LoL devs defend Galio as player concerns mount over lack of identity
Riot GamesThe League of Legends developers have defended Galio amidst complaints from players that the mid-lane champion lacks identity.
League of Legends lead gameplay designer Riot Phroxzon has defended mid lane champion Galio amidst complaints from the player base that the character lacks identity. The dev responded to a player thread on Reddit that questioned the point of the champion, who is unpopular in both solo queue and pro play.
Since being reworked, Galio has had many iterations of builds, many of which involved building heaps of AP to one-shot combo enemy laners with his abilities.
However, this isn’t what Riot wanted for the champion, who was designed with a more protector/ defender playstyle in mind.
The dev argued that the champion is currently weaker than normal at the moment and that they believe he doesn’t lack identity. Phroxzon claimed that Galio actually has a rather clear identity, stating that the champion is supposed to be an enabler mid-laner who is able to shrug off magic damage.
Phroxzon went on to say that when Galio was too strong, he lacked clear weaknesses as he was able to push side lanes, duel enemy laners, have a somewhat global presence, and have a tonne of CC as well.
When prompted about pushing AP Galio builds, the dev claimed that League already has too many AP one shot champions, and wasn’t particularly keen to make Galio another one of them given his theme.
Galio was recently updated in Patch 14.6, meaning the devs are looking at the champion and better ways to make them viable, but it’s clear the player base isn’t hopeful the character sees better days soon.