Need Advice on Veno-Mage stat build

Darksorrow - Heavens Tear
Darksorrow - Heavens Tear Posts: 50 Arc User
edited December 2008 in Venomancer
I have a level 64 Venomancer, with Skill emphasis on Mage build. I've been wearing full arcane gear and at the moment my stats (no gear bonuses applied) look like the following;

Vit: 5 (untouched)
Str: 40 (minimum for gear)
Magic: 180 (minimum for TT60 magic weapon)
Dex: 5 (untouched)
Floating unspent points: 105

I've always been timid to use points i dont need, in case i regret the placement later, but i have to make a choice and not leave so much unspent. I have 3 possible routes to go, and 2 facters affecting my possible choice. My concerns are as follows;

1) My Golem (max level 64) holds aggro very well, however when i use my sawfly or bunny, i have tended to take aggro even when waiting on 1st cast and slowing my casting rate. This causes me to take dmg until i can nuke the mob down (if its close to death) or to not cast at all and have my pet take aggro back (if its not so close to death). For this i need a little more surviveability (see option A or B)
2) The other day i died once to Chintien on a solo TT1-1 run, due to 2 consecutive crits against my golem and my heal not being quite strong enough (i do have the level 63 pet heal & the Golem is max level & i was holding/spamming pet heal the entire time). In this situation no amount of surviveability would help, but rather a way to strngthen my healing and/or pet (see option C)
3) I am not interested in PvP builds, this is NOT a consideration.

With those concerns and the way my stats are, there are 3 ways i could develope my character. I've gotten so much conflicting advice between readin these threads and talking to people so i'm trying to address the question directly as it pertains to me. My options are;

A) Use my unspent points, and any points uneeded towards gear towards Vitality. This would grant me extra HP to not go down as easy, as well as a minimal amount of extra Phys & Mag defense granted by the Vit.
B) Use the unspent points to allow me to wear Light Armor. Thus i would increase my Str to 70 and Dex to 70 (only have 10 leftover points) and would be able to wear full tier 8 Light Armor. This would increase my Phys defense my alot more, but lower the magic defense. This however would also give a greater benefit to foxforms defense increase.
C) Use my unspent point for magic magic magic. This appeals mostly to increase my pet heals for solo TT runs. And while my nuking would increase, so would my ability to take aggro from my lesser pets and this worries me.

Bearing all that in mind, I would appreciate advice from any other (as many oppinions as possible please) to help guide me in the best direction. Thanks to all who read and help.
Post edited by Darksorrow - Heavens Tear on

Comments

  • MintJulip - Sanctuary
    MintJulip - Sanctuary Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Well, I can only tell you what I am doing with my build, but, I am a mage veno as well.

    I am going to cap my vit at 30, str is going to be minimum for gear, and the rest is going to mag.

    As far as stealing agro from the other pets, I solved it by farming cash and upping bash on my sawfly, that seemed to help it keep agro nicely, another perk is seeing that the sawflies damage is real nice with more bash.

    So, my 2 cents for you would be, put 25 points in Vit, and the rest go into Mag. Your healing would be better, you would do more damage and your hps would be a bit higher as well. And upgrade your pet's skills, I think this is very important.

    Best,

    MintJulip 47 veno on Sanctuary
  • jd50510
    jd50510 Posts: 8 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    I like MintJulips advice, im just curious how much difference 250 hps is actually going to make. Upgrading your other pets skills if you havent done so already is a good idea though. Putting more points into mag also sounds good.


    (disclaimer: I may have no idea what I am talking about. I am still pretty new.)
  • swiftlikeafox
    swiftlikeafox Posts: 307 Arc User
    edited December 2008
    Actually capping your vit at 30 is going to be more like 300 extra HP, and it does help against normal mobs..... bosses = forget about it, 2K extra HP probably isn't going to help much in that case unless you have the defense to match it.

    Anyway if you're used to playing without Vit and are comfortable with the HP you have, I'd say just pump it all into magic, can't really go wrong either way..... you will steal aggro from your pets alot more often though.

    It seems to me like adding some reduced casting time gear would be of just as much benefit in TT as higher pet healing.

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