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[Champion Rework Concept] Galio, the Eternal Sentinel

Variks the Loyal·7/13/2015, 7:03:29 PM·15 votes·4,541 views

Galio is in a weird spot. He's undeniably a good niche pick, in certain situations (He was even in the LCS recently, and won!). But those situations are few and far between - You will almost never fight a full AP comp, while full AD comps are actually common. Moreover, his kit is rather contrary to itself. His Q promotes poking, but the rest of his kit, including his basic attack range, promotes being close to enemies, with E helping you do so. Meanwhile, his passive promotes using W on yourself, but you can use it on allies as well. This is almost never useful, as Galio is a solo laner, and by late game, he uses it on himself during his ultimate.

So, I'm proposing a reworked kit here.

Thematically, Galio is very unique and cool. He's a magical construct resembling a gargoyle, that's made to protect and defend. Riot has made him a foil to Sion. Whereas Sion is an "undying destroyer", an unstoppable juggernaut of a tank that charges into enemy lines, Galio is the "eternal guardian", an immovable sentinel that keeps vigil over and defends his allies. This is emphasized by Sion's taunts towards Galio.

The problem is, Galio's kit doesn't really make me think "eternal guardian", besides his ultimate, which is actually a perfect opposite to Sion's. Galio plays like a Mage, and not like a Tank. This rework attempts to keep the magical feel (As opposed to Sion's warrior feel), while fitting them within a tank's playstyle.

Gargoyles are creatures that perch on top of buildings and defend them from evil. This is where we draw the core fantasy - Someone who defends. So, we come to the new passive.

Passive: Eternal Paragon

By right clicking at the top of an allied tower, Galio will fly upwards and perch on top of it. While atop a turret, he is untargetable and the turret gains 30% of his Armor, and his **Resolute Smite **and Idol of Durand are empowered. He can designate a target for the tower to attack by right clicking on them. Galio does not gain gold from minions the turret kills.

If the tower is destroyed while Galio is atop it, he will be knocked back to his next tier turret and be stunned for 2 seconds. If an **Ohmwrecker **is used on a turret Galio is on top of, he will be stunned for 3 seconds, and the tower will lose his Armor benefit.

Here, Galio becomes like a gargoyle, perching on top of a tower to defend it from enemies. To ensure this is where he should be, and not down peeling for his allies, he gains empowered effects on two of his abilities. The tower gains a portion of the Armor he's built, to prevent Galio from feeling less efficient against AD teams, and, to ensure he's not on the tower _all _ day, he doesn't gain gold from minions that the tower kills (But enemies killed by it will still net kills/assists if Galio is perched). Moreover, an Ohmwrecker becomes a niche counter to a Galio who won't come down.

Also, yes, I'd like to think he can perch on Azir's towers.

Q: Resolute Smite - 940 Range - 60/65/70/75/80 Mana - 7 Second Cooldown

Galio releases a magical blast from his eyes at a target location, dealing 80/120/160/200/240(40% AP) magic damage to all targets struck.

Targets struck are marked as Unjustified, slowing them by 24/28/32/36/40% and reducing the damage they deal to structures by 10% for 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds.

While atop a tower, the range on this ability is increased by 50%.

Compared to his current Q, this one deals less damage. However, it is granted additonal utility. The slow scales up to last longer, and gains new utility by reducing the damage dealt to towers by struck enemies. To bolster his territory defending ability, the empowered **Resolute Smite **has significantly increased range. This can lead to awesome moments where you snipe a long range kill, but it remains very difficult, since it is still a ground targeted ability, and not a lined skillshot. Moreover, you can use it to check the fog of war nearby a tower, since this ability grants brief vision.

W: **Runic Bulwark **- 65/70/75/80/85 Mana - 13/12.5/12/11.5/11 Second Cooldown

Passive: Galio gains 20/25/30/35/40% of his Magic Resistance as bonus Ability Power.

Active: Galio empowers the runes on his body, gaining two shields on his arms. His Armor and Magic Resistance are increased by 30/45/60/75/90. The Armor granted by this ability is not also granted to towers that Galio is perched upon. In addition, when Galio takes damage while** Runic Bulwark** is active, he will heal himself for 25/40/55/70/85(10% AP). This heal is 20% weaker for every hit taken.** Runic Bulwark** lasts 4/5/6/7/8 seconds.

