12/11/2012: updated guide to reflect some changes that were put into place when Season 3 patch went live

• Removed , since that item was removed from Twisted Treeline.
• Removed , since that item was removed from Twisted Treeline
• Added as a core item. It is now the main AD caster item on Twisted Treeline, replacing . It's also, as of Season 3 release, ridiculously OP
• Removed from core, replaced it with
• Updated Masteries
• Updated Item Section

Olaf dominates on the new Twisted Treeline. The new bruiser items are amazing on him, and he has some seriously good characteristics that make him heavily favored on the Shadow Isles.

Pros:

• Amazing chasing, which is especially good on twisted treeline since the lanes are so long
• Can clear the jungle extremely fast even without having
• Great damage even when building tanky
• Tons of free stats from his abilities
• Complete immunity to CC, which is big in small skirmishes

Cons:

• No instant gap-closer
• Can be kited when is down
• Can't really jungle fast until level 5, so needs to start in lane
• No escapes

Due to the amount of olaf's free stats, he can skip building many items that most bruisers need to be effective. In addition, his kit gets stronger as he builds health.

9/21/0


This is a good default set of masteries. You have all the health masteries to maximize your health, as well as the bonus resist masteries to increase your overall tankiness. The CC reduction masteries are not really needed since olaf can just ignore all cc with his . The damage reduction masteries are for trading in lane. If you don't feel that you need them, you can switch them out for others. This makes you overall extremely tanky, which is good for Olaf. If you know the team you'll be up against, max out armor + health regen or MR + health regen. If you're playing blind pick, put 2 into each, like I have shown. If you are not in a solo lane, you may want to take the champ damage reduction points and put them instead into armor/MR/health regen. If you are not against an AD carry, you can skip the crit reduction mastery. The only core, set-in-stone masteries are the health masteries, defender, good hands, and of course honor guard.

I initially tried out the legendary armor mastery because seemed good at first glance, but even at 3 points it only gives 5% extra armor and MR. But the real catch is that it only applies to bonus armor and MR. That means it doesn't include your base armor or MR, only armor and MR from other masteries, runes, and items. Even a tanky build will usually only net you around 100 bonus armor and MR, so this translates to about 10 bonus stats once you have a full build. When you notice that Defender will give you 6 stats for one point, legendary armor looks a lot less attractive. These are better distributed over other masteries.

From the offense tree, we get CDR + deadliness, to help his damage, and the summoner spell to increase the effectiveness of + . In season 3 penetration was changed such that %-penetration is now applied before flat penetration. So weapon expertise is now a very powerful mastery, even though it was slightly nerfed from season 2. Even with no items, at level 18 it will provide 6-8 armor penetration for 1 point.

21/9/0


This is for when you want to go more damage on olaf. We still get the health + health regen masteries from the defense tree, but we take all AD masteries in the offense tree except the crit masteries, and add the CDR + monster damage ones.

I don't like this personally, mainly because olaf scales so well with health and tankiness, and on top of that Executioner doesn't work with true damage. But if you are dead set on using olaf and you already have a solid tank on your team, this would be a good way to maximize your damage.

This is the best set of runes for Olaf on TT. 15 Armor penetration is the magic number to shoot for, since that's enough to do true damage to all the jungle monsters, while still offering some AD for your early game AAs and .

We use flat MR and flat armor runes to maximize resists for the level 1 fight which often happens on TT.

Olaf excels at hunting down enemy carries, and at chasing. With ghost, there's NO way anyone can out-run you. It also can let you get away from a gank post-6 if you use


As with almost all other aspects of building Olaf, we try to maximize Olaf's laning phase, trading power, and bullying ability. Ignite lets him finish off weakened opponents and even just the threat of having this will help you zone out the opponent even more. It's absolutely necessary for getting crucial kills during the laning phase.

Possible Alternative Summoners

- Good for all-in trades, but Ignite is better. Olaf can already slow his opponent with , he wants more damage during laning. Decent, but not as good as . However, if they have 1 or more auto-attackers, and noone else has exhaust, AND you already have ignite, exhaust is actually a better choice than ignite.

- Since Olaf has no escapes, sometimes Flash is better against early ganks.

- Not as good as ignite for securing kills, but if your team needs a heal, and you already have ignite + exhaust, consider getting heal instead of ignite. It will definitely give you a level 1 advantage if your team has heal and theirs doesn't

For each 1% of health missing, Olaf's attack speed is increased by 1%.



