Spellthief's -> Frostfang upgrade: Worth?

[quote=utopus]I've noticed a lot of high ELO supports that use [[spellthief's edge]] either upgrade it to [[frost queen's claim]] very quickly (obviously after core purchases like [[boots of mobility]] & [[sightstone]]), or wait a long time to upgrade their gold income item past spellthief's. For a long time, i've been upgrading my Blue Gold income item to [[frostfang]] for the extra income and AP, but I recently tried keeping my income item in its' tier 1 form. I observed that while I had marginally less gold income, I didn't feel as if I was any less gold starved. What do you guys think? Do you think that upgrading to [[frostfang]] during the early game is a worthwhile purchase? Or do you think it is better to use that 500 gold that you'd use to upgrade [[spellthief's edge]] to some other item?[/quote]

[quote=FantasySniper](Although I may not be the best judge, I'm going to weigh in.) In the case you aren't even able to make use of [[Spellthief's Edge]]'s stacks, what use would its upgrade be? You can spend that gold on [[Sightstone]], a pink, pots, even boots in an attempt to stall the lane. If you're ahead, however, you practically have free-rein to do your poking, and only your positioning determines whether or not you will fail at that. You would rush [[Frost Queen's Claim]] at the point where you need the escape and skirmishes are common enough that what little CS you are getting ruins the stack proc'ing. Often enough you can help push lanes if you're the type to be carrying a SE line item, and it helps ensure your income and safety should you be caught off-guard.[/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard]I've recently found myself rarely upgrading [[spellthief's edge]] tbh. I feel just rushing [[sightstone]] is a much better use of the gold, rather than upgrading to [[frostfang]] and buying boots or something. The income doesn't feel much different and the passive works regardless of whether you upgrade it or not. My one exception is [[Vel'koz]] atm, but that's mostly because he has such massive range that you can proc it constantly.[/quote]

[quote=Mooninites]Depends on the champion. The upgrace from [[spellthief's edge]] to [[frostfang]] in terms of raw stats is very minimal. You spend 500 gold upgrading from STE to FF; and for 500g you get 5 ap and 3 mana per 10 which is absolutely terrible. Furthermore, [[frost queen's claim]] seems more like a luxury item than a necessity, big boost in ap and mana regen but the active is kind of weak. In general supports build stats like AP as a luxury. the gold generation is boosted by a bit 5 gold to 15 gold is a big boost, but supports generally want to get sightstone and mobility boots as well as pinks and the extra gold is more for late game build (?) If you think about it it, it takes 50 procs of [[frostfang]] to pay off spellthief's edge, it's not a lot for some champions like Morgana and Velkoz, as Nameless Bard said, but on a champion like [[janna]] it would probably be considerably harder.[/quote]

[quote=turingexp]do aoe slows like morgana's proc it?[/quote]

[quote=Teemoshy][quote=turingexp]do aoe slows like morgana's proc it?[/quote] The gold generation passive says "[u]spells[/u] and AAs" proc it, not damage so I figure they do. I'm probably wrong though.[/quote]

[quote=sirell][quote=turingexp]do aoe slows like morgana's proc it?[/quote] 1) [[morgana]] doesn't have an AoE slow. 2) Yes, her dark pool procs it.[/quote]

[quote=Jimmydoggga 2.0]Her ult would proc once for every champion it hits, then again when it ends but that's irrelevant.[/quote]

[quote=DaRealWario]If you play aggressively, such as with [[Nami]] or [[Lich Bane]] [[Sona]], you'll need the [[Frost Queen's Claim]] in mid to late game since the gold generation is the same.[/quote]

[quote=IceCreamy]I never ever buy FQC, I think it's a measly item. I do however upgrade [[Spellthief's Edge]] to [[Frostfang]] because it doubles the amount of gold you get from a proc. Usually I start with [[Spellthief's Edge]], then get [[Sightstone]] and [[Boots of Speed]] before upgrading to [[Frostfang]]. Upgrade to [[Boots of Mobility]] and after that it depends on the champion. By the way I really don't get why all the LCS players take [[Spellthief's Edge]] on [[Janna]], I much prefer [[Ancient Coin]] on her. It's good on [[Morgana]], [[Sona]], [[Soraka]], [[Vel'Koz]] and [[Zyra]], that's about it I'd say.[/quote]