This ability bolsters Galio's defensive and offensive output. One, we remove the ability to cast it on allies. Galio doesn't defend allies by shielding them, he is the shield. By late game, the duration of the shield is similar to the cooldown, like Kayle's Righteous Fury.

The passive grants him a portion of his current passive, rewarding him for building Magic Resistance. This is another Sion foil - Galio gets more dangerous as he builds defenses, while Sion gets more durable as he continuously attacks (Kills add health). Galio's shield grants him bonus resistances, while Sion's shield grants him bonus health. Also, thematically, the idea of someone wielding two shields is really cool.

E:** Ohm Rune** - 500 Radius - 70/75/80/85/90 Mana - 22/21/20/19/18 Second Cooldown

Galio smashes his fist to the ground, dealing 60/105/150/195/240(40% AP) magic damage to enemies, and inscribing an Ohm Rune on the ground. Allies inside the Ohm Rune are marked as Justified, and are considered structures when interacting with _Unjustified _ enemies. Enemies within the Ohm Rune with _Unjustified _ have the duration of _Unjustified _ refreshed. The Ohm Rune persists for 5/6/7/8/9 seconds.

While inside the Ohm Rune, Galio’s spells gain the benefits that they otherwise only gain while perched atop a tower.

This is a fun one. A brand new ability to replace Righteous Gust. See, the Gust doesn't promote defending, it promotes running into enemies. That's what Sion does, not Galio. It basically is meant to give Galio a tower away from a tower. Within the Rune, his abilities that can be empowered become empowered. It acts as a safe zone for allies, who take 10% reduced damage from enemies that Galio struck with Resolute Smite. It's also unsafe for enemies, who have Resolute Smite's debuff refreshed as long as they stay within it. This is Galio's "I'm defending this area, and you will not pass me" ability.

Also, yes, the 'Ohm' part does come from 'Ohmwrecker'.

R: Idol of Durand - 600 Radius - 100 Mana - 135/120/105 Second cooldown

Galio plants himself into the ground, turning to impenetrable stone and taunting all enemies around him for 2 seconds. All damage taken during the 2 seconds is reduced by 50%. When the taunt ends, Galio releases the stored energy, dealing 220/330/440 (60% AP) magic damage to all enemies around him. This taunt is unaffected by Tenacity. The damage is increased by 5% for every basic attack that strikes him during the taunt, up to a maximum of 40%. Galio can cast Runic Bulwark while channeling and use items and summoner spells. Galio can reactivate **Idol of Durand **to end the spell early.

If Galio is atop a turret, he can cast** Idol of Durand** at a nearby location to fly to that location and cast the ability there (500-range).

So, we come full circle. This is what Galio is known for, and not much about it is changed. Champions with on-hit stuns, like Braum and Udyr, remain Galio counters, and the damage is nerfed compared to live. It's actually his old values, before the recent buff. But anyway.

A tank needs engage power. This is a gameplay necessity - even Shen has his Shadow Dash. This is sort of weird for someone made to defend close-by allies, but by tying it to territory he's defending, it becomes much more useful. It excels best at counterengaging; cast it from atop a tower when an enemy dives. Cast it against an engaging team to stop them in their tracks. And it can make clutch engages too. Cast Ohm Rune at your feet before flying into the Baron pit, for example. But it's engaging ability is made to be weak, to promote Galio as a defender. You can still use it to engage, of course, if you build around it. An allied Sivir or Tahm could bring you into the enemy team to cast it. A Righteous Glory or a Teleport+Homeguards combo could propel you into enemy forces. As a balance issue, though, Galio would not be able to Flash mid-dash when Idol of Durand is empowered. Sorry, Shen fans.

This ability is, was, and always will be, a perfect foil to Sion's ultimate. Sion charges forward, while Galio plants himself into the ground. It'd be kinda cool if they had a unique gameplay interaction if they ulted one another, no?

Anyway, there's the kit. Thanks for reading, even if you hate this, I appreciate your time. Anyone have any thoughts?

EDIT: Changed some. Mostly with nerfs. AP scaling on abilities reduced, and the cooldowns of Runic Bulwark and Ohm Rune are increased.

