So, wait, if I'm getting this straight, Darius was basically an objectively better Garen, so Riot responded to this by nerfing the crap out of Garen?
Can someone correct me on this?
Well let's see
General
Base Health Regen reduced to 8.25 from 9.85
Health Regen per level reduced to 0.75 from 0.85
Base Attack Damage reduced to 56 from 60.1
Attack Damage per level increased to 3.5 from 3
Yes a general nerf but the change on his other abilities makes sense for all thisPerseverance (Passive)
Delay increased to 9 seconds from 7 seconds
No longer deactivates when damaged by lane minions
Now displays the Health Regen gained in the tooltip
Buffed up, not a nerf at all, yes there is a delay in getting the regen but it works while being hit by lane minions means you can keep it on for longer.Decisive Strike
Cooldown reduced to 8 seconds at all ranks from 12/11/10/9/8
Movement Speed increased to 35% at all ranks from 15/20/25/30/35%
Movement Speed duration adjusted to 1.5/2.25/3/3.75/4.5 seconds from 4 at all ranks
Base damage increased to 30/55/80/105/130 from 30/45/60/75/90
Silence duration reduced to 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds from 2.5 at all ranks
Now removes slows on activation
Can now critically strike again
Buff duration reduced to 4.5 seconds from 6
Fixed: Garen's next basic attack after Decisive Strike no longer occurs unusually quickly
Fixed: Decisive Strike is no longer consumed if Garen fails to finish attacking
While performing Decisive Strike, Garen now continues to follow his target if they are moving
Definite buff, has lower cooldown for spamabiliteh, does more damage and can critically strike, fair enough trade off for the silence and MS duration nerf.Courage
Changed to passively increase Armor and Magic Resist by 20% rather than 0 to 25 based on kills
Damage reduction adjusted to 30% from 20/24/28/32/36%
Active now additionally grants 30% Crowd Control Reduction
Duration adjusted to 2/3/4/5/6 seconds from 3/3/3/3/3
Cooldown adjusted to 24/23/22/21/20 seconds from 30/27/24/21/18
A nice starting high damage reduction and the armour and mag res increase by percentage instead of flat means it's effective to stack that armour and mag res to make Garen a super tank.Judgment
Damage adjusted to 20/45/70/95/120 (+0.7/0.8/0.9/1.0/1.1 total Attack Damage) from 50/90/130/170/210 (+1.4 bonus Attack Damage)
Damage dealt to minions increased to 75% from 50%
No longer removes slows on activation or reduces the duration of incoming slows while active
Ignores unit collision during Judgment but takes a 20% Movement Speed penalty when spinning through minions
Fixed: Judgment no longer locks out Garen from taking other actions longer than intended
by being based on total attack damage instead of just bonus attack damage it sort of works out more similar, and it clears out creep waves much better but is no longer the unavoidable spin of death like it used to be, and if I am understanding this right you can use your other abilities while spinning?Demacian Justice
Cooldown adjusted to 160/120/80 seconds from 140/120/100
Just seems like a balance, not really buff or nerf.It's basically make Garen a much better late-game tank which is what he really is supposed to be doing anyway.