Staff of the Dreaded Gaze - Thoughts on usefulness and value?

[mwatt]

For a mid-level Necro I think this is a good and useful staff. It is not only mana-free fear, it also frees a spell slot. The stats on the staff are in line with what a mid-level Necro would want and the staff looks cool.

As a 60 Necro I'd consider this a somewhat useful utility item at best.
The Positives:
* Mana free fear
* Frees a spell slot
* Staff looks cool
Negatives:
* Running out of mana is very rarely an issue
* Running out of HP IS an issue, and thus the stats on this staff suck at high level. I personally use a Staff of the Waterwalker, with 10 INT and 100 HP.
* Potentially frees a spell slot, but at high levels, fear will be used much less often than at low levels and will probably be memmed less than half the time.

So is it baller? For a level 35 Necro, pretty much (but unaffordable and uncampable). For a level 60 Necro, not really.

Bottom line, I'd kind of like to have one, but I'd never pay 20K plus for it in million years. I'd camp it an a whim, now and then, and have done so (but not with my Necro because of the loss of VS faction). Ultimately, I consider this a nice twink item, or a good item for someone for whom looks count a whole lot.