Olaf Build Guide : Your Olaf Resource (tailored for Joshua)

Before we begin...

This guide is meant for some of my misguided SJAB squadmates, who have long expressed their interest to learn the ways of , especially you, Joshua. Since I am such a generous and charitable soul, I will deign to share my knowledge of with you.

NOTE: This guide is not magical. Don't expect to read this and suddenly feel like you can take on anything. Many concepts in this guide might seem foreign to you, and if you scr*w up initially, don't be discouraged. might be abit hard to learn initially, but once you get the hang of it, he is alot of fun to play.

Also, many of the ides I incorporated into the guide, including freezing lane and successfully last-hitting, require practice. I would suggest you master these essential qualities first before whining about how is unviable.

Introduction

This guide is meant for my friend Joshua, who is such a noob that I must teach him how to play . Since its for Joshua, I'm not going to bother putting in any fancy images whatsoever. You read this, Joshua, and you'd better learn. The way you play is absolutely revolting.

Alright, so we start with the guide itself. is an extremely strong duelist, split pusher, and initiator. With his ultimate and the movement speed from both and , can easily dive a high priority target in the backline.

In-lane, is extremely strong as well. The bursting power of a -AA- combo is something many champions cannot match. If an enemy chooses to fight to the death and prolong the battle, and his passive, , aid greatly as the lower gets, the stronger he becomes. also ensures that remains healthy throughout the laning phase, and 's active can easily set up for tower dives and can also be used in conjunction with to get out of a sticky situation.

Of course, that is not to say that has no counters nor weaknesses. 's greatest weakness is that he has no instant gapclosers. As such, he is prone to getting kited by champions like and with high mobility, or a champion like with displacement abilities. As such, avoid taking against ranged opponents like or .

Another weakness of is that he is extremely mana-hungry early on. An costs 60 mana at level 1, effectively removing about 2/9 of 's mana early on. As such, harassing ranged lane opponents like is extremely difficult due to his high mana costs early. In lane, excels at coming up to his opponents and giving them a good smack in the face. As such, his zoning power is extremely powerful against melee opponents, but the 325-range on can't reach ranged opponents easily.

So, can reading this guide make you better? No. No guide will ever make you better. Only experience can. As of now, you have much to learn about the essential qualities of a top laner, such as map awareness, freezing lane, and proper itemization. I hope that this guide can make you a better player.

Click me if you're noob!

Champion Spotlight

You've probably seen this, but don't learn from it. Its outdated as h*ck and almost nothing inside is applicable. For a beginner player like you, however, it might offer some insights into how to play .

And please don't ever be like Phreak and tank the turret. Also the part about getting 1/2 of the minions is bulls*it, aim for 100% always.

Pros / Cons and Misconceptions

Pros:
-Excellent duelist
+Good synergy with champions that have alot of CC
+Bullies many melee champions with
+Excellent tanker with ultimate , which gives a passive armor/MR boost
+Good teamfighter that can dive squishies in the backline without fear of getting peeled
+Incredible movement speed with and , good chaser/escaper
+Punishes split pushers/people caught out of position really easily with his mobility
+Is incredible in many aspects, with attack speed steroids(), AD buffs(), Armor/MR buffs(), slows(), invulnerability to CC() and burst()

Cons:
-Easily kited without of , active and
-Relies mainly on autoattacks to bring the pain
-No way of gapclosing immediately, can die easily without above mentioned skills if chasing an opponent into enemy team
-Only 1 long ranged ability,
-Only slow is is subpar compared to slows like , and is a skillshot.
-Attack speed buff has a rather long cooldown.
-Can be harassed easily in lane and during sieges/attrition battles
-Lack of hard CC, unable to disrupt enemy channels like 's or ' .

Any misconceptions, my dear boy Joshy? If so, let me know.

When to pick Olaf?

In-lane, serves best as a lane-bully of sorts. As such, he is best agaisnt champions that cannot match his high damage output, especially those with weak early games like and as he can zone them and deny them CS to scale into their godly late game.

synergises best with champions that have movement speed buffs like and , that can help him reach the ranged carries more quickly, or champions with heavy CC like or , which can lock down targets long enough for to dispose of them.

Of course, there are scenarios where you should not pick . Such scenarios include:

Ranged opponents. As you have read in the introduction, can't do s*it against a clever, say or . is easily prone to being harassed in lane, and since his sustain mechanism, , require him to be up close hitting minions, clever opponents can use this opportunity to further attack him.

Due to 's lack of heavy CC, avoid picking him in team compositions where there is already a lack of CC. As mentioned above, functions best when his enemies are locked down for him to kill, so CC is essential in a team with Olaf.

Spells

This section is pretty much self-explanatory, because the two summoner spells I take are the most common for top laners out there. However, there are alternatives, and in this section I'll explain why. I will start with my two classic spells first, and .

is, in my opinion, the best summoner spell out there for . With , you already have CC immunity, meaning that there's no way to stop you from charging into an enemy backline and taking care of the carries. However, champions like and , which pack a f*ck ton of mobility, might be able to kite you till the duration of is finished. As such, is here to ensure that you can reach your target ASAP to maximise the potential of .

is simply great for , because it functions as so many purposes. In the later stages of the game, your split-pushing potential is incredible. Teleport can easily take you from one place to another, great for split pushing and pressuring baron, that kind of thing. As you are a top laner, is essential in, say, a teamfight contesting dragon, or when bot lane is facing a crisis and your presence might mean a double kill for your team as compared to a double kill for an enemy. is great, but getting it means forsaking kill potential with .

The following spells below are viable spells but I would usually exclude them unless there are especial circumstances.

If you're jungling, is a must, no questions asked. has so many uses I can't even illustrate them all. How are you going to secure Dragon/Baron, or even your own Red/Blue Buff against other junglers if you don't take smite? Besides, Riot removed the idea of Smiteless Junglers by making Hunter's Machete, and all subsequent upgrades unpurchasable without . There is NO excuse for not taking , because without it, you lose objectives, security, EXP, gold, and even sustain if you're building .

