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💡Complete Garen guide by Dixon 🏆 12.10 ✅

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League of Legends Build Guide Author DixonTheGuideMaker

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Garen Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (4) More Garen Guides

Runes:

Precision

Conqueror

Triumph

Legend: Tenacity

Last Stand

Resolve

Conditioning

Overgrowth

Bonus:

+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Spells:

1 2

Flash+Ignite

Flash

Ignite

Items

Starting items

First back

Core items

Situational items

Full build example

Ability Order

Garen Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Lulu

Extreme

Qiyana

Ideal

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Qiyana

Ideal

More Garen Counters

Champion Build Guide

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone and welcome to one of my guides! This guide contains useful information and general knowledge based on my own game experience + open source info from Internet about the champ 💡📚📈🔍

My name is Max, but you can call me Dixon as well. I'm from Ukraine so English is not my native language and I can do some mistakes (I'm sorry for that). However, you can also write me comments and I'm able to answer you in English, German, Russian and Ukrainian languages since I understand all of them, but in different levels of knowledge. 😄

I started to play League of Legends in 2016. My highest ELO at the moment is Platinum 2 (soloQ) and 💎Diamond 4 (flexQ) on EU-West server (top 5% best players at the server).

I would like to invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm going to make a lot of League of Legends content in English: https://www.youtube.com/c/DixonGames/videos
You will also find my streams on Twitch by following this link:
https://www.twitch.tv/dixon_leagueoflegends

I'm not a hardcore high elo player, but I enjoy this game and share this passion with all the people who find my content as interesting or useful.

I hope this guide will help you to improve your champion's understanding so it would be more fun to play!

Let me know in the comments section if you find any mistakes or outdated information so I could fix it! Thanks in advance!

Have a nice reading! 📖🤓

PROS & CONS

Pros:
- Great damage in the early and mid-game, even without special items to increase physical damage. Good base damage.
- High one-time damage of some skills.
- Able to kill weak mages or AD carries in literally one combo.
- Excellent tank qualities.
- There is protection against slow.
- Can quickly kill minions and demolish towers.
- Abilities do not cost mana and is limited to cooldown only.
- An excellent ultimate that allows you to easily finish off enemies.
- Easy champion to play and master.

Cons:
- Easy to kite by champions with ranged attack and control.
- In the late game becomes less relevant due to the lack of damage and the lack of good controlling skills.
- Has no instant escape skills, he can only increase its movement speed.
- There are no good control skills.

ABILITIES

All of Garen's skills do not consume mana and their use is limited to cooldown only.

thanks to his passive is able to restore a large amount of health very quickly even without any items for regen. Note that the passive is reset the moment you take damage from an enemy champion, tower, or epic monster in the jungle. The damage received from the minions does not knock down the passive cooldown and healing and this is a big plus. Also, the passive is not interrupted when You need to make sure that the enemy does not attack you at the moment when you want to restore your health. In some sense, we force also the enemy to constantly attack us in order to knock down the passive, and thus the enemy can play agressively too much and miss a minion or make a mistake. If necessary, you can stand a little in the bushes and restore some of your health. Any other champion in Garen's place would definitely have to return to base for healing or constantly stand under their own tower. In team fights the same passive can help a little, but it's better not to count on it too much. Yes, there are situations when the battle is stretched and you have a window when passive can be activated, but this happens rarely. Sometimes the passive can help a lot when you are roaming around the map. After all, while moving between the lines you can restore a lot of health. Thus, you can, for example, come to the aid of an ally, tank some of the damage and return to your lane, restoring your health along the way. This method is rarely used, but it's worth knowing about it.

this skill has several very important advantages. It significantly increases Garen's movement speed, allows you to cast silence on opponents (enemies cannot cast spells), deals good additional damage and allows you to transfer the effects of your basic attack. The skill perfectly increases Garen's mobility and can be used equally well to attack and escape. It is also worth noting that at the moment of activation removes the slowing effects from himself and thus can quickly run away from enemies or on the contrary catch them. The ability will play a decisive role in the initial exchange on the lane. After all after using the skill the enemy will not be able to respond to you with his abilities and he will have to use only auto attacks, but due to the bonus speed you can step back. It's important to note that casting the ability resets the auto-attack timer. So it is beneficial to first give a simple auto attack to the enemy and then apply the ability. It will allow you to deal more damage. The mechanic of resetting the auto attack will be useful in those moments when you will demolish enemy structures. By the way, the bonus damage to towers will also work. On the lane the ability can also be used to finish off minions if you are bad at it. At the very least you can use a reinforced blow to finish off the cannon minion. In this case, it is better to play it safe if you are not yet ideally farming minions. It should be remembered that is our only tool for increasing mobility and in those moments when the skill is on cooldown you should be more careful.