12 Comments

Toastey9/7/2015, 10:34:30 AM3 votes

I really really really really really like the concept, and his kit feels solid, cohesive, and clear. I'm going to ignore the numbers because those will always need extensive field testing before being balanced.

That said, though, I hope you're prepared to accept that should this rework become real, Galio would instantly soar in pick, ban, and win rate. I hope you're prepared to accept that he will single-handedly shift the meta and become a god-tier power pick. That a lot of players will cry that he's OP, or that his kit has no counterplay. And to an extent, they'd be right. This kit gives him exceptional choke point control, and by extension, gives him the de facto win in almost any jungle fight and almost any conflict near Baron or Dragon--the two biggest neutral objectives in the game. Does this sound familiar? Yes, that's right: the recently reworked Skarner.

Skarner's mega-buff near spires allows him to monopolise choke points and neutral objectives, and they net him inordinate amounts of invisible gold in terms of stats and power. But nevermind that for now. Let's break down your reworked kit one part at a time.

Passive: Sounds like it'd be really buggy to use. Would you just right click on a friendly tower? What if you're trying to path between the tower and the wall, and accidentally click the tower? Is there a cast animation? It's a cool concept, but sounds difficult to implement in a user-friendly way. More importantly, this passive and the bonuses it grants would bring the era of siege compositions and siege-oriented champions to a grinding halt and leave a power vacuum: that is, drafting would be reduced to who can pick or ban Galio the fastest. Forcing someone on the enemy team to buy Ohmwrecker simply because you picked Galio is the type of macro-based counter that we'd see quite often from DoTA. In League, such examples are limited and don't tend to deviate from standard build paths anyway (ie Zhonya's/QSS vs Zed); that is to say that macro-based "counterbuying" doesn't detract from one's desired item-based stat boosts in any significant way. Of course, you could always buff Ohmwrecker into relevance after appointing it a niche counterbuy to Galio, but Riot tends to fumble numbers with those kinds of things.

Q: Sounds perfectly fine.

W: Having only 1 second of downtime at max rank (and that's not counting any cooldown reduction whatsoever) sounds obnoxious. I understand that it was written up to be similar to Kayle's E, but Kayle's E is also obnoxious at max rank. If you have any meaningful mana regen or a large mana pool (à la Tear), you could just spam W at all times you expect to be near combat and become an unkillable tank with exceptional zone control and unparalleled kiting options amongst your tank brethren--which I'm sure is the identity you intended for your new Galio, but it's a little too overloaded and inexcusably powerful, especially when we segue to your next reworked ability.

E: Your new proposed E has a massive radius. For comparison, Ziggs's ult has a radius of 550 to your Ohm Rune's 500. You could dominate not only choke points, but entire lanes. You could eat up an entire lane brush, no problem. This ability, while cool, is the breaking point of this kit. It removes all possible counterplay (ie don't poke around towers when Galio is home). Your new "niche counterbuy" Ohmwrecker doesn't do anything in this Rune's active zone and just becomes a dead weight item. You basically have a spammable mini Nunu ult on a flat, medium-length cooldown. With maximum CDR, your rune would have an uptime of 9s and a cooldown of 7.2s. In fact, you only need 25% CDR for the rune's uptime to match its cooldown. This thing deals damage on par with Lux's E while providing a host of other benefits that Lux can only dream of. Pair your new Galio with a control mage of any kind (ie Lux, Viktor, Xerath, Azir, Ziggs), and you can instantly claim any portion of the map you want. This harkens back to Skarner and his neutral objective dominance under his Spires. I'm not sure if you've ever played against new Skarner + a control mage, but it's not a good time. Not at all.

