Galio is an ability power mid-lane champion. He is a bit different from other original mid-lane champions as Galio is primarily a front-line tank but can do a lot of damage. He is a melee champion and can struggle a bit in the early game when trying to walk up and last hit minions. Once you hit level 5 and get Hero's Entrance you can look to roam around the map and use Galio's ultimate to jump onto your team to help them and change the fight outcome.
Galio can also be played in the support role, make sure to check the alternative build at the top of the page! As Galio support, you want to go towards a more tank build as you will be in the front line in team fights and you will want to peel for your AD Carry to keep them alive.
Colossal Smash enhances Galio's next auto attack to deal Area of Effect magic damage. The damage from Colossal Smash scales with Attack Damage, Ability Power and Magic Resist.
Since Colossal Smash is an Area of Effect ability, this means that you can deal damage to multiple minions at once which is great when trying to push the wave. If the enemy champion is nearby it will hit them as well.
Colossal Smash has a cooldown and you will know when it's back up when you hear a ding sound and Galio's body starts to glow.
Winds of War is Galio's main source of damage. When used it fires 2 windblasts that deal magic damage and converge into a tornado.
Winds of War is a great way to kill and push the minion wave. If you combo Winds of War and Colossal Smash, you should be able to clear the whole minion wave. This allows Galio to roam around the map once he reaches Level 5.
Since the tornado part of Winds of War does damage over time, it is best to combo it with Shield of Durand so the enemy takes the full damage potential of the tornado.
Shield of Durand is a great Area of Effect taunt that can change a teamfight in a matter of seconds. Shield of Durand has 3 parts. It has a passive, upon taking magic damage, Galio gains a shield that absorbs magic damage. There is also a two-part active ability. The first part is when you hold the ability - you enter a defensive stance where you get slowed but take reduced magic and physical damage. After you release the ability you deal magic damage and taunt all nearby enemies.
When using Shield of Durand, just keep in mind that you will be slowed so make sure the enemies don't have a way to escape whilst you're charging the ability up. You can also use Justice Punch to knock up an enemy and then use Shield of Durand whilst the enemy is knocked up to get a guaranteed taunt off.
Justice Punch is the main ability that enables you to dash and get in amongst the enemy team. When using Justice Punch, there is a short wind up where you will jump back before you dash forward. Whilst in the dash, if you hit any terrain or champion, you will stop. If you hit an enemy champion, they will be damaged and knocked up.
A neat trick you can do with Justice Punch is to use the jump back at the start to your advantage to catch out the enemies. You can do this by aiming the ability away from the champion. The jump back will go back far enough where you will be able to dash and hit the enemy champion straight away.
After using and hitting an enemy with Justice Punch, Galio will automatically auto-attack the enemy champion. If you want to combo Shield of Durand with Justice Punch, you will need to make sure you hold Shield of Durand whilst dashing so Galio will start taunting as soon as the dash has hit a champion.
Hero's Entrance is a great way for Galio to follow up on any engagement that your team might do. When using the ability, once you pick an allied champion to jump onto, all allied champions near the target gains Shield of Durand's passive magic shield. After a short duration, Galio arrives at the location dealing magic damage to nearby enemies and knocking them up.
Hero's Entrance is a semi-global ultimate and has a huge range. When you play mid lane Galio, you just need to walk a bit towards the top or bottom river and then you are within range to use it on an ally champion in the top or bottom lane.
Galio builds ability power items mixed with some tanky items to help with his damage from his abilities and to be a front-line tank for your team. It's important to build Rod Of Ages as Galio's first item. Rod Of Ages stacks over time giving Galio more health, mana, and ability power every 30 seconds up to 10 times. This means that if you build this item later on it won't have the same effect and you will need to wait for it to stack. After Rod of ages, you can build some more ability power and some more tank items to do more damage and to help you survive.
For runes we have the following:
Electrocute is a great way for Galio to deal a little bit of extra damage. This works really well when he dashes in to try and land his combo.
When playing Galio you will always be using his Hero's Entrance and Shield of Durand during team fights which will immobilize enemy champions so they will take more damage.
With Galio you will be dashing towards enemy champions to try and land your combo which means you will be vulnerable to taking a lot of damage. Bone plating will help Galio take reduced damage from the first three instances of damage which will help him survive longer.
Galio will always be involved in team fights and he will get a lot of takedowns. After every unique takedown, Galio gets Ability Haste so he can use his abilities more often.
Galio can struggle in the early game as a melee champion. Most of the time you want to stay back and use Galio's Winds of War to last hit minions or poke down the enemy. Once you hit level 3 you will get Justice Punch which will allow you to dash towards a target. This is when you can get a full combo off (3rd ability, 2nd ability, 1st ability, auto-attack) with Galio and start to win the duels vs the enemy mid-lane. Be careful not to dash too far forward as if you do there is no way of escaping.
When you reach the mid and late game and get a few items this is where Galio can start to do a lot of damage and be a front-like tank. At the start of a team fight, you want to sit back and wait for your teammates to go in so you can follow up with Hero's Entrance. This allows you to get to a teamfight instantly and start to have an impact with your other abilities. When you are grouped with your team and about to have a team fight, the best thing you want to do is get to their backline where you can kill the enemies carries.
Galio has a very unique playstyle and is very different from other mid-lane champions. You have to learn to play safely in the early game and farm up until you have enough confidence to go into team fights. If you like to do a lot of damage whilst also being able to survive for a long time then Galio is the champion for you.
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