In my opinion, taking is kinda overkill because heck, you already have and the movement speed buff from as well as the slow from and . Why would you still need movement speed for? Unless I'm against slippery opponents that rely on kiting like say, or , I would pick over this spell any day. Of course, when a situation arises of which I am against a in lane, or when there are enemy champions like or , which rely on landing skillshots like and , I might choose to take over as well.

makes your enemy weaker, slows them, and makes you deal more damage to them. This is great against those very strong "right-click to win" champions that rely on auto-attacks to bring the pain, like , , or . This will practically disable them and make them deal no damage, but for the cost of a spell like or that proves useful in more circumstances. Unless you really need the extra edge to catch up/fight a tough champion, I wouldn't get this as already ranks top among many duelists. I would ONLY get this against matchups like or . This also works great if you need that extra edge to catch up to fleeing targets when your jungler ganks, but otherwise I would avoid it.

Well, there's not much to say about . This spell can mean the extra edge in a duel, but from mid/late game onward, its pretty much useless as it only serves as a kill-securing ;) tool. Of course, your kill potential will be much higher with early on, but I find that already gives me all the mobility I need to deal damage to an enemy. Of course, if you find unncessary (due to your s*itty map awareness), you can substitute for this.

That is all the spells I take for . Of course, you can opt for other spells while jungling, or if you think other spells deserve an honourable mention, do share your opinion, Joshy.

Runes

This section will be split into 4 sections explaining why I take (ARPEN) Quintessences & Marks, (CDR) Quintessences, Seals, and Glyphs respectively. I take this rune page nearly all the time for , unless I'm against certain weird compositions where all 5 of the enemy team is AD or something.

greater mark of armor penetration and greater quintessence of armor penetration:
I take Armor Penetration for these runes because they are meant for offense. Armor Penetration will help in the late-game, of which you can shred an enemy with ease. Since is almost entirely composed of AD, with exception of , armor penetration will greatly increase your damage output.

If you suck so much that you need AD runes, look below.

P/S. : If you're asking why can't you take AD runes, f*ck you, thats why. Olaf already has an extremely strong early game. With , , , and , you already have an additional 310 AD, excluding masteries. Are you so f*cking desperate that you want that extra 15 or so AD? Go learn how to CS early, scrub.

:
With 2 of this and your masteries, at level 1 you would already have 10% CDR. CDR is great early for you to smack your enemies with more in the face. With , and(hopefully) (or blue buff), you would have maxed out CDR at 40%.
:
I take armor seals in other to mitigate minion damage early, and to help against lane opponents(most top laners are AD). If you really want, you may consider taking HP seals, but I find armor scales better later on.

:
Immediate MR is unnecessary early game as minions don't deal magic damage, and you are probably not going to face an AP enemy in lane. Anyway, the damage mages deal with their spells early game is practically negligible. I take scaling MR as to minimise the amount of damage mages will deal to me once they complete their core items. It is in the late game where mages will hurt most, so you want scaling MR to prepare for that.

Masteries

OFFENSIVE MASTERIES
: I take this mastery because of the 2% extra damage. With your high resistances the 1% damage returned to you is negligible.
: I max out for the 5% CDR, which will help in spamming my abilites, and in turn bullying my lane opponent.
: I max this out for the 10 AD, which is great because scales well with AD, given his high CSC and AS.
: Instant 4AD for just 1 point? Why not? AD helps in so many ways(see above).
and : autoattacks so often that these two masteries serve their maximum potential on him.
: With your high CSC and AS, you will be critting very often. Thus, I get to make the most out of it.
: I max this out to maximise damage potential on champions.
: Through , , , and , you're going to have alot of bonus AD. Therefore, I get the most out all your bonus AD it by maxing this.
: You deal mostly physical damage, so you need all the penetration you can get to maximise damage output.
: Yep, 3% bonus damage is too good to pass up.

DEFENSIVE MASTERIES
: I get this to maximise resistances gained from my items and . This helps me get bonus armor and MR, which is great.
: Good for tanking that damage when running up to the enemy backline or in a lane skirmish. The reduced damage taken might well win you a fight.
: Flat-up HP is great for the early game as minions and champion AAs really hurt.
: See my notes on .
: With and , you're going to have alot of HP. Take this to maximise the amount of HP you get.

Nice Video to help explain about Olaf

Yeah the guy's not bad but the items and skill distribution are wrong. His tactics are good though, learn from him.

Skill Explanation

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BERSERKER RAGE: 's attack speed increases by 1% for every 1% of his missing health.

The skill is pretty self-explanatory, it makes scarier the lower he drops, and combined with , , and , its not uncommon to hit the max AS cap of 2.5 AS. With the rate at which you are critting for, you can erase an ADC late game with 2 or 3 crits easily.

TIPS:
- makes deadlier at low levels of health. As such, is susceptible to execution abilities like and , of which can deny you from reaching your most powerful phase of which you are low HP.
-With , you can win many matchups at lower levels, provided they don't have a way of burning through your HP quickly. This can be used to bait an opponent into fighting you.
- synergises well with . Use when low in order to maximise AS and LS.

UNDERTOW: throws an axe to a target location, dealing 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to units it passes through and slowing them by 29 / 33 / 37 / 41 / 45 % for 1.5-2.5 seconds based on distance travelled.
If Olaf picks up the axe, the ability's cooldown is reduced by 4.5 seconds.

You would already have experience with 's mechanism. This ability is your only form of CC, and is not particularly strong. However, by predicting enemy movement and landing the axe accurately in the path of which they are running, you can run to them, pick up the axe, then continue the process. It works like 's , of which you can chain up a series of slows once you land the first one.

In lane, however, use sparingly. The mana cost is very high in early levels, and is often not justifiable to be spammed unless you have Blue Buff at hand. I would only use this to catch up to a fleeing opponent or for the extra burst damage to force my opponent to recall.

TIPS:
-Use immediately after an AA as a sort of AA reset, like this: AA-Q-AA. Although it doesn't reset the timer, it does give you and additional burst of damage.
-Learn how to predict your opponent's escape route. By throwing it toward the direction of which they flee, you can set up a chain of slows of which you can pick up the axe, throw it, then rinse and repeat.
-Maxing first does not increase its mana cost, unlike abilities such as 's . As such, you may choose to max first if you're getting zoned to CS and harass from afar.

