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drizzito
drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
edited December 2008 in Venomancer
Don't want to mess up my first character, so what is the best build for a venomancer. I do more PvE, not much PvP.
Post edited by drizzito on

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  • Amiris - Sanctuary
    Amiris - Sanctuary Posts: 1,167 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    9 mag 1 str every two lvls.
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    Amiris is my forum character. My actual main is Andralia.
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  • Tawonda - Heavens Tear
    Tawonda - Heavens Tear Posts: 55 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Please read the forums and give the "search" feature a go. There is a ton of information here and on other sites that give some pretty darn good information on Veno builds. There are three basic types of builds you can do: Heavy, Light, Arcane. The Arcane or Robe build is the more prevalent build and is very good for soloing and making money.

    For the Arcane build use the Rule of Thumb:
    Vit = Your current Level
    Str = Enough to wear gear of your level.
    Dex = Do not even think about putting points in here or you'll kick yourself later.
    Mag = Everything else goes here.

    Another way you can think about it is the following method repeating every other level:
    Level A = 1 Vit, 1 Str, 3 Mag
    Level B = 1 Vit, 4 Mag

    At higher levels around 60 or 70+ you may want to back off the Vit a bit be careful. You will want a nice HP bar so you can survive being hit and to use in your HP > MP and your MP > HP swap skill.

    If you need help please let me know in game and I'll try to help.
  • Amiris - Sanctuary
    Amiris - Sanctuary Posts: 1,167 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Imo, vit is useless for Venos. If they're low on HP, just Intersoul Switch and it's near full again. Or use a potion or Metabolic Boost. You shouldn't be getting hit anyway, unless an aggro spawns on you (run, untarget whatever you're targeting to autotarget the aggro, let pet attack, safe) or because of boss AoE's. In case of the last, if you can survive two hits, you're fine because there should be clerics. If you can't last even that long, just stay back and let your squad attack. Maybe send the pet in and run in to heal sometimes.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Credit to Symour for the signature.
    Amiris is my forum character. My actual main is Andralia.
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  • drizzito
    drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    If vit is useless why is every veno mage build I have read so far (except from Amiris) tells you to add 1 vit per lvl. Does the extra 1 mag every lvl increase your damage enough that is worth having less HP? Oh yeah is Mag the same as Int?
  • Rosewhite - Sanctuary
    Rosewhite - Sanctuary Posts: 189 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    drizzito wrote: »
    If vit is useless why is every veno mage build I have read so far (except from Amiris) tells you to add 1 vit per lvl. Does the extra 1 mag every lvl increase your damage enough that is worth having less HP? Oh yeah is Mag the same as Int?

    Mag=Int

    And yes the extra point of mag does increase your damage. We aren't magician or clerics so their builds don't necessarily work for us. Also you have to realize that we are a solo class and won't always be in a party. Having that little bit of vit helps when you are alone which is most of the time.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon...
  • Amiris - Sanctuary
    Amiris - Sanctuary Posts: 1,167 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    If you add 1 Vit every lvl, around 80, you'll have 84% of the power of a full mag veno, like I suggested. And Venos DON'T get hit. Vit is pointless.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Credit to Symour for the signature.
    Amiris is my forum character. My actual main is Andralia.
    1,000 posts as of 10/01/09, which was also my birthday!
  • Rosewhite - Sanctuary
    Rosewhite - Sanctuary Posts: 189 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Amiris - Sanctuary wrote: »
    If you add 1 Vit every lvl, around 80, you'll have 84% of the power of a full mag veno, like I suggested. And Venos DON'T get hit. Vit is pointless.

