Galio Build Guide by Jeebs

Introduction

Hey everyone. I'm jeebus, first of all, thanks for looking at my guide, if you have any questions, concerns or possible improvements, feel free to leave a comment.

I've been playing Galio a lot recently, he is easily my favourite tank support champion to date, and I've been doing rather well on him, and using the exact same build every game (except of course when situations call for a variation, like when the opposing team consisted of annie, veigar, malzahar, morgana and cho gath. 367 MR without W, was pretty fun.) and since I managed to win 19 games in a row with this build (a mix of low elo ranked and normal draft pick) I decided to share it, not to mention I am really bored right now, so that helps.

Feel free to critique this guide without mercy, as it is my very first, I will work to improve on it as much as possible.

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spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace

Pros + Amazing tank support + Great for escaping and chasing + wins team fights + Godlike lane sustain + Good early game burst + Very, very fun

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Cons - Low damage late game - A little susceptible to stuns and slows - You tend to think you are invincible, which can result in death - I'm sure there are more, I'm probably just biased ;)

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Change log

I've decided to add a change log since I'm testing new things frequently. (dates are in dd/mm format)

1/12 - Mastery Change: Took 2 points out of Vigor and put them in to Initiator
2/12 - Not a change, but I am working on perfecting jungling to make it viable with it's patch, hopefully will be up by next week.
23/12 - Jungling wasn't viable enough for ranked I found, so won't make a guide on it. Will be working on a new section, A guide for those who like more damage while still being tanky :)

Runes

I take the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration to capitalize on Galio's amazing early game harass and helps a bit with farm too, making you easily able to wipe out all 3 ranged minions with one E and Q combo, or even just a Q combined with the flat AP quints. (to be perfectly honest, the main reason I used these runes is that I already had them and figured they'd do fine for Galio)

The Greater Seal of Vitality I decided to take because they have awesome mid-late game scale, giving a total of 175 HP at level 18, which is a nice bonus (I am working on buying 9 flat armour seals to see how that compares, but since Galio has high base and armour scales, I started with hp per level).

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist I've found really buff Galio's early game, giving him a small AP boost and great resilience to magic damage, very effective if there is an AP nuke mid, you may want to discuss if with your mid whether it would be wiser for you to take mid (I've taken mid against a veigar and annie, came out on top both times)

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power I used at first because I already had them, then I bought magic resist and mana regen, but I've found in both cases that the AP quints were more effective, combined with the magic pen marks, they make for ridiculously good harass throughout the lane phase, they make your Q a devastating nuke and have gotten me or my lane partner a hefty amount of kills, and first bloods.

TL;DR: This rune set up gives amazing early game burst, magic resist, and better hp scaling.

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Masteries

With the new masteries out, I've changed the set up a little bit, I still take 21 in defense, but now take 9 in Offense rather than Utility, simply because with Sorcery now being included in the first 9 points of Offense, coupled with Arcane Knowledge , it is in my eyes, after testing different combinations, the most effective mastery set up for this Galio build.

TL;DR: Read it.

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Items

With Chalice of Harmony , you can basically spam your abilities all day and always have enough mana to harass and minion farm, for example, at level 6, with chalice you can cast your Q, and if you are at 65% Mana or less, you will have regenerated more mana than it cost to cast your Q by the time it's off cool down. This is why I focus it first, even before boots of speed. But I stay in lane until level 6, and by then you should have enough farm if not kills to buy chalice, 2 wards and boots of speed, or treads (if you get fed ;)

I take Mercury's Treads for the obvious reason, they give MR which is never a bad thing on Galio, and the tenacity helps in aiding escapes or chasing. Although if they have too much sustained AD damage, I do take Ninja Tabi instead, don't worry about the dodge, because you'll only get these if they have a lot of susatined ad damage, so you should be getting hit enough to fully charge Idol of Durand anyway.

Banshee's Veil is just a great item for Galio, HP and mana, a hefty 50 MR, and a godlike passive that has absorbed countless ranged stuns when I ult. It's a perfect pick for galio.

Now, in this guide, I do favour armour over MR, which may seem odd, but unless they have more than 2 AP damage champions, I find 148 MR to be more than enough, especially with banshees veils passive. This is why I take Sunfire Cape over another MR item, it has some very nice HP, decent armour and the 25 ish (after MR) damage per second passively is nothing to laugh at. Warmog's Armor is straightforward, huge HP and HP regen boost to make you virtually indestructible.