already at the first level the skill gives a very good bonus to defense. Activating the skill does not only simply increase your defensive qualities, but also gives an additional shield can absorb some powerful enemy attack. While it doesn't seem obvious, percentage damage reduction will not work for pure damage. Fortunately there is not much of it in the game. In addition to the active part, the ability has a very useful passive, which allows you to increase Garen's basic defensive characteristics. To do this, you just need to farm well on the lane and finish off the minions as much as possible. You can get +30 points of protection, which will definitely not be superfluous. To achieve this bonus you will have to finish off 120 minions. The shield lasts less than a second and you need to feel the timing very clearly. In team fights the ability is best used at the moment when you are already starting to take damage or when some abilities are already flying at you. It is certainly not worth activating the ability in advance, since in this case you will not only lose the effect of the absorbing shield, but the defense itself will help you very little in time.

This is Garen's main combat skill, which deals excellent massive damage. Can crit and pass auto attack effects. You do not need to click on the enemy while spinning, it is better to move next to him. This way you can make the most of this skill and quickly respond to unexpected changes in enemy direction. Please note that while spinning, is able to pass through minions. This is especially useful when there is a large concentration of minions around you and the enemy has to stumble over them. This effect can be achieved using the spell. Even without items for damage, the skill will still be relevant, since it reduces the armor of enemies and you only need to inflict damage with the skill 6 times. Remember that while the ability is active, you cannot use other skills. You need to plan in advance what combination you will use. In some cases it is beneficial to even disable the ability beforehand, for example to use the acceleration from . If the ability is disabled early, the recharge of the skill will be slightly reduced. In one of the updates, the developers made it so that the attacks of the ability began to activate the effect of . And this rune became very popular among players. Although the duration of the ability is fixed, you can influence the number of hits Garen can take while spinning. This will require items for attack speed. belongs to the juggernaut class and such champions usually do not take items for attack speed. If you want to experiment, then I advise you to pay attention to such artifacts as and . At the very beginning of the game many new players make the same mistake, namely, they start using the ability to farm. You shouldn't do this, as by inflicting AOE damage to minions you will end up pushing the lane and this is not always profitable for Garen. It is better for the minions to meet closer to your tower. So you will be in a more defensive position and you will not be afraid of the enemy jungler. But feel free to use this ability for clearing a wave if you need to go to help your own jungler, or if you want to recall to base. It depends on the situation and what you need to do.

is an excellent finishing skill. The ultimate ability is best used on half-dead enemies, since in this case they will receive maximum damage. A distinctive feature of the skill is that the damage type of the ultimate is "true". This type of damage completely ignores the target's armor. so don't think about the initial damage being small. In particular, the ability will greatly help to finish off tanked opponents. The damage of the ability does not change from purchased AD or AP items. It means that is able to deal nice damage with a tanky build. Before using the ultimate be sure to consider the options for how the enemy can avoid lethal damage. If you want to cast the ultimate, you must be 100% sure that it will finish off the target. A very important advantage of the ultimate is that it cannot be dodged. Even if at the very last moment the enemy uses it will not save him.

BUILDS & ITEMS

is most effective in chasing down enemies through the bonus movement speed it grants and the slow. This is especially useful for fighters and bruisers.

Many tanky champions are still sustain reliant, such as and . may be a better general purchase against those champions, since it applies Grievous Wounds during teamfights, allowing your entire team to combat them. Buy this item if you want to cut enemy's healings, life steal and vampirism.

buy this item if you want to have nice movement speed to roam across the map or to split push. The item provides also some HP and armor that makes it a good choice for tanks and bruisers who lack mobility.

buy this item if you want to have nice movement speed to roam across the map or to split push. The item provides also some HP and magic resistance that makes it a good choice for tanks and bruisers who lack mobility. It's also a good option against teams with lots of champions with magical type of damage.

