Light armor veno - opinions wanted

Miugre - Heavens Tear
Miugre - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,390 Arc User
edited February 2009 in Venomancer
Hello. :P

I'm planning on creating a Venomancer next week (just as soon as the server releases her name, which was previously used on a Cleric I didn't decide to play), and of course I expect the learning curve to be a bit high here due to the presence of battle pets. That said, I've read the Venomancer guides here and I'm looking for opinions on the light armor build.

Why do I want to use it? Well to be honest, pure novelty - I don't have any other female light armor users in the works. I know that's not a great reason, but oh well. I'm also seeking a novel approach to what pets I choose... basically, the concept of being Arcane-clad Magmite owner #929689712467906 bores me to tears.

So I ran some numbers the other night and these are the notes I wrote down. 
Now for the Venomancer... is light armor build possible? Feasible?

A TT60 magic weapon (Ancient Arbor) requires 180 Magic.
Light Armor at Lv60 (Serrated Wing War Vest) requires 64 Str and 64 Dex.

Assuming a Lv1 character has 5 points in each stat...
The Veno would need to gain roughly 60 Str, 60 Dex, and 175 Mag over 59 levels.

60 / 5 =  12 Levels into Str
60 / 5 =  12 Levels into Dex
175 / 5 = 35 Levels into Mag
Total =   59 Levels.

.....it can be done. But she'll have practically NO vitality.
So basically to keep up with magic weapon requirements and light armor requirements at Lv60, this character will never be able to put points in vitality. And I didn't even calculate Lv70 equipment or higher. Then again, I didn't look at rare armor and I didn't figure in bonuses from various ornaments, etc... so statwise it might be possible.

...I'm rambling. The point of this thread is, are there any light armor venos out there who would like to drop any hints on how they play? Is there a distinct advantage to them, or do they consistently get eclipsed by the... how should I put it... "perfect-build enthusiasts?" Also, what would be the best pet(s) for them (if I'm trying to stay away from the golems)?

Final note: this build is for PvE only, in case that makes any difference. :P Thanks.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Yes, I'm still a stubborn holdout in favor of the old game. Haters gonna hate. ;]

Other Active Characters:
LigerKing (Barb), Girasole (BM), Shamsheer (Sin), ArborSoul (Mystic).
Post edited by Miugre - Heavens Tear on

Comments

  • Laranda - Heavens Tear
    Laranda - Heavens Tear Posts: 283 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    You can safely put a whole 2 points in vitality. o.o You can actually put more in and and still be able to use best light armor and a pataka/glaive for your level. But you need to pay more attention to your stats to pull it off. o.o

    As for pets, try out a Tauros Angler and/or a Snow Hare. Both have pierce which is really nice when your in fox form. The Tauros is also like a mini-golem in stats: good hp, good defense, but bad magic defense. o.o Snow Hares are the easiest of the rare pets to get. They have decent magic defense and boost which is nice to have when healing your pet. o.o

    In terms of playstyle, Light Armor foxes can use both magic and fox form skills well. If I want to fight from a distance, I cast spells. If I want to fight up close, I switch to fox form and whack away. o.o Basically... it depends upon my mood on a given day. XD
  • senovit
    senovit Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Grab stat whoring items. Yes you'll have low vit until level 80ish when you can actually start sticking with the equipment you've got. Level 70 equipment follows the same formula as level 60 ones. Just add 3 mag 1 str 1 vit every level and you'll be fine statwise.

    Advantages = better p.def than robes, more hp than robes(endgame, you'll have less hp until armor refines come into play, as refining light armor grants more hp per + than robes do), decent crit rate.

    Disadvantages = lower damage, less hp before armor gets refined, lower pet heal causing you to be unable to tank a few bosses pures would.

    Best pet for ANY type of veno is a golem. Just the way it is. Alternative tanking pets are frogs and shadou cubs.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • fuzzles
    fuzzles Posts: 628 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    If it's for PvE only, **** light armour. Go pure int.

    There's no reason to go light armour if it's for PvE only.
    Everyone here is ridiculously oversensitive.
  • senovit
    senovit Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    You can steal less aggro from your pet. Lololol.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Karadara - Lost City
    Karadara - Lost City Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    senovit wrote: »
    You can steal less aggro from your pet. Lololol.

    i am not sure if this was a useless comment or not.

    anyhow it made me lol as well b:chuckle
  • fuzzles
    fuzzles Posts: 628 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    senovit wrote: »
    You can steal less aggro from your pet. Lololol.

    Hah.. maybe.

    Pure int is a lot more consistent. Watch out for those frequent, yet unpredictably light armour crits.
    Everyone here is ridiculously oversensitive.
  • Spellbind - Lost City
    Spellbind - Lost City Posts: 66 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    My reponse to those who said go magic for PvE is that that is bull. Every character should always plan for PvP because at Endgame(highest level), that is all thats left. If you want to be any good to a faction, you'll need to be able to do TW and be able to stand up for yourself.

