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Can we remove Olaf's mana cost on W and just give him an axe pool for a resource?

FalconPawwwwnch·Apr 17, 2015·77 votes·3,885 views

Basically, Olaf's mana pool is removed and instead his resource bar is an Axe pool which shows how many axes he has at a given time. Picking up an axe lowers the cooldown and affects the axe pool in a certain way. The reason for this is that his W's mana cost is so abysmally low that it almost isn't even relevant. The exact numbers and resource management can be decided after testing. I think this idea was already brought up a long time ago, if I remember it was by hashinshin, and it blows my mind that nobody else cares enough to talk about it again.

Pros: *First of all, while it may fit better to make him based off of fury/rage like tryndamere since he's a viking, that idea's already been done on number of champions, while this idea hasn't been done on anybody.

*Olaf's only meaningful mana cost is his Axe anyway, so it's not like removing the almost meaningless cost on W will change much. E costs no mana, and neither does R.

*Easier for opponents to read Olaf's resources to know if he can throw an Axe since they can see how many axes he has left in his resource bar, whereas many players don't know how much mana Olaf's Axe actually costs (it's 60 fyi).

*It's more thematic due to a core Olaf mechanic being picking up axes anyway

Cons: *Another "manaless" champion (albeit not resourcelss) really upsets the LoL community

Thoughts?

28 Comments

Pluie BattanteApr 17, 20159 votes

[deleted]

Very Hard EngageApr 17, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Pluie Battante,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=aYM2eF1B,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-04-17T20:46:40.546+0000)

The cool down on his Q is nothing if you pick up a axe; not to mention it's what gates him from spamming more then he can already. If anything I feel he's in a healthy place as a Top laner, or Jungler. Maybe a few changes, nothing crazy could be nice for him. But a major change like that really is to much.

id like to play olaf, but i watched oddone play him a lot and its really taxing to powerfarm the jungle, he needs that blue buff. it forces him into lane and ganks more often than anything else. its just not for me, theres a clear cut method you just have to play him otherwise hes oom and cant do anything.

The TrentApr 18, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Pluie Battante,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=aYM2eF1B,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-04-17T20:46:40.546+0000)

The cool down on his Q is nothing if you pick up a axe; not to mention it's what gates him from spamming more then he can already. If anything I feel he's in a healthy place as a Top laner, or Jungler. Maybe a few changes, nothing crazy could be nice for him. But a major change like that really is to much.

Healthy place isn't viable in this game. Think of all the champions without a healthy place that could easily beat him top lane. Irelia, everyone, maybe even Teemo, actually not Teemo cus u can just ult his dark. So basically Olaf is a counter pick to Teemo and that's pretty much all.

RavanlkApr 20, 20151 votes

Have you played him recently? Play 100 games with him and you will see real quick just how many draw backs he has right now.

qetzelApr 17, 20153 votes

I think he needs some form of gating to prevent him from spamming axes off cooldown. He is already quite a strong lane bully.

FalconPawwwwnchApr 17, 20157 votes

Yea, his axe pool

It's not like it's gonna regenerate as fast as energy lol

qetzelApr 17, 20153 votes

From the OP it sounded like he was going to have an ammo system. This doesn't have the same effect as mana, which essentially gives him a limited number of axes to throw.

FalconPawwwwnchApr 17, 20155 votes

Mana regens at a slow rate, and so can Olaf's axe pool

It's not like he can just reuse an axe at full quality when he picks up the one he just threw, axes get damaged when you toss them around

qetzelApr 17, 20153 votes

So what you are doing (in effect) is increasing the cooldown of his axe toss but removing the mana cost? I feel I need more information here before I can make a proper judgement.

kunkudunkApr 18, 20151 votes

I think what he is suggesting is perhaps having his q have a low cd but also an ammo system that has a higher cd on charges and you get part of a charge by picking up an ax. Basically, imagine his q has like 4-5 base cd, 18 second cd on ax charges and a max ammo of 5 or something. Just made up numbers on the spot but you get the idea.

FalconPawwwwnchApr 18, 20152 votes

Yea what he said. The cooldown gets reduced when you pickup axes anyway so it'll function similarly

Cant Be SlowedApr 18, 20151 votes

summoner 30

bradApr 17, 20154 votes

{quoted}

Mana regens at a slow rate, and so can Olaf's axe pool

It's not like he can just reuse an axe at full quality when he picks up the one he just threw, axes get damaged when you toss them around

but you can do that right now

so you just want to nerf him?