The unique passive's usage is best realized when looking at a simplified situation where an enemy inflicts instant burst damage onto you. As a result, your opponent has to overkill you to actually finish you off within this time span, which slightly increases your time to react and deploy counter measures like shields or healing. At the same time it also slightly improves your time window for retaliation, and is as such most powerful in a fight between two champions.

is usually used on bruisers like , , because they can easily apply stacks and survive long enough to benefit from the penetration. Armor reduction and penetration effects stack, allowing an attacking character to benefit simultaneously from Black Cleaver's shred, penetration runes, other items such as , and champion abilities that circumvent armor. This is a strong item against teams with lots of tanks or heavy bruisers who stacks a lot of armor.

is best used to push out lanes and siege structures without your team. The damage increase and empowerment to your large minions will increase the speed of your push significantly. The bonus resistances will help against dueling enemies who respond to your push.

is generally good for fighters and bruisers to deal damage to enemies and protect your champion by additional HP and shield.

helps attack damage-based champions against enemy teams with high amounts of magic damage. LIFELINE can absorb most of the initial burst of magic damage from an enemy champion and give the owner an opportunity to attack or retreat. It is very useful against ability power champions with burst damage like or .

is a strong counter against basic auto-attackers that stack well on critical strike chance, like , , and most of marksmen. You should consider to buy this item if the enemy team 2 or more champions who rely on critical strike damage.

is a particularly effective defensive option when facing down opponents whose damage is dealt primarily through basic attacks, or against opponents that utilize healing from attacks to survive fights (such as life steal). It's very useful against such champions like , , , etc.

SUMMONER SPELLS

+ combo is one of the most popular combo for the top lane. In any case, should not be excluded, since Garen does not have the opportunity to quickly close the distance to the enemy or quickly get out of focus fire. will be better choice for new players. After 14th minute you can also youse Unleashed to help your allies on other lanes. At least in the first minutes of the game, the can be used to quickly return to the lane from the base. Saving time in such a situation will be very important. If you don't like , then is an excellent choice. will allow you to deal more damage and it will perfectly combine with Garen's ultimate. In rare cases you can still try to take , but few people play with this spell. The last option is . gives a slow that doesn't have in his kit.

GAMEPLAY INFORMATION & TIPS

It is better to spend the entire beginning of the game on farming. If you come across a champion with a melee attack and he is within your range, then you should try to kill him, but before level 6 it will be extremely difficult to do. The fact is that does not have normal control and will only be able to kill the enemy if he makes a number of big mistakes at once. In most cases, the enemy knows when to step back and wait a little. In any case, trying to attack the enemy is of course worth it and at least you need to respond to the enemy if he tries to harass you. Try to finish off minions with your basic attack and use less often for this purpose. When you use this skill you instantly recharge your auto attack. This is very useful when you are attacking an enemy. That is, for example, you first use an auto attack and then immediately add . Starting farm is very important for as he needs to buy the first key artifacts as soon as possible, such as . Try to use on an enemy every time they try to finish off a minion. At the same time, it is also good to use to significantly reduce the incoming damage if the enemy goes into aggression. Thanks to , can push the lane a lot and he has a lot more opportunities to demolish the enemy tower, but do not aim for this in the beginning. It's better to keep minion waves closer to your tower and just farm. Due to , can stay in lane for a very long time. It also gives some advantage over the enemy. As soon as you manage to demolish the tower, you can safely go to help your allies on other lines, but you won't be able to do this quickly. As a rule, a couple of plates from the tower can be demolished only if you killed the enemy on the line or if he went to roam somewhere or recalled to his base. It will be very difficult for your opponent on the top lane to destroy the tower in return, as he will constantly be afraid of a gank.

As soon as you buy the first three items will be able to do very good damage and at the same time will have a good movement speed. The main tactic of the game for is to initiate a fight. Due to the movement speed by he is able to quickly engage the enemy and prohibit him from using skills. Inside a crowd Garen can do great damage with and destroy the enemy ADC or mage. In order to kill the enemy carry, just needs to use the standard combo - - . When you try to break an enemy tower, remember that will also deal additional damage while simultaneously reloading your auto attack. This makes it much more efficient to destroy enemy buildings.

It's important to remember that the longer the game lasts, the more useless becomes. From the very beginning of the game to the last tower you need to play as aggressively as possible and constantly crush opponents. Be sure to keep in mind important objectives such as Baron and dragons. They must be observed and if possible killed. Even if your team is playing passively, try to constantly initiate the fight and achieve victory. Excessive risk of course will not lead to anything good either, but you still need to try. Just be more aggressive and move constantly between lanes (after the middle of the game). Of course it is difficult to play constantly with initiative and not everyone can do it, but you simply have no choice.

is a very interesting champion who is essentially a hybrid between a tank and a damage dealer. In principle it is not so difficult to learn how to play him, but in order to become a truly experienced player you will have to play some amount of games and go through a few dozen of battles. can be advised to a new player, since the champion is very simple and will not cause difficulties in the first games.