Randuin's Omen, the last item I get, this is the item you will replace if the situation requires it, if you need more MR, get a Force of Nature, if they have too much magic/armour pen, get Guardian Angel, if your team is far too squishy and getting owned in team fights even after your ult, pick up a Aegis of the Legion, otherwise, Randuins is a great choice, huge armour, decent HP, and make sure after you land your ult, IMMEDIATELY follow up with Randuins active to debuff their carries.

If you feel like having a bit more fire power, and they don't have any hugely threatening AP nukes, feel free to swap out for

TL;DR: This build makes you near impossible to kill.

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Skill Sequence

Max that Resolute Smite first, it's a great nuke and a great slow for ganks or getting away, that's right, don't be afraid to turn around and land your Q on someone chasing you. early game it devastates any squishy, this build is meant for harass and lane sustain, so spam it, farm mage minions and harass the enemy with it, they will be below half hp before you know it.

Bulwark is an insanely useful spell, which is why I max it second, it provides a MASSIVE armour and magic resist bonus (which means you should cast it on yourself before you cast your damaging spells, as it will give you AP from the MR) and it provides amazing lane sustain through it's heal (cast it on yourself or a team mate as you rush in to an enemy minion wave, let it heal you)

Now that Righteous Gust of yours, although I max it last, I'd take it over Jannas tornado any day, mainly, you will be using it for the movement speed buff, it's an amazing chasing or escaping tool, even if it's to help a team mate escape a fight, you can if you are already far away from the fight, you can cast your E forward, so that your team mates can run down it towards you, you don't have to wait for them to catch up to you to buff their speed.

TL;DR: Max Resolute Smite first, use it to harass and farm, once you have chalice, spam it ( Bulwark + Resolute Smite will 1 shot mage minions). Max Bulwark second, use it to farm (combo with Q) and heal yourself in lane, and use it on yourself before you ult anyone. Level R at 6-11-16, dont be afraid to flash ult in to a team to let your team position themselves, Idol of Durand is an incredibly powerful initiate, stay in front of you team, make the enemy burn skill shots on you. Max Righteous Gust last, use it to chase and escape.

TL;DR the TL;DR: Take R at level 6-11-16, Max Q first, then W, then E.

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Summoner Spells

I take Flash as it is a great combo with your Idol of Durand to initiate a fight, flash in and Idol of Durand them, as soon as your ult is finished slow them and send an Righteous Gust in the direction they run. They WILL run.

Teleport is just a great all round spell, you can replace it with Clairvoyance if your team needs it, but otherwise teleport lets you get to a team fight faster, get back to your lane faster, get to someone else's lane to cover for them faster, or teleport to a bush ward for a gank, or it can be used to teleport to the minion wave right in front of you, that's cool too.

Fortify can be a good summoner spell to take if you feel the enemy team is going to be pushing hard. It's also great for those hilarious and very satisfying kills Idol of Durand+ Fortify combo's on an enemy attacking your tower. If you do take be sure to take the point in Defensive Mastery and put it in Reinforce .

TL;DR: Stop being so lazy, this section isn't long.

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Hints, tips and tricks.

DO NOT use any abilities (including item activations) or move at all while your Idol of Durand is channelling, it WILL cause it to break early. Just sit on your hands while you watch them beat on you.

A Galio's biggest downfall is rushing purely MR items, although you will hit a tiny bit harder, and not take damage from AP nukes, you will be extremely vulnerable to AD carries. It will also cause to you to take too much damage during Idol of Durand

Casting Bulwark before Idol of Durand will heal you while they are taunted, so do not be afraid to ult a team even on half hp.

With this build, you can take A LOT of damage, and put out a decent amount, especially against squishier champs, don't be afraid to take on other champs even without team mates around. People will often underestimate your damage output.

Casting Bulwark on yourself will increase your AP by a hefty 45 at rank 5. It's a good offensive tool as well :)

If you find that you really don't need W at all for the defensive aspect early game, you can level your E before W for more harass and damage.

Wait for the opportune moment to cast , in team fights you should be able to hit at least 3 or 4 if not all 5 with it, a good way to do this is to bait them back a little so they run towards you, as they converge in to a group to charge you, flash in and taunt them all.

Don't be fooled by the stats MOBAfire shows, his AP at level 18 in this build, is actually a little over 100 thanks to Runic Skin.

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Team Work, Team Composition and Strategy

Here we talk about what, how and when you should do what you need to do. BEWARE: Wall of confusing text incoming! (yellow marks the most important bits)

With this build, you can solo top(most common), mid (very, very effective especially against AP) or lane with a partner anywhere.

