Staff of the Master buff

[[SmZ]SomaZ]

I think many will agree that Staff of the Master is an underpowered item. It's a very situational pickup on very few heroes and it's not just that the stats it gives that are bad but that you can spend your gold on much better items.

Ignoring the fact that it boosts the ultimate for a moment (which is very different depending on the hero) the item gives no bonuses when completed. All the components still give the same stats. Which are:
+ 10 to all stats
+ 200 health
+ 150 mana
The stats come from the 3 +10 items and +200 hp/+150 mana come from the Glowstone, nothing more. The problem is that you are paying 3000 gold for +10 stats. That's 900 gold more than if just buying a Blessed Orb. Yeah, the buildup is easier but 900 is a bit too much. The only boost you get is most of time like 200 extra damage on your ultimate which for a high cooldown skill is not THAT good. And if it doesn't buff your ultimate then this item is utterly horrible, just a major waste of gold.

Ideally I'd like most of the SoTM effects reworked to change the hero into being played differently (like for pharaoh it makes your ulti castable on allies and reduces the cooldown greatly) but since that's too much work for S2 I thought we'd start with a simple buff. The new Staff of the Master:
+ 10 to all stats
+ 250 health (+50)
+ 200 mana (+50)
+ 25 cast speed


I'm proposing an extra +50 to health and mana to help the item pay for itself and a unique effect not present on any other item (+25 cast speed) which would perhaps make this item worth picking up even on heroes who don't get their ultimates boosted (although doubtfully, it's probably still bad). +25 cast speed is not that much. If your default cast time is, say, 0.300 seconds then with this it would be around 0.240 (60 ms faster).
A small buff to try and make this item more viable.

[[YARG]Rosgath]

I'm waiting for the fabled "every hero gets a SotM effect" to come about before I make any judgements on Staff. I think S2 has some ideas and I the item may not actually need it's stats altered.

[Valenok]

Even if they did buff this thing as you propose, I wouldn't buy it anyway. Useless.

[[ABEN]Zarothe]

Plague rider and Pyromancer and polywog priest are some of the few heroes who you would even think of getting this item on.

[Nabegorthir]

You should never get staff for his stats, it's just not worth it for just that. It's the effect. Let more heroes get their special effect first and that should do it. Change the effect not the stats.

Ps. If you want the stats only cheaper get sacrificial (and that item isn't even worth it).

[Sherwood]

No need to change the item. The item is used to change your ultimates. If you want the stats it offers only then get a Sheep Stick/Hellflower/Sacstone/Tablet/Anything.

What needs to be done is give Ultimates Boosts to heroes who don't have it and tweak existing Buffed Ultimates so that they're not so fail.


-> Succbus'. Puzzle Box does more damage and offers more Utility.
-> Pyromancer. Single Target Nuke Buff. Very situational. More situational than Nymph's effect. Common use is to be a bastard/Pub Stomping.
-> Witch Slayer. As above.
-> Torturer. Situational and often better items to offer Survivability and Damage.


For heroes like Plague Rider and TB that extra "small" 200 becomes big as it's Spread Damage. People just build SOTM on the wrong heroes or don't on Heroes that love it.