DANGEROUS CHAMPIONS

is played in the top lane, so we'll be looking at the most problematic champions to come across in that lane.

Darius is a very strong champion at the start of the game. You should not try to fight him early on. Even if uses his standard and combo he will still lose. will constantly use his . Best you can do is to try to just farm and not get hit again. Of course this is not easy to do, but it is quite possible to play safe and not feed on the line. Darius's passive is also a big problem as it knocks down Garen's healing. Even at level 6 you should not rely heavily on your ultimate, since an equally impressive skill opens up in Darius's arsenal. You should definitely buy wards and put them on the approach to the lane, since does not have a good escape skill.

If you've ever stood on the lane against , then you perfectly understand what this small champion is capable of. Some players just explode and flame when they face . The main problem is , which will use all the time and just not give you the opportunity to farm or attack him normally. With all this will still use his advantage in ranged combat and constantly poison . If does everything right, then will never even see the effect of his passive healing. In the game against I would advise you to stay at the maximum distance to the enemy and hope that an allied jungler will help you.

has very high damage and extremely strong crits. Like , this champion has no mana. During the lane phase Tryndamere can be very profitable in trades and if goes on the attack, then Tryndamere has the opportunity to abruptly retreat back. At the same time has a heal and if the enemy plays aggressively, then starting from level 3 he simply will not give you to live on the lane. Focus on farming more than on trying to kill him.

at first ppKayle]] will probably play passively, as she needs to get level 6 and ranged attacks. But very quickly she will begin to take the initiative and you cannot do anything about it. You can only press and harrass at the start, although this is not easy to do and then will simply begin to increase her advantage. If is experienced, then most likely you will have to suffer a lot during the match. I recommend you to attack her and push the lane. Destroy her minions as fast as possible and then you can go to help your jungler to invade their jungle or you can try to catch the enemy jungler alone when he will be farming. Or you can try to kill the scuttle crab on the river. There is also a way to kill her, especially if you play with DD build like + and . You have to use + + + + . You have to watch the line of silence. It's very important to cast while is silenced.

HOW TO PLAY AGAINST GAREN

Deny Garen’s Passive by auto-attacking him whenever possible. This will reduce his sustain in lane and make killing him easier. Garen’s deals extra damage to lone targets. You can mitigate the damage by fighting beside your minions. They will also start focusing him if he auto-attacks you. Try and stay at max distance at all times against . This will reduce his all-in potential. Additionally, by standing at the maximum distance possible, he will have to waste his to get in range of you to trade. You can capitalise on this and look to trade with him while it’s on cooldown.

Garen’s build path can be very different from game to game. Keep an eye on his itemisation and play accordingly depending on what he is buying. If he is going full damage, you probably won’t be able to fight him alone. It will be difficult for to engage or get on to carries in a team fight as he lacks hard CC. This means that he will try to flank in team fights with his . Make sure you ward to the side of you at all times and kite backwards as soon as he appears. Avoid wasting valuable resources like Summoner Spells or Ultimates on unless you’re certain you’re able to kill him. can quickly top up his health bar back to full thanks to his Passive which will result in your team losing out on key spells for the remaining of the fight.

Garen’s kill pressure in the early game can be difficult to handle if you’re playing as a tank. Respect his all-in and try and avoid trading with him unless his is down. At level 6, will gain access to his Ultimate which can be used to execute enemies. Do not fight him when low, and definitely recall if you’re below 50% health as he might look for a trade. It’s better to be safe rather than try and fight and give him a kill. Once has completed his first item, he will be more obnoxious and looking to trade more and more. Keep this in mind and do not commit to fights with him alone.

Wow, have you really read the guide till this moment? I hope it was useful and interesting for you. Let me know it please by voting!

And don't forget to visit and check my YouTube channel! Maybe you will like it! 😉 https://www.youtube.com/c/DixonGames/videos

GAREN BIOGRAPHY

Born into the noble Crownguard family, along with his younger sister , knew from an early age that he would be expected to defend the throne of Demacia with his life. His father, Pieter, was a decorated military officer, while his aunt Tianna was Sword-Captain of the elite Dauntless Vanguard—and both were recognized and greatly respected by King Jarvan III. It was assumed that Garen would eventually come to serve the king’s son in the same manner.