    Look, i'm not saying add vit EVERY LEVEL, never in my whole comment did i say that and neither did Tawanda. Quoting from Tawanda again:
    Another way you can think about it is the following method repeating every other level:
    Level A = 1 Vit, 1 Str, 3 Mag
    Level B = 1 Vit, 4 Mag

    At higher levels around 60 or 70+ you may want to back off the Vit a bit be careful. You will want a nice HP bar so you can survive being hit and to use in your HP > MP and your MP > HP swap skill.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon...
  • Tawonda - Heavens Tear
    Tawonda - Heavens Tear Posts: 55 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Amiris - Sanctuary wrote: »
    If you add 1 Vit every lvl, around 80, you'll have 84% of the power of a full mag veno, like I suggested. And Venos DON'T get hit. Vit is pointless.

    I really would like to know your secret on how not to get hit. I've taken so many dirt naps from mobs spawning behind me, from pets rubberbanding and dragging more than one mob back, from group-mates that insist on running out and aggroing every mob in the fb and bringing them back to play, from archer mobs that when you try to pull they pretty much one shot you. I personally would not want a full Mag build like you describe. However, to each his own.
  • rking
    rking Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    There's no way in the game that you're not going to get mobbed. Often enough you get something spawn behind you and you will get hurt very badly if they're melee class.

    Please keep in mind that in human form, veno has the lowest defense out of the three caster classes. Mages have their stone barriers (+100% physical defense) and Cleric have their Vanguard Spirit (+60% physical defense)

    Even though by default veno has 20% more HP than the other casters,they're much more vulnerable against melee damage.

    I am not a fan of arcane build due to the fact that you'd opt out on half of your skill tree, but if you really want to do arcane make sure you pump around 1vit/2 lvls for PVE.

    For PVP or GvG (TW) the best way for veno are either light armor or heavy/robe mix and take advantage of the skills and the defense that comes with fox form.
  • drizzito
    drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    So a veno is a cross between a fighter and a mage? When in fox form can you use your mage skills? So in PvE light armor gives you the best balance between defense and magic? What is considered the best weapon for a veno?
  • Amiris - Sanctuary
    Amiris - Sanctuary Posts: 1,167 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    How to not get hit:
    Make sure you can see your surroundings, first of all. If you see a monster that you think will aggro on you, press esc to cancel whatever spell you're casting and run off (preferably NOT to other mobs, but it won't matter much). Best choice is running to your pet.
    As soon as you can, untarget whatever you're targeting (press esc again) to autotarget the mob following you. Your pet should still be attacking the mob you were originally fighting.
    Now, start running in LINES. Not circles, LINES. Run away, then run back to the aggro'd mob, jump over it, and repeat. After a while, the mob should attack your pet, even though he did nothing to get that aggro. That's your chance to heal your pet then start running again, as you'll aggro the monster once again.
    Your pet will end up killing the original monster. As soon as this happens, press the pet's attack button to make it attack the mob following you. Now proceed back to normal fighting.

    Sound complicated? It isn't. Special cases:
    -If a ranged monster aggros on you, autoselect it and have your pet attack IMMEDIATELY, cancelling the other fight. Kill the original mob yourself, the damage you take is negligible.
    -If a magic monster aggros on you, keep killing as normal. Magic does virtually nothing to a veno, just pot up after.
    -If too many monsters aggro on you, double jump -> Fly. If your pet's a ground pet, it will disappear automatically. If it's a flying pet, unsummon it manually.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Credit to Symour for the signature.
    Amiris is my forum character. My actual main is Andralia.
    1,000 posts as of 10/01/09, which was also my birthday!
  • Rosewhite - Sanctuary
    Rosewhite - Sanctuary Posts: 189 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    drizzito wrote: »
    So a veno is a cross between a fighter and a mage? When in fox form can you use your mage skills? So in PvE light armor gives you the best balance between defense and magic? What is considered the best weapon for a veno?

