Sando's 6.85 Patch

I was joking with Sando's reference to my opinion, which I never completly shared, but now seriously :)

I read your arguments but I don't agree with them, and I don't agree that Glimmer is OP nor that it needs a workout/nerf:

• Glimmer overloads your dust cooldowns only if you don't have multiple heroes with it. More than that, I think it is good that you make the enemy team be forced to either buy a gem or think of another way of killing the support. Also I didn't notice this being a problem in high tier games so far, where they either use the available dust and immediatly nuke the support, or they get kited by him and that's called being outplayed. After all, in a game where there are a lot of invi heroes and Techies, makes sense that the invisibility should be considered a factor in every game, for the support as for the carry (why should the only invi item on the game be completely useless on a support?).
• The "single target magic burst and the irreparable damage it did to Necrophos or shotgun Morphling". That's a good thing! I don't want magic burst to be a thing, specially when there are indeed, and I think we all agree on this, so much magical damage present in the current meta. I hate to see a bursting kind of Necrophos, for instance, I think the other builds are much more interesting. But I don't contest that indeed these type of playstyles (and the heavy magical damage dealer heroes) are in a worst spot now. They are. But I think that's a good thing, makes for things more interesting IMO than the "in a teamfight burst the support" kinda of obvious play (with the only real counter being miraculous positioning throughout the entire game). And I think this despite the fact that my two most played heroes deal only magical damage (CM and Veno).
• About the "the most broken cast range ever and has a 16 second cooldown." I play mainly support as I said above, and I've never, ever been able to abuse this broken cast range you talk about and save someone without being remotely involved in the area of the teamfight in question. I'm there, in the same spot I usually am when I don't have a Glimmer - more than that, with this item now I can even get more in the center of teamfights, so for instance as a CM or a WD I use it on me and I go in the middle of things. If you're a passive support that only uses the item to buff your carry, I don't think that's gonna pay off in the long-run, nor is it broken because everybody knows that the support is there, behind the lines, so the thing is to either go get him or to get him when he's out of positioning (outside of teamfights). Also I don't know if I'm that unlucky, but the 16 second cooldown doesn't mean a thing when I'm playing even CM because a) most teamfights don't last that much so you don't get to use the item more than once; b) if they do and you're a spell caster, trust me, you're not gonna have the mana needed in most situations. I do think the mana cost increase was a good and needed thing, because before that it was too good of an item. Now, however, the mana cost is real for me when playing with these Inteligence heroes, so when I buy Glimmer I never use it as much as you make it seem possible, and most of the times I have to chose between using it or using one of my abilities.
• The fact that the meta is full of magical damage deals and the only real item that one could get against that was a Hood of Defiance was terrible, IMO. You never want to waste that much gold on an Inteligence support, so what are you gonna do against that Venomancer, wait for your team to buy a Pipe of Insight? When you have so much armor items for all tastes, for carries and supports alike, I think it's logical that you have the same for magical protection. And in truth, you do have a lot of Linas and Queen of Pains: what are you gonna do, get a Glimmer that becomes useless against them later in the game? Then good, that's your choice, but there are other things at stack and Glimmer isn't a jack of all trades.
• Finally, the build up. If you think a 1800 piece of invisibility is a cheap item for a poor #5 your skills are indeed awesome :P I'm not usually the poorest of supports in my games, I have been lucky in that regard, and still I don't think that's a cheap piece, when it gives you nothing of real value or real utility without the Cloak and when in a tough game you will rarely get to save more than 1000 gold at once, if you're supporting alone and correctly (with all the wards, counter wards, dusts and smokes).