And finally, R: Fly 500 range and cast ult if you're sitting on top of a tower? That's the freest of the free; that's the dream. Might as well not even take Flash on Galio, since your E grants historically unmatched zone control. And if you do have Flash? The way Flash is coded you can cast it mid-dash to squeeze extra distance out of your ability. Imagine Galio engaging with a passive-augmented Flash-ult from his tower. That's 900+ range with a 600 radius, the only stipulation being that you need low ping and fast fingers. Again, for reference, Ziggs's ult has a radius of 550. This is the part of the kit that breaks every single siege-oriented champion in the game. Without Flashing, this new passive-augmented ult has a maximum reach of 1100 range from the tower. Since touching someone with just the tip of your ult's radius will taunt them in, you don't need precision. Augmenting the range further with Flash gets you into the 1500 range ballpark. For reference, Nidalee spears have 1500 range. There is no champion in the game that can safely damage towers in excess of 1500 units, let alone in excess of 1000. Galio will have a free engage on any and every team that hopes to ever take a tower, so long as he has his ult available. The only way to ever beat Galio is to cleanly out-rotate him and his entire team, and then take the tower before he gets there, and finally exit the scene while avoiding any potential choke-point fights. That, or draft a 1-3-1 dedicated split pushing team and hope that Galio doesn't steamroll the "3" portion.

Alright, all that said, take into consideration how this Galio would play with other champions. Imagine support Galio with a Kalista. Instant nightmare. Add a control mage in the mid lane for further nightmare fuel. Add a tanky initiator in the jungle to turn the game into pure hell. Add a Maokai or a Gnar in the top lane and you've got yourself a recipe for Satan's very own homebrew moonshine. Your proposed kit is fascinating, but it's definitely overtuned and loaded with a few too many shiny new features. I love it, but I can't condone it as it is. No hard feelings on the critique, and cheers!

Booleans7/14/2015, 5:40:46 AM3 votes

I really like the gargoyle feel you gave him, i especially like the passive, and i like the synergy all of his abilities now have with each other. My initial complaint is that his W is pretty overloaded with this rework. I would honestly recommend removing the %hp damage from it because its such a low value that it would only be noticable on dragon and baron, and because it doesn't really fit thematically within the ability.

Both his W and his E are one point wonder abilities, giving him a powerful early game. Unfortunately, his E doesn't scale all that well with power when ranked up (i don't mean just damage, i mean overall impact). Due to the nature of his passive and Q synergy, 1 rank in E grants galio a metric ton of power when active, but i feel like he has the exact same power when his E is rank 5. I wouldn't add more effects to it since his kit has plenty already, but i would shift some of his kits power over to give it better scaling. Perhaps take the MR to AP passive from his W and put it onto his E, while making the ratio scale with rank? (20/25/30/35/40%, for example). Honestly galio's current W is already pretty strong and doesn't need much tweaking.

Other than that, i love your rework and i can really see a unique gargoyle identity in this. I can see him working best as a support and an anti-seige champion.

TheFirstGokun7/14/2015, 8:08:09 PM3 votes

This is the greatest thing. I've said it before, but this time I mean it: if Riot doesn't consider this, I'm going to be pissed. Seriously, it gives him an amazing and unique gameplay feel, new interactions that improve his effectiveness throughout all parts of the game, and fit with the theme ALSO I NEVER EVEN NOTICED THE SION/GALIO THING WTF THAT'S SO COOL GODDAMMIT RIOT WHY CAN'T YOU BE LIKE CREWX This is perfect. Might be because I don't know a thing about balancing numbers, but it's just perfect.

XxTSwiftxX7/15/2015, 4:51:10 PM2 votes

What the hell is with this? Why is this not in front of Riot's front door? #Galio

Nyá7/17/2015, 10:21:12 PM2 votes

bump!

CleanupDust12/2/2015, 4:41:47 AM1 votes

This is really cool tbh

Variks the Loyal8/29/2015, 1:33:07 AM1 votes

Just played a Galio ARAM. It's so fun tanking as a gargoyle.

Giving this thread a bump up.

Variks the Loyal9/7/2015, 11:09:32 AM1 votes

This is exactly the sort of criticism I've been wanting for a long time.