VICIOUS STRIKES: For 6 seconds, gains 9 / 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 % lifesteal and 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 % attack speed. He gains 1% extra healing for every 2% health he is missing.

Ah, we come to , 's tool to deal sustained damage and stay healthy during laning phase, and his ability to be near unkillable provided he can lifesteal off sources late-game. Synergises well with to provide you with incredible AS. With the lifesteal, AD, CSC, and AS from your items, imagine the amount of damage you would be hitting for every second. lasts for only 6 seconds, with a cooldown of 16 seconds (9.6 at max CDR). Thus, use it only when you have actually engaged in combat and not in advance. Clever foes can kite you for the duration of , so be careful when you use it.

TIPS:
- is an ability of which increases all your healing. When levelling up, activating the skill can potentially make you recover more health.
-The health you gain back when kills an enemy can be amplified by . Remember to activate this ability if you need the extra HP.
- ' passive healing increase stacks with . As such, synergises very well with .
-Use only when you have engaged an opponent in combat and not in advance, as mentioned above.
-The active from is best used together with in a 1v1 situation to maximise the potential of the lifesteal.
- works better the lower gets. Try using when at lower health, your health gained will be phenomenal.

RECKLESS SWING: Olaf deals 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 40 % of total attack damage) true damage to his target. If he doesn't kill his target, he inflicts 30 % of the total damage dealt to himself as true damage.
Basic attack reduce the cooldown of this ability by 1 second.

's bread and butter ability for harassing, CSing, trading, bursting, and establishing lane dominance. Also makes it near impossible for a lane opponent to itemise against early on as he has plenty of both AD and True damage. Basically, you want to drop it as much as possible to force your opponent out of lane. Whoever is CSing in melee range should be taking a good smack in the face. Don't be afraid to spam it---its meagre health cost is easily recovered via . The only thing that improves the damage this does is levelling up the skill. Luckily, its damage is very powerful considering the cooldown. Late-game, this isn't powerful to be considered a nuke like 's . Hell, once you get your damage items, you will deal like 2x more damage with your AAs. This is just an extra button to help you burst people down.
TIPS:
- can be used to CS if you think you're not going to use it anytime soon against an opponent. However, I like to conserve it in lane unless I'm under turret.
-Similar to , use immediately after an initial AA if possible to serve as an AA reset. However, will be used mostly by itself due to its higher range compared to your AA range.
-The health you get back from can be amplified by both the healing increase from and . Don't be afraid to last hit with while under the effects of .

RAGNAROK: Passive: Olaf gains 10 / 20 / 30 armor and magic resist.
Active: Breaks any crowd control effects. Olaf loses the passive bonus armor and magic resist, but gains 40/60/80 bonus attack damage.

This is 's defining ability, making him ignores all forms of CC for 6 seconds. This means that you have 6 seconds to dive into the enemy backline and f*ck the carries upside down. With your DPS, 6 seconds should be more than enough to kill the enemy carry. In-lane, its not as big a powerspike compared to other champions' ultimates, like 's or 's , but nonetheless is a very powerful tool if utilised properly. This ability is like 's : you can activate while under the effects of any CC. That means if you're currently suppressed under or , you can instantly activate and the suppression will end on the spot. It also gives you a notable 80AD. Not game-changing, but notable, as the 80AD will help you kill the carries faster.

TIPS:
- can save you from potentially sticky situations, such as when ganked. A combination of and early on can get you back to your turret safely.
- only gives you CC immunity and not bonus movement speed. That means against champions like and that have no in-built CC, DO NOT EVER USE (unless they have something like Red Buff or ). PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE NOOBNESS.
-If you're under the effects of a CC, you can still activate . Example: lands on you, you can activate while hooked to negate the effect.
-Thanks to , items that provide tenacity or offer a similar effect are unnecessary for , as , which gives CC immunity, already negates all CC. Therefore, avoid buying items like and .
- only removes the CC component of an ability. For example, the slow from 's will be purged, but the AD debuff will still take place. This is the same with 's .

Skill Sequence

Click me if you are still noob! Ignore this if you are pro!

Hi Joshua! If you're still noob and cannot understand why my skill distribution is as such, read on! If you already can understand, then this chapter is redundant! Skip it!

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So as you can see above, my skill distribution is as such. Of course it is not completely inflexible, but 75% of the time, you would want to take this(the other 25% being when you are jungling or against a ranged opponent). Alright, now onto the show.

MAX FIRST:
EXPLANATION: If you're reading this, you're almost completely hopeless. Everyone knows you should max your ultimate first, and is no exception. You mean you don't want an AD steroid and CC immunity to get your *ss in and out of sticky situations? gives you the most value for a skill point (20 AD per level and reduced cooldown). There's no reason why you don't want to max this first.

MAX SECOND/THIRD: /
EXPLANATION: This is the part of which I'm flexible about, because both skills are amazing in their own ways and an individual skill might help you more than the other in certain situations. Don't understand 'cause you're noob? No worries. Let me explain.

Against melee opponents, you would generally want to max first. In-lane, you stomp 90% of your melee matchups(the exception being a well-played //). As such, most champions will not dare to contest with you in a 1v1 situation. They will come in, try to deal some burst damage to you, then quickly get out. Champions with burst and mobility(such as , for example) can engage and disengage quickly out of harm's way. Thus, will be your main form of retaliation., which serves as your burst damage.

Note this: true damage is HUGE early game, and is 10x more frightening as compared to late game. The reason is because champions rarely stack HP early as compared to later stages of the game. Your will thus hit them for Tons of Damage. Just think about how many champions can contend with 100 hitpoints of true damage at level 2. Plus, harass with is practically free. It has no mana cost, and you can easily recover health with .

Also as I have already mentioned in the previous paragraph, the true damage from is piss poor in late game, especially since you would be critting with your AAs twice a second for alot more than this 400~ true damage. It is best to max it early game, when people don;t have significant health pools to undertake the pain from yet to maximise this ability to the fullest.

