Galio Build Guide by Gott der 7 Meere

Introduction

Hello Summoners,

Galio is an AP-tank with a very strong shield, a lot of CC and poke damage. He is not very item dependant and - once his Mana problems are solved - he can be a great support.

There are only short guides on Galio here on Mobafire and none of them is focusing on his supporting potential. Appart from this nice overall guide it is high time that someone writes about Support-Galio.

My guide is about a very unusual and strikingly different build; it will draw teammate aggro and might not work on your first attempt. I don't pretend that everyone else is wrong and that I have the only true Galio build, but I do claim it to be viable and I would be happy to hear reasonable arguments, when you talk about Support-Galio.

Feel free to contact me for questions and feedback,

my IGN is "Gott der 7 Meere" on EUW.

About this build

Every build has its ups and downs. Playing Galio like discribed in this guide works best, when your understand how it is supposed to work.

You will have ... ... more durability than usual supports. ... great late game potential. ... a great amount of CC.

You will lack ... ... sustain for you and your lane mate. ... early Mana Regeneration.

While Galio may lack a healing capabilities, he makes a good aggressive support that can dish out tons of damage and win ganks and dives. He can easily take other lanes, if someone is having trouble. His shield and ultimate will keep your team alive while he can do damage even without AP items.

Abilities and Skillorder

- improved by: MR
Runic Skin (Damage): See your passive as an additional MR-ratio on your skills. Allthough it is not cost-effective to just get MR for damage, MR related itmes, runes and masteries will give you more benefit than other AP-carries.
! MR-Reduction lowers your damage !

> = > - MPen, CDR, AP, MR
Resolute Smite (Damage, CC): This short CD AOE-nuke is your main damage skill. Try to wither your enemies down, thus disrupting their CS and giving your AD-carry kills or save freefarm. The slow can turn ganks in your favour. Be aware that this skill can easily push lanes when used incorrectly.

> = > - CDR, Increased healing effects, AP, MR
Bulwark (Buff, Heal, Damage): This high MR and Armor buff allows you to temporarily turn someone into a decent tank. You can use this on yourself (e.g. in conjunction with your ultimate) or on a teammate that is beeing focussed to reduce enemy burst damage. The additional self- Heal is pretty good. Remember that its MR scales to your AP if you cast the shield on yourself prior to using abilities.

> = > - MPen, CDR, AP, MR
Righteous Gust (Buff, Damage): Probably the greates AOE speedup of the game - twice as good as Ghost. While this skill beats your Q in terms of range (with similar damage) the CD is much longer, and we max this out last. This is still very usefull for the long-range damage and a Q-E-combo clears any minion wave and speeds it up too, making it a good pushing tool.

> = > - CDR, Increased healing effects, AP, MR
Idol of Durand (CC, Damage): Your ultimate is a long AOE taunt with considerable damage. If you manage to hit the entire enemy team, they should not survive this. Make sure you lower the huge CD by maximising your CDR early. Practice this as a failed Galio-ult may mean a lost game. Your ultimate requires you to have some HP because you will have to take quite some damage late game. Always use a --combo to increase your chances of surviving it.

Concerning my skillorder: All of Galios skills are pretty good. You can decide to max Righteous Gust over Bulwark for more long range damage. Your tanking capabilities will be greatly diminished but the speedup and damage are good supporting tools, too.

Summoner Spells

Supports need map awareness, making Clairvoyance the best support spell.

SPACE

Flash extends the range of your skills, (especially ) and gives you an escape tool.

If your team lacks CC or vs , ... get Exhaust.

SPACE

Teleport because you can push lanes and turn around fights.

Your shield eliminates any need for a and you will have enough mana to skip . Other summoner spells are champion specific ( , , , ) or underpowered ( , ).

Champion Statistics

In this section, I will talk about the most important stats for Galio, how much you need of them, and where you can get it effectively. In my oppinion, there is no one item or mastery that is set in stone, you should adapt to your team and enemy anyway. Therefore I list them all, and you can choose what you want accordingly.


