(Champ Rework) Galio, the Sentinel's Sorrow.
I've had my eye on Galio for a while, since I love gargoyles. For the entirety of my time playing League, Galio has been one of the top 10 least picked or banned champions in the game, usually at the top 5 or worse. His win rate is average, if a little low, at roughly 49-50% any given day. This shows, in combination with personal experience, that he is not satisfying to play for any non hard core main, because there are several other champions with higher pick rates who are considerably weaker. I want to take a deep look at Galio, what makes him "Galio", what can be stripped away, what can be added, and generally, how to fulfill his identity as a champion in a way that makes him a more exciting champion.
This is a work in progress thread which I will keep updating as I get feed back from other players, so if you have an idea for him, spit it out there!
For the sake of simplicity, I will not be changing anything about his Lore or his Base Stats, only his kit.
Who is Galio? In my mind, and based off of real life gargoyles and his lore, Galio is a divine/magical bodyguard. His kit should reflect this. Galio is an anti mage, he is a tank, he is a counter pick, he is supportive, he defends allies, is rewarded for soaking damage, he is rewarded for guarding allies. Right now, he has a tank scaling passive, an AOE nuke+slow, a resist shield+self heal, a skill shot+ally buff, and an AOE Nuke hard CC. Of these things in his kit, his Q and his E are the weakest links. Neither feel like he is being a magical defender, and both are so flavorless that they feel like they were added solely for effectiveness rather than as cohesive additions. These two abilities will be changed most, regardless of any other changes I make. I want to solidify his role as an MR tank who protects his allies. I also want to enhance his initiation abilities, because right now, the extent of his initiation is Flash+Ult, which is predictable, boring, and lacks real strategy.
His new Kit: Passive, Runic Gaurdian: Galio gains AP equal to 50% of his MR. Whenever an ally within 1200 range takes magic damage, Galio redirects 10% of the damage to himself. Galio stores 10% of all magic damage that he takes, either directly or from his ally redirect (this applies to all spells, whether AOE, single target, DoT, or otherwise, as well as any on hit effects). Galio can store up to 90/180/270/360 (+60% MR) damage at any given time. If Galio has more than 30/60/90/120 (+20% MR) damage stored, casting an ability will cause his Runic skin to release the stored damage (max 30/60/90/120 (+20% MR) bonus damage per spell cast), with a different effect based on which spell triggered the release.
Q, Resolute Smite: Active: Galio blasts the target area with a beam of energy, dealing magic damage in a 235 radius area and slowing enemies hit. If his passive is charged, the blast knocks away all enemies to the edge of the AOE and burns enemy champions for the damage stored over the next 2 seconds. Hitting an ally with an empowered Resolute Smite causes their basic attacks to deal bonus magic damage for 4 seconds (can apply to Galio as well) Damage: 80/130/180/230/280 (+60% AP). Slow: 24/28/32/36/40% Bonus on-hit Damage: 10% MR 60/65/70/75/80 mana. 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 second cool down. 950 range.
W, Sentinel's Bulwark: Active: Galio shields himself or target ally for 4 seconds, granting them Resistances and healing himself whenever the unit with bulwark takes damage (reduced by 20% of the previous heal for every subsequent attack). If his passive is charged, the champion with bulwark gains true vision for 4 seconds and anyone who attacks them receives 15/30/45/60 (+10% MR), up to 2 times per enemy. Shield: 30/45/60/75/90 Armor+MR. Heal: 25/40/55/70/85 (+30% AP). Max heal (infinite hits): 125/200/275/350/425 (+150% AP). 60 mana. 14 second cool down.
E, Righteous Descent: Active: Galio flies forward in a line, dealing magic damage to all units hit and leaving a directional draft that speeds up allies for 5 seconds. If Galio's passive is charged, he tucks his wings, diving twice as fast and carrying all enemies hit with him to the end of his dash range, applying the bonus damage on contact and leaving a double strength directional draft in his wake. Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+50% AP). Gust speed boost: 20/25/30/35/40%, enhanced gust: 40/50/60/70/80%. 1000 Range. Projectile speed, un-enhanced: 1750. Projectile speed, enhanced: 3500. 18 second cool down. 70/75/80/85/90 mana.
R, Idol of Durand: Active: Galio becomes a statue and channels for 2 seconds, taunting nearby enemies and gaining 50% physical and magical damage reduction. At the end of the channel, Galio bursts out of his statue form, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies. This damage is increased by 5% for every basic attack he suffered during the channel, up to 50% bonus damage (10 hits). If Galio has a charge of his passive, it is released in an AOE around him at the start of the channel, damaging all enemies within taunt range. Damage: 200/300/400 (+60% AP). Max magic damage: 300/450/600 (+90% AP). 150/135/120 second cool down. 100 mana.
The Reason for These Changes: Galio's passive was excellent for an MR tank who needed a little more from his build, but it lacked depth. His new passive allows him to both protect allies by redirecting damage to himself, as well as better solidify his role as an anti-mage Tank. I chose to leave in the MR to AP conversion though, because simply changing it to make his abilities scale off of MR short changes its interaction with items such as Rabbadon's Death Cap or Lich Bane. His passive's damage redirect also allows counter play, such as nuking his allies and melting him down indirectly at the same time, or focusing all fire on him and removing his damage soaking passive.
His actual abilities now have a degree of "combo-ability", notably his primary engage combo of Sentinel's Bulwark—>Resolute Smite—>Righteous Descent—>Idol of Durand to allow him to blast enemies Q, pull them in with his E, and then ult for the lockdown.
Galio also feels more like that "Magical Bodygaurd" like he should, because of his new peeling methods, like Q's mini knock back and E's enhanced dash carrying away diving enemies.
Galio with these changes would be less of a hybrid of range and melee, and also less "supportive tank" and more "defending tank".
Whether you love or hate these changes, please comment! Any feedback would be helpful. Is it too strong? Too weak? Does it still sound like Galio? Does it sound like something you would enjoy more than live Galio? Where does it need changes?