Additionally, can be used to zone your opponents. As I said, not many champions can contend with true damage early on. I tee you that 1 to their face will make them run, especially if they are tanks like , and . As such, the threat of getting a to the face will make them afraid of you and not go near you. What if you're standing next to your own minions? Then they won't even dare to take the minions because your will chunk them for such a huge amount of their health that they rather miss CS than take so much damage. This is why, Joshy, you want to hold on to this advantage as long as possible by maxing first, and by FREEZING THE LANE.

Note: I will explain on why you should freeze lane later on.

So, Joshy, you have read my reasoning for maxing . So when should you max first? If you're so dumb you still can't figure it out, let me explain.

is a long-ranged skillshot that serves, similar to , as a form of harassment, CSing, and also an AA-reset of sorts. The difference between and , however, lie mostly in the fact that is long-ranged, AOE, requires mana and slows.

In-lane(top), most opponents you will face are melee. As such, is unnecessary against them as it only serves as a slow so you can catch up to them or enhances your burst damage. Against melee tops, you'd rarely want to max this first.

However, being against ranged champions is another matter.

Remember the introduction when I said is susceptible to being buttf*cked by ranged opponents like , , and yours truly, ? There should be no reason taking top against them in the first place unless they're really noob, but in Blind Pick you don't really have a choice.

excels against melee opponents because he can easily reach them and give them a good in the face. However, the 325 range of isn't going to help you much against a ranged opponent who has, on average, 550 range (unless its with 425 range). As such, will be practically useless in the case of harassment, and would come in useful only when you are CSing to aid you with last-hitting. However, , which has a long range(1000) and decent damage with a 100% AD ratio, is good for farming creeps, or even waves of creeps due to its AOE damage.

The 1 good thing about is that while its 60 mana cost is high early on, it doesn't increase with levels, so as you level up and gain access to more mana, using becomes more manageable.

As I was saying anyway, 's range allows you to freely CS from a distance and offers you some harassment with your own. Even so, don't get too trigger-happy with ! Excessive use of this ability will leave your mana drained.

The other reason I would choose to max over is when you screwed up badly against a melee opponent(eg. Got f*cked up pretty bad by 's level 2 cheese). As in such a situation, I would put some points (Note: SOME POINTS) in to harass him from a distance while I recover.

That's all, Joshy. Anything else you want me to explain? :)

MAX LAST:
EXPLANATION: Okay, we finally come to the last part. Joshua, you read this and you'd BETTER improve, because I spent time into planning and making this guide. Ahem, anyway, moving on, as you can see, is maxed last. This is generally agreed on by 95% of the community. If you've been reading other guides, you'll see that they max last as well. The reason being doesn't provide much benefits upon levelling it up.

Take a point in early. Yes, I won't debate that. I COMMAND that, even. 40% flat AS and 9% flat LS is too good to pass up, it can help you sustain your lane and increase your health gained throughout the entire game.

isn't like 's that gives you reduced cooldown, 15% AS and increased MS etc. It only gives you 10% and 3% bonus AS and LS respectively per level. Moreover, the cooldown and duration of the skill remains unchanged. Compare that and tell me whether you want 45 extra true damage AND cooldown reduction of or 10% extra AS which won't come in useful 80% of the time because no one will dare to fight you 1v1.

Spoiler: Click to view

Item Overview

I understand you, Joshy, I really do. Alright, you are pardoned if you do not understand why my items are as such. They looked f*cked up individually and throughout my entire arsenal of items, only 1 or 2 tanky items are present. But don't treat this build as trash. It works. It really does. Now, let me explain and go through this step-by-step.

Item Sequence

Note: Ignore the <<ITEM SEQUENCE>> thing. This is only to show you the full build.

Alright, on with the show.

Lets breakdown this item in terms of the stats it provides.

80 AD---Very good, very strong obviously, no questions asked. Gives your and extra damage, and when enhanced by a crit, this 80 AD is nothing to be laughed at.

20% LIFESTEAL---Incredibly Strong. You might not realise it, but when you crit for over 1000 damage in the late-game, this lifesteal is useful as f*ck. With the healing amplification from (if you choose to get it over /) and , the amount of HP you can lifesteal is crazy.

50-350 HP SHIELD---F*CKING GOOD. EXTREMELY GOOD. I HAVE NO F*CKING WORDS TO DESCRIBE MY JOY ABOUT THIS SHIELD. Its like an additional 350 HP, and because of your high lifesteal, you can refresh it over and over again. The shield scales with your armor and MR, meaning that its exactly like your HP pool. In-lane, the shield will help you take harassment from your lane opponent or shrug off retaliations. Hell, the shield can even absorb the damage you deal to yourself with . Whats there not to like?!

Generally because of the high offensive stats that provides, I like to rush it as a first item IF I'M DOMINATING THE LANE. The bonus AD is great because both of your offensive abilites, and , scale up with AD, and the lifesteal is good for recovering from enemy retaliations. However if you're screwing up, its best to leave this item alone and rush some resistances/HP first.

50% AS---A good amount of AS is great to aid your DPS. Not much to explain here, since already has so much AS through , and his other items that this item won't make much of a difference (maybe around 0.4 extra AS%).

30% CS---This is the reason why you get . God*amn, 30% CSC is nothing to sneeze at. Combined with and , you'll be hitting 70% CSC---essentially critting 2 out of every 3 attacks or even moreso. With your high AD, your crits will be hitting for insane damage. I will elaborate more on this later.

5% MS---Nothing much, will help you in catching up with the carries in the backline late-game but pretty substandard compared to the MS from and . Even so, better than nothing.

30 AD---A small amount of AD which will help increase your damage output, not amazing, but respectable. Coupled with other items, this AD will become very noticeable.

15% CSC---CSC is really under-rated on . 15% crit chance is nothing on its own, but coupled with you should be critting at least twice per 3 AAs. In the late game, a critical strike deals around 1k damage on a squishy champion. Obviously, 1k damage in a single auto-attack is nothing to laugh at.

20 ARMOR PENETRATION---Insane. Seriously, it may not seem like much, but 20 Armor Penetration is a LOT, and even more when you take Armor Penetration runes. This stat is one of the biggest reasons why is viable. Don't know why? More emphasis will be put on explaining the power of Armor Penetration later on in the guide.