The kingdom of Demacia had risen from the ashes of the Rune Wars, and the centuries afterward were plagued with further conflict and strife. One of Garen’s uncles, a ranger-knight in the Demacian military, told young Garen and Lux his tales of venturing outside the kingdom’s walls to protect its people from the dangers of the world beyond.

He warned them that, one day, something would undoubtedly end this time of relative peace—whether it be rogue mages, creatures of the abyss, or some other unimaginable horror yet to come.

As if to confirm those fears, their uncle was killed in the line of duty by a mage, before Garen turned eleven. saw the pain this brought to his family, and the fear in his young sister’s eyes. He knew then, for certain, that magic was the first and greatest peril that Demacia faced, and he vowed never to let it within their walls. Only by following their founding ideals, and by displaying their unshakeable pride, could the kingdom be kept safe.

At the age of twelve, Garen left the Crownguard home in High Silvermere to join the military. As a squire, his days and nights were consumed by training and the study of war, honing his body and mind into a weapon as strong and true as Demacian steel. It was then that he first met young the prince who, as king, he would one day serve—among the other recruits, and the two became inseparable.

In the years that followed, Garen earned his place in the shieldwall as a warrior of Demacia, and quickly gained a fearsome reputation on the battlefield. By the time he was eighteen, he had served with honor in campaigns along the Freljordian borders, played a key role in purging fetid cultists from the Silent Forest, and fought alongside the valiant defenders of Whiterock.

King Jarvan III himself summoned Garen’s battalion back to the Great City of Demacia, honoring them before the royal court in the Hall of Valor. Tianna Crownguard, recently elevated to the role of High Marshal, singled out her nephew in particular, and recommended him for the trials necessary to join the ranks of the Dauntless Vanguard.

returned home in preparation, and was greeted warmly by Lux and his parents, as well as the common people living on his family’s estate. Though he was pleased to see his sister growing into an intelligent, capable young woman, something about her had changed. He had noticed it whenever he visited, but now wrestled with a real and gnawing suspicion that possessed magical powers… though he never let himself entertain the idea for long. The thought of a Crownguard being capable of the same forbidden sorceries that had slain their uncle was too unbearable to confront.

Naturally, through courage and skill, Garen won his place among the Vanguard. With his proud family and his good friend the prince looking on, he took his oaths before the throne.

and her mother spent much more time in the capital, in service to the king as well as the humble order of the Illuminators yet tried to keep his distance as much as possible. Though he loved his sister more than anything else in the world, some small part of him had a hard time getting close to her, and he tried not to think about what he would be forced to do if his suspicions were ever confirmed. Instead, he threw himself into his new duties, fighting and training twice as hard as he had before.

When the new Sword-Captain of the Dauntless Vanguard fell in battle, found himself put forward for command by his fellow warriors, and the nomination was unopposed.

To this day, he stands resolute in the defense of his homeland, against all foes. Far more than Demacia's most formidable soldier, he is the very embodiment of all the greatest and most noble ideals upon which it was founded.

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💡Complete Garen guide by Dixon 🏆 12.10 ✅

INTRODUCTION

PROS & CONS

ABILITIES

BUILDS & ITEMS

SUMMONER SPELLS

GAMEPLAY INFORMATION & TIPS

DANGEROUS CHAMPIONS

HOW TO PLAY AGAINST GAREN

GAREN BIOGRAPHY

💡Complete Garen guide by Dixon 🏆 12.10 ✅

💡Complete Garen guide by Dixon 🏆 12.10 ✅

Runes:

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Flash

Teleport

Recommended Items

Items

Ability Order

Perseverance (PASSIVE)

Decisive Strike (Q)

Courage (W)

Judgment (E)

Demacian Justice (R)

Threats & Synergies

Lulu

Yone

Tryndamere

Vayne

Kayle

Maokai

Rumble

Shen

Gnar

Quinn

Jayce

Darius

Nasus

Mordekaiser

Yasuo

Rengar

Kennen

Teemo

Dr. Mundo

Gangplank

Ornn

Jax

Qiyana

Zac

Volibear

Xin Zhao

Wukong

Fiddlesticks

Kha'Zix

Ekko

Nocturne

Nunu & Willump

Shaco

Shyvana

Diana

Kindred

Talon

Ivern

Sejuani

Vi

Master Yi

Elise

Lillia

Rek'Sai

Rengar

Udyr

Olaf

Poppy

Taliyah

Kayn

Karthus

Warwick

Nidalee

Mordekaiser

Rammus

Evelynn

Viego

Trundle

Graves

Hecarim

Jarvan IV

Zed

Amumu