Vellich0rApr 18, 20153 votes

It would be a buff to a skilled Olaf from the sound of it. This plus removing the "no armor or magic resist bonus while ulting" thing would bring him into a viable position I think. It could prevent spam without making him useless when he doesn't have blue.

KSHarrisonApr 17, 20152 votes

As someone who semi-mains jungle Olaf, the perma Axe chase is sometimes unstoppable, so I'm not against the idea of a trade off somewhere, and it would create a cool alignment with his axe theme.

One problem though is for jungle Olaf. He spams axe to help his clear. He also doesn't max W until 3rd, which means it stays at 30 mana, so he won't benefit too much from it being removed, making this likely an overall decent nerf. In lane though the free sustain on cooldown would actually be pretty beneficial, so it might buff him there. Not sure on the lane interaction.

arc95Apr 18, 20152 votes

i like the idea but i feel like running him off fury or energy will work a little better maybe something like Q- 50 to 80 energy per throw(picking up ax reduces cd) W- 5-10 energy per AA(and then make his W a toggle possibly), or like 100 energy flat cost E- 50 energy+Current Health cost R- 100 energy , or something like his W and give it a energy per AA based cost(but not make it a toggle)

Cenobite AzazielApr 18, 20152 votes

it's a buff to early and a nerf to late game. I don't think it is a good idea.

JustMyBassCannonApr 18, 20152 votes

"Let's add an arbitrary system to a champion for no reason whatsoever!"

Or let's not, because "different" doesn't mean "better," and this doesn't help Olaf's problems.

MrBuffingtonApr 18, 20151 votes

I think it's a fun idea, not sure how it'll balance though.

Affinity2Apr 18, 20151 votes

its not that noone cares its that everytime i throw up a legit way to make the character less toxic it gets 0 attention.

a axe pool would allow for a bigger power budget for sure though and create highs and low based on chase distance

Bethor KookalianApr 18, 20151 votes

Removing mana from Olaf's kit is a HUGE buff unless you nerf Axes to compensate. Cause keep in mind, mana and Mp5 scale with levels and with certain items that Olaf can build, like Triforce and Frozen Heart. This means, either A)you use a simple Ammo system that's an effective nerf to Olaf's axe spam or B)you replicate the mana system without 'calling it' mana. The former sounds like a bad plan to me and the latter sounds like its not worth doing, even if it could be slightly better calibrated.

Mindworm JimApr 18, 20151 votes

Given that Undertow is basically the only thing Olaf spends mana on, how will a charge system actually change how he functions? Every 60 maximum mana is one axe charge and his mana regeneration determines how long it takes to get a charge back.

Cant Be SlowedApr 18, 20151 votes

olaf in my account NOT OWNED XD

Equinox MKDApr 18, 20151 votes

LoL manaless, like olaf uses any mana except for 1 spell which isnt used for killing anyway

RavanlkApr 20, 20151 votes

You obviously have never played him if you think he only has one mana spell, therefore don't be weighing in on a champ you know nothing about.

Equinox MKDApr 25, 20151 votes

Sorry i am not your average retard in the LoL community, and yeah he has only 1 mana spell and thats the q, if u ever have lack of mana for w or r then u suck at playing him

yukonlApr 18, 20151 votes

Olaf could use a little buff, but not too much. With the incoming changes to Black Cleaver along with the already existing Cinderhulk, Olaf might already be a decent champion in his current state.

RavanlkApr 20, 20151 votes

This could be amazing for Olaf. I feel you could tweak it as well so when he is in the jungle he will no longer be capped by his mana costs, with out becoming brokenly op top with no mana for his q. Because right now in the jungle with out blue he runs out of mana instantly. Top lane he has one of the best 1v1s as long as he has mana, but once he has used 3-4 axes he no longer has mana and is close to useless. I think this could be a phenomenal change for him.

For those of you that think he is in a fine spot, go play 100 games with him and then come back and comment. I think he is an amazing champ and would say isn't useless as a champ, but don't tell me he is even close to being comparable to other top tier picks.

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