A Galio Main's Take on His New Abilities. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
----UPDATE!!!! As new information has come in, I've updated this post as needed. Some points stand, others not so much. I'm not above self critiquing or correcting, and there are a few things that still bug me about Galio's new kit. Let's call it "better than I feared, worst than I'd hope." Check out below! ----
Good evening everyone. First, thanks for reading. Grab a snack, your favorite caffeinated beverage and prepare for an unnecessarily detailed take on Galio's new rework abilities. DISCLAIMER: Given that this is a leak, and it's not slated for release until 7.6, changes are still possible. And I ask that if you all agree with my points to please point Riot the way of this thread.
First, my summoner NA name is Askio Null. Nice to meet you all. Galio has been my oddball main for the better part of two years. My favorite position was JNG when they had the mini lich bane that synced so well with his kit (the new one not so much, tear). With the exception of AD carry, I've utilized Galio is almost every spot you can imagine. He has overbearing strengths and glaring weaknesses typical of a champion that is on the older side. To say he needed an overhaul would be understating just how badly the 7.0 season meta was wrecking his kit. He still had some uses; they were few and far between. Despite still being in Silver, slowly crawling my way up bit by bit, I think there are enough notches in my Galio's belt to say that short of being a pro or with Riot that I'm a decent authority on what Galio is.
So you all know my verdict on this rework--assuming these abilities--without having to read this short book I'll be writing on the subject, it is thus...
Galio's new kit adds much needed CC to the champ, but guts what made the champion unique in addition to what made the champion most useful. He is a less reliable Alistar without the healing or the tanky buff. His kit has gone from a champion that could counter play with his ult while buffing allies, to being an all in CC AP champ. He is no longer the counter pick to AP heavy or damage over time enemy teams. What Galio was will die.
Now that the summary is out of the way, join me in looking at what the different areas of his new kit versus his old, and what I think Riot should (hopefully) change or keep the same before the update hits PBE.
The Good-Galio's New Q and E Galio's kit was lacking in dynamic plays. He relied on his ult to make plays, and that means plays every 80+ seconds. His W, passive and ult combined to make him an excellent AP, counter AP and support champion. But in my experience, his Q and E were only really there to proc Lich Bane or Frozen Gauntlet; dealing only modest damage, with even more modest buffs or slows to go along with them.
Galio's new Q deals damage seemingly along it's path before dealing consistent damage in the final target area. This gives Galio and much needed damage boost. It makes Thunderlords easier to proc, and Deathfire more potent (I personally run armor/MR max buffs on the tank tree, with grasp of undying since he is a melee champ).
Galio's new E launches himself at an enemy, and this is by and far the most needed thing in Galio's kit. His ult is fantastic for team fights or for protecting your carries from assassins. But it relied too much on flash or a speed boost item since Galio's E only provided a moderate buff in a limited area. This new E would be fantastic to time with his ult. But I'll get to that in just a minute.
UPDATE! The Not So Bad-Galio's New Passive and Ult Galio's new passive and W aren't "bad" per say. His new passive deals extra damage from attack damage and his magic resistance. That holds some potential for builds in the future that I'm eager to try. It also resets after each unique ability hit, which holds a nice, potential damage buff for Galio in duels that he was lacking. What this passive deals exactly in terms of damage, and how it scales, we will see.
UPDATE!!!! His new ult. It looks cool. It appears to lock in on an ally much like Shen does. Galio then launches himself at that ally, knocking back enemies and knocking the ally towards your fountain. Now this seems like it could be very useful in a pinch. After getting more info, it triggers an AoE knockup. This is definitely useful, and we'll have to wait to see the range, damage and functionality of the ult on the PBE
UPDATE!! The Ugly-No More Magic Res to AP Passive and his new W There are a handful of champions that gain offensive buffs to their magic or physical damage from other stats. While not as powerful as champions that go straight AP or AD, they added layers of complexity and utility to the champions' potential builds. Ryze has his mana passive, which doesn't add to his AP but does add a noticeable hunk of damage. In my opinion, Mana in of itself isn't all that impactful as something like armor or health unless it get dragged into an extremely long engage. Yet it gives Ryze options on what he can build. The Tear line of items is obvious. But Ryze can choose between being a glass cannon with mana items like Lich Bane, Rod of Ages, etc. Or he can utilize mana items like Frozen Heart, Frozen Gauntlet and Glory to still gain damage while increasing his utility. Vladimir coverts HP damage to his AP damage. Again, building straight HP/Armor or HP/MR probably wastes some of his potential. But if you want to go a little tanky versus relying solely on timing his health abilities, you can do that. Rammus, Taric and Malphite all utilize armor to buff their abilities, and their kits make them excellent choices for counter AD heavy team comps.
Galio was the Rammus or Malphite to AP counters. His passive enabled him to build Magic Resistance while still dealing some good damage. Combined with the buffs items like Iron Locket, Spirit Visage and Veil got to their MR stats, Galio had a nice little indirect buff running for him. Items like Scepter combined with Deathcap made for a potent combination. And by using the Armor and Magic Resistance buffs in the new tank tree line, Galio could situationally buff his tank stats, and by extension modestly boost his damage in large team fights. Taking away this passive means that the one champion that was geared towards counter AP heavy teams has been changed into being just another CC bruiser. UPDATE!!!! After getting more info it seems his magic resistance will add some damage to his passive. But it won't scale to all of his other abilities, which is disheartening because you can only rely on a passive so much in fights, and it isn't nearly as useful as a general AP conversion.
Galio's new W gives him damage resistance and when released it taunts enemy. When you look at it though, it's basically Warwick's new ability, but instead of fearing enemies away it taunts them to you. In fact it's exactly Warwick's new ability. This isn't bad, but it lacks something that Galio had that other tanks didn't: the raw ability to sustain and heal in battle without spell vamp or life steal. That leads me to the next...
