Garen is one of the greatest top-lane picks in League of Legends. Being one of the most simple champions in terms of his kit, he is the best champion to learn the game fundamentals (the rules of the game). To make things even more straightforward, we will try to help you by laying out the best Garen build for season 2024!
The Core Items
1. Stridebreaker
Stridebreaker is the most excellent item for Garen, mainly because of its active spell. Once activated, the spell slows down the enemies in range, which perfectly synergizes with Garen E allowing you to do more damage.
The item is also loaded with HP, damage, and attack speed, which are all very important for Garen. When building this item, I usually go for the Tiamat component first, as it allows me to push waves quickly and avoid risky early fights.
2. Phantom Dancer
The seemingly unintuitive buy is a great addition to Garen, I first started building this item after seeing high-elo Korean players building it. The attack speed from this item makes your E deadly and plays into the combo we started building with Stridebreaker. It is also great because it allows you to walk through minions without getting obstructed.
3. Deads Man Plate
The name of this item is a direct reference or one might say prophecy, relating to the state of your enemies. After building this item, you will gain a permanent speed boost out of combat. This will help you navigate around the map more quickly, and it will also come in handy when chasing enemies! What an item…
4. Sterak’s Gage
As if the previous items were not frightening enough for the opposition, we will enhance our build with Sterak’s Gage. This item activates automatically after dropping below 30% HP. It’s amazing for catching enemies off guard!
5. Force of Nature
Force of Nature is the anti-AP item. It gains resistance progressively, proportional to the amount of hits enemies make. It is a great sustain option.
In the case that the enemy does not have much AP, and they are rather AD-heavy, a good buy would be Randuin’s Omen. Its highlights are the basic attack-reducing properties, but it also has generally good armor stats. It also has an active slow which is great for running enemies down.
6. Boots
Garen can run many boots successfully, however, three options stand out. I like taking Bersaker’s Graves for higher damage on E, however, if the enemy is dishing out tons of damage or CC, I will make a pick between Mercury’s Threads and Plated Steelcaps.
Recommended Garen Runes
- Conqueror
- Triumph
- Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand
- Conditioning
- Overgrowth
Garen Build Gameplay Tips
Garen is a champion that should be played slowly in the early game. You should aim for short trades and take time to recover HP with Garen’s passive. In the mid-game, you should have enough items stacked up, which will allow you to go around the map, help the team, and split. You will want to do the same in the late game.
In conclusion
Garen is the best champion for properly learning the game, having a great build only serves to make things even more straightforward. A great build I had a lot of success with consists of Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Dead Man’s Plates, Sterak’s Gage, Force of Nature, and a good choice of boots, mostly Berserker Greaves!