Champion Guide

Olaf Guide

By LoLSuggest

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Olaf is an all-in bruiser who gets more dangerous the lower his health drops. Berserker Rage gives him more attack speed and life steal as he loses health, Undertow throws an axe that slows and shreds armor and comes back off cooldown faster when he picks it up, Tough It Out resets his attack and shields him based on missing health, Reckless Swing deals true damage at the cost of some health, and Ragnarok makes him immune to crowd control while he keeps attacking. He dominates the early and mid game and runs down anyone who tries to kite him.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Olaf build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Blade and a Health Potion, or Doran's Shield in lanes where you must play slower. After an early kill, a Vampiric Scepter gives you huge lane control against melee champions. The standard build is Ravenous Hydra, Plated Steelcaps, Experimental Hexplate, Maw of Malmortius, Death's Dance and Endless Hunger; Ravenous Hydra, Experimental Hexplate, Maw of Malmortius and Death's Dance is effectively his full build. A tankier frontline build uses Stridebreaker, Overlord's Bloodmail, Sterak's Gage, Sundered Sky and Spirit Visage; Stridebreaker with Experimental Hexplate makes you very hard to kite, Black Cleaver, Sundered Sky and Overlord's Bloodmail shred melee teams and tanks, and Ravenous Hydra with Maw of Malmortius makes you nearly immortal against magic damage. Mix damage with defence instead of building full resistances: Spirit Visage, Jak'Sho, The Protean and Ionian Boots of Lucidity against heavy magic damage, Frozen Heart, Jak'Sho and Sterak's Gage against heavy physical damage. Run Conqueror with Triumph, Legend: Bloodline and Last Stand, plus Magical Footwear and Approach Velocity. Take Flash with Ghost, Ghost with Teleport in tough lanes, or Exhaust with Ghost against Tryndamere, Illaoi or Rumble. Max E, then Q, then W. In the jungle, Olaf takes Smite with a jungle pet and builds Stridebreaker, Sundered Sky, Black Cleaver, Sterak's Gage and Death's Dance.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Very strong level 1 to 3 and huge early pressure in most matchups.
Ragnarok makes him immune to crowd control, so immobile champions cannot peel him.
Excellent item synergy that peaks in the mid game, plus strong split pushing and proxy farming.

Weaknesses

Falls off hard late; you want to close games by around 25 minutes.
Some counters, such as Tryndamere, Illaoi, Rumble or Vayne, beat him from lane to late game.
Easy to burst once enemies have their damage items, and gank-prone while he pushes.

Laning Phase

Olaf's level 1 is very strong: walk up and chain Undertow hits to threaten a kill, and take Tough It Out at level 2 to punish an enemy who greeds for last hits. Undertow pushes the wave on its own, so try to kill your laner before the fourth wave, then shove into their tower and recall, or at least get a cheater recall. Respect ganks; you can sometimes turn them, but backing off is usually best. Level 6 is another big spike: if you hit Undertow on someone near your tower, Ragnarok (with Ghost) usually kills them, and immobile champions like Cho'Gath, Sion or Ornn simply die. Early pressure also gives you priority for the Voidgrubs. Once you have Tiamat you can proxy farm, clearing waves with two Undertow hits and forcing the enemy to deal with you.

Mid & Late Game

The mid game is Olaf's strongest point: with two completed items, usually Ravenous Hydra and Experimental Hexplate, you can take over. Champions who rely on crowd control and kiting cannot peel you once Ragnarok is active, so it is on their team to burst you. Split push the side lane opposite the main objective and dive anyone sent alone; against your direct counters, group and hunt immobile enemies in teamfights instead. Late game you fall off, so wait for an opening to get a pick before going in; Taric is the best partner because his ultimate covers your engage.

Key Tips

Do not fear low health: Berserker Rage gives you more attack speed and life steal the lower you get.
Reckless Swing cannot kill you, so at low health attack first and use it as an execute.
Throw Undertow before Reckless Swing in melee range; it is faster and shreds armor first.
Ragnarok's cooldown starts on cast, so using it at the start of a long fight brings it back sooner.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.