League of Legends Champion Guides: Galio, the Sentinel's Sorrow

This is the only skin you are required to use when playing as Galio
This is the only skin you are required to use when playing as Galio Riot Games

Some champions find a permanent place in League of Legends, while others fade into obscurity. They aren’t necessarily poorly designed or weak, they just aren’t very popular. League has a lot of champions, and giving each one a unique identity can be difficult to manage. This leads me to the game’s red-headed step-child, Galio. He’s a mage who gains more damage as you build magic resistance. His spells are long range, yet he benefits from tanky items. Cho’Gath does both of those things much better than the sentinel ever could.

That doesn’t mean Galio is a bad pick in your games. Burst and poke mages are extremely popular in the meta right now, which our winged friend lanes well against. I play a lot of Galio, and opponents always underestimate his damage. In solo que I’ve had players BM me under turret with a quarter of health, unaware of the burst that’s about to send them to the grey screen.

Runic Skin is Galio’s passive. It’s from a simpler time, where Riot made passives with only one line of dialogue. Galio gains 50 percent of his magic resistance as ability power. That means Mercury Treads gives more damage than Sorcerer Shoes. Some players build only magic resist items like Spirit visage or Aegis, since he gains extra stats. A mixture of both is important when creating a build path. Zz’rot Portal (even though it’s currently disabled) is a great item on Galio that helps his weak laning phase. Put down a portal in the mid lane and watch those little voidlings rack up CS.

Galio is a hard champion to play. His spells use a lot of mana especially early game. A full spell rotation before buying a mana regeneration item will deplete half his mana bar. I recommend taking him mid with teleport, since having a blue buff will help push him along until his mid game power spike. Taking him top or even support takes practice and is not recommended.

None of Galio’s spells flow well together or combo well. He has two damaging spells alongside his ultimate. Resolute Smite shoots a small ball of energy at a location, slowing enemies it hits (you should max it first.). Righteous Gust shoots a path that damages enemies and speeds up allies that walk inside it.

Galio’s other basic ability is the weird one. Bulwark creates a shield on an ally or Galio that gives increased armor and magic resistance. It also heals Galio each time anything hits the shield. No other ability in the game behaves like this. The shield makes Galio great against champions with damage-over-time abilities, like Brand or Mordekaiser. Keep in mind that placing the shield on Galio will give him a little bit of increased damage so use it before going for a trade.

Idol of Durand is Galio’s devastating ultimate. For two seconds Galio channels the area around him, taunting enemies that come inside. Galio then releases a burst of energy, scaling with the amount of damage he received from being hit. The downside is almost any form of crowd control can interrupt it. Getting off a full duration Idol is a hard thing to do, since most champions have an ability to stop him. I’ve had moments of elation after landing a four-man ultimate, only to have it foiled by one Blitzcrank Power Fist.

Trying to find a good way to utilize Galio’s kit can be difficult. The basic combo is this: slow them down with Resolute Smite, and then chase after them with Righteous Gust. You can use your speed to engage with a flash into an Idol or you can follow up an engage from your team mates. The goal is to get the carries in your taunt, taking them out of the fight before they get a chance to fight back.

The biggest tip I can give for a future Galio player would be, learn how to last hit with him. Unlike every other mage in the game, Galio uses melee auto attacks. Most opponents are smart enough to abuse this and combo you when you walk up. Just keep chugging your potions and punching those minions in the face. Eventually you’ll be able to afford your Frost Queens Claim and show your opponent what burst damage really means.

For masteries, go 0/18/12 with Thunderlords Decree. Use runes that help his early game, like magic resistance blues and ability power quints. Give Galio a chance, because Riot might rework him and you’ll miss out on something unique (Dominion lives on in our hearts.)

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