This question has surely come to the mind of all Blitzcrank players in League of Legends: does using Overload (his W) allow you to arrive faster on the lane, or is it a waste of time and mana? This spell indeed has a big backlash, because after increasing its speed for a few seconds, the Steam Golem is greatly slowed down for a certain duration.
You are not alone, at MGG we also asked ourselves the question, that’s why we tried to answer this question. Fortunately, in addition to the existing debates on this exact issue in forums and wikis, there are also occasional empirical studies in video form. But before we start, let’s start by looking at the exact properties of the spell.
Overload, a double-edged sword
What is obvious is that the answer could vary greatly depending on several parameters: the spell level of course, but also the initial speed of the Steam Golem. For 5 seconds, Blitzcrank will move at 170/175/180/185/190% of his current base speed, decreasing from that percentage to 110% linearly over 2.5 seconds, then the champion can only walk at 70% of base speed for 1.5 seconds. If we try to imagine different scenarios, we quickly realize that it seems almost impossible to answer this question, since we would have to take into account the level of the spell, the presence or not of boots (and their type since Celerity and Lucidity boots have different speed values than normal boots) as well as other items that can passively increase movement speed. The presence or absence of Cloud Dragons could also be a game-changer.
Another thing to consider is that there is a hidden limit to the movement speed value in League of Legends. En below 415 base movement speed, items grant 100% of their bonus. Between 415 and 490, they only contribute 80% of their movement value, and above, their contribution drops to 50%. This glass ceiling exists to prevent certain stupid builds from existing (not necessarily on Blitzcrank), but in this case it also hinders the calculation.
A good video is better than a long calculation
The Youtuber League of Poro made a one-minute explainer video on the subject. This youtuber has a habit of testing the different mechanics and interactions in League of Legends, in order to better understand how each spell works, and what is the optimal way to use them. The verdict here is clear: the speed gain does exist, but it is negligible. And the higher Blitzcrank’s base movement speed, the more non-existent this gain becomes. In the best case, you may gain a second, but not much more. Given the mana cost of the spell, and its long CD, it is better to abstain in order to have all the character’s options once you arrive on the lane.