Goodbye Olaf. It was nice knowing you before Riot nerfed you into oblivion.

I love how instead of targeting a couple things about a champion's kit when they nerf them they usually hit the -entire- kit. In this case, huge nerf to undertow on ganks, 33% increase to Vicious Strikes CD, nerf to health items which he builds on, and the huge nerf to his ultimate passive. Before his ultimate was a defensive skill - pop it to cleanse and gain defensive steroid. Now we're supposed to use it offensively too? Amalgamate much? This just doesn't make sense.

Nerfs scale multiplicatively. If you nerf one variable of a champions power by X % it nerfs their total power by that amount (assuming it's a core aspect of the kit). Now, if you nerf multiple variables of the kit by the same X % it does NOT nerf their total power by X, but instead X times the number of variables nerfed. My question is this: Why does Riot always do this? Why can they not just hit 1 or a couple things and go from there instead of constantly destroying champions with one overnerf and then reverting them... ?

I hope this doesn't sound too pessimistic but it's a legitimate concern.

+1bump

goodbye olaf?

wtf get a girlfriend or something

Thanks for bumping my thread.

These nerfs(ssssssssss) bring tears to my eyes. Good thread is good.

I agree with OP.

Olaf maybe needed like 1 small change not the huge nerf hammer they took to bludgeon him to death.

I'm betting after they see him not being picked for the next few weeks they'll revert them again

You mean the spammable slow on an impossibly short cooldown if you aim it well?

You mean the free AD/lifesteal/Spellvamp buff that could have nearly 100% uptime with CDR items? (Which are in his build with Kindlegem and its various upgrades)

The health items aren't a direct nerf to him; they're a nerf to overpowered items. This affects all other champions that build it too. Before you whine that he scales with health, so do Nautilus, Sejuani, and a few other champions.

And a well deserved one. Gaining a full set of reds, quints, and a Black Cleaver in flat armor penetration just as a passive is a bit ridiculous. Percent penetration at least has its place because it is less powerful early game before armor is built (Darius, Xerath) but giving a large amount of flat penetration has been problematic (recent Amumu nerf)

Not even remotely true. Olaf has been using his ultimate offensively to chase through to squishy targets for years. You're apparently behind the curve.

These nerfs weren't directed at the average player; they were directed at high end play where Olaf is out of control because of players better than us.

82% GD's fault.
16.8% Riot's fault because of Warmog.
1.2% Michael Jackon's fault.

Olaf was my 3rd champ, I remember the days to save up for him. I played him for a long time, and he is still one of my favorite champs. I think that this nerf makes sense. It is so he cant fight, all the time. His penetration on ult never really made sense to me because of his e. But, I think what makes me have a first world problem cry moment was when they took out HoG, that hurt my play style and lane so much.

p_q

I agree Olaf was strong this season due to the items mainly.. which is all they had to tweak at first before touching his kit but they went in heavy and I won't be suprised if they regret it like they did with Diana.

The only change I think was required was halving the armor penetration on his passive or finding an inbetween. +30 was far too much this season when you add everything else into the mix. I think if they reduced it to +5 Armor penetration per rank, giving a total of +15 at max rank it would have been a good first step and then obviously if that isn't enough they can look into his W.

Undertow did not need to be touched at all though. Sigh.