Kripp's Poppy Field Mak Build

The Magic of Transform

Transforming adds an interesting layer to the game, particularly when taken advantage of early on. Since there's only so many Bronze and/or Silver items that exist within each size category, earlier Transforms have a smaller pool to pick from.

It's very possible to reroll items to a certain extent in hopes of landing a specific item, and if the stars align, sometimes you can just coast your way to an easy 10 win victory. In Mak's case, it's the Double Mace + Poppy Field combo.

Spider Mace

Spider Mace is essentially Mak's very own Power Drill. While it's limited to only Charging via Slow and Poison, only occupying a Small slot is a huge upside. Its base Damage is rather lacking, but with the right form of scaling it becomes a real powerhouse. One alone is already decent, but getting two is where it can truly transition from solid to absurdly broken.

While its Cooldown was nerfed from eight to ten seconds, Spider Mace still has potential this generally means you just need an additional Slow/Poison proc to keep it at peak speeds.

Kripp had a Shielded enchant on one Spider Mace, adding extra defense to the build. This is great for bolstering Mak's lower Max Health value, but isn't entirely necessary since it'll already have Lifesteal for sustain.

Poppy Field

Poppy Field is the perfect fit for Spider Mace. Each time Spider Mace is used, the Poppy Field Poisons, therefore Charging the Spider Mace. What really took this to infinite levels is having the Heavy enchantment.

A Heavy Poppy Field with two Spider Maces nearly creates an infinite loop on its own. All it takes is one activation for them to set off like crazy, just like we've all experienced with Power Drill.

Not only that, but the Poppy Field is a very reliable form of scaling, as all the Poison stacking is effectively converted into Damage for the Spider Mace. The power level is crazy considering how little is required.

Without the enchantment it's undoubtedly slower, but in that case you can utilize your extra board space to fulfill other Slow/Poison triggers. With Reagents, this is pretty easy to achieve.

Floor Spike + Venom

Floor Spike and Venom both fulfill similar roles as Spider Mace, making it very easy to assemble at least a preliminary version of a Poppy Field setup. These can also work in multiples (particularly Floor Spike), widening the range of potential Transforms. Mothmeal rolled into either one of these is crazy.

Runic Package

Runic Potion is becoming a Mak staple for any build that utilizes Weapons. Being able to apply Lifesteal to any Weapon at the cost of one Small slot is just insane value. Considering that's a major selling point of Crow's Nest (which comes at Large), it's a pretty obvious inclusion.

Runic Great Axe provides guaranteed 100% Crit Chance alongside Runic Potion, making this "Runic Duo" a handy support package that eliminates the need for specific enchantments and/or skills.

Basilisk Fang + Smelling Salts is a decent alternative form of Healing. The combination of guaranteed 100% Crit Chance and Poppy Field's Damage scaling makes it a respectable Weapon for the build.

Shard of Obsidian / Icicle

Shard of Obsidian only has one job, and that's to act as a fast Weapon to kickstart the Poppy Field (then in turn, the Spider Maces). Among Mak's Weapons this is the fastest, though it's technically tied with Basilisk Fang which only comes at Gold/Diamond.

Icicle is another option that can be used if you're concerned about queueing into a particular Hero and/or matchup (sometimes seeing the opponent's win rate can influence this). While its targeting is random, having the chance to lock down a key item at the start of the fight can sometimes be the deciding factor.

With that in mind, feel free to replace it with any faster off-Hero Weapons that you may encounter. The combo is absolutely strong enough to carry the build once it goes off, but it does need that first swing from something else to get going.

Hourglass

Hourglass helps reduce the "long" Cooldowns of Spider Mace and Floor Spike. After the hotfix which increased Spider Mace's Cooldown and reduced Floor Spike's Charge rate, Hourglass looks like a pretty appealing choice.

If you do decide to include Hourglass within the build, just be sure to upgrade it (or purchase it a higher tier). Otherwise it likely won't be worth the slot when you could otherwise include more Weapons for Poppy Field triggers.

Knife Tricks

Knife Tricks does equally busted things to Spider Mace as it does with Power Drill, but in all honesty it's not necessary. Consider this more of a late game pickup for further optimization. It'll help in the event where you match up against extremely tanky opponents, but outside of that you'll likely just kill them before it ever becomes relevant.

Slow and Steady

Slow and Steady provides great Damage scaling alongside the Heavy enchanted Poppy Field. Without the reliable access to Slow it wouldn't be of any use, but it can be worth picking up since Mak can always brew something with Mothmeal to enable it.