Gold (g/10): - - - For one thing above all: warding.

-

Starting Gold: 475 + 20/40 - - [475-515g]
Gold gain: 13 on SR/TT + 0.25 + 1 + 0.5/1/1.5/2 + 5 / / - - [13-35.25 g/10s]
Assist Gold: 58% of the bouty (15 - 600g) split on all assisting +8/16/24 - - [8-375g]
Gold items are the way to go. One is enough, two are good, three may take up too many item slots. Take gold runes if you don't die due to lack of survivability.

Cooldown Reduction (CDR): - - - Rush 40%

-

Cooldown reduction works wonders on Galio because his skills have both high damage and long CD's. We get the to the 40% CDR cap to ...

• ... almost chain-slow enemies with Resolute Smite.
• ... gain a more reliable speedup from Righteous Gust.
• ... reduce the incredibly long CD of Idol of Durand to make sure its available in teamfights.
• ... compensate for the short shield duration of Bulwark.

Overall, CDR is the cheapest way to increase your damage and untility.

Mana / Mana Regeneration (MReg): - - - ~40 MReg + -passive

- - - -

Both Athene's Unholy Grail and Banshee's Veil have nice synergy with Galio, providing him with MReg/Mana and MR at the same time. As support-Galio you should get Chalice of Harmony because you rely on multiple skill use more than on a single nuke-combo. As a final solution to your Mana issues, go find the Grail.

Ability Power (AP): - - - +200 AP

-

Allthough his passive converts MR to AP, this is a very ineffective conversion. MR is a lot more expensive than AP and once you reach 150 MR (without Bulwak), you shouldn't continue stacking it but rather buy AP, wich is your best secondary stat. Try to get items like Will of the Ancients if your team members profit from it. Two items deserve to be mentioned as they have huge synergy with Galio: get Abyssal Scepter and Athene's Unholy Grail whenever you can.

Utility / Team Support: - - - Your team comes first!

-

You don't need to stack aura items, but in every game, you should have the one that gives your team the best. I mostly get Aegis of the Legion and Locket of the Iron Solari or Randuin's Omen to be able to tank decently.

Hit Points (HP): - - - ~1000 bonus HP

-

As a tank that already stacks MR and has a 90 MR/Armor shield, HP becomes hugely important for your durability. Get HP items like Ruby Crystal and Heart of Gold early, and turn them into support-tank items like Aegis of the Legion and Locket of the Iron Solari.

Magic Resistance (MR): - - - ~150 MR

-

Due to Runic Skin you will get items with MR whenever you can. 150 MR should be enough, especially seeing as you need defense against physical damage late game when AD-carries start to shine.

Armor: - - - ~150 Armor

-

MR means nothing if you face a team with a lot of physical damage. Get armor and forget about your passive. Good Armor items are Glacial Shroud, Randuin's Omen and Ninja Tabi.

Movement Speed (MS): - - - +400 MS without E

-

Key element for your survival. Especially usefull early game. Please don't rush Mercury's Treads just because you are Galio. Your boot choice needs a specific reason. 15% lower CD's means your ultimate is ready 25 seconds earlier. This advantage pales in comparison to Tenacity or a laughable amount of MR ! You can always get Eleisa's Miracle for Tenacity or Negatron Cloak for MR.
Stats not listed here are rather ineffective on Galio (APen, AD, Crit) or go against the logic of this build.

Get as many - cheap - tire 1 items and gold/10 items as you can. Good upgrades will give you auras that synergize with you and your team.

Runes and Masteries

Marks: MPen (MR/Armor). Your potential to support your carry greatly diminishes if you lack damage and the enemy is not afraid of your Resolute Smite. Seals: Armor (MReg/lvl/Gold). Make yourself less item dependant and get some Armor here. If you feel save enough about your survivability (when your team already has a decent tank), get MReg or Gold instead. Glyphs: MR/lvl (MR/AP/lvl). Take scaling MR, they are huge on Galio. Quints: HP (MReg/lvl/Gold/AP/HP). Quintessences are pretty open, choose what you feel comfortable with. MReg/lvl may help a lot if you have Mana issues despite Chalice of Harmony.

