Hello! I am wOlfLisK and this is my first guide. I have been playing Galio for a while and have come up with something that works well for me. Will it work for you? Probably, if you like playing very aggressively and doing tons of damage and getting kills whilst barely feeling whatever they throw at you.

There are two builds here: Tank Galio and AP Galio. They both have very high early game damage, but Tank Galio builds pretty much pure tank whereas AP Galio builds much like an AP carry would. AP Galio is very situational. He is a great mid, but often doesn't output as much damage as a pure AP Carry such as Brand or Annie would.

Personally, I prefer Tank Galio (Build 1). It still outputs tons of damage, with a good ~250 AP with very little actual AP items. It also makes you pretty much invincible due to your shield, ult and massive amounts of defense stats.

However, for pure damage, AP Galio is better. Although not as good as a pure AP carry like viegar, brand or annie, he can survive a lot more and is generally good at shutting down the enemy AP in mid.

Skills

Runic Skin
Galio receives 50% of his total magic resistance as additional ability power

This is an amazing passive, and is what allows him to tank everything, yet also deal out a ton of damage.

Resolute Smite
Galio fires a concussive blast from his eyes, dealing 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to enemies near the impact location, and reducing their movement speed by 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 / 40 % for 2.5 seconds.

This has 2 applications: To deal damage (Of which it does a lot of) and slow someone (Which it also does well). It is, however pretty hard to hit. It is a skillshot, but is targeted, rather than directed. This means that it is harder to hit than something like Ezreal's Mystic Shot, but also means that it can hit people that are hiding behind their minions.

I max this first mainly because of the slow. When in solo queue, your team-mates are probably idiots. Casting a Righteous Gust would be better for escape, but they will probably end up running in the opposite direction. Plus, the enemy team are also probably idiots, and are grouping up. A well-placed shot can slow them all, allowing an escape. It also does a ton of damage early game, which is part of what this build is centred around.

Bulwark
Galio shields a friendly champion for 4 seconds, increasing their Armor and Magic Resistance by 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90. Each time the unit suffers damage, Galio is healed for 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 (+30% of ability power) (-20% healing for each consecutive hit).

This is great. It not only increases your magic resist by 100 at rank 5 (Which, due to Runic Skin, means 50 bonus AP), but also gives a flat heal on damage. Plus, casting it on a squishy effectively turns them into a tank, and then heals you when they get hurt, allowing you to tank better. I'll have a section on the best times to use this at some point in the future.

I max this second as tank galio because it is great at saving someone in danger. A Requiem is about to land? Shield the low health guy and watch as it does a grand total of 3 damage! As AP Galio, you aren't concerned about saving allies (Although it is still nice to do), so you shouldn't max this until level 18.

Righteous Gust
Galio unleashes a gust of concussive wind that deals 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies in its path. A directional draft remains for 5 seconds, increasing the movement speed of allies passing through it by 20 / 28 / 36 / 44 / 52 %.

This ability doesn't do too much damage, and it's scaling isn't great. However, it has a very nice movement speed buff, which is better than an unupgraded Ghost at rank 2, and an upgraded one at rank 3.

This is maxed first as AP Galio because it does damage, which is what that build is all about. As Tank Galio, the speed boost is nice, but your Q does more damage and is more useful at saving dumb team-mates (As I explained earlier).

Idol of Durand
Galio channels for 2 seconds, taunting nearby foes and reducing 50% of incoming damage.

After channeling, Galio deals 220 / 330 / 440 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to surrounding enemies, plus an additional 5% damage for each attack suffered while channeling. Maximum 40% bonus damage. It can be cancelled early and will deal full damage.

So good. Fits the tank role perfectly, as it is an AoE taunt, and also the damage role as it effectively has an 84% scaling off of AP (140% of 60 is 84). There are a few problems with it, which I will discuss in a section dedicated to it (Still a work in progress. Getting some screenshots for it).

Tank Galio

Why no Chalice of Harmony?

Well, first off, you don't need it. A catalyst the protector is only 500 gold more expensive and builds into something that is a lot more useful. The catalyst on it's own gives you 325 mana, and restores 200 of it whenever you level. Which, early game, will be often. The Rod of Ages gives 700 mana, a ton of health and you still gain mana on levelling. Add in the bonus 10 regen from your seals, and you have 30+ mana regen, compared to the 27 or so from a chalice with 100% mana. However, if you are out of mana, that regen is then only 54. You will still have to wait to cast another spell, and I would prefer being able to use 2100 than 1600, especially when the mana regen is very similar.

Abyssal Scepter
Do I really need to explain why I have this? AP and MR, perfect for Galio.

