Use this for main supp, GREAT!! rarely get more deaths than kills

In case anyone was curious I added up what the less common runes on this build would cost someone that doesn't have them (like me).

I consider scaling MR glyphs to be a reasonably common purchase, with scaling AD marks, scaling health seals and hp/5 quints being less common (The seals are debatable I suppose).

Total IP cost for the marks/seals/quints is 17220 IP.

love it

Hey there Whobick! The length of the guide was actually one of the things I noted while writing it. I had a similar feeling that it was incomplete because it felt quite short.

However, when I look at other guides such as Orianna, Gnar, and Karthus, I noticed something similar. The chapters about The Author, Pros/Cons, Build Order, and Stage of the Game are all roughly the same length. The only chapter that changes in length significantly is the "What is X" chapter.

For those particular three, the amount of justification required for the build is quite long. It often requires explaining the tradeoff of utility for damage, or of sustained damage for burst, or of champion purpose. But for Support Olaf, that kind of nuance didn't readily exist. The primary justification for Support Olaf is that Olaf gains so many free stat bonuses that they are able to function without as much gold. But since the build is really similar to standard Olaf, minus the support item and Sighstone, there was not much left to elaborate on build-wise after establishing the concept.

A lot of the mastery choices are also pretty self-evident I feel. "Support Olaf solves the pain of diving by tailoring runes, masteries, and the initial build order for strong health regeneration, which is amplified further because of the enhanced healing to all sources that is granted by Vicious Strikes. This amplifier works on health regeneration from runes, Feast in the masteries, and even the Relic Shield procs." covers almost the entirety of chosen mastery/rune specs. Perhaps I should explain why Strength of Ages is more useful than Grasp of Undying though; that part isn't particularly self-evident.

Thanks for your thoughts! It articulated the initial criticism I had of my guide after I wrote it.

I liked the guide idea but the execution seemed to be poor. Your item choices seem to be well thought-out but your guide following just doesn't seem to live up. I looked at your other guides and they all seem to look the same. This one, however, has the least amount of information. You may have the items, etc, but you don't seem to explain anything else. I'm not just speaking for my guide, but others that have a large amount of information and explanations, where yours has very little. I would definitely change my vote if it had information, but on the other hand, I feel like your guide is almost a popularity contest because other comments involve people talking about how much they love your other guides, rather then just voting based off of this guide. Sorry if I sound harsh, and if you don't feel the same as I do, then I completely understand. I just thought I would express my thoughts and feelings towards your guide.

it is nice to see people creating guides that break the mold for what are considered "run of the mill" supports.

6 minutes of having less stats on a non-roaming support (6 instead of 8 because nothing happens in the first 2 minutes) sounds like a fair compromise. That turns into 5 minutes when accounting that Support Olaf isn't going to be fighting at level 1, since you need at least 2 levels to start fighting regularly.

Ultimately I wouldn't fault anyone for going flat runes on this style. They're both, at the least, comparable if nothing else.

I understand but disagree with the rationale, as a support you just don't get enough experience to warrant that huge early game dip. The difference is only relevant very late into the game (level 6 is about minute 8 for a support, level 8 more close to 15 if you're roaming a lot) for a support simply because you're limited on xp, you're sharing all the experience. Considering the game time is relatively short on this patch (based on my match history average of ~27 minutes), I just don't think that's worth it.

Good question. So the idea is that the definition of a support is "Relevancy without gold." For that purpose, scaling is definitely superior than flat, because by definition, scaling is providing more stats without having to use as much gold (technically flat doesn't cost gold either, but I think you understand what I'm saying here).

The new question becomes: is the extra gold advantage worth the early game tradeoff? It helps to look at where the runes intersect.

Attack Damage
Flat: 0.95 Attack Damage
Scaling: 0.14 Attack Damage per Level
Intersection: Level 7

Health
Flat: 8 Health
Scaling: 1.33 Health per Level
Intersection: Level 6

Magic Resist
Flat: 1.34 Magic Resistance
Scaling: 0.17 Magic Resistance per Level
Intersection: Level 8

The stats intersect at roughly level 7. Is the loss of early stats worth the bonus given later on?

My brief experience with Support Olaf said "yes". This is something experience would only show, but I found little trouble handily winning trades early on just from the sheer amount of health regeneration this build gives to Olaf, allowing them to easily heal up.

Additionally, bigger AD early on is more useful for champions with hefty burst (Talon, Zed) or with a sustain attack damage pattern in lane (Gnar, Garen, most ADCs). Support Olaf, by contrast, cares more about hitting then running repeatedly, especially earlier on when there's CC to prevent a sustained engage.

Once Support Olaf has the ultimate, they're finally able to stay engaged in combat, where raw health and raw AD become more meaningful. And handy that: at around Level 6 and Level 7 is when scaling overlaps with flat.

I hope this explains my rationale a bit more clearly!

Apart from the off-meta pick which I won't judge cause well, I know you, I can't understand why you'd ever go scaling runes on a role that is usually starved from xp, the point where scaling > flat is severely delayed.

Oh Face of the Mountain does have CDR on it huh? I originally didn't have it on because I thought Eye of the Equinox provided it. Given that I was wrong and Eye doesn't, that's a good point. Added it on.

Thanks for the kind words!

As usual, a really great guide (with badass coding!) for alternate strategies that work exceptionally well. This is one of the most unique kinds of supports with his own strengths and weaknesses that I don't see on others. A definite addition to my roster.