The Profane-No More W Buff/Regen and Magic Resistance Passive So I already mentioned Galio lacking his Magic Resistance as being bad, even though it does apply some to his passive. Let's just tap into how bad it really is; it ties intrinsically into his W buff. Galio's W was a bit confusing at first, because it was originally described as a shield. However, Windspeaker's Blessing and any shield buffing item had no affect on it because in reality, it is a buff. It's akin to Braum's W in many ways; one can choose to buff themself or an ally. Using this on your AD carry could mean life or death for that carry or for you as Galio. If an enemy was smart, they'd go for the Galio since the carry suddenly has a 30-90 Armor/MR buff. And if Galio buffs himself, at maxed out W Galio gets a temporary 45 AP boost. Combined with other items and a Deathcap, it was quite the dynamic ability. Do you use it early to engage? Do you risk going into the enemy team without it and use it to buff your damage during your ult? Timing this ability could make or break your fights, and it seems to be a skill that Riot claims to aim for; one that is easy to use for beginners, but has high potential for experienced players to utilize. A beginner Galio might panic and use their W at the first sign of trouble. An experienced Galio uses the W to heal off of Deathfire or low damage users, to buff their ranged attacks or to trigger an even stronger Lich Bane attack.
Galio's W secondary function was his primary healing ability. This makes Galio the perfect counter to enemies like Teemo, Brand, Talon or other champs that utilize damage over time or Deathfire to slowly whittle away health. Suddenly Teemo shrooms become a source of joyous resurrection instead of being the obnoxious spawn of Satan. But the ability wasn't overpowered. Each heal would be reduced in succession by 20%. One Brand attack or Teemo shroom could heal you; a field of Teemo shrooms would still destroy you. This heal also meant that support Galio's wouldn't be left out to dry if they buffed the carries. Each time the buffed ally would be hit, Galio still heals himself. Now, Galio doesn't have the complexity of layers that his passive and W brought to the table. He was the only champ that utilized such unique skills, nor was there any champ that countered damage over time quick like the current Galio can. His new W? Basically a poor man's substitute for his ult's taunt, but without the reliability of Rammus' pointed taunt and the certainty of Galio's current ult. It makes him less mobile, doesn't heal him and it doesn't buff an ally.It's also unclear if you can attack while holding down W, which would make it a useless ability in duels since you A) couldn't use it to escape since it slows AND taunts enemies, B) increases damage resistance while slowing you but doesn't heal you like his current W does.
What His Kit Should Be. Riot, Please Take Note, Humbly Yours, A Sad Galio Main UPDATE!!!!
Galio's update brings some good to his kit, but it also makes it non-unique while taking out a counter pick to certain champions that no other champ functions as. For those that hate the "what if" of a kit guide, thank you if you've read this far. Here is how I think Galio's kit should look like, combining the leaked kit with his old one.
New Passive Aoe- Colossal Slam With items like Flame Cloak and Sheen items, it could be a good way for Galio to passive deal AoE damage in teamfights. Still unclear exactly how much damage it does or what effects it procs (assuming it's an empowered basic attack).
Galio New Q-Winds of War? Galio's New Q combines the easy hit line that his old E provides, while adding a nice damage over area effect. The "sweet spot" damage is a nice touch that punishes complacent or lazy enemies that misstep.
Galio's Old W-Builwark Passive, Runic Skin Galio's Bulwark is a key part of his current kit, and should remain as such. Much like Ryze uses mana, Galio's passive and W should be combined, with him gaining 30/35/40/45/50% of his Magic Resistance as AP as he levels up the skill.
Galio's New E-Justice Punch (really Riot) ? Galio's new E works a bit like Rek Sai's knock-up. It's telegraphed so it's not too difficult to dodge, it's not a cheap point and click stun like Pantheon's W, but in team fights or in a skilled 1v1 situation it seems like the perfect skill to set up Galio in larger skirmishes. And it would be perfect if they kept...
Galio's Old Ult-Idol of Durand. Nothing can beat Galio's current ult. Well that's not true, it's easy to counter if you know what you're doing or if the Galio doesn't know how to Galio. But the AoE taunt, the damage increasing with each hit, combined with the ability to Bulwark or use summoner spells mid ult? Combined with flame cloak or thornmail, and Galio's old ult would work wonders. With his new kit and a few ratio or base damage adjustments, and I think this would be the best possible combination for Galio. It retains his unique ability to be an AP counter, maybe even creating an AP counter assassin with his new knockup and Q damage. You can build him AP, AP.Mr hybrid, or just tanky; his new CC and basic AoE damage would make the new tank Galio far more feasible compared to current Galio. His new ult looks fun. But it's so easy to use, that it couldn't possibly have the scaling that an ult like Sion or other global ults could.
Riot, I mostly love you guys. I've put a lot of time into this game, and into Galio in particular. I loved that no one really played Galio, but when used properly, he could devastate certain teams. His kit needed a pick me up, but I hope you take my critique into consideration so that Galio gains what he needs while retaining some of the things that made him unique. As stands, if this leak is true, he'll just become another cookie cutter CC tank, with nothing too notable to make him stand out; not matter how grandiose or epic you make his new ult entrance look. And having a champ that's whole kit got a buff from magic resistance, and not just one ability, would make it so much more plausible for him to still be that AP counter champ.
If you've all read this, please share your thoughts. Let me hear what my other Galio players think. And again, I humbly ask that anyone from Riot please take this into consideration. I criticize you because I love you. And because I don't want you to **** up my main. Remember what you did with Warwick. Stay true to the champion while bringing renewed vigor to them, and remember...
A Guardian Is Always Prepared