Frozen Heart
The reason I get this instead of a Randuin's Omen or Thornmail is because it gives 500 mana, which is obviously good on a mana hungry champion like Galio, 20% CDR, because your ult has a pretty long cooldown, even at rank 3 with 40% CDR and a very nice aura. The slow on randuins isn't needed because a well placed Resolute Smite slows even more. Although a thornmail could be better when ulting, it's only really good then. A good team shouldn't be targeting a tank galio at all, which means that a frozen heart can reduce the overall damage done by AD carries if they are targeting squishies, rather than only stopping them when they are attacking you (That being said, it is really funny to see a fed caitlyn kill herself when I have a thornmails and ult her)


The rest of the items are situational. If they have a fed AD carry, get a thornmails, if they have all AP, get a Force of Nature. Get what is needed.

AP Galio

Not much to see here really. Just standard AP carry items. Rod of Ages because it is just amazing on galio, Rabadon's Deathcap because you'd be dumb not to, etc. Honestly, you could probably just get deathcap, boots and 4 Force of Natures and do a ton of damage.

Why these marks? Well, simply put: For early game damage. I know I said that Tank Galio is pure tank, but in reality, this build is a bit more off-tanky. Early game, you can do a lot to squishys, often taking off a third of their health with one Q. However, you can't do that without at least some magic penetration. It isn't as useful late game, but if these runes get you a few kills, then they are definitely worth it.


I tried flat armour and armour/level seals, but they just never seemed as good as Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration. Galio often has mana problems, and many guides include a Chalice of Harmony as a core item. I don't like that, and these runes allow you to skip that and still fix your mana problems.


These should be pretty self explanatory. Magic Resist gives you extra AP because of your passive, and also some defence, which is always good on tanks. You can use flat or per level, doesn't really matter, but I prefer flat. Gives you a better early game if midding vs an AP and also gives you a bit more AP at level 1, which is always good. However, if you are going pure AP, you don't really want the defence too much, and at level 18, the AP/Level runes give you 4x as much AP as the MR ones do.


What can I say? I love having 55 AP at level 1. These can be switched out for greater quintessence of vigor or anything you may prefer, but 55 AP at level 1? How could you say no?

Mastery Explanation Coming Soon

Tank Galio

Recommended spells

Flash+TP are the best i've found. Flash allows for great ults, and TP means you can get across the map to defend someone or something easily, like a good tank should.

Possible spells

Heal is good because it gives more survivability, and cleanse removes CC. Trouble about cleanse is that CC breaks your ult anyway, cleanse won't stop that, and galio has a slow and a speed boost, making cleanse not as useful. Plus, most of the time, he can just sit there and wait for the CC to end without taking too much damage. Ignite, well... It does damage, which is good, but doesn't fit too well with the rest of Tank Galio.

AP Galio

Recommended spells

Damage and escape/ better ults. Definitely the best

Possible spells

I wouldn't recommend any of these, but they would still work. Heal because it gives more survivability, and even AP Galio is kinda tanky, cleanse is very situational, would mostly be for when versing an AP someone with an easy stun and very high damage, such as Veigar or annie. Teleport because it allows for good ganks, especially when TPing to wards or Teemoshrooms.

Anywhere works. Right now, mid is probably the best for him, because a good galio can beat almost any AP Carry in lane. However, this also takes away mid for the actual AP of the team if he is the tank, so can go top. One problem with this however, is that top is usually vs an AD and, although tanky, dies a lot easier to an enemy tanky AD than to a squishy AP. Duo bot works well, but also messes up the meta a bit. Galio is not a support. If he goes bot, it is to do damage and he will have to farm. This reduces the AD carry's farm and is often bad. However, because most supports are squishy and so are most AD carries, chances are they will win the lane, so doesn't much matter. In normals, send him anywhere.

I haven't tried jungling with him. Should work, due to his shield and powerful AoE Qs, but I can;t say for sure. Probably won't get him enough gold though, his ganks are a bit lackluster, especially pre-6.

One thing to remember: If you don't get your Rod of Ages by 20 mins in, you have failed.

Galio is an amazing farmer. 1 Resolute Smite can clear the caster minions, and if not, a Righteous Gust will almost always finish them off, even if it is still at level 1.

Early game

Early game, you want to last hit with auto-attacks if possible. By all means, use the odd Resolute Smite, but you mostly want to save them for harrassment. A good hit on a squishy can take off a good chunk of their health.

Mid game

By this time, you'll have a Rod of Ages and quite high mana regen due to your Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regenerations. Take out the minions using spells, auto-attacking any survivors.

Late game

Late game farming will depend on whether you are Tank or AP. As a tank, your damage will have fallen off by now, but you should be able to spam spells whenever you can, especially if you have a Frozen Heart. As AP however, your damage should still be high enough to outright kill the caster minions, and possibly the melee ones as well if you are fed.

Thanks for reading :). This guide still needs a bit of work before it is 100% finished, but please tell me what you think of it, and how I could improve it. Constructive criticism is appreciated.