Boards›Tips & Tricks

I bought Galio. Do I win? (How to best use an un-utilized champion)

Onwodori·11/18/2014, 4:10:47 AM·4 votes·2,181 views

Hello there! A brief post from Master Fledgling here.

So, perhaps against my better judgement, I bought Galio. He's the tanky support and jungler that I needed that no one ever picks. He's worked OK so far, not really netting me any kills, but leaving me with scores to the sound of 1/3/13. Not bad, but there is much to be desired.

While I am getting better with him simply through experimentation and practice, does anyone have any tips? I already know the whole 'Flash-Ult-Fly away as your team mops up' act, but there must be more to this guy.

For instance, does this insanity work: Nashor's Tooth + Wit's End? Wit's end is going to steal MR from your opponent, increasing your MR, increasing your AP, increasing how strong Nashor's Tooth is, increasing the damage with each hit and if they run you've a slow and a speed up --- Gracious, that sounds delicious on paper. Sorry I had to talk all street there.

Cheers,

-MF

9 Comments

TheI3igDaddy11/18/2014, 8:24:40 AM2 votes

Support Galio is very underrated, and when played optimally, can REALLY piss off your opponents while making your teammates congratulate you despite your uncommon pick.

Galio in general though, due to his passive, is best suited for fighting heavy AP comps. He's the magical equivalent of Taric, so he might not be the best choice for every single game.

I never really tried Galio jungle out, so I have no comments for that. I'd assume that his shield would really help him survive camps. With Season 5's jungle, though, I'm not sure how viable he'll be due to the stronger mobs.

For the item combo you suggested, I'm personally a big fan of Wits End, but combined with Nashor's Tooth...eh. You have to remember that Galio is a melee champion, and if he wants to get into the thick of things, he needs to be somewhat bulky in order to not be blown to shit every time he wants to start punching someone in the face.

Honestly, I think the best way to build Galio is to focus on his spells and not really his autos. Smite and Gust are pretty good poke spells with high base damage, so I usually just buy regular AP. The other reason to build it is because your shield scales with AP as well, and you can heal for crazy amounts late-game regardless of how strong the incoming damage is. Galio's shield is quite unique to every other shield in the game, so you need to understand how it works to get the most from it.

The best two items for Galio are Athene's Grail and Abyssal Scepter. The former gives him mana regen that he NEEDS, along with crazy CDR, MR, and AP. The latter gives him nearly 100 AP due to his passive, along with providing the MR reduction debuff around him. 'Know what that combos well with? His ultimate.

If you'd like, I can give you tips on how I run Support Galio, I hope this helped out a lot.

timesphere11/18/2014, 7:49:06 AM1 votes

That Wit's End/Nashor's Tooth is an interesting idea, and it sounds fun. You're better off running an attack speed build in the jungle.

You should try to stick to some form of aura item or debuff item if you're going support, think Mikael's, Locket of the Iron Solari, Abyssal Scepter, etc.

Go tanky if you go top, get like an Athene's, Merc Treads, Spirit Visage is perfect for Galio. Otherwise feel free to try out your Nashor's Tooth/Wit's End build with these, just be sure to get these core items before you build your fun ones until you get comfortable with how he feels; then you should totally try rushing nashor's tooth into wit's end, lol.

Chaotic Reks11/18/2014, 3:08:53 PM1 votes

enemy team: "it's k guys, just a galio mid, he does no damage" gets hit by galio q "wtf where did my health go"

The2ndBes111/18/2014, 8:05:42 PM1 votes

Welcome to the Galio side friend! Indeed he is your best bet when coming mid against annoying ass picks such as Leblanc Fizz Katarina Akali etc , as all you really need to do is build item 3001 (and items alike) and the rest just works itself out.

Although if you are going against a Zed or Yasuo it might help to build item 3068 and item 3075 just to deal extra damage during your ult, not only in a 1v1 with them but also a ad heavy teamfight :) I main galio and I dont usually get butt raped every time I see these champs, infact im more than happy to vs a Veigar mid lol All the AP carries tickle ;)

Drunk Rummate11/18/2014, 8:13:18 PM1 votes

from what i can tell he works best when your team has a lot of really hard initiation. great synergy with champs like amumu, malphite, sivir, and J4. he's honestly not a bad champion, just very niche. i'd reserve him for those games when you're against 3 AP champions or more.

Niirho11/19/2014, 4:53:30 AM1 votes

I take Galio top, mid, and support. Never tried jungle, though I've heard that jungle Galio was a thing back in the day.

Regardless of what lane I go in, I typically build at least two tanky items on him. Galio's ult is game changing and it puts you right in the thick of the enemy team, so you need some resistances to survive post-ult. I go tanky Galio for top and bottom lane, prioritizing items that give lots of health and resistances. I build him semi tanky when I go mid, since glass cannon Galio gets blown up too fast. Contrary to popular opinion, you DON'T need to build magic resistance on him to be successful. His passive is a bonus, not a requirement. Here's an idea of what I build:

  • Top lane - Tanky initiator Galio goes here. I start off with two item 1004 and a few potions, then rush item 3028 so I can spam my Q for harrasment and Q+E for wave clear. I don't build item 3174 right away. Instead, I complete a item 3027 first (gives health, ap, and mana, everything you need), buy item 3047 or item 3111, then buy item 3143 item 3068 item 3065 . This gives you enough bulkiness to dive in with your ult and soak up damage from everyone targeting you. Also, Galio's ult is on a notoriously long cooldown. Athene's and Spirit Visage gives you a total of 40% CD, which knocks your ult CD down to something like 70 seconds.