0/9/21 - Overall, the defense tree works very nicely for Galio. You can also go for a 9/0/21 AP-support setup.

Game Walkthrough

These will prepare and prevent jungle invasion and make good decision in ganks and can avoid zoneing from bush-hugging enemies. When stealthers or early game gankers are involved, get a Vision Ward. Start building your Philosopher's Stone with this. Should you need armor (in case you get none from runes or masteries), you may start with a Cloth Armor. If you get below 50% HP in lane, that can be a freekill for skilled enemies (jungler/mid/lanes). You have no sustain, so getting this to keep you healthy is of paramount importance. This should make enemies back away. Allows you to zone nicely if you can really make them fear it. This also slows down melee junglers enough to turn around ganks.

This is to be prefered to an early because you just die to quickly before you get your core build. However, if you notice a lot of enemy warding (you jungler dies, his ganks are spotted, your mid killed while roaming) either you or the jungler absolutely needs an Oracle's Elixir and is on clearing-ward-duty. This item works wonders on your early game, you no longer need Health Potions and you have more mana and income. Get them early or you will involuntarily feed the enemy a lot of kills. Prioritize Boots when a game is going bad. You want some form of sustain and you want to support. In case you need additional heal and your CDR is not capped through Athene's or Boots, you can get a Spirit Visage. This helps you to tank - but, sadly, it gives no other benefits to your team. You need HP now, get a Ruby Crystal and upgrade it to the gold item. All items you will build next, will contain this, so you can already get a part. Always have enough wards to cover two important spots, e.g. dragon and blue buff.

Because the Chalice combines MR and MReg like no other Mana item (except maybe Banshee's Veil), it is perfect for you. Cheapest possible CDR. Other boots choices are fastly inferior for Support-Galio ( , , ). Do not upgrade your boots when a game is going bad, but get this together with the Locket instead. With it, you make a good tank and can pull off battles without dieing. Try to not screw this. Ever. If you do it right, you probably win any teamfight. Urge your jungler to get it (He. Is. More. Suited. For. It. - unless you already have your core build and he is behind), if he doesn't or looses it, you will have to buy Vision Wards or Oracle's Elixir.

Sometimes your team really needs an item to win the next decisive teamfight over baron. You bought gold items them to have money for wards, now you can sell them without hesitation.

The perfect upgrade for Chalice of Harmony. Apart from giving you even more mana, this item gives you CDR and AP. ALL in all you want every stat. Nothing goes to waste here and you will already have parts to upgrade it. Livesteal is probably the best contribution to your AD carry and bruisers in late game ( Lee Sin, Nocturne ...). Pay attention to the CDR cap of 40% if you get this. Especially usefull against AOE damage and burst, has huge synergy with the Locket. If no one has bought this until now, you will. This is an essential Support item that any team needs. Galio can skip it if he levels his Righteous Gust but it might still come in handy. Burst heal replacement, get this vs. AOE burst damage ( Fiddlesticks, Victor, Gragas, Annie ...) and use it before your ult. This is the other way to upgrade your Heart of Gold if your team doesn't need the shield or the enemy is doing more physical damage. This works nicely with your ultimate in keeping enemies debuffed over a long duration. Perfect item for end game damage as it gives you AP, MR and MRed. Nothing can be more frustrating than having your ultimate cancelled. Banshees makes this harder and gives you everything you need. However, its expensive and has no team-support.

Get gold items and Aegis of the Legion. Don't ward too much, but ward important objectives (baron, dragon, buffs). Urge your teammates to focus on smaller things like save farming and avoiding death.


Protect your main carry with every possible action. Buy many wards and oracle. Get AP items like Abyssal Scepter/ Rabadon's Deathcap/ Will of the Ancients if you have the money.