As far as "passives that help your role" go, Olaf's is one of the best in the game. A 0-99% AS speed buff? Yes please. An amazing passive that skyrockets your DPS, means you don't really have to build any AS items on Olaf, helps with farming, and most importantly, lets you win all-in trades during the laning phase. This also synergizes with life steal and works well with some items, like .

Don't underestimate this early game, it can win you trades that you wouldn't normally win. For example, you can actually go all-in on at level 1 and win thanks to this passive.


Olaf throws an axe to a target location, dealing 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 physical damage plus 100% of his attack damage to units it passes through and slowing them by 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 / 40% for 2.5 seconds.

If Olaf picks up the axe, the ability's cooldown is reduced by 4.5 seconds.

Cost 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75mana
Cooldown 8 seconds
Range 1000



The ability that defines how good you are as an Olaf player. When used correctly, this ability is one of the highest DPS abilities in the game. When used incorrectly, it's just another pseudo-nuke. Picking it up to reduce the cooldown happens AFTER you throw the axe, that means any CDR you have applies to the full 8 seconds.

If you manage to get 40% CDR, the cooldown is 4.8. If you throw it right next to you, you pick it up immediately, reducing it by a further 4.5 seconds. That means your cooldown becomes 0.3 seconds if you have 40% CDR and pick it up immediately. If you don't pick it up immediately, you still essentially refresh the cooldown as soon as you pick it up. You probably won't be getting 40% CDR every game due to the fact that Olaf's item build depends heavily on his lane opponent, the enemy comp, and how the game is going. But it's good to get CDR items on Olaf due to this ability.

When you start maxing this in the mid-game, it becomes an extremely powerful farming ability. Throw it right in front of you, and immediately pick it up to farm quickly. This is why olaf can clear the TT jungle so fast even without any items.

You can do this during trades as well. Throw it right at your feet to pick it up immediately. Repeat to increase your DPS during trades in-lane.

When chasing with this, throw it at a location where you'll be running during the chase. That way, while chasing your opponent, you will pick up the axe, letting you throw it again faster. By doing this over and over again, you can keep your opponent permanently slowed, which is a huge factor in getting kills with Olaf.


For 6 seconds, Olaf's attack damage is increased by 7 / 14 / 21 / 28 / 35 base damage plus 1% of his max health. While active, Olaf gains 9 / 12 / 15 / 18 / 21% lifesteal and spell vamp.

Cost 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60mana
Range 0



Excellent early one-point wonder. There are many uses for this ability:

• Use when trading with an opponent
• Activate before throwing your axe for more health
• Use after using to recover your health
• If you are about to die, use this and attack some minions to get health back

With the right items, you can get 70+ AD from this late-game. It provides a huge boost to Olaf's damage, and is one of the reasons why building health is so good on him.


Olaf deals 100 / 160 / 220 / 280 / 340 true damage to his target and inflicts 40 / 64 / 88 / 112 / 136 true damage to himself.

Cost none
Range 325



Consistent true damage. Not many champs have that, and it's very useful. At level 5, you have 340 damage every 3 seconds when you get 40% CDR. Huge damage even when building full tank, doesn't require mana, and makes sure that Olaf remains dangerous as long as he's alive.

During teamfights, simply use this every time it's off cooldown. You'll be amazed at how fast the squishies start dying when you spam this.

Another reason why health is so good for Olaf. More health = more Reckless Swings


Active: Removes all disables from Olaf and for the next 6 seconds, he is immune to disables and has +30 / 45 / 60 Armor and Magic Resist.

Passive: Olaf has 10 / 20 / 30 increased armor penetration.

Cost 100 / 75 / 50mana
Range 0



This lets Olaf be an anti-carry. Run into the enemy carry, turn this on, and watch them die. They can't do anything to stop you. You can't be stunned, slowed, snared, silenced, charmed, blinded, knocked up, knocked back, or pulled anywhere. You are completely immune to any debuff. Assuming you don't get bursted to death, this should be a guaranteed kill. It's very hard to burst a mid-game full-health olaf in 3v3, so you should be able to at least force the strongest enemy of their team out of the fight.

This lets Olaf dive a carry better than almost any champion in the game. Any good team will have a good amount of CC, and this lets Olaf completely ignore all CC long enough to kill the AD carry.

-> -> -> ->

Then, prioritize:

> > >

is maxed first to let olaf wave-clear and farm the jungle fast, as well as poking down the opponent and chasing for the kill. Since the lanes on TT are so long, being able to perma-slow your opponent with is extremely powerful.