To sum up, I think it is a balanced item as it is, the fact that it changed the game is positive and I find it rather curious that, as a support, I think it's a useful item but not the all mighty item that you guys think it is (I still go for BKB very often), and most people that play support think the same, but most major complains I've seen about it is from someone who doesn't play as a support regularly (with the exception of Sando). Those complains seem weird also because if it is an OP item, doesn't it benefit the person who's complaining in the same OP way? Somehow it seems that it doesn't, that it is an OP item in the hands of the opposition and not in your own. That makes me always wonder: if it is such an OP item, why isn't everyone using it and reking - and this is not a hero, this is an item, meaning that the whole 10 heroes can buy it? I think the answer is not because its dull or doesn't fit everyone, but because it is not OP. When something is, you see it everywhere, high skill or low skill games ( Troll Warlord anyone?) until it disappears when a nerf happens. If you see too much Glimmers and they are ruining your games, perhaps you're doing something wrong, and not the Glimmer - because you could be using it in the very same way and then what would happen? A balanced games where both teams must do extremely smart teamfights. Which I think is good.

All of these said, I can see a change coming, because of the fact that so many people complain about this item. But I think it's a really good new one, and I like the way it changes the game.

^^That. Way too lazy to write it out again.

Glimmer Cape does have like the best build up in the game tho. Like both of the components are things you see as casual pick-ups; The fact they combine together to make something even better is amazing in and off itself. The only item with a better build up is maybe like Solar Crest, but it's very close before them.

And if the item doesn't get nerfed I will be amazed, because it's a little too good right now, not to the extent that some people crusade. If nothing else you'll see like a 500 gold recipe attached.

Also how is Glimmer not jack of all trades? It's an escape, an initiating tool, it makes you passively more survivable, and it gives you a massive temporary survability boost. And all these aspects save one are applicable to allies. That's not too far off of Force Staff levels of utility. And it's cheaper, with an easier build up.

Like, if there's 4 things that I would be money on getting nerfed (Major or minor) in the next patch, it's Glimmer Cape, Leshrac, Bounty Hunter, and Techies. Like, I think they are all forgone conclusions at the moment (I know that people are iffy on Techies, but if PPD and Aui_2000 and the like think Techies is way too good right now and should be nerfed, then it really should. Given they have a million reasons not to hate that hero.)

It's the same issue as getting a 20-30 minute Blink Dagger on a Position 5 Lion, even if you have to buy all the Wards, Courier and Smoke, you should still be finding space to Farm up an 18-25 minute Glimmer Cape. Heroes like Winter Wyvern and Crystal Maiden, etc. that don't need Blinks can easily Farm it by clearing Creep Waves, or even Jungling a little whenever there isn't a Core around. You won't be doing this from minute 1, but you should be getting Farm from somewhere as a Support most games.

It does need a nerf, although considering the age of the Burst Meta should be coming to an end soon enough, it will only need to be a little one, probably 5-10% less Magic Resistance, or 0.5 seconds less duration. Perhaps even increasing the cost of Cloak to 650.

Don't get me wrong Chi Chi, I LOVE the Glimmer Cape...that's kind of the problem...it's so good that it's a very easy choice. If it was just effected you...it would be good, but niche. You'd pick it up against heavy magic burst, and on supports with channelled ults like WD and CM.

The big issue is that you can do so much to help your allies with it. That's kind of what makes it OP - it's really useful on you, and it's even more useful for protection your team mates. With the easy build up through a casual Cloak it's relatively easy to build compared to something like a BKB...which is damned hard to get on a #5 in most games.

The question I'd ask yourself is...with the nerfs I mentioned...would you still buy it? I would.

It would just be a little more counter-able, and less effective at making your carry super-difficult to kill. It would open the space a little more for options like Ghost Scepter again. I hardly ever buy that now, because Glimmer is so good. GS seems selfish in comparison, and in pubs you frequently get individual opponents with no detection, who you can now escape easily with Glimmer. Why buy a Force Staff anymore?

I'm not saying remove it, just tone it down, make it more of a situational decision rather an easy default choice. I didn't want to increase the overall cost because it's a support item, but it does need to lose some effectiveness.

Sofa says that Glimmer Caped targets will not receive the buff if they are channeling.