General Discussion

General DiscussionThe presumed Skywrath buff

The presumed Skywrath buff in General Discussion
Dire Wolf

    So skywrath got some improved int growth (nice buff!) and a really cool aghs feature - reduces cooldown of his ult to 0 at level 3. But is the aghs feature that much of a buff? I have only played him once since the patch in a losing effort, but this buff seems not practical due to the high mana cost of mystic flare. Even if you farm bloodstone and aghs and arcane boots at lvl 25 you're going to have somewhere around 2400 mana with those 3. So you can flare 3 times, but you probably will want to cast some other stuff in there as well so realistically you're going to flare once or twice. Also this is assuming you've farmed some pretty big items and are deep in the game, lvl 25. Even in a 50 min match I don't regularly hit 25 on support heroes.

    Let's say you rush aghs so you have it mid game with arcane boots at lvl 16, when you can get rank 3 mystic flare. Here your mana with those items is only about 1600 so you can flare twice and do nothing else. Aghs is a nice stats item but skywrath doesn't need str or agi, he needs raw hp and mana or int to buff his arcane bolt so aghs is not a great stat boost item on him like on other heroes. Skywrath also has no escape and is squishy so rushing aghs means you can't get potentially life saving items like force staff (favorite of mine on him), rod of atos or even effective hp ones like shivas. If skywrath was a farming hero like anti mage or alch it wouldn't be a big deal, but as it is it's too hard to afford it.

    Unless you're blowing out the other team so you are way ahead in farm I just don't see how going aghs is practical. Too expensive for being able to mystic flare maybe twice in a row. What I'd really like to see is a reduction in mystic flare's mana cost to something like 300/475/600 but guessing that won't ever happen. I was really excited to try aghs on skywrath after the patch but having looked it over I don't think I'll ever get it anyway. Force staff is too essential, and I usually have to ward a lot on him too.

    Thoughts?

    AK

      skybird is better as a mid...he gets anally rekt as a support usually

      Quick maffs

        You need OD in your team bro.

        But the thing is that if you cast 2 times you will do 3000 damage. If you have a reliable stun un your team you can pretty much kill any hero in the game.

        Dipshit

          Level 2 Flare + agh's + OD. Think about it ;)

          King of Low Prio

            u need lv 3 for the CD to be 0.....

            Dipshit

              Yes you do.

              Dire Wolf

                Well I don't want to *have* to group with od to make aghs viable but oh well. I'll try sky mid and see how the gold is.

                Dipshit

                  I didn't say that. And keep in mind that OD does nothing if you take agh's and grab level 3 flare.

                  Born

                    terrible item choice on him, no matter how you spin it.
                    now if agha reduced his ultimate mana cost then we could talk.
                    edit: or screw that, if agha allowed me to damage allies with my ulti then I would consider making it.

                    კომენტარი შეიცვალა
                    Dipshit

                      Getting 2 casts of it off can still make quite a bit happen in a fight, especially if they don't have a way to escape it(cogs, black hole, etc).

                      Quick maffs

                        You can Spam your Q to recover mana if you are close to OD.

                        My last game i was playing with bat with a OD in my team. Everytime i was out of mana i just spamed napalm on the ground.

                        Totentanz to The King: M ...

                          You could actually get more useful stuff with that money but it's not bad by any means.

                          Born

                            ^it's bad by all means. come to think of it wouldn't even get it in 6 slots sky.

                            Dire Wolf

                              And dorkly, it's 1200 dmg before magic reduction. So on one hero two casts it's 1800 if they have standard magic reduction. Still mostly guaranteed kill if you have a stun. But good luck landing the full thing if you don't have a big stun vs anyone not noob and good luck using it vs anyone with extra magic resist (AM, Pudge, Centaur, guys who usually build the hoodie).

                              Dipshit

                                1200 dmg before magic reduction on a hero that increases magic damage taken ;p

                                Also EGM just played Skywrath in the NEL to great effect with the Agh's. He did have OD with him, but dropping upwards of 4 ults in a single fight. Could pick off any hero in the game if caught alone with the help of Storm Spirit or Earthshaker dropping double ult on their face.

                                nami

                                  Turning the arguments around...

                                  A good allied stun or root makes sky devastating.
                                  Agha exists to provide scaling should it be needed but isn't really core.
                                  Allies and proper drafting will mean Sky will seldom enter a game he is disadvantaged in.

                                  [Lk].Zano

                                    Honestly, I think Skywrath's Aghanims is even more situational than pre-buff Necrolyte's (and THAT'S saying something) or Omniknight's...You need very specific allies around you to make it a viable item (and almost always that includes OD).

                                    Dipshit

                                      To be fair Skywrath is a pick that you center around in the first place >.>