Garen Players Speak Out on Champion’s Weak Performance
Garen players have been expressing their frustrations with the champion’s weak performance since the Juggernaut Update of Season 5. They feel that Garen is not bringing anything unique to the table and faces too many obstacles to be effective.
Garen mains recently took to the League message boards to air their grievances, stating that they have been providing feedback on the champion to Riot since his update last year, but feel undervalued and ignored.
Although Garen’s under-powered state has been a concern for a while, it has gained more attention recently due to the announcement of a small buff for the champion. However, fans argue that this buff is not enough to address Garen’s viability issues.
The buff, which adds an armor shred to Garen’s Judgment (E) ability, was recently introduced in League’s Public Beta Environment (PBE) for testing.
Garen’s biggest weakness is his lack of an early game and a limited pool of top lane champions that he counters. This means that he has to overcome many hurdles to become an effective late-game carry-killer. In comparison, champions like Darius offer similar capabilities with much less difficulty, making them a more appealing choice for players.
While the resistance shred buff will help Garen, it will not be enough to solve his issues. The community is calling for changes to his utility rather than just buffing his damage, particularly changes to his speed steroid on Decisive Strike (Q) and his active resistance on Courage (W).
After the forum post discussing Garen’s problems gained traction, League of Legends’ Lead Champion Designer addressed players’ concerns. He acknowledged that Garen has been significantly under-powered and explained that the goal of the buff is to make him moderately better. However, he also mentioned that personal feelings of Garen mains may hinder rational decision-making.
While personal biases can be a factor, it’s important for Riot to listen to players who have in-depth knowledge of the champion. This raises the question of how feedback and changes should be handled.
Not only are Garen fans disappointed with his performance, but PBE testers and feedback providers also feel alienated. If Riot values their feedback system, an open and honest dialogue with the community is necessary for clarity.
Now that Riot is aware of Garen’s under-powered state, players hope to see a long-term solution implemented soon.