20% MOVEMENT SPEED (ACTIVE)---GODLIKE. This probably doesn't even look that good at first glance, but trust me, it's EXTREMELY strong. It plays a huge part in the plays you will be able to make with and . Again, this will be explained more in depth further on in the guide.

40% ATTACK SPEED (ACTIVE)---Not the most amazing thing about the item, but still very much welcome. The ability to become an even more powerful DPS champ than you already are for 6 seconds is stronger than you might think. If can deal 1k damage to squishies per auto-attack, imagine how much damage he can do when he deals an additonal 0.3 attacks per second for 6 seconds. Even ignoring the amazingness of being able to turn into a DPS and r@pe everyone for 6 seconds, you'll mostly be using 's active to charge onto squishy enemies and melt them as fast as possible. Attack speed = more damage, and more damage, no matter from what source, is ALWAYS welcome when you're fighting.

80 AD---Similar to that of . Obviously very strong, no questions asked.

25% CSC---Very strong as well, although its very, very under-rated. On its own, it wouldn't be worth buying , but with and , which are core items on simply because of the additional MS it provides for you to quickly reach an opponent, the CSC you get adds up to a total of 70%, since and coincidentally also give CSC. This high amount of CSC means that you're almost guaranteed to crit twice every 3 AAs. A crit basically increases your damage's AD ratio by 1 point, which is extremely strong. The fact that 25% CSC will synergize with and 15% and 30% CSC respectively, means that this 25% CSC is also nothing to sneeze at.

+50% CRIT DAMAGE---It increases your damage's AD ratio by 0.5 for every crit you make. Not that strong, but still very noticeable. It means that each critical strike you score increases your damage's AD ratio by 1.5 points. Which is stronger than you might think, especially when you have so much AD through your items.

500 HP---I don't need to tell you how 500 HP can come in useful in so many ways, especially since you have high resistances thanks to this item's 70 Armor, 's 55 MR, and 's passive Armor & MR bonus. Again, this might not seem like alot by itself, but combined with the 450 HP from and the 350 damage shield from and including your bonus health from and in the mastery tree, you would have well over 3500 HP. I don't need to tell you how much that is. I will further elaborate on this later on.

70 ARMOR---You don't need me to tell you about the benefits of armor. What more is there to say? More armor=less damage taken. Since enemies mostly deal AD, its always good to have the bonus armor mitigate some of that damage dealt.

AOE SLOW---Very, very strong. The fact that it is AOE makes it even better. As , your primary and most probable job is to dive into the enemy team and take down the ADC while surviving as long as possible to deal damage. The fact that you are right in the middle of the enemy team makes this slow affect many members. Also, the slow is a great way to ensure you manage to stick to the carries for long enough just in case you can't land or need that extra edge to catch up initially. With Red Buff, , and all my MS buffs, sticking to an opponent is never easier.

15% ATTACK SPEED SLOWING EFFECT---So, based on the damage you deal you obviously will become a priority target late-game. Thus, people will inevitably decide to focus you first. The fact that you are melee makes it even easier for them since you will need to tank some damage before being able to reach the enemy backline(unless somehow a has bonded with you and can throw you inside the action). This effect will make carries wary of attacking you as their AS will be slowed. This effect isn't very strong, but will help you maintain you health while diving an enemy team.

is my go-to armor item for 90% of the time. the initial buy of and is something you would be likely to do in-laneto mitigate some damage dealt to you. is also a decent laning-item, especially if you are against AA-reliant champions that are mostly AD like , , , and the like. If you're losing lane against an AD opponent, this or would be the first item I rush.

However, some champions like and rely on abilities and not AAs to f*ck you up. In such cases, I would either get or simply a and .

400 HP---Great on obviously. HP is good on everyone. Go read up my section on .

55 MR---With our kind of luck, there's almost 100% an AP champion is a threat. Either its a godlike rampaging through the jungle, or an unstoppable dominating the lane. This MR will help you sustain some initial burst from AP champions. Its actually similar to the reason of which you take armor.

10% CDR---By itself, it isn't alot, but with the 10% CDR from , 5% from and 5% from , you would have 30% CDR. Top it up with a Blue Buff, and bingo: max CDR at 40%.

20% HEALING AMPLIFICATION---Do you even need me to explain this? 's kit is practically MEANT for sustain. Look at . Look at the 30% LS from and . This healing amplification will bring your healing off-charts. It scales with practically everything. I will increase the damage you lifesteal, it will increase the heal of an ally , it will increase the health you gain as you level up, it will even increase the HP you gain back when you kill a unit with ! What's there not to like?

Generally, the above items are what I get 80% of the time. However, if a particular situation arises of which the enemy team is full AD (it happens) or if they just like stacking HP instead of resistances, I would include it my build:

Yep, this baby. One of my favourite items in LoL. Obviously because it deals % damage, its great for the situation when your enemies spam HP and neglect armor altogether. is also a viable substitution for if you don't find yourself in particular need of mobility as it also gives you chasing power, although not as great as . Of course as I have already stated when you are against a full AD team, you can substitute out for this as well.

Itemization & Sequence

In 90% of all my games, I start with either or . These two items vary in terms of one being more conservative and tanky, and the other more on damage potential and sustain.

I split the opponents you will face top lane into 4 categories:

AA-reliant champions: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , AD , another

AD casters (who cast abilities to deal damage): , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tanks: , , , , , , tanky

AP casters: AP , , , , AP , , ,

Of course, not all lane matchups are included, but these champions are generally what you see top most of the time.

Against category 1, AA-reliant champions: Most of these champions are no match for you early, with exceptions being perhaps or . If you think that their AAs are going to be a problem(e.g. they can harass from a distance like or will engage on you often like ), pick . It is good for taking less damage, and through the health regen and you you will be able to stay healthy while emerging triumphant in lane skirmishes.

Against category 2, AD casters: Some of these champions have very strong early games, like and . If you think you can't match their prowess early on, consider +4 s+1 . This build is meant at giving you maximum sustain in lane and ensures that you can take harass. However, if they are pushovers like , that can be easily harassed and can be won in early duels, is the way to go. Since AD casters rely on abilities and not AAs to fight you, do not pick .

