Glorious combat awaits players who side with Olaf, the Berserker—or at least that was what was promised.
Olaf remained in the shadows of his nerfs for a long time, becoming a champion with a consistently below-average pick rate, according to Riot. Because of this, the devs are implementing changes to the champion’s kit to make him more appealing to the League of Legends player base.
In a post on Reddit, lead gameplay designer Bryan “Axes” Salvatore explained Riot’s motives behind the changes coming to League’s Berserker. The Rioter explained the devs intend to address a “number of urgent issues” that Olaf has, from the low pick percent rate that has been consistent for “many years” to the constant nerfs needed to keep him from taking over the competitive ecosystem.
“The goals for this update are to add significant excitement to his kit,” Salvatore said. “[and] remove a bit of pro-oriented power.” The update also aims to preserve his ability to jungle, while making it more “accessible,” and should facilitate scaling while using Juggernaut items.
The “mid-scope updates” are not complete reworks, as pointed out by lead champion designer August ‘August’ Browning but are adjustments to a champion’s kit. Olaf’s mid-scope updates are now live on the PBE, one patch cycle before they should hit the live servers.
Since Riot has put Olaf up for testing to get early feedback from players, we already have the possible changes the mid-scope update will bring to the Rift.
Base stats
- Attack damage: 68 (+3.5/level), 127.5 at level 18 > 68 (+4.7/level), 148 at level 18
- Health: 575 (+100/level), 2,275 at level 18 > 575 (+105/level), 2,360 at level 18
- Mana: 316 (+42/level), 1,030 at level 18 > 316 (+60/level), 1,336 at level 18
Passive – Berserker Rage
- Calculation reworked to grant max effectiveness at or below 30 percent health
- Maximum attack speed granted: 99 percent > 40-100 percent (levels one-18)
- [New] Now gives up to 12-35 percent life steal (levels one-18), based on Olaf’s missing health
Q – Undertow
- [New] – Shreds 25/27.5/30/32.5/35 percent armor for four seconds on champion hit
- Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 > 60/110/160/210/260
- Minimum range: Approximately 300 > 425
- Mana cost: 60 at all ranks > 40/45/50/55/60
- Cooldown: seven seconds > eight seconds
- Cooldown refund on ax pickup: 4.5 seconds > five seconds
W – Vicious Strikes [Reworked]
- (Ability may be renamed)
- [New] Resets Olaf’s basic attack
- [New] Olaf gains 10/45/80/115/150 (+25 percent of Olaf’s missing health) as a shield for two and a half seconds
- [Removed] No longer grants Life Steal
- [Removed] No longer amplifies Olaf’s healing based on missing health
- Attack Speed: 50/60/70/80/90 percent for six seconds > 40/50/60/70/80 percent for four seconds
- Cooldown: 16 seconds at all ranks > 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
- Missing health component caps out at 30 percent remaining HP
R – Ragnarok
- [New] Hitting a champion with a basic attack or E – Reckless Swing extends the duration of Ragnarok to two and a half seconds. Olaf can refresh Ragnarok indefinitely.
- Duration: six seconds > three seconds
- [Removed] R – Ragnarok’s passive’s bonus resistances are no longer lost for the duration of the cast
- Passive Resists: 20/30/40 > 10/25/40
- AD Bonus: 15/20/25 (+30 percent AD) > 10/20/30 (+25 percent AD)
The mid-scope update aims to improve the champion’s pick rate, among other things. That is why Olaf, Swain, and Taliayh will see their abilities reworked in upcoming patches.
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