[{quoted}](name=Toasted Pigeon,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=wE6eOiim,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2015-09-07T10:34:30.786+0000)

Passive: Sounds like it'd be really buggy to use. Would you just right click on a friendly tower? What if you're trying to path between the tower and the wall, and accidentally click the tower? Is there a cast animation? It's a cool concept, but sounds difficult to implement in a user-friendly way. More importantly, this passive and the bonuses it grants would bring the era of siege compositions and siege-oriented champions to a grinding halt and leave a power vacuum: that is, drafting would be reduced to who can pick or ban Galio the fastest. Forcing someone on the enemy team to buy Ohmwrecker simply because you picked Galio is the type of macro-based counter that we'd see quite often from DoTA. In League, such examples are limited and don't tend to deviate from standard build paths anyway (ie Zhonya's/QSS vs Zed); that is to say that macro-based "counterbuying" doesn't detract from one's desired item-based stat boosts in any significant way. Of course, you could always buff Ohmwrecker into relevance after appointing it a niche counterbuy to Galio, but Riot tends to fumble numbers with those kinds of things.

Yeah, might be buggy. Like Azir's passive on release, yeah?

Would probably right click towards the top of a friendly tower, rather than the base. People tend to click around the base of the tower when they want to move close to it, so making the actual interactable on the top of the tower would clear a lot of that up. Galio also needs to be next to the tower to be able to perch, so he can't just zip to a tower as soon as he's under it's gaze, he needs to reach the top of it first.

There would be a 'cast' animation. Galio needs to actually perch on top, and the animation would involve him flying up and landing on the turret. Once he's perched, the bonuses come into place.

As for denying Siege champions, I actually think this would bring out the Siege qualities of champions out in a big way. Galio is untargetable, but not invulnerable, so a Tristana explosive would still also strike him when she throws her bomb on the tower. With recent Tristy comps involving protecting her with Lulu and Bloodthrister shields, she can still take a big chunk out of the tower. Also, champions who can deal Magic Damage to a tower would be important as well. Azir and Ziggs and Twisted Fate, as well as anyone with a Lich Bane, can deal a lot of Magic Damage to a tower that Galio would not be able to mitigate. A champion like Fizz could take out a Magic Damage chunk, before using Playful/Trickster to evade any tower shots Galio sent their way, and come back for more when the ability is off cooldown.

As for Ohmwrecker, I feel it should be buffed into viability anyway as a tank/support item that can make tower diving safe. If Riot buffed it into viability, it's use as a Galio counter wouldn't be as impactful to one's build.

If Galio's waveclear with the long-range Q becomes too annoying or powerful, the damage could be nerfed, or it could be altered to deal reduced damage to 'innocent' minions. I didn't want his damage to be emphasized with this rework. Hell, the damage on Ohm Rune is the same as on Righteous Gust, and it's damage doesn't seem too bad.

W: Having only 1 second of downtime at max rank (and that's not counting any cooldown reduction whatsoever) sounds obnoxious. I understand that it was written up to be similar to Kayle's E, but Kayle's E is also obnoxious at max rank. If you have any meaningful mana regen or a large mana pool (à la Tear), you could just spam W at all times you expect to be near combat and become an unkillable tank with exceptional zone control and unparalleled kiting options amongst your tank brethren--which I'm sure is the identity you intended for your new Galio, but it's a little too overloaded and inexcusably powerful, especially when we segue to your next reworked ability.

You're not wrong. One philosophy Riot likes to talk about are 'windows of power'. And with his Runic Bulwark, there isn't really a 'window' eh? My intention with this ability was actually to free up a spot in his item build for an Athene's Unholy Grail. The MR and Armor from the Bulwark would make up for the lack of an actual tank item in that slot. That said, the resistance values are the same as live Galio, but the duration could be tweaked. I'll look at changing numbers later, when I'm not sleepy. The mana cost could also be increased, to downplay spamming it on cooldown. Mana has always been one of Galio's weaknesses, and that doesn't need to change.

E: Your new proposed E has a massive radius. For comparison, Ziggs's ult has a radius of 550 to your Ohm Rune's 500. You could dominate not only choke points, but entire lanes. You could eat up an entire lane brush, no problem. This ability, while cool, is the breaking point of this kit. It removes all possible counterplay (ie don't poke around towers when Galio is home). Your new "niche counterbuy" Ohmwrecker doesn't do anything in this Rune's active zone and just becomes a dead weight item. You basically have a spammable mini Nunu ult on a flat, medium-length cooldown. With maximum CDR, your rune would have an uptime of 9s and a cooldown of 7.2s. In fact, you only need 25% CDR for the rune's uptime to match its cooldown. This thing deals damage on par with Lux's E while providing a host of other benefits that Lux can only dream of. Pair your new Galio with a control mage of any kind (ie Lux, Viktor, Xerath, Azir, Ziggs), and you can instantly claim any portion of the map you want. This harkens back to Skarner and his neutral objective dominance under his Spires. I'm not sure if you've ever played against new Skarner + a control mage, but it's not a good time. Not at all.

