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Why is Galio a Mage?

Sir ArmaMalum·7/11/2014, 8:13:46 PM·7 votes·1,633 views

Ok, so we know him, we may love him but I think we can all agree Galio is in a weird place right now. Not bad persay, but nowhere near popular. There are many factors to this, but the chief among them imho is a lot of role confusion. For Galio in particular, let's just see of you can answer this question Is Galio a Mage or a Tank? He has enough utility and defensive catalysts (not the item, the term) to justify a tank role, as well his ult's disruption, but his ult's independence from items (i.e. he gets so much DR he doesn't need to build tanky to use it well) and his passive's ability to counter an mage I've seen arguments for a Mage (more anti-mage but I digress) as well.

Funny thing is, I blame one thing and one thing only. His Q. Everything in his kit can also easily justify a short range in-your-face tank or bruiser. But his Q is a ranged placeable AoE that I've seen used to keep people back than to close the distance, and does a lot to justify the feel of a Mage. Take a moment and imagine Galio's Q isn't ranged, but an "on next auto" ability. He would play a lot differently wouldn't he? You couldn't sit back and pepper people, you'd have stick close to your teammates and even closer to your enemies, which I wholeheartedly believe fits Galio's theme and lore much better.

That and, come on, have you SEEN his fists? I would love to see him and Vi arm-wrestle.

Possible Solution

I hate criticism without an attempt at a solution, so here:

Effectively just switch his Q into an auto attack augment, have him use those massive boulders he calls fists. To produce the same effect while making up for the loss of range, have a slow field effect go out in a line behind the target he hits, like Vi's E except more linear. It could be an interesting synergy with his E as well.

Possible small increase in the early level cd, and mana costs would more than likely be adjusted. I was also thinking a reduced damage through minions modifier to prevent Galio from turning into an aggressive support, but that holds the danger of negatively impatcing the possibility of solo lane Galio, so idk.....

13 Comments

MrBuffington7/11/2014, 10:01:50 PM4 votes

Now that you mention it, his Q does seem the most foreign to the rest of his kit (not to mention the ranges and aoe radius seem a little random...). He always seemed thematically more like a tank/fighter than tank/mage. Like, one ranged basic ability for a melee champion seems standard. Two ranged basic abilities with no melee ability just seems bizarre. If I'm playing a Gargoyle, I want to be able to swoop in and wreck some people, sitting in the back and shooting eye lasers, especially when I have monsterous claws and a bite worse than Trundle's makes me wonder why I'm not using those instead (sidenote: why doesn't Renekton bite people? He's a crocodile, after all).

HavinAGiggle7/12/2014, 2:48:30 AM2 votes

Coming from a person who loves non-meta champs (Galio, in this case), I totally agree when you ask what he really is. He has the disruption and utility of a tank but the damage of a mage. I feel a lot of Riot's older champs are like that. I mean, look at Mordekaiser. He has a damage soaking passive, an AA modifier, an MR/Armour steroid and a heal yet he's a mage. I mean, how does that work? Anyway, I'm certain some of his abilities will be reworked when his inevitable VU/potential rework comes along.

On the other hand, I don't really agree with making his Q an AA modifier for one reason. As someone who plays Galio quite a bit, that is not what he needs. Galio's main way of playing is to dive the enemy team and ult as many people as possible while your team does their thing. You basically want to be in the middle of the enemy team as Galio, which is why he is seen as a tank. That being said, his basic abilities are basically used only for him to get in range for his ult. His E for the speed boost, his Q for the slow and his W for the defense/sustain. Changing his Q to an AA modifier would just render it useless. You want the enemy team to be dead by the time your ult ends, so what's the point of changing his Q if there's no one to use it on? Galio pretty much NEEDS that range on his Q to stop the enemy team from running way. I don't mean to say you're wrong with your statement, I just don't see the need. Maybe changing his Q to some sort of dash where he flies forward would be more his style and fitting as a tank. Now THAT would be cool!

DarkInFire7/12/2014, 1:12:44 AM1 votes

This is a best, please ignore this.

Stacona7/12/2014, 2:34:53 AM1 votes

basic attacks on melee suck, galio is very strong right now, just isnt getting played, nothing you can do about that--- nothing around with being a mage support tank

Ghost Killer 4207/12/2014, 12:03:01 AM1 votes

I think it would be nice to see Galio with a Reworked Q since he has to be in the enemies faces to ult effectively, anyways I dont think it makes much sense for him to have a long range (Q) poke that doesn't fit the feel for his look.

Rogue Hawk7/12/2014, 4:27:34 AM1 votes

I do think the champ needs to solidified into a main role either by reworking his passive or his ult. He uses a lot of mana and all his main abilities are on static cooldowns with increasing mana costs which makes sense to balance out their strong utility and damage but by taking the mana cost from his ult he can retain his utility after wave clearing and poking since the nerf to Athene's Holy Grail.
My solution would be to add a debuff to his abilities or ult that stack so when he ults the stacks will max out for more damage or over time drain targets of 10/25/40 MR. His ult has to be saved until disruption spells are used so he can turn the fight because his spells are high impact where like most mages depends on their positioning and timing; the better he positions, the higher his impact.
But, the ult can feel lackluster when you consider how low on mobility he is, the max damage of ult (616 (+ 84% AP), and how ineffective he is in the front line (easy to peel) although his main role is considered tank. His ult reflects that of tank, I feel thematically his ult should have a higher impact and teamfight utility the longer he channels even if it's at the cost of upfront damage to fit him into his niche AoE cc comps.

Wullf7/12/2014, 3:50:27 PM1 votes

I believe that Galio does need a rework. Or some kind of clean up. I agree that he is quite confusing right now.

So here are my suggestions. There are two good ways that I can think of right now.

1] Galio as mage No drastic changes in Galio's kit. Just put staff in his hand and that's is. Well not exactly but that's most of it. Because what makes Galio so confusing is that he is a beast with kind of "inteligent" abilities. So staff would make him look more inteligent. Another graphic change would be his ulti animation. Indsteaf of crouching I would make him stand with his staff in both hands before him.

What skills I would change? Q and W.

I'll start with W - His shield, though strong, does not feel good to use. Its kind of "I'll put it there just to see what happens". By focusing on what target to put it on, you put great effort in action that may not have any effect in fight. Or it might but you can't tell. Another thing is that you mostly use the shield on yourself which is a bit complicated because you can't use it quickly. You either have to click on yourself or use alt+w, which still leads to delay. Solution is simple. Activating W will put shield on Galio and also on nearby allies. (shield might be little weaker then)

Q - I'd love to see cone of flame bursting from his staff.

But actually it would be enough just to shorten delay of Qs landing. To widen the area of damage and reduce the damage and slow.

This way you have flying "support" mage.

2] Galio as fighter. More extensive rework.

I like the idea of him walking on all four (or just partialy) with gap closing ability that would make him swing his wings to go a longer distance. (maybe reactivating this ability would make Galio swing wings one more time.) That would also mean to nerf his ulti, because he would not be flash dependent anymore and landing his ulti would be much more easier for him. Q - as it is now it would dissapear completely and instead of it some AA might go along well. W - maybe shield just on him (in the style of Malphites Brutal strikes?) E - the gap closing ability? R - maybe shorter taunt more damage and less damage reduction.

Frigid Frostwolf7/14/2014, 8:41:12 PM1 votes

I'm really liking this idea. seeing galio as a close quarters bruiser mage tank sounds awesome

The5lacker7/14/2014, 9:51:40 PM1 votes

Better question: Why does a champion who stacks MR have an anti-ADC ult?