• Health - Both his and benefit from additional health, his scales directly with health, and since he already gets both armor and MR from , health gives more EHP than either armor or MR. Basically, health is the most important stat for Olaf.
• CDR - great for Olaf since at 40% he can chain-throw his and spam until he gets a triple kill. It also vastly increases the uptime on his .
• Damage - while you won't be building pure damage or crit items like , you still want to have some damage in your build.
• Armor/MR - if you have all of the above, then you want more Armor/MR so that you can survive diving into the enemy carry in the middle of the teamfight.

The majority of the time, this is the best option. Ruby Crystal eventually builds into Black Cleaver, and gives you the most bang for your buck for the level 1 teamfight. It also allows you to get away or chase as needed.





BC is a bruiser's dream, and Olaf is no exception. It contains everything he wants: health, CDR, armor shred, more damage. It should be rushed as soon as possible.

I toyed with getting on Olaf, but ultimately I feel that frozen mallet was a superior choice. It only gives 150 less health, and it gives +30 AD and a better passive than Bloodmail for Olaf, since he has no gap-closers. It's ultimately more expensive, so if you absolutely feel like you need the big jump in health immediately, you can get bloodmail instead of frozen mallet. I don't recommend getting both since you'll be missing out on too much CDR + resistances





These are your main options for boots. Ninja tabi against an AD heavy team, especially one that has one or more auto-attackers ( / any AD carry)

Berserker Greaves are for when you are not afraid of anyone on the opposing team, or are going full damage.

Due to the dearth of good MR items, Merc treads are needed against double-AP teams. Even though the tenacity is somewhat redundant, you need all the MR you can get against double-AP teams.




This is the best enchantment for Olaf, since he excels at chasing. You'll still need to close the gap, but once you do, this enchantment will ensure that you can stick to your target.



Outside of your core items, you can tailor your items specifically to your opponent's comp, and your own comp.

Default items:

Against a balanced comp, you generally have 2 goals:

• Get 40% CDR
• Stack as much health as possible, with a decent amount of resists (ideally, 150+ of each by the time your build is finished)

Since CDR + health are the 2 best stats for olaf, items that give both are ideal:

You don't need all 4 of these, since that will put you over the 40% CDR cap, but I usually get as a solid core for Olaf, giving him almost 900 health (over 1000 if you count the locket shield), 35% CDR, good damage, and good resists.

But there are many good situational items depending on what champions you are facing, and what other stats you need:


This item is for when you're up against a strong health-tank.

This includes , and if you're playing blind pick. Against anyone but Cho'Gath, I would buy it once they complete a big-ticket health item (such as ). Against Cho'Gath, you should get it any time Cho'Gath gets ahead, since that makes it easier for him to maintain full stacks


This item was buffed to give +20 MR, and +5% CDR, but the cost was increased and the health was lowered by 50. Overall this was a pretty big buff though, and the item is now much more slot-efficient in general. Also many items had their resistances nerfed, and then of course in TT was removed, making Spirit Visage the biggest-MR item. If you are up against a double-AP comp, get this as soon as your core items are completed.


Another good bruiser item vs. double AP comps. This should be purchased after against a double-AP comp. Double AP comps are extremely dangerous for Olaf, since they will both usually get , which shreds health-tanks like Olaf. So you need to stack ridiculous amounts of MR against double AP teams.


This item receieved a flat nerf, with it's armor being decreased, it's bonus mana being decreased, and it's cost being increased. However, it's still a strong item on olaf under the right circumstances. The right circumstances are against a 2+ AD team that has at least one auto-attacker (auto-attackers are / any AD carry)


This item was mostly untouched; it only received a small 3% crit nerf, but it's cost was decreased to compensate. It's still strong on health-tanks like Olaf, and against a 2 AD comp, it's still a strong 5th or 6th item to get, especially if your team needs more damage


Now here's an interesting item for Olaf. This was substantially buffed from season 2. It now gives an extra 125 health, it's health regen was raised from 5 to 10, it's cost was reduced, and most importantly, it now gives +10% CDR. Health + armor + CDR + good teamfight active? Yes please. Olaf now loves this item, and against a 2 AD comp it's basically a core item, especially if they have a lot of AOE damage.


This item is still strong on Olaf, but during season 2 Olaf's itemization for items that gave CDR+health was somewhat limited. Now we have a new excellent offensive CDR+health item () as well as new excellent defensive CDR+health choices () to get, so Zeke's is not comparatively as strong as it was. In addition, it was slightly nerfed (-2% life steal, +305 cost), and it's 20% AS was changed to +20 AD. This is now more of a support item, and Olaf doesn't really make use of this as much as he does the other CDR+health items.