Let's talk composition: As Galio, you have great synergy with AoE nuke champs, such as , and , you will also do well with a . The reason is purely because of Idol of Durand. It allows Annie to land her Tibbers stun on multiple people, Kennen will be able to rush in with his Slicing Maelstrom without fear of being disabled and focused, while the enemy is helpless to escape the damage. The same applies to Fiddlesticks' Crowstorm and Gangplanks Cannon Barrage. Using Idol of Durand in combination with any of these Ultimates will have the enemy team scrambling to get out of the AoE's while your team follows to clean up the already half health enemy team.

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Champions to be aware of: Vayne and Kog'Maw are the #1 killers for Galio, Vayne's Silver Bolts and Kog'maws Bio-Arcane Barrage will tear through you if you allow them to get close to you. If laning against Vayne, letting her hit you once or twice is fine, but then you need to back out of her range until the de buff for has worn off. You can harass with still, you just have to be wary of how many stacks of bolts (this can be determined from the rings around your feet in-game) she has on you. The same applies for Kog'maw, his is an activated spell, so just be wary of when he casts it, it is a sure sign he wants to harass or kill you. Simply stay out of range for the duration and farm with Resolute Smite instead. As far as troublesome counters to Galio go, those are the only two I have had any sort of trouble with so far, and all it takes is smart and cautious play to beat them.

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Laning Phase: It is sometimes best to not use Resolute Smite to farm if laning against a melee champion, instead use it to zone and harass them. I say that you should spam Resolute Smite throughout this guide, and you should, but be wary of your mana before your first recall, try to keep it over 150-200, so if you get ganked or focused, you can cast + to slow them. Until level 4 you cannot clear the mage minions with one combo, so until then just last hit while using to harass, if you can land it a few times, they'll be forced to recall or die. is a HUGE nuke early game.

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Mid Game:(In this case, Mid Game is when you need to start leaving your lane for team fights)
This is where this Galio build really shines, by now you should have Chalice of Harmony, Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi, Banshee's Veil and Sunfire Cape. At this stage anyone attacking you will find them selves literally punching stone. And it will show, you won't take much damage. The most important thing for you to do during this phase of the game is to try and be there for every single team fight, even if there is just 2 of their enemies causing trouble, head to their location with a team mate and put them in their place. If there are no obvious signs of a bigger team fight in the near future, it is okay to use Idol of Durand on 2 people (sometime's even 1 if you're feeling greedy ;)

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Late Game: (I generally say that this is around the 40 minute mark, when revive timers are long enough that a single team fight could win the game for either side)
There is 1 absolutely unbreakable rule here. You MUST be there for ALL fights. Your team should be staying in close proximity to you if enemies are close. At this stage, you should not use Idol of Durand unless there is a fight with 3 or more enemies involved. Late game is where the great Galio's will be separated from the good. You need to use Idol of Durand effectively and you need to be protecting whoever the enemy is focusing with Bulwark, all the while picking carefully who you slow with Resolute Smite and predicting which direction to cast Righteous Gust. Oh, did I mention that while doing all that, you need to be running back and forth tirelessly getting in the way of and soaking up skill shots?

Galio is not a champion for the tunnel visioned Summoner. You must be able to weigh up and decide on the best decisions for multiple tasks at one time, multi tasking, map awareness and foresight are the key to unlocking Galio's true power.

TL;DR: Careful around Vayne and Kog'maw. You need good map awareness, foresight and a little common sense.

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Farming

As mentioned before, cast your Bulwark on yourself, and your Resolute Smite should 1 shot all three mage minions once you have , otherwise use Q then immediately E to clear a wave.

Other than that, simply last hit, Galio has a level 1 base of 60 AD, quite good to last hit with.

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Summary

I've found this build to be somewhat unstoppable, I have currently won 19 games in a row with this build, like the title suggests, almost every game I have had 15+ assists and around 7 kills, for the past 10 games I have had 1 or 0 deaths! Galio is an exceptional Tank/Support, he slows, he buffs speed, he nukes, he taunts, he's a freakin' stone sentinel!

This is my first guide, I'd love feedback, good or bad (try to make it constructive)

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Credits and Shout Outs!

Huge credits go to jhoijhoi and her wonderful How to guide, guide: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506#chapter18

And thanks to BarbJ for his help with ideas on making this guide more complete.

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Currently putting together a video for the guide.



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