Against category 3, tanks: These champions have weak early games and, in general, tend to rush health and resistances. As such, they will be dealing minimal damage, damage that you can easily lifesteal back with . In this scenario, my preferred start would be because the flat HP and AD help me in many lane skirmishes, and the lifesteal ensures I stay healthy. Due to the fact that they won't be offensive, don't buy defensive items yet.

Lastly, category 4: AP casters: I hate going against these champions because they have something doesn't: range. try asking for a lane swap if possible, but if it isn't, then get either and s or . get if you know you can going to take alot of harassment in lane and need the sustain to remain in lane, such as against a . On the contrary, if you are confident of this matchup(like your AP opponent is melee such as ), then you can take and start dropping the harassment with and .

During laning phase, I like to get a few s, usually 1 or 2 of them. The base stats of a is really good and very cost efficient. Every of the stats provides is useful on . However, if you don't find that you need this extra edge over your enemy as you are winning lane hard, you can choose to rush your first offensive item, or . If you are the one getting downright dominated, however, rushing resistances and HP in the form of either , or is fine. Don't be afraid to get defensive items EVEN if you are winning lane. It can help you alot in future lane skirmishes and tower dives/ganks.

Of course, even though boots should be sold later on, you can get boots based on your current needs. , for example, is really good against a and can help you take that annoying harass better. Feel free to get an early to help catch up to fleeing opponents.

My first offensive item would be . Rushing this item is great early because the sustain it gives is amazing, and the shield lets you shrug off harass easily. For more details, read my <Item Explanation> section above.

Against AD opponents, you SHOULD be dominating them by the time it comes to your first item. There aren't many champions that scale as well as especially around the level 7-9 mark when you essentially hit them once every few seconds for 1/5 of their HP with . Get a few s if you're getting roughed over, then a to ensure you have sufficient HP to boot up the armor, then build either or depending on whether the enemy is an AD caster or an AA-reliant champion.

If you're facing an AP champion, however, rushing and subsequently is a good alternative. is also viable if you need more HP to sustain the harass. For greater offensive power, getting into is a good way to sustain the pain as well as giving you a possible chance to counterattack and turn the table on your opponent.

After laning phase, you would want to itemize against the entire enemy team because teamfights will become much more frequent. Basically, you want resistances to counter whoever is doing the best on the enemy team. I like to rush some resistances early through and some health through and . Note that YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPLETE THESE ITEMS ANYTIME SOON unless you really need the extra HP/resistance badly. After an initial , I like to get and then . Then if need be, I finish my defensive items before getting and finally or .

You would want to pick only into WINNING matchups like and , because this increases our chance of destroying them and getting your items more quickly. However in blind pick, it is understandable that you, Joshy, might sometimes get trumped by a better opponent or a strong matchup. In his case, my build #4(see cheatsheet) comes in useful. Play a more supportive role on your team, and rush resistances and HP.

Items like , and will aid your team greatly since you're playing more of a supportive role. Of course, you're , so a bit of damage items will be very welcome. I like and because they give me good split-pushing and 1v1 potential. If need be, 's active can help me reach the enemy carries quickly and these damage items are enough for me to finish them off.

Item Calculations

Alright, if you can't remember, lets go over the build another time.

Item Sequence

As I have mentioned in the previous chapters, this build is good and efficient, because it allows excellent sticking potential while giving you tons of damage and ensuring that you stay relatively tanky at the same time.

But wait! Don't just take my word for it. Let me prove it for you.

HP:
's base HP at level 18 is 2178. gives an additional 400, and 500. Finally, give 36, provides a 3% increase in all of this, and 's shield effectively gives you an additional 350.

[(Base HP+++ x (100%+3% from )]+ shield
= [(2178+400+500+36) x 1.03]+350
= 3557.42
= 3557 (nearest whole number)

Armor:
's base armor at level 18 is 77. provides 70 bonus armor. also gives 30 bonus armor. Your will give you 1 bonus armor each. will augment the bonus armor by an additional 5%.

Base Armor+[(++) x (100%+5% from )]
= 77+[(70+30+9) x 1.05]
= 191.45 armor
= 191 armor (nearest whole number)

MR:
's base MR is 53.4. provides 55 bonus MR, provides a bonus 30 MR, give 3 MR each, and enhances your bonus MR by 5%.

Base MR+[(++) x (100%+5% from )]
= 53.4+[(55+30+27) x 1.05]
= 171.0 MR

Total: 171 MR, 191 Armor, 3557 HP

Now, take a look at this graph.

Basically, having 191 armor will put you around 64~65% physical damage reduction. Meaning that with 3557 HP, the effective HP you have is almost tripled.

171 MR will also put you around 62~63% magic damage reduction. Against mages, your effective health is nearly tripled as well.

So you get what I mean? With a mere 2 items(excluding ) and despite going 21:9, has such high tanky potential. What does this prove? That he is DEFINITELY tanky enough to ensure he can remain alive till he reaches the enemy carries.

Alright, now to the damage part. I've already told you that my build packs a tonload of damage. But again, don't simply trust what I say! Allow me to show you.

's base AD at level 18 is 119. 's active component gives him an additional 80, followed by and , that give 80 AD each. provides an additional 30 AD to the mix. Finally, and will give a total of 14 AD, with topping it off by giving you 5% bonus AD. So, your total AD will be equivalent to:

Base AD+[(+++++) x (100%+5% from )
= 119+[(80+80+80+30+10+4) x 1.05]
= 417.2 AD

Now look at this damage. Impressive right? but wait! We aren't finished yet! With all the CSC you accumulated, you should be critting pretty often. Lets see how much a single crit will do!

Total AD x (200%+50% from )
= 417.2 x 2.5
= 1043.0 Physical Damage

Over 1000. The crits you'll be scoring twice a second will hit for over 1000. I'm not even taking into account the damage increase from , and yet, and you already see the 1000 damage coming to the table. Still have doubts about 's DPS?

But wait! We aren't finished yet. A fundamantal part of 's kit still remains uncovered: Attack Speed.