    Yes and no to your first question. No, when your in fox form you have your own set of special fox form skills. Any magic weapon will work as well as barehanded. Veno skills can get expensive quickly so stick to one tree until you have the funds to go for the other one. I use human form (caster) most of the time, so I normally buy my mage skills first. Most venos don't even use fox form except for getting from place to place. What makes fox form so cool is the assortment of debuffs you can get like Purge. Imo, you should probably start out with the human skills before trying to get the fox skills. You could probably afford to get the fox change skill if you want to move faster. Anyway, that's just my opinion on it.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon...
  • drizzito
    drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Ok, thanks. I've been reading more on the forums and one person said that if you socket p.def shards instead of hp shards and wear a p.def necklace and belt you'll end up with about the same p.def as light armor. And to only to put enough str for weapons and armour, put a little into con, and the rest into int. And working with character simulator, since you get 5 points to spend every lvl you could have 70 str, 70 con, and 370 int at lvl 100. Which (if the weapon and armor description I've been reading are correct) should be enough to equip any weapon and robe equal to your lvl. If I'm wrong let me know.
  • swiftlikeafox
    swiftlikeafox Posts: 307 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Ok, thanks. I've been reading more on the forums and one person said that if you socket p.def shards instead of hp shards and wear a p.def necklace and belt you'll end up with about the same p.def as light armor.

    That would've been me, maybe I should clarify on that a bit, if you do as i've suggested you're still going to have a bit less p-def than a light armor build, and at higher levels this gap will start growing larger unless you're able to afford the really big p-def gems(i can't really see this being an issue until around lvl 80 though)..... but since you didn't have to pump so many points into dex or str you can afford to add enough Vit to even out the surviveabilty.

    Yes you can melee with this build, but your damage and accuracy will be horrible because you haven't added enough Str or Dex..... so make no mistake this is STILL a Mage build.....a melee or hybrid would still be much better off with light or heavy armor
  • drizzito
    drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    I understood that this is a mage build. I wanted to do a mage build but was torn because everyone else says that robe venos die very fast to melee attacks because of poor p.def, and dying alot isn't fun. Most people were recomending a Light armor or Heavy/Robe build, but that gimps your magic. I like your take on the veno mage cause you get full magic power and most of the survivability of light armor, which sounds great to me. I was also over stating the amount of str and con at lvl 100, if the pwdatabase.com is correct no lvl 100 weapon requires more that 58 str. If you have a pet to tank why bother to focus on melee. I see this as being a full power mage with survivability, cause if the pet dies you can nuke the mobs with magic or turn on fox form to finish them off or run
  • jemima
    jemima Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Amiris - Sanctuary wrote: »
    How to not get hit:
    Make sure you can see your surroundings, first of all. If you see a monster that you think will aggro on you, press esc to cancel whatever spell you're casting and run off (preferably NOT to other mobs, but it won't matter much). Best choice is running to your pet.
    As soon as you can, untarget whatever you're targeting (press esc again) to autotarget the mob following you. Your pet should still be attacking the mob you were originally fighting.
    Now, start running in LINES. Not circles, LINES. Run away, then run back to the aggro'd mob, jump over it, and repeat. After a while, the mob should attack your pet, even though he did nothing to get that aggro. That's your chance to heal your pet then start running again, as you'll aggro the monster once again.
    Your pet will end up killing the original monster. As soon as this happens, press the pet's attack button to make it attack the mob following you. Now proceed back to normal fighting.

    Sound complicated? It isn't. Special cases:
    -If a ranged monster aggros on you, autoselect it and have your pet attack IMMEDIATELY, cancelling the other fight. Kill the original mob yourself, the damage you take is negligible.
    -If a magic monster aggros on you, keep killing as normal. Magic does virtually nothing to a veno, just pot up after.
    -If too many monsters aggro on you, double jump -> Fly. If your pet's a ground pet, it will disappear automatically. If it's a flying pet, unsummon it manually.

    Ofttimes the mob will still hit you if you just jump over it.

    Personally, I just bail. Run, double jump and fly. If they have a ranged physical attack you'll hurt, if it's magical, or they're only melee, you're often not so bad off since you can heal up afterwards.

    Plus, when a mob spawns in there's a delay before it gets aggro'd by you being nearby. Be aware and be ready to move as soon as something is too close.
  • drizzito
    drizzito Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    How does one active a pet?

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