut no]] ManaMeter in ''Twilight Princess'').

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* ''DungeonCrawl'' has an amulet of guardian spirit that has this effect. It's new for ver 0.6, I think.

* ''OracleOfTao'' has a variant. Yazim Jianne, the hero thast can use this can't actually use it to defend against attacks, but rather it heals him after the fact by shifting massive amounts of mana over to health.

** Of course, ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' did this before with ManaShield on the Naga Sea Witch.
*** Of course ''{{Diablo}}'' did it before that with the Mana Shield spell. All by [[TropeNamer Blizzard]] of course.

* In ''DotHackGU'', Doppelgangers are already tough as they are, what with being automatically 8 levels above the main character, and having an outrageous HP/SP regen points, AND having a very damaging weapons equipped, complete with devastating effects thrown in for good measure. Come Volume 3 (At Walking Pace/Redemption), and the Doppelganger has the Mana Shield in full force, making fighting him an exercise in patience, frustration, and revival items, as, for a good amount of time, your attacks will do exactly 0 damage until you run its SP to 0. On the good side though, once you do, he won't be able to do Arts, so that's one less worry to deal with.

* ''DefenseoftheAncients'': Medusa has this skill
* ''HeroesofNewerth'': Electrician has a skill that reduces incoming damage by half at the cost of mana.

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha A's: The Battle of Aces'' uses this. Any attack that hits your barrier takes away from mana and being drained of all mana while guarding causes a guard crush with stun until the mana automatically regenerates.

* In DotHackGU, Doppelgangers are already tough as they are, what with being automatically 8 levels above the main character, and having an outrageous HP/SP regen points, AND having a very damaging weapons equipped, complete with devastating effects thrown in for good measure. Come Volume 3 (At Walking Pace/Redemption), and the Doppelganger has the Mana Shield in full force, making fighting him an exercise in patience, frustration, and revival items, as, for a good amount of time, your attacks will do exactly 0 damage until you run its SP to 0. On the good side though, once you do, he won't be able to do Arts, so that's one less worry to deal with.

* Mana Drain from ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne.''

* In ''{{Fable}}'', this spell is quite a [[GameBreaker game breaker]]. The game features a combat multiplier, which goes up as you're dealing damage to enemies and multiplies the experience you receive. Being hit resets it back to zero, but only if your hitpoints go down. If you absorb the damage into your mana, the multiplier stays. Using the mana shield constantly thus allows you to get the multiplier ridiculously high and level up much faster than you could without it.

* Mages in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' are the TropeNamer with their spell Mana Shield, which causes damage to briefly be dealt to your Mana instead of your Health.

*** Of course ''Diablo'' did it before that with the Mana Shield spell.

Sometimes, this can turn a SquishyWizard into quite the tank. Can become a GameBreaker by giving NighInvulnerability to the user. Especially if damage that would overkill the user's MP does not get converted into actual damage. On the other hand it will quickly turn the a magic user into a sitting duck if the mana doesn't regenerate. It is also usually far more efficient to use your MP for healing spells rather than to absorb the damage directly.

The complete inverse of CastFromHitPoints: having damage hit your [[ManaMeter Magic Points]] instead of your [[LifeMeter Hit Points]]. Unlike CastFromHitPoints, you generally don't see this come up as a plot point, as you can't exactly die from it or anything. Not to be confused with a [[DeflectorShields barrier spell]] that uses magic points to increase your defenses. Sometimes, this can turn a SquishyWizard into quite the tank. Can become a GameBreaker by giving NighInvulnerability to the user. Especially if damage that would overkill the user's MP does not get converted into actual damage.

* ''[=~Star Ocean: Till the End of Time~=]'' has damage to Magic Points. Subverted a bit, since if you end up with 0 MP, you still "die."