Olaf's base AS is 0.694(+45.9 at level 18). provides 50% AS, the active of gives another 40%, and tops it off with 80%. Lets assume still has 3/4 of his HP when he finally gets to the enemy ADC. would then give him 25% AS.

Calculating bonus AS:
AS from levelling up++++
= 45.9 %+50 %+40 %+80 %+25 %
= 240.9% bonus AS

Total AS:
Base AS x (100%+bonus AS %)
= 0.694 x (100%+240.9%)
= 2.365846 AS
= 2.37 (2 dec. pl.)

As you can see here, you will be hitting for well over 2 times a second. With the AS cap being 2.5, you can easily hit it if your HP manages to drop lower than 50 or so %. Now, let us calculate how much damage we will deal per second based on this AS.

How much health does an ADC have late-game? Around 2000~. At this rate of which we are hitting, how long do you think it takes to burst him down?

But wait! We can't just rely on HP to tell how powerful is 's damage. We need to take into account armor as well. So, lets set up a scenario of which you, , are against an enemy .

has 75 base armor and 2023 base HP at level 18. Lets assume she went for a couple of , which would then put her armor at 84. Now, lets begin to factor in our damage by first taking into consideration our armor penetration.

From greater mark of armor penetration and greater quintessence of armor penetration, I gain 1.28 and 2.56 armor penetration respectively. gives me an additional 20 armor penetration, and from I obtain 6% armor penetration.

[Base armor x (100%-6% from )]-(1.28 from greater mark of armor penetration x 9)-2.58 from greater quintessence of armor penetration-20 from )
= (84 x 0.94)-(1.28 x 9)-2.58-20
= 44.86 armor

Damage dealt to with 44.86 armor (per crit)
= [100÷(100+44.86)] x 1043
= 720 physical damage (nearest whole number)

Damage dealt to with 44.86 armor (non-crit)
= [100÷(100+44.86)] x 417.2
= 288 physical damage (nearest whole number)

Lets run over 's HP again: 2023. With 70% CSC, it can be taken as that you would usually crit thrice upon every 4 AAs (75%~ chance). Lets take this into account:

Damage dealt over 4 AAs
= (3 x 720) + 288
= 2488 effective HP

How much AS do you have? 2.37. Ignoring the excess .37 AS, let us assume that you simply have an AS of 2.00. Even so, you would be able to land 4 AAs in the timespan of 2 seconds. I've already given you how much damage you would probably deal with these 4 AAs. What does this mean? It means that even excluding the damage you could deal from and , you are likely to kill an ADC extremely quickly, around 2 seconds or so once you land your initial AA.

But how are we even going to reach them? How is going to stick to them? The answer is simple. By your incredible MS from , and , CC immunity through , slow from and hopefully the Red Buff that your jungler donated to you. But as usual, don't just let me leave my word at that and trust me! Let me show you what I mean.

Olaf's base MS is 350. gives him a flat 28% for 10 seconds. provides an extra 20%, followed by 's flat 5%.

Total MS
=350 x (100% + 28% from + 20% from + 5% from )
=350 x 153% (or 1.53)
=535.5 MS
=536 MS (nearest whole number)

Let's use as an example again. 's base MS is 325. Lets say that, like any generic ADC build, she has berserker greaves and a . These 2 items help her gain up to [(325+45) x 1.05]=388.5 MS. Let's not take 's passive, , into account here because you SHOULD have landed an axe onto her in the beginning of the fight, negating it. How much MS do you have? 536. will reduce 's MS by 45%, essentially making her MS (388.5 x 0.55)=214 MS (nearest whole number). What does this mean? This means that you travel practically 2.5x faster than her. Once your each her, there's no escaping. 4 AAs will leave her dead, and she will stay in range long enough due to and Red Buff.

And that's not even including the MS that your allies could possible give you, for example through 's , 's , or an allied champion activating . With the two slows from and Red Buff, sticking to a target is no problem at all.

So, let's put everything together, right from the beginning.

's stats:
HP: 3557
ARMOR: 191
MR: 171
AD: 417
ARMOR PEN: 6%, 34
AS: 2.37
MS: 536

What do we have here? We have a tanky, incredibly strong DPS champion that can not only soak up an impressive amount of damage but also deal some good damage of his own. can stay alive for long enough to deal signifcant damage, and even so it will be difficult to put him down due to his high sustain through lifesteal.

Lets just go over the pros of this build:

1: IT HAS POTENTIAL FOR MAKING MASSIVE PLAYS
The combination of instant, fast MS at the press of a button AND your high DPS means that if catches anyone out of position, either when split pushing or in a teamfight, he can punish the enemy really well. Because of 's instant mobility and high damage output, he can easily charge out from the fog of war, ambush a lone(or even 2) member(s) of the enemy team and kill them before they manage to escape.

2: IT GIVES YOU SUFFICIENT SURVIVABILITY
The combination of having high resistances and a substantial amount of health to boot means that can soak up a good amount of damage for his team. Due to the CC immunity from and through the MS from your items and , can become a near uncatchable force.

3: MAKES YOU AN INCREDIBLE DUELIST/SPLIT PUSHER
Due to your high escaping potential as highlighted above, has both the damage to split push extremely quickly and the ability to GTFO if things get rough. Due to 's kit and his high damage as well as tankiness, his potential to 1v1 is extremely powerful, thus making him suitable for the role of split-pushing as no lone member of the enemy team can possibly hope to stop a rampaging .

There are other pros, like how it gives your dive-oriented playstyle a much higher rate of success and the like, but the pros mentioned above are unique to this such build. As such, these "controversial" items like , etc. become incredibly viable.

Bad Item Choices

The following section is dedicated some alternatives to my items you might prefer. I would generally avoid picking these items unless a particular situation arises. Even so, there are some clear NOs even if you want to pick outside of those items I chose.

1:
First off, does not need any AP whatsoever. He does not have a single ability that scales with AP, so AP is completely wasted on him!

As with all rules however, there are certain exceptions: and its two upgrades, and .