I hope by now you realize that a clever build needs to be flexible. Every game has its own requirements and obviously teamplay is better than any build. Don't dismiss items just because you have never seen them on Galio, you might just never have witnessed the situation where they come in handy.

Unveiling the Fog of War

Wards win games:

• Buying wards. Every player should spent the rest of his money on Sight Wards. Supports should always have enough wards in the inventory to cover at least 2 important spots always and prioritize them over items. Have a Vision Ward whenever you can, you need "true vision" for specific areas, to destroy enemy wards, discover stealthers or bait the enemy! Recall when you are OOW. "A truly outstanding support will win games with only basic boots, having spent the rest of his money on wards. He will have prevented every enemy gank, stolen every enemy neutral champ, totally defeated their jungler and goten every single dragon and baron for his team. He will never have died facechecking as opposed to his enemies."
  You can type funny comments into the chat... like this true story, to make your teammates buy wards.
• Where to place wards. Placing wards on lane bushes, jungle entrances and bufs, enables your team to gank and steal bufs properly. Still, they are only as good as their placement. Read this summary on warding and learn to place your wards better with every game you play - just buy some wards for "learning" purposes and place them on "new" spots every game.
  Warding also includes the wards of your teammates. One isolated ward helps far less than a line of two or 3 wards spread across the map. Tell your Mid/Top/Jungler to ward if they don't, explain to them if they place wards poorly. This helps a lot if done correctly and ganks will become virtually impossible for the enemy.
• Destroying wards. Getting an Oracle's Elixir is a high risk-reward action. It has the potential to totally cripple enemy map awareness and prevents the enemy team from ganking and steal buffs effectively. Get it when you have Tire 2 boots at least, because else you loose it too quickly. Generally you should prefer Vision Wards over Oracles. Let you jungler, who is more tanky and comes around more than you, take one.
• Reacting to enemy Oracles. Everyone has been angry about the enemy getting an Oracle, but you should just continue with your job, never let them prevent you from warding. Rather, place your wards in unexpectd locations and bushes. And bring that enemy Oracle-Bearer down! Remember that he has wasted 400 gold and his advantage is only temporary.
• When to place wards. You are supposed to know the spawn and respawn times of major neutrals by heart and type them in the chat so your warding is timed well!
  • Baron Nashor will spawn at 15:00 and respawn every 7 minutes, his kill will give 300 gold AND 900 xp to each player of the successful team.
  • Dragon Ebenmaw will spawn at 2:30 and respawn every 6 minutes, his kill will grant 190 gold - but NO xp - to each player of the successful team.
  • Big Golem and Elder Lizzard (Blue and Red Buf) will spawn at 1:55 and respawn every 5 minutes.
  If you achieve ward dominance over these spots and your team abuses this, you will win.
• General summary of warding locations:
  • Early game: River and - if asked - buffs, dragon (dragon always with a ).
  • Mid game: Mid cross-sections and buffs/dragon when respawn is imminent.
  • Late game: Defensive or offensive warding of jungle cross-sections and of Baron - but avoid soloing.
  
  Remember that you will only become a good support if you master warding.

Guidelines for decent Gaming

Honor the Code and behave like decent Ladies and Gentleman should...

• "That heal/stun/slow/attack/ult saved my life, that was soo close, thank you very much."
• "I underestimated my enemy, it was my mistake, it won't happen again, I promise."
• "Kind Sirs, getting Mercs against that team is a decent thing to do."
• "[all] Talk kindly to your fellow gentleman, it is hard for them too."

... if you get my drift :D

Conclusion

As with almost every mobafire guide, credits go to jhoijhoi for learning about BBCode and thanks to all those who posted and voted. I hope you learnt something from this guide, I wrote it to clear my thoughst on Galio and to let others look at my conclusions.
I am happy with this guide as it is. If you have something to add to my line of thoughs write to me. I greatly appreciate discussion and arguments about builds, I don't want you to adapt my style, I see it as an experiment that yields good results and should be appreciated as such.

Thank you for reading!