This one is a little easier. We can reduce the radius to 400 - that would make it on par with Nasus's Spirit Fire. I actually used Pantheon's 1000-radius ultimate as comparison when I thought about the radius. The damage is supposed to be negligible, and here, it's the same as Righteous Gust, but the damage could also be curbed down.

CDR is something I honestly hadn't taken into account, foolishly, since Galio would love Frozen Heart and Spirit Visage. I'll up the cooldown too. But the fact that Galio can use it to claim a position on the map was indeed the intention. Galio claims territory and it's his to defend. For as long as the rune lasts, anyway. But you're right, and I hadn't thought too hard about the duration.

And finally, R: Fly 500 range and cast ult if you're sitting on top of a tower? That's the freest of the free; that's the dream. Might as well not even take Flash on Galio, since your E grants historically unmatched zone control. And if you do have Flash? The way Flash is coded you can cast it mid-dash to squeeze extra distance out of your ability. Imagine Galio engaging with a passive-augmented Flash-ult from his tower. That's 900+ range with a 600 radius, the only stipulation being that you need low ping and fast fingers. Again, for reference, Ziggs's ult has a radius of 550. This is the part of the kit that breaks every single siege-oriented champion in the game. Without Flashing, this new passive-augmented ult has a maximum reach of 1100 range from the tower. Since touching someone with just the tip of your ult's radius will taunt them in, you don't need precision. Augmenting the range further with Flash gets you into the 1500 range ballpark. For reference, Nidalee spears have 1500 range. There is no champion in the game that can safely damage towers in excess of 1500 units, let alone in excess of 1000. Galio will have a free engage on any and every team that hopes to ever take a tower, so long as he has his ult available. The only way to ever beat Galio is to cleanly out-rotate him and his entire team, and then take the tower before he gets there, and finally exit the scene while avoiding any potential choke-point fights.

I would be all for disabling Flash during the flydown, similar to how Skarner can't Flash during Impale. I'm not, nor was I ever, looking for plays like Shen's Flash+Shadow Dash or Gragas' Flash+Body Slam.

It's supposed to be able to break Siege compositions. Galio is anti-siege, and anyone who wants to siege will need to ensure that Idol of Durand is on it's cooldown before trying to take the tower by force. Of course, if Galio is by himself defending a tower without teammates, it wouldn't do much to stop his enemies from killing/ignoring him as they take down the now-undefended turret without a gargoyle perched upon it. If they want, they can also just leave Galio to his perch and take other objectives across the map. Galio can't help with Dragon if he's perched. Then there's the Ohmwrecker, which would stun Galio entirely on top of the tower.

As for casting it from within the Ohm Rune, it wouldn't be as effective on the spot as you think, I think. Ohm Rune, although I did fail to mention this, would have a cast time, like Righteous Gust. The flydown of an empowered Idol of Durand would also have a travel time. Both of these in tandem actually makes snap-engages by Galio rather weak, since we make it so he can't extend the range with Flash as well. And I doubt anyone is going to wait for him to cast Ohm Rune, fly to the edge of it's radius, and cast his ult from the edge. But in choke-points? Yes. Galio can fly in unchecked from the fog of war into your ADC and taunt them while allies close in. But he also loses the benefits of being within his Ohm Rune, since he's flown out of it. But this is intended, combined with Resolute Smite slow combined with something like Randuin's Omen, to lock someone down.

Also, the CC immunity can be reverted. And champions like Braum, Udyr, and Garen can be Galio's counterpicks, as well as anyone who can CC him from outside the ult's radius, like Trist with her ult.

I really appreciate your criticism on my ideas. I've been waiting for someone to come along and challenge them. :D

EcchiOtakuTM11/27/2015, 12:32:05 AM1 votes

I can obviously say there will be problems such as interactions and damage/radius issues that need fixing however I do support this and would love to see where this galio idea goes.