That said, it still has a small niche to fill: when you have another auto-attacker on your team ( / any AD carry), and they are getting fed more than you. In that rare situation, this item is a great buy, so remember that.


This item was changed slightly. It now no longer has CDR, it's armor was slightly nerfed from +75 to +70, it's bonus health was increased from +350 to +500, and it now builds out of . I wanted to include this as a possible substitute for . Your CDR can be covered by other sources, and this would be an excellent choice against a team with 1+ auto-attackers on it. It's especially useful against champs like or , since they are strong auto-attackers that, if given an early lead, can snowball the game and become out of control very fast. Getting against a protect-the-carry comp WILL shut them down and essentially make you unkillable until the AD carry gets .


This isn't anything like the Elixirs on Summoner's Rift. The cost-effectiveness of this item skyrockets as you gain levels. At level 18, it gives +42 AD and +42 AS, that's 2800+ gold worth of stats for a paltry cost of 500! And that's not including the bonus damage to turrets as well. When you reach level 18, you should always have this item active. The stats it gives are just too good to pass up.



Against balanced comp or 2 AD Comp:
()

Against 2 AD comp that includes an AA-champ:
()

Against 2 AP Comp:
()

Pure offensive build:
()



This item received a huge nerf; every single one of its stats were reduced, and the cost remained the same. In addition, Olaf has much better itemization for CDR+health items, so this is now effectively neutered for champs like Olaf. Lastly, one of the reasons why this is good on Summoner's Rift is that you can build early and sit on it to gain a significant gold advantage. GP10 items are not as good on Twisted Treeline, since you start with more gold and get increased gold income from the altars + jungle monsters.

Don't bother with this item.


Only good if you're going for the full-armor pen troll build, otherwise, there are much better offensive CDR items for olaf now. is superior to youmuu's in almost every way possible. Olaf doesn't really build crit items like or , so the crit isn't that useful. It only gives 30 AD, and the armor penetration and CDR were both nerfed.

Olaf is great at level 1 teamfights. Make sure to start with . Hitting all 3 opponents with is essential to winning the level 1 teamfight.

You can use to chase down and kill someone if needed.

After minions spawn, you should go to lane and farm. Don't be afraid to start chasing down for the kill starting as early as level 2. If you can poke with a few , you can chase with + all the way back to their tower, and possibly get an early kill.

I generally use Olaf top lane, since it's easier to chase and kill opponents 1v1.

Once you hit level 5 with Olaf, you can start farming the jungle. Olaf clears jungle camps very fast with . Usually 2 + 1 + a few autos will clear each camp. It's important not to waste mana when clearing the camps so that you can go back to lane and still be able to kill an opponent.

Late-game olaf starts to shine. Once you get a few items, you can just ignore everything and dive their carry for the kill. Don't forget to buy once you hit level 18, or anytime you are at a stalemate.

Always look to take altars after a clean kill, or an ace. A late-game ace should at least secure you both altars. If you have 2 champs, you should look to kill vilemaw as well.

Olaf's job in teamfights is to dive the carry. If they don't have a carry, then your job is just to do as much dps as possible to their strongest target.

Fragile champs who build no armor items will die extremely fast to Olaf.

Olaf gets a ton of armor shred:

-15 from runes
-10 from
-30 from
-up to 30% redcution from

Diving should not be a problem, since you have a number of options for chasing.

At the very least you'll have:



to chase with. Depending on what items you'll build, you also get:

to help chase with as well.

Double AP comps - 2 aps that get will wreck Olaf so fast he won't be able to do anything except maybe throw out one before he dies.

If you see a double-AP comp, you better stack the hell out of MR, because you're going to be focused down fast. This presents a problem, since the major MR item, , does not exist in Twisted Treeline. You will have to build , and then decide among a number of mediocre-MR items depending on what the rest of your comp is, and what the enemy comp is.

Teemo

Teemo is a nightmare on TT, and is usually banned. But if you're playing blind, you better hit Teemo early before he starts getting items. Once he gets and , it's basically over for you. Make sure you get some way of revealing his mushrooms so that you aren't constantly fighting teamfights at 75% health.

Olaf is one of the few bruisers in Twisted Treeline who has a great early game presence, can farm very well, scales excellently into late-game, has very few bad matchups, and does very well even when building tanky. He is, IMO, a top pick on the new TT.