New to Garen, just started playing last night.

[quote=Jo3HooDYo]Ok, so I just bought Garen. Just hit lvl 30 and want to broaden my champ pool for when I start ranked. My buddies were teaming with me and were teaching me the basics of the build. I have some issues. They told me to build [[Frozen Mallet]] but I myself can't see the viability of it. Yes, it gives you much needed armor. But I find Garen's AS is horrible and don't see myself being able to get alot of auto attacks with him. [[Randuin's Omen]] seems better because it drops his kiteable-ness. Also, I'm thinking [[Spirit Visage]] would be good on him because it would boost his passive healing. Let me know your thoughts, and yell at me if you must.[/quote]

[quote=boythinks][[Frozen mallet]] gives you health and that all important slow.. [[Garen]] really does well with it. it kida depends on what you are trying to achieve with him but in most games i see, building him with really Tanky items seems to work well, [[Randuin's Omen]] would work well too i think the Guides on this site are pretty good - have a read, the people who write them are much better than me also i would suggest holding off on going into ranked games for a while if you just hit lvl 30 glhf[/quote]

[quote=Jpikachu1999][[Mercury's Treads]] [[The Black Cleaver]] [[Randuin's Omen]] [[Warmog's Armor]] [[Spirit Visage]]/[[Maw of Malmortius]] [[Infinity Edge]] Last time I checked, the above build was pretty standard. Tankiness (Mostly HP to abuse his passive), and some damage. It is pretty expensive, but Garen's usefulness tends to fall off late game anyways, and he is mostly useful for silencing, tanking, and executing with his ult.[/quote]

[quote=Jo3HooDYo]thanks guys. both +rep! yeah i'm holding off on ranked until i have a better grasp on more champs. and jpikachu1999, whats with the speed test? is that for real?[/quote]

[quote=DEWO]Well i always rush Frozen Mallet. Why, your combo usualy looks like this Q->E Your Q does land on hit effects so the target will be slowed for the duration of your spin-to-win. This makes you kinda permaslow since you will get another Q on your target when you end up spinning. Garen doesnt need TBC damage in early game, he is strong just from his own lvl so mallet is a great survivability+Utility tool. I dont see the point of getting black cleaver at all on him tbh. In time you stack it up... you will probably have the target on executable (R) range... and that is magic damage anyway...[/quote]

[quote=Jo3HooDYo]oh i see. my mind wasn't registering that the q proc'd an auto attack because the animation was different. i'll rush frozen mallet next round instead of black cleaver and see how that goes[/quote]

[quote=Jpikachu1999][quote=Jo3HooDYo] thanks guys. both +rep! yeah i'm holding off on ranked until i have a better grasp on more champs. and jpikachu1999, whats with the speed test? is that for real? [/quote] That's what I got when I tested my internet one day. It happens every couple of weeks lol.[/quote]

[quote=DEWO][quote=Jo3HooDYo] oh i see. my mind wasn't registering that the q proc'd an auto attack because the animation was different. i'll rush frozen mallet next round instead of black cleaver and see how that goes [/quote] Ofc dont forget boots :P Post your view after trying it out :) GL HF :)[/quote]

[quote=More Waffles]Q is simply an autoattack with a built in silence and different animation (i.e. being blinded will prevent you from doing damage with it, but will still add the silence). With Garen's W, you don't need to build SUPER tanky, as he will passively up your items, runes, masteries' defenses by 20%. I've never bought Frozen Mallet on him, but the item definitely has its uses. While Garen's natural AS is slow as crap, having a slow on him will allow additional attacks and prevent your target from running. I don't remember, but I believe his W also adds on-hit effects as well. Spirit Visage is optional. I'd buy it for the MR more than the Passive, as a 20% increase on a passive regen doesn't really seem worth it. Overall, his passive isn't as particularly useful past lane phase sustainability. CDR is nice, though, but can be found on better tank items.[/quote]

[quote=DEWO]The boost of speed and silence on his Q is a great initiator and garen should be initiating fights. Slowing the target not only for you but also for your team is realy crucial imho. Many champions can "catch up" on your initiation or just find it easier to land skillshots and skillshot CCs when the target is slowed and probably running away from garen :D Frozen mallet is just my fav item on him :)[/quote]