Talk:Black Mist Scythe/@comment-44489648-20191123204643/@comment-44694985-20191220193852

Like the description here says, it's meant for "harassing". If you solo a lane, you will not see much of a benefit. You could experience a small benefit if kept under a tower in a 1 you vs 2 others in that you keep the tower alive and you still receive income, while you have a limited ability to farm those incoming creep waves. However, if you start successfully pushing back in some small measure, you may find the diminishing gold from minion kills from the item kicking in and actually killing your income instead of helping you. It's a gamble in that case. You would probably want to sell the item soon at a good point and hopefully gain towards something like a Sterak's Gage or Catalyst of Aeons for survivability. The Summoner Spell called Teleport would help you in getting quickly back and defending the tower, because you will need the experience gain. You can also look at what to buy while you begin returning your character to your buying spot after you hopefully park your character behind your Tower, buy your item when you suddenly get there, and then target your exact Tower with your Teleport spell.

The "harass" part means that you should take into consideration attacking your opponents safely without trying to just out right kill them. This plays the support part in that often someone else should try to line up the kill, and you can choose some early abilities if you want that grant you a benefit somehow that might provide more utility than damage. However, if you don't have at least something ranged that does damage, then you really should pick some other item or a different lane.

For instance, this plays well into Yuumi. The character doesn't out right do a lot of damage, but you can increase your income with steady basic attacks against melee types that will not pull you close into them. The cat's passive gains you a shield occasionally, so you can harass somewhat safely. As the item upgrades itself, you will find that you do not need to do this as the ability that encourages harassment disappears away from the item upgrade. This lends into the play style with Yuumi of attaching long-term onto an ally of choice, unless you feel like basic attacking a short while to gain a shield for your ally from your passive. You should also learn how to "dance" between two different places in case someone closes in on you. Is it necessary? No, but it can help.