  • Mid lane - Semi tanky Galio goes here. Ideally, there would be a pure tank on your team who can initiate first so you can follow up afterwards, but you can also serve as the primary initiator. I start with two item 1004 and immediately rush an item 3174. For boots, item 3111 or item 3020. For damage items, I go for item 3089 item 3157item 3135 . For defensive items, item 3110. Athene's and Frozen Heart provide 40% CD.

  • Support - I typically build pure tank here as well. Bulwark your adc if he/she is being targeted, otherwise, Bulwark yourself when you use your ult. item 3069 and item 2049 are usually my first two items. After that, item 3117 item 3143 item 3068 item 3102. Talisman can be replaced with item 3222 or item 3083 if you want to sell it late game.

Galio's ult can win games and turn them around, but I always get more assists than kills (unless I go AP Galio). Landing a good ult can be very satisfying, especially if your team follows after your intiation. The one and only quadra I've gotten was with Galio's ult!

Concerning boots, I always buy the Distortion enchantment. It lowers the cooldown for Flash, which you rely on more often than not to initiate.

Vauren11/19/2014, 8:02:08 PM1 votes

Hmm, here's some general tips for Galio:

  • Max his Bulwark second. It will help give you the additional sustain you need to go along with your tankiness you should be getting in the mid game. Also increases damages.
  • Use Bulwark on yourself before other abilities to increase damages. Great to do before your ult to practically negate incoming damage.
  • Don't expect too many kills. More often than not you will find yourself with the assist. You've already seen this though.
  • Use Bulwark on allies to help protect your carry being jumped or allow your tank to initiate while taking even less damage.
  • Also put Bulwark on allies with a dot to heal yourself, or Bulwark yourself and lead the way in the jungle against teemo shrooms.
  • Try and set your righteous gust up in a way that will allow your team to better follow up on your ult.
  • Try and fake out your opponent by leading with righteous gust, then following up with Resolute Smite where they are dodging to.
  • CDR is great since it lets you Ult more often, more Ults = more game changing.

For support Galio:

  • Start mana regen, two charms for an early item 3028
  • First back go for a item 3302 for gold and heals for you and your lane partner.
  • Poke when and where you can while keeping mana to escape with should a bank come.
  • Your ult can be used to turn the tides of a gank if they want to dive under turret or wander too close.
  • Try to not hit minions when poking enemy champs. You don't have a good enough escape to get out of a gank under their tower.

Jungle Galio:

  • Pre - 6, best to gank lanes that have hard cc already. Otherwise, keep farming as a general rule.
  • Post - 6, flash ult over walls or counter ganking from behind is the best way to go. Or thresh lanterns.
  • Runes to help with your AAs for early clear might not be a bad thing since all you have going for you are your spells.
  • Do not give away your blue buff unless you have chalice. Even then, keep it.
  • Could max Righteous Gust second if you have a hard time catching up to enemies. (helps allies follow up as well)

Items:

Generally a tanky ap Galio is a good Galio. My personal core includes item 3027 item 3174 item 3065 Like was mentioned, you are not going to get kills as much as assists. It's your ult, poke damage, and utility that is the draw to Galio. I haven't tried out the item 3115 + item 3091 myself, but it does sound good on paper. I'm kind of leaning towards not ideal for him though. But I can't say for sure. If the enemy has some way of interrupting your Ult easily, say Udyr Blitzcrank Veigar Consider a item 3102 Hope this helps :D

Ryntak11/18/2014, 4:51:00 AM1 votes

I'm not an avid galio player, I've only played him once and that was because he was my last champion to buy a couple weeks ago.

And I had fun.

I can't help you out, but I can answer your question for that build. Yes it sounds good on paper but you fail to take into account the fact that he isn't ranged. For that build to work you would have to also build a lichbane because for you to utilize the mr you get from your aa's you'd have to use spells (besides the nashors itself). But then you're missing out on too much of your itemization that would be like visage and banshees and such.

I Main Swain12/5/2014, 9:33:17 PM1 votes

well first off, while I am a true believe that the guy can go wherever the crap he wants (except adc), I still think that he is and should always be a mid laner at heart, specifically a mid laner to play against those ap hyper assassins and especially ap auto reliant champs like leblanc, teemo, fizz, kayle, Diana, akali, etc. personally, I would not pick galio if A) they don't have at least 2 non supp magic damage heavy damage (note: I said magic damage, not ap. those aren't the same) or B) if they have someone who can easily interrupt your ult like udyr, braum, leona, and sorta people like renekton or xin (those aren't too bad tho). personally, I almost always just build pure mr with a rabadons and a thornmail or frozen heart. and btw, you can negate my two "no play" requirements if you are an incredibly pro galio, but that's uncommon and unlikely and usually still a bad idea imo.

edit: I literally bought galio just because leblanc. no regrets