Garuda
Mage
Garuda
Mage
Quick summary
Garuda is a B-tier Mid Mage in Honor of Kings. Specialty: Poke/Speed Up.
Current patch decision guide
When to pick Garuda, when to avoid them, and how to adapt your build.
Garuda is a Mid Mage built around poke, wave control, shielding movement, and a late-fight ultimate that punishes grouped enemies. Public guide data emphasizes Flash, Nightmare/Hunter/Mind's Eye arcana, Boots of Tranquility, Frozen Breath, Mask of Agony, Void Staff, Savant's Wrath, Venomous Staff, and combo paths such as Ultimate + Skill 2 + Skill 1 or Skill 1 + basic attack + Skill 2.
Pick Garuda when
- Your team needs a mid-lane poke mage who can clear minions quickly and pressure from range.
- The enemy composition groups for objectives, letting Garuda's area damage and ultimate punish stacked targets.
- Your draft can protect Garuda from assassins while he plays behind the frontline and chips enemies down.
Avoid Garuda when
- The enemy has backline dive such as Prince of Lanling or Han Xin, which public counter data lists as effective pressure.
- Your team cannot protect a stationary mage during ultimate windows or objective fights.
- The enemy can shove mid early and deny farm, a counter approach specifically recommended against Garuda.
Power spikes
Build decisions
Magic-pierce poke core
Garuda's official build supports his Poke and Speed-Up identity through magical penetration. Boots of the Arcane (magical pierce) and Twilight Stream (boosts magical pierce) make his harass punch through resistances, while Scepter of Reverberation makes his skill hits trigger explosions for extra burst. Venomous Staff lowers enemy health regen so his poke chips down sustained targets.
Anti-tank, shield & cooldown tail
Void Staff is the anti-tank pivot against health-stacked frontlines, Ardent Dominion (shield at low health) gives him a survivability buffer, and Boots of Tranquility plus Breakthrough Robe (converts health into magical attack) keep his cooldowns short and his scaling high. The recommended arcana are Nightmare, Hunt and Mind's Eye, with Flash as the battle spell for repositioning his poke.
Matchup logic
Anti-dive positioning
Counter guidance recommends getting close from behind and killing Garuda quickly. Hold Flash and Skill 2 for repositioning when assassins are missing.
Grouped enemy punishment
Garuda counter guides warn opponents not to stand grouped or fight in small areas. Take objective fights from angles where Wings of Judgment can cross multiple targets.
Common mistakes
- Standing too far forward after using Skill 2, leaving no escape when divers appear.
- Casting Wings of Judgment into a single low-value target instead of waiting for grouped enemies.
- Letting opponents shove mid and delay farm, which public counter guidance identifies as a way to weaken Garuda.
- Ignoring magic-resistance itemization on opponents when deciding whether poke will finish a fight.
Background
Majestic Guardian
“Where wills converge, life begins; where justice wanes, judgment descends.”
An ancient creature born from the wishes of the Sandpura, this giant bird deity took a physical form to serve as their guardian. When he first appeared in the mortal realm, he granted people whatever they desired, heaping wealth and power on them. While his intent was to help them overcome the calamities facing them, in the end these blessings only bred greed and bloodshed. Realizing the complexity of human nature and drained from handing out countless blessings, the great bird exiled himself, vanishing into the clouds. Even though he still heard the people's prayers, visions of the bloody battles his blessings had enabled were fresh in his mind. Determined not to let his blessings breed disaster yet again, he used his long period of isolation to reflect on the cycles of cause and effect in the human world, until he was able to understand and embrace the nuances of humanity. Centuries later, a greedy lord plotted to awaken the great bird once more, intending to use its blessings to carry out his wicked scheme. However, a papyrus letter drifted to Garuda Khageswara on the wind, bearing a cry for help from Sandpura Island once again. Garuda Khageswara had come to see that, aside from bestowing blessings, he also possessed the power to uphold justice. Golden-feathered arrows rained from the sky, striking down the greedy lord. In his dazzling radiance, treasures dissolved into golden light, streaking across the sky and into the horizon. From that moment on, the great bird became the "Wings of Judgment." Those who have too much will eventually lose their peace of mind. Those who have too little need but a few good seeds to start a new life. From then on, whenever people had more than they needed, they returned it to the great bird, balancing the scales. The great bird now presides over Azuria, upholding his philosophy of balance through judgment and preserving peace in the sea in the south.
- Height:
- 230 cm
- Style:
- Sorcery
- Title:
- A mysterious being born of human desire
Source: Official Honor of Kings — canonical lore for Garuda.
Base Stats
Source: in-game capture (HoK Global v11.x, 2026-04-20)Survivability
Offense
Utility
Build
How to choose a build
Start with the safe default badge if the draft looks normal, then swap to burst, anti-tank, sustain, or utility builds when the matchup clearly calls for it.
Mage support
Utility supportBest when your team needs peel, setup, or safer fight control more than damage.
Build
Full AP burst
Burst damageBest when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.
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Full AP burst
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Mage support
Utility supportBest when your team needs peel, setup, or safer fight control more than damage.
Skills
Damage Basic Attacks can pierce and deal damage to enemies in their path.
Damage Slow Conjures an arrow formation that deals continuous damage to targets within range while slowing them.
Speed Up Shield Damage Gains Movement Speed and a shield while dealing damage to nearby enemies.
Damage Speed Up Sends arrows surging forward, dealing damage. Using the skill again shoots all remaining arrows, damaging nearby enemies, inflicting them with Dread, and removing all Physical Attack bonuses granted by their equipment.
Playstyle
Keep your distance and poke enemies down before committing to a fight.