The mana and AP is unneeded on , yes, but the reason why is acceptable on is because of its passive. Since is by nature, an AA champion and also since your ability cooldowns are so low, you can easily spam proc, which will help you deal alot more damage. Plus, a can later be upgraded to an which provides valuable AOE damage, a slow, CDR and armor. Or, it can be upgraded into a which will give you even greater sticking power with the passive, Rage, as well a bunch of other useful stats like AD, MS, CSC and HP. As such, and its subsequent upgrades are welcome on .

2:
Secondly, avoid buying too much of a particular kind of resistance. Why so? lets refresh your memory with this little graph here.

Now, as you can see from the graph, 100 armor/MR puts you at 50% damage reduction. 200 armor/MR puts you at 66.6666...% damage reduction. 300 armor/MR puts you at 75% damage reduction. See how the % damage reduction gets lower the higher your armor? The increase in % damage reduction from 200 armor/MR to 300 armor/MR is practically non-existent at 8.33... %. This is the reason why I strongly advise against exceeding the 200 armor/MR point, unless the enemy has built penetration items. So unless you see items like , and , avoid exceeding the 200 armor/MR point.

Of course, when the armor/magic pen items really start making a difference in the late-game where an enemy would potentially have more than 1 armor/magic pen item. Even so, you would want to stick to a definite amount of armor/MR.

Lets take a scenario, for example, of which an enemy gets fed. The fed buys and . Flat armor/magic pen is easy to itemize against, because you only need to increase your MR by the amount you wish. For example if you have a current MR of 171, you only need to buy an additional 30 MR to make up for the magic pen.

However, % armor/magic pen is a different scenario altogether. You simply can't just keep stacking armor because it will only aid the amount of armor the item is able to ignore.As sch, I recommend sticking to a MAXIMUM of 300 armor and 250 MR. That way, even if the enemy has a , you will still have an effective 200~ armor left, enough to tank a fair bit of damage.

Lastly, remember the fact that already has to get himself in and out of nasty situations. This means that items like that work JUST LIKE HIS ULT are practically unneeded on him. You already have 6 seconds of CC immunity, why the hell do you need more?

This also applies to tenacity items like , obviously, because who cares about shortening CC duration when YOU CAN'T EVEN BE AFFECTED BY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. However of course, as with the previous cases, there are certain exceptions of which the purchase of such items like tolerable.

You can buy if you're against . I repeat: you can buy against . ONLY AGAINST . The purchase of is justified only with an enemy . That is the only reason why you should even glance at this item.

Why? Reason being 's ultimate, . It's devastating. Once this spell is cast, you can say bye-bye to all of your high resistances and you tanking all the way to the enemy backline, because it softens you up so much that unless you can purge it, you're pretty much f*cked. Look at what does again. 40% of your armor and MR, 28% of your HP. As if that wasn't enough, it would be getting these benefits. As aforementioned, armor pen brings a whole new case to the table, because if the enemy ADC buys and you already have 40% of your armor gone, the pain you are going to take is huge. As such, is only viable in such a scenario. Yes, you won't be able to stop the initial channel. But you will immediately stop the debuff, so the 14% of your health lost isn't that much of a deal compared to taking a full channel of .

Another item similar to that of is . You'd want to buy this for the same reason: negating potentially deadly enemy abilities. The spell shield will save you from a deadly spell should such a circumstance arise. is good for stopping that super fed that's channeling , it might be the vital difference between dying to 's , it will prevent your booty from getting stolen by . As you have seen from my examples provided (I hope), I would only get If there's an extremely important spell I need to negate the effects of. Otherwise, or trump this any day.

From the information I have provided above, it is obvious why you should avoid these items. Unless, as I have stated, a particular situation arises, just avoid the items I listed above.

SItuational Alternatives

This section is dedicated to the alternatives that might either arise out of a special situation OR are simply a good choice when you fall behind/die too often, that kind of thing. As I have always mentioned to you, adapt. Use your imagination! Items that seem preposterous on might be very effective in a certain situation. I've given one such example about mercurial simitar and how it counters .

In short, the items I am going to write about below are items that you might select when in a certain scenario (e.g. against AP heavy team etc.). Note that I HAVE NOT considered all item synergies with as of yet, so don't flame me if I miss out a certain item. I'm not perfect. Feel free to tell me if you think any other items deserve a spot here, Joshy, but please use your brain to think about this item beforehand before coming to me like an idiot.

SECTION STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES!

Early Game Strategies: Laning Phase

In laning phase, you outshine alot of champions that will be going top, especially since most of them are melee. Go read up on my section about Itemization and Sequence(PLS READ IT) on regards about what to get when going top. This will mainly be focused on the strategies of laning.

As a laner, there are a few things you need to learn about. Map awareness, last-hitting, warding, or even knowing the correct opportunity to go in for a kill, are all key and imperative in the skills of a top laner. This chapter is aimed to teaching you, Joshy, the key concepts to mastering the lane and dominating your opponents.

1: The Lane
As a laner, your primary concern early is of course, to take care of your own lane. You don't want to forsake your farm and EXP at top to keep on, say, pressuring dragon or camping mid, not at such an early stage of the game.

For me, the key to dominating the lane is very simple. I always keep tabs on how far I am within the lane, and whether I should freeze or push the lane. Below is a map that I often take into account about my decisions:

As you can see, there are 3 sections in the lane itself. The green section is when

Your Olaf Resource (tailored for Joshua)

Your Olaf Resource (tailored for Joshua)

Recommended Items

Spells:

Teleport

Ghost

Items

Ability Order

Berserker Rage (PASSIVE)

Undertow (Q)

Tough It Out (W)

Reckless Swing (E)

Ragnarok (R)

Threats & Synergies

Renekton

Jax

Nasus

Garen

Darius

Fiora

Udyr

Vladimir

Jayce

Teemo

Olaf

Before we begin...

Introduction

Champion Spotlight

Pros / Cons and Misconceptions

When to pick Olaf?

Spells

Runes

Masteries

Nice Video to help explain about Olaf

Skill Explanation

Skill Sequence

Item Overview

Item Sequence

Itemization & Sequence

Item Calculations

Item Sequence

Bad Item Choices

SItuational Alternatives

Early Game Strategies: Laning Phase

League of Legends Champions: