Mak has been officially confirmed to release on April 2nd, alongside Season 1 of The Bazaar!
While many of his items have existed within the game, the launch of the first new Hero brings some changes, along with a huge number of brand new additions.
Plus, despite the fact we had access to some Mak items, they weren't exactly easy to come by. Now for the first time we're finally able to directly play with a brand new pool of items.
Let's take a look at what's been revealed so far, along with some of our initial impressions.
Notable Adjustments
Before we get into the new stuff, let's take a quick look at some notable adjustments to a couple existing items.
These are already part of the game, but have received changes.
While a number of existing items are receiving some smaller number tweaks, we'll just highlight the bigger reworks.
Athanor is a bit different after its rework, while still retaining its core identity. It will still function as a Potion spawner and Reloader, but instead of providing a sizeable Burn, it turns Potions into smaller stacks of Burn.
While it no longer Charges Potions on use, going from a seven second Cooldown to a four second Cooldown is a considerable difference, likely improving its reliability as a Reload item.
Catalyst was a pretty powerful Haste enabler similar to Metronome, except that it funneled Haste to one item, taking advantage of the other item's short Cooldown and/or Multicast.
Unfortunately the item we know now no longer exists, but instead has been reborn as a new item entirely. Though any item which has "enchant" in the text is definitely exciting!
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Instead of existing as a permanent item on board, Dragon's Breath has instead been reworked into an Ammo item. However, in exchange for limited usage, its rate of scaling appears to be considerably higher.
Additionally, the Cooldown has increased from eight to twelve seconds, allowing it to passively exist at least a bit longer (barring any Haste or Charge effects). Overall I think it's a nice tradeoff for the big scaling increase, and it's always possible to increase its Ammo.
Hemlock was never really a notable item before, so having it be completely reworked to fit the new Reagent/Transform archetype makes a lot of sense.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
This item is functionally the exact same, but the name has been changed from Fossilized Femur to Magnus's Femur. It's worth knowing in case you ever try and look it up.
Alembic is the first real source of Transform we've seen for the Reagent archetype, and it looks really solid. Triggering at the start of each hour is about as good as we could ask for, and the fact that it comes with three Small Regeants on purchase is great value.
I imagine this alone should sustain a consistent flow of Transforming Regeants, provided you have a way to continuously acquire more. If the archetype is good this will certainly be part of it.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Aludel is somewhat comparable to Volcanic Vents in that it's a seven second Cooldown, damage-over-time, Multicast 3 item. This of course only works alongside Potions/Reagents, but having a base four Poison at Bronze is pretty solid.
While I imagine there will be far more efficient options, Aludel seems like a good start within the Potion and/or Reagent archetype.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Apothecary has the potential to stack a ton of Regen during a fight if you have the Haste/Slow/Poison/Burn triggers available to Charge it. That said, as a Large item this is pretty low impact, and could be hard to justify its inclusion on board.
Getting a free Reagent at the start of each day is nice, so even for that purpose alone it may be worth holding onto. It's hard to imagine it's good enough to stick around on board, but perhaps a highly Regen-based strategy would appreciate it.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Boiling Flask is an exciting component for Potion builds. Any item which can grant other items Multicast opens the door to some wild combos, and having some build-in (albeit inefficient) Reload is also pretty nice.
We'll have to see whether it's worth the Medium-size slot to get this effect, as depending on how the Potion builds shape up, we may not be able to afford the luxury. But if Potion setups tend to focus on a couple Potions in particular, Boiling Flask may be the perfect supporting piece.
Bottled Explosion has a very flashy effect, reminiscent of the Diamond tier exclusive Atlas Stone. Having a five second Cooldown comparatively makes this pretty appealing, provided you can solve its need for Ammo.
Stack up some early Damage scaling with a bit of Reload and Bottled Explosion could be a real threat. It's an incredible amount of scaling for its Cooldown and size, especially as a Silver tier item. Definitely keep an eye out for this one.
Bottled Tornado
Bottled Tornado offers an absolutely wild and unique effect. Instead of waiting 30 seconds for the Sandstorm to start buffeting the players, Bottled Tornado immediately triggers its arrival!
Starting a Sandstorm seven seconds into the fight is pretty insane, and with Haste and/or Charge effects it could be even sooner. Any builds that need time to scale are going to struggle with this, as things will escalate rather quickly whenever this is in play.
Calcinator does have some potential thanks to its ability to scale Burn outside of combat. Depending on how early you can acquire it (and set up a flow of Regeants/Transforms), it could reach some pretty big numbers.
However, its eight second Cooldown will likely keep it out of the spotlight over alternative items. The stars have to align to really make it worth keeping, but early on I think it's a respectable choice.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Candles is essentially Mak's version of Micro Dave, except it Charges twice as fast, but has a slightly longer Cooldown. Having twice the Charge speed is a notable difference though, and we know from the past when Micro Dave used to scale its Charge based on tier.
It'll ultimately come down to how strong Mak's Burn support is, and how many Small items are likely to be included. Though in a vacuum, this appears to be a solid item.
Cellar is a speedy source of Reload with some Regeneration attached. A three second Cooldown is absolutely premium, so there's a decent chance Cellar can even keep more than one item fueled at a time.
While +2 Regen may not sound like much, being able to stack up every three seconds is actually a considerable amount during the early game. All in all, I could very well imagine Cellar as a common component for Potion/Regen builds.
Not much to say about this one. It appears to come from Chunk of Lead, giving the Reagent build a bit of built-in Economy.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Chunk of Lead appears to be a sort of token item that's generated from some Reagent items, but details are still unknown.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Covetous Raven brings a fresh new mechanic, actually referencing "Enchanted" items. It's quite interesting as a Silver tier item, as early on you'll realistically only have an enchanted item if you started with one. If it happens to have a low Cooldown, Covetous Raven could be quite strong.
We always have to respect an item with self-Charging capabilities. Assuming you can get a couple of speedy Enchanted items, this could become somewhat of a Power Drill.
Crocodile Tears
Crocodile Tears is a pretty funny item with a very abnormal form of scaling. While it has very low bases as far as Damage and scaling, the rate could be absurdly fast, especially when factoring in damage-over-time effects (or a Bottled Tornado Sandstorm?).
We'll have to wait and see just how fast it scales, and it's important to remember it has a long Cooldown. 13 Seconds is pretty big cost, but given its single point of Ammo it makes sense, seeing as you'll want time for it to grow.
Fireflies is basically Mantis Shrimp without the Ammo and Damage scaling. At a baseline, it's a bit weak, seeing as how Mantis Shrimp already needs extra help to be threatening.
However, I think it'll really come down to how many and what type of Slow effects Mak has access to. It's possible that his pool will support the Slow Burn archetype better than Vanessa, and in that case Fireflies could be a solid inclusion.
Floor Spike functions as an anti-Weapon item that punishes enemies who use multiple Weapons, or spam Weapons with low Cooldown and/or Multicast. It's definitely a flavorful design.
Its viability will mostly be meta and matchup dependent, as in certain cases it'll be extremely underwhelming. Although given its Small size, it's a pretty fair slot-in if you've got nothing else, and should also be a solid pickup early on.
Frozen Fire
Frozen Fire takes the best of Private Hot Springs and combines it with Steam Ladle. On the surface it's essentially just a Large, slightly slower Steam Ladle. However, it does have a built-in board Freeze.
Unlike Private Hot Springs, this Freeze only affects the opponent's board, instead making it a Petrifying Gaze effect. We already know how strong that skill is, and Frozen Fire comes with it naturally.
Goop Flail is a heck of a fun Weapon. While we've seen Weapons with natural Damage to Poison scaling like Blowgun, it certainly isn't as exciting as one with Multicast 3!
12 Seconds is definitely on the longer side, and Poison is a much slower clock than Burn, so it'll likely need some support. However, there's no denying its potential assuming you can get the right combination of items/skills/enchants.
Hourglass could be a key component for many Mak builds. Cooldown reduction is always a premium effect. Thrusters is a good example of this, as often the self-Burn is more of a drawback than an upside.
Given how many long Cooldowns we've seen thus far, there's a good chance Hourglass will end up a staple. It's likely just a matter of board space, so we'll have to see how Mak's archetypes come together.
Ice Claw is a Medium-sized version of Ice Pick that appears to have stronger scaling with a much longer Cooldown. Scaling based on quantity of Freezes has never been great thus far, mostly because Freeze effects are few and generally slow to activate.
Perhaps it'll fit okay into Mak's game plan though, as we already know of strong Freeze items like Frost Potion. The scaling is certainly better, so it's possible the quantity won't be as big of an issue.
Infinite Potion has a very minimal effect, but a three second Cooldown Small item is always worth considering regardless. Let's not forget that ever since Open Beta, item Cooldowns were increased across the board. Three seconds is extra premium right now.
Mak also has some items that specifically want Regen support (as you'll soon see below), so while the base effect is light, each use could still provide a lot of additional value.
Invulnerability Potion shares its effect with Memento Mori and Staff of the Moose, giving the player complete immunity for a one second duration. Its long Cooldown is supplemented by its passive, allowing it to trigger the moment you fall below half Health.
It's a nice built-in insurance policy, but the timing in combat plus matchup RNG is going to play a key factor in whether it's viable or not. Getting hit by one big Weapon (which puts you below half) would render it useless, whereas against a ton of spammy triggers you could prevent a ton.
However, what makes Invulnerability Potion interesting over the others is that it's an Ammo item. While you can only get the half Health trigger once, it will be possible to Reload it and get multiple uses. Its long Cooldown still needs to be supplemented, but with reliable Haste it could prove useful.
Laboratory might just be one of the most fun items we've ever seen in The Bazaar. Being able to temporarily enchant an item during combat will lead to some wild encounters, and certainly create many experiences worth sharing.
It also has a very unique design in that its extremely fast in the beginning, but progressively gets slower and slower. With a base three second Cooldown it'll be a great way to kickstart your enchanted items (often the ones you care about most).
Although after a few uses it'll eventually take more of a backseat role, and given its Large size that definitely comes at a cost. It's hard to say how effective it'll be, but in terms of purely fun design it's gotta be a 10/10.
Letter Opener is another item that starts off strong before progressively getting weaker. Early on it could certainly pack a punch alongside Damage skills like Left-Handed/Right-Handed, since the first Crit is guaranteed.
I don't expect this to have much use during the mid to late game unless Mak has some sort of viabile multi-Weapon build. Nothing wrong with good early game items though, and flavor-wise it's a cool addition.
Library has some absurd potential. Giving a flat one second Cooldown reduction across your entire board (assuming you aren't playing Weapons) is unheard of, and could create some crazy spammy boards.
On top of that it Bonks all Weapons, making it particularly strong against multi-Weapon matchups. This adds an extra layer of protection, although it does shape your own setup as well.
Non-Weapons is an very broad category, so there's a lot to explore when it comes to figuring out how to best utilize Library. I'm excited to see all the crazy off-Hero combinations players put together!
Memento Mori
Memento Mori is another cheat death type effect, with the closest comparisons being Life Preserver and Luxury Tents. What makes this one particularly interesting is that prevents Damage for one second. Could this be two seconds at Diamond?
While on the surface it could be weaker than the other revive items, having a built-in effect that says "No" could allow just enough time for the rest of Mak's board to win the fight.
Mirror is a super fun item that finally gives us a clear way to directly copy another item, without Upgrade Hammer duplication shenanigans. Although, the biggest thing to keep in mind is that it takes time to initially activate.
It'll be fun to discover the crazy combos Mirror enables, and I'm sure this will extend to some wild builds when found by other Heroes.
Mothmeal looks like a very strong component, enabling an easy way to get a Heavy enchanted item. I think the balancing factor is that Transforms appear to be random (thus far), and also turn into Potions which only have one Ammo.
This reduces the likelihood of creating a spammy Heavy item early on, unless you're able to create an Infinite Potion or something similar.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Oil Lantern is a direct payoff for a Regeneration strategy, and has obvious direct synergy with Infinite Potion. Any item that has the ability to Charge itself two seconds is worth keeping an eye on, although this does come at a hefty cost.
Regen isn't exactly the most promising archetype out there, and really hasn't had that great of a showing throughout The Bazaar's history. However, if any Hero is likely to break tradition, it's Mak. If it's good enough, Oil Lantern could be a worthwhile inclusion.
Philosopher's Stone looks pretty weak overall, but it could be a decent early option since a bit of Regen goes a long way in the first few days. Plus, at the very minimum it still generates a Chunk of Lead, which could provide value later on.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Plague Glaive has the potential to be a monstrous threat, depending on how fast and reliably you can stack Poison. Scaling Multicast is insane, and it also has built-in Lifesteal which gives a ton of sustain.
Honestly, an eight second Cooldown isn't even that bad given how much power it threatens. Plague Glaive looks like an incredible build-around with a massive payoff when everything aligns. It ultimately will come down to the rest of the build.
Potion Distillery is everything we often want Port to be. A lot of Vanessa's Port builds prioritize Potions over everything else, so keeping that in mind makes Potion Distillery look very appealing.
However, one very notable difference is its inability to Reload, meaning you'll probably need to find other ways to support it. Although being available at Bronze is extremely nice, increasing odds of finding it early and building up a healthy supply of Potions.
Potion Potion is another wacky Transform card with an even more unique ability. It actually goes from a Medium-sized item and turns into two Small items, which could have some strange interactions with certain skills that care about item size or quantity.
It's hard to say how useful this will be, but there's no denying that we'll encounter some crazy moments once we finally get to try it out.
Quicksilver is almost like another Mirror for Small items, except its random nature can lead to some very unpredictable gameplay. It is actually possible to guarantee its Transform by only including one other Small item, though that could be a big cost.
It's definitely a fun item that could lead to some wild outcomes, especially when paired with low Cooldown spammy type of effects. Like many of these new items, I'm certainly excited to see it in action.
Quill and Ink appears quite weak on its own, but the fact that it can gain Multicast is never something to be ignored, especially as a Poison item. Alongside any Poison skills this can absolutely wreak havoc in the early game.
With that said, I imagine it'll almost always be replaced during the later parts of the game, especially since there appears to be some strong Weapons that fit into the Poison/Regen archetype. Getting the Multicast does come at a cost, and without it, don't bother.
Recycling Bin is actually quite interesting as a Transform item. Unlike the other Transform items, this is a continuous effect that functions as an alternative to Reload. Instead of refilling the existing Potion, Transform into another one.
I feel like this falls more into the meme territory, but depending on what the entire pool of Potions looks like, there is potential.
Regeneration Potion is one of the simpler Potions revealed, but getting +8 Regen after only four seconds is pretty solid. As mentioned with other items, that amount of Regen can do a lot in the early game.
There's potential we'll see this as a common fill-in among Regen builds, simply because it exists with a decent effect and low Cooldown. It's a pretty low investment on the board, and with further Potion support it could still be worth it even beyond the early game.
Retort is essentially Calcinator with half the scaling, but a two second faster Cooldown. That Cooldown could actually be the difference maker for its potential later viability.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Runic Blade
Runic Blade has a pretty splashy effect for a Medium Weapon. Each use doubles its Damage, and with its inherent Lifesteal it's theoretically easier to stay alive until the next swing.
Unfortunately, a 12 second Cooldown is no joke, so while Runic Blade can hit for a boatload of Damage, it's gonna need a reliable source of Haste in order to get there. But if you can make it happen, the payoff could be worth the price.
Runic Daggers is a powerful host alongside reliable Damage scaling. Having inherent 100% Crit Chance, Lifesteal, and Multicast is a wild combination. A six second Cooldown is perfectly serviceable too, and if that's not enough, it Charges when you Crit with another item!?
Honestly, this Weapon looks ridiculous in a vacuum. The real question is whether Mak can capitalize on it or not. Vanessa and Pyg would absolutely love this thing, and I won't be surprised if it's considered one of the best off-Hero Weapons in the future.
Runic Potion
Runic Potion has an incredibly valuable effect. Being able to apply Lifesteal to a Weapon can be really strong, as that's a big part of why Crow's Nest is so important. Sustain doesn't often come cheap, but with Runic Potion is absolutely does.
While we've had similar effects with things like Mortal Coil, that takes up a Medium slot and is a relatively inaccessible Gold tier Monster item. Runic Potion does the job as a Small Bronze item. In an ideal world, Lifesteal via skills is still preferred, but this is a great alternative.
Scales has a really flavorful design, allowing it to function as a board Charger if you line things up just right. At a baseline, you're always able to Charge at least two items of your choice.
However, you'll really want to hit the entire board in order to justify its Medium-sized inclusion. This could be tricky especially when you're still regularly swapping things in and out, though hopefully by the time you find Scales (which is Gold+) your build is mostly completed.
Secret Formula could be the true Regeneration payoff we've been waiting for. Adding any amount of Burn/Poison to adjacent items can be a huge deal, and when you're able build up (or start with) a good amount of Regen, this could get out of hand quickly.
Again, it'll ultimately come down to how good the archetype is, but this is certainly an incentive to try and make it work!
Show Globe is another Burn/Regen item with some pretty neat built-in scaling. It clearly works well with Infinite Potion, although its effect isn't very strong for its size and Cooldown.
There's definitely potential here assuming the scaling rate increases at higher tiers. Although I expect this may be more of an early game item for the archetype, until it's eventually replaced by stronger pieces.
Shrinking Potion is another funny item with a very interesting effect. Unlike Anchor, Powder Keg, and The Boulder which deal Damage based on enemy Max Health, this one actually REDUCES their Max Health.
This has unique implications against items like Lion Cane and Double Whammy which deal Damage based on the user's Max Health. Plus, if you up its capacity with Gunpowder, it'll continue to do a whole lot more.
Sifting Pan giving the ability to permanently stack Regen out of combat is awesome. However, it's worth noting that the effect is gained when selling a Reagent instead of transforming one. In some cases this is better, but in others there may be a more preferred item (see The Tome of Yyahan).
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Smelling Salts is an incredible Haste enabler. Turning every individual Slow into its own Haste trigger is absurd. As a Small item it's an easy fit into many builds, as long as you have a reliable Slow.
This is essentially the best part of Pylon, except it's Small instead of Large. What a wild comparison to make. If Slow support is good, Smelling Salts will absolutely be a key inclusion.
Spider Mace is like a miniature Power Drill that Charges with Slows and Poisons. An eight second Cooldown that Charges at two seconds per trigger is pretty solid, but it'll ultimately come down to how easy it is to enable. With enough spammy triggers, there's definitely potential.
Staff of the Moose has the same Damage prevention effect as Memento Mori, except it triggers at half Health while also gaining some Regeneration. This inherently fits well because when your Health gets lower, it'd be great to get additional Healing.
As a Weapon itself its Cooldown is definitely on the longer side, while not packing that great of a punch. However, the fact that it gives all of your Weapons (not just itself) Regen-scaling Damage is a very real upside.
It'll really depend on how many Weapons you can afford to run, relative to the amount of Regen, in order to create a reasonable amount of scaling. Ritual Dagger looks like it'll be an excellent fit.
Strength Potion has a very powerful effect but requires perfect timing in order to get the most of it. A board-wide temporary 100% Crit buff isn't something we've ever seen before, and for only one Small slot the potential is extraordinary.
However, having your items get Slowed and/or Frozen during the activation window renders this useless. Being able to Reload or extend its Ammo with something like Gunpowder could definitely increase its use cases, but timing will still be very important.
Sword Cane is a very unique Weapon since it benefits from multiple Damage types. Being available at Bronze and having direct synergy with Burn, Poison, and Damage opens up your ability to benefit from early skills.
It's great with items like Quill and Ink which provide two of the effects at once, and also only take up a Small slot on the board.
While it doesn't offer much in the late game, this is a very solid early pickup that will likely help keep your options open. Sometimes all that matters is finding an item to capitalize on your Gold starting skill, and Sword Cane does just that.
The Tome of Yyahan offers a Sifting Pan effect when you Transform a Reagent, as opposed to when you sell one. The amount is considerably higher at +5 Regen instead of +1 (and likely even better at higher tiers).
This is a pretty sizeable amount of Regen, and since it's all created outside of combat it gives players a real ability to stack up Regen during a run.
At the time of writing this, we don't know all the details about the pool of available Reagents and Transforms, so take this with an extra grain of salt.
Vial Launcher is a spicy passive Weapon that really takes advantage of low Cooldown Potions like Infinite Potion. Its built-in scaling actually seems quite reasonable, assuming you can solve the need for reliable Reload and/or Transforms.
While I don't imagine this will be that strong in the later parts of the game, it does seem like a fun early to mid game build-around assuming you have a continuous engine to keep the Vial Launcher running.
Viper Cane has a pretty high ceiling and functions as a pseudo Crook-like effect for your Poison and Regen items. If you can find a way to scale its Damage while also having enough applicable items alongside it, the payoff is absolutely massive.
What really gives it potential is it allows you to invest into Damage skills over Poison, which ultimately gives a much stronger ratio after converted via Viper Cane. Keep an eye out for this one!
Weaselpede is a Freeze-applying Friend with real some solid potential. At a six Second Cooldown it can function as a slightly faster Snow Globe, except it doesn't require two adjacent Properties to be at its best.
This is a massive upside, as Snow Globe often only works in specific builds that don't mind taking up the board with Properties. Even though it's only Multicast 2, that's still perfectly fine and helps give solid CC to a Poison strategy.
