On an uncharted continent beyond Valoran's grasping clutches, the conqueror named Olaf was born to a long tradition of soldiers unlike most others. Berserkers, as they tout themselves, are warriors who channel fury deep from their cores, unleashing pure and savage wrath upon their enemies. This fearsome evolution is a product of their unforgiving home, Lokfar - a barren tundra where all creatures must vie bitterly for every resource. Olaf belonged to a seafaring clan known for ruthlessly pillaging any and all villages within reach of their dragon-crested longboats. The last time he saw his icy home, Olaf was embarking on an expedition to pioneer and plunder a distant land known only to legend. However, while underway, a terrible storm sprung up and Olaf and his crew were thrown to the mercy of a roiling and pitiless sea.

His ship destroyed, his crew nowhere to be found, Olaf miraculously washed up untold miles from "friendly" waters on the foreign shores of Valoran, south of Demacia. This unfamiliar place stunned and frightened the Berserker, for Lokfar is not privy to such potent magicians. Approaching them, Olaf hoped that they could use their mysterious powers to send him back to his people. A bargain was struck. Olaf would use his awesome prowess as a warrior to serve the unusual wars of Valoran in the League of Legends, and in exchange the sorcerers would find him a way to return. Despite his participation in the League, Olaf knows better than to trust the "finger wagglers" that run the Institute of War. He deliberately keeps details of his life and home from them. After all, with enough information, they would most certainly find the Lokfarians and dominate them as they have dominated all of Valoran, keeping both quietly -- and unwittingly -- in their thrall.

Beware the war cry of the Berserker. What surges toward you is unyielding, free from the shackles of reason.

This guide is in no way finished, and I will update this as frequently as I can.
Also note that this is my first guide here on Mobafire, so I would really appreciate some constructive criticism on how to improve this guide and any guides I make in the future.

Pros:
- Good early harass with axe
- Axe is an amazing cc if you can land it
- One of the best ultimates in the game (imo)
- Very hard to kill, but still deals ALOT of damage
- TRUE DAMAGE!!! (I cannot stress enough how useful this is)

Cons:
- Not as good early game as some other champs
- *Can* be out-ranged (I find that I rarely have this problem after level 6 or so)
- *Reserved for any more cons that I think of*

I go with:
Armor Pen Marks Greater Mark of Desolation
Flat Armor Seals
Flat Magic Resist Glyphs
Armor Pen Quints (Flat HP Quints also work well) Greater Quintessence of Desolation ( )

I choose these runes because they give Olaf the defense he needs to survive in the laning phase, which is his weakest point.

I go with a 21/0/9 Mastery setup

I put 21 in the offensive tree for Maximum damage output without too many items

I put 9 points into Utility because Haste is required (imo), and I put the other 8 here because a 21/8/1 Mastery setup seems stupid to me.

Dorans Shield[item = Doran's Shield size = 32] is an amazing starting item for Olaf, it gives early health, armor and hp/5; all of which are needed on Olaf.

Warmogs , Frozen Mallet and Atma's are all core items for my Olaf build. You can use whatever boots you feel are needed for your situation, but I notice that I mostly use Boots of Swiftness , as Olaf does not really need any attack speed/cdr, and your ult makes tenacity much less needed than it is for other champions.

After you finish Warmogs, Frozen Mallet, Boots and Atma's; you have some choices to make.

More Offense:

Stark's Fervor :
This is a decent item for Olaf if you find you are living long enough in fights. Lifesteal and attack speed are both good things to have on any champ that deals mostly AD damage.

The Bloodthirster :
More damage and lifesteal, another great item if you want to destroy enemy carries even faster.

More Defense:

A Second Warmogs :
More hp and hp/5; building another Warmog's will never hurt you.

Banshee's Veil :
Hp, Mp, Mres and that amazing passive, a good item for any champ that is going to be anywhere near a teamfight.

Quicksilver Sash :
If the enemy team is suppression heavy, you may want to grab this just in case you can't kill the entire enemy team while your ult is keeping you safe from cc. QSS is never a bad choice on any champion.

Passive: Berserker Rage This is a decent passive, gives a lot of attack speed if you are low on health, which reduces the amount of attack speed you need from items to almost none.

Q: Undertow This is an amazing skill. Undertow does quite a bit of damage early game (this drops to minimal amounts late-game, though); but the most important thing about this skill is the slow. If you can continue to land/pickup your Axe in a chase OR an escape, it will become almost a perma-slow for your enemies, making them very easy to catch up to or run away from. Just remember that picking up your axe reduces the CD by 6 seconds, basically resetting it to 0 most of the time.

W: Vicious Strikes I personally find this skill to be a one point wonder. It gives a decent amount of lifesteal with one point, and the damage scales with your max hp. I personally see no reason to put more than 1 point into this before you max your other skills, but some Olaf players swear by this. Try putting a few points into Vicious Strikes early game, and see if it works for you;.

E: Reckless Swing This is my favorite skill in the game. 340 true damage on a 3 second cooldown with 5 points into this. Some people complain about the fact that it deals damage to Olaf, but if you get an early giants belt, you should have no worries spamming this on any characters that are not buying hp. This skill is amazing; mid-game, you can take down all of a squishies lifebar in 3/4 casts. True damage also means this goes through all armor/mres (and Alistar's ult ) If you aren't spamming this skill in fights, you are doing it wrong.

R: Ragnarok This is one amazing ult. Gives passive Armor Penetration, making your normal attacks hit harder, but it also gives immunity to EVERY form of cc for a few seconds. Think of this skill as Highlander 2.0(Yi's Ult) Pop this skill BEFORE the fight starts, then pop ghost and vicious strikes and jump onto the enemy carries, and blow them up with your autoattacks and Reckless Swing. If you do this right, you should be able to get 1/2 kills and still live.

The best Summoner spells for Olaf (In my opinion of course) are and . Some people like to take instead of Ghost, and if you want to do that, make sure you get the exhaust mastery in the offense tree, and go 21/9/0 for your Masteries. All the other Summoners are useless for this build.

I go with a 21/0/9 Mastery setup

I put 21 in the offensive tree for Maximum damage output without too many items

I put 9 points into Utility because Haste is required (imo), and I put the other 8 here because a 21/8/1 Mastery setup seems stupid to me.