    The disadvantages of light armor are obvious(less damage, less pet healing, less mp, less magic defense, less health) but in all honesty, Veno is tailor made for light armor. It has mana and health regeneration skills along with the skill Soul Transfusion which when used properly overcome any mana and vitality shortages. And the fact that it has pets means that it doesn't have to do massive damage, it just needs to be able to do enough damage and debuff opponents so that your pets can do their job. Besides Archers, Venomancers are the only class that can actually use light armor without having to mess with skills and shards and whatever else.

    For a tank pet the main choice is obviously the Magmite. But if you don't want it, some alternatives are the Froggy, lvl 40 overclocked mechrab, and the shadou cub(there are other options, but these are the best).

    For an attack pet you should get the sawfly, but a passable alternative is the lvl 12 Desert Waspkin which has less attack but better mag defense and evasion than the Sawfly and comes with lvl 2 Toxic Mist.

    For a lurer/alternate pet I would suggest the level 27 Snakevalley Bloodwolf which comes with level 4 Flesh ream and is very fast, then once you get to level 45 switch it for the Guardian Wolf which has amazingly high magic defense, physical defense, and good all around stats as well as a very good skill set.

    Use this site to search for all these pets to find their spawn pointsb:victory
  • Miugre - Heavens Tear
    Miugre - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,390 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    senovit wrote: »
    You can steal less aggro from your pet. Lololol.
    It may sound ridiculous but that actually crossed my mind as an advantage of this build. :P Theoretically, it might give me more freedom to use something other than a golem... yes/no?
    Spellbind - Lost City wrote: »
    My reponse to those who said go magic for PvE is that that is bull. Every character should always plan for PvP because at Endgame(highest level), that is all thats left. If you want to be any good to a faction, you'll need to be able to do TW and be able to stand up for yourself.
    I point you to my sig (second random note). No interest in factions. No interest in TW or any kind of PvP. I know it's an alien concept to you LC guys, but that's just how I roll.

    For the record, I don't even intend to get this character to the endgame... Lv60 is about all (unless I choose to invest time into a Lv75 character who can tame huggy hares for cash... o.o). But yeah, basically when I get bored of one character, I make another, and when I've tried all the classes, I move on.

    Anything more involved borders on drama, IMO, and when I joined this game I joined with the express intention of staying out of most drama. :P



    Thanks everyone for the pet ideas, I'll try them out (hoping to invest in a Super Cage for this char right from the start :D).
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Yes, I'm still a stubborn holdout in favor of the old game. Haters gonna hate. ;]

    Other Active Characters:
    LigerKing (Barb), Girasole (BM), Shamsheer (Sin), ArborSoul (Mystic).
  • Laranda - Heavens Tear
    Laranda - Heavens Tear Posts: 283 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Miugre - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    It may sound ridiculous but that actually crossed my mind as an advantage of this build. :P Theoretically, it might give me more freedom to use something other than a golem... yes/no?

    Yes and no. o.o While less damage would indeed mean less aggro, you still have a weaker pet heal. That said, you don't need a golem anyway. Other pets will do just fine even if they're not the best. o.o
    Miugre - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    Anything more involved borders on drama, IMO, and when I joined this game I joined with the express intention of staying out of most drama. :P
    In that case, I recommend avoiding the rare pet spawns beyond perhaps the bunny (which has a 1hr respawn instead of 12h...) . There's alot of drama about those lately... You could buy one if you really wanted. o.o

    Venos are the best solo class... if you want to avoid drama, this is a good class to try. o.o
  • senovit
    senovit Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    I wouldn't go light armor specifically to steal less aggro. You will sometimes crit, and then you'll just get owned.

    PvE light isn't bad though. Robe users who get spawned on by an archer mob are basically finished, while light can at least fox form and spam their attack that heals them or something.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Karadara - Lost City
    Karadara - Lost City Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    senovit wrote: »
    I wouldn't go light armor specifically to steal less aggro. You will sometimes crit, and then you'll just get owned.

    PvE light isn't bad though. Robe users who get spawned on by an archer mob are basically finished, while light can at least fox form and spam their attack that heals them or something.

    robe venos do crit too.. less but when it happens a higher number pops up which results in higher probability to pull agro.. and tbh the robe veno is more likly to get pwnd in this situation then the light.
  • senovit
    senovit Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    ...I didn't say they didn't. I'm just saying that while generally, light armor foxes steal aggro less than robes, the more frequent crit compared to robes would mitigate that, so it's not a very good reason to decide to use light armor. Hell, if all you wanted to do was steal less aggro you may as well just not attack.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Miugre - Heavens Tear
    Miugre - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,390 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Laranda - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    In that case, I recommend avoiding the rare pet spawns beyond perhaps the bunny (which has a 1hr respawn instead of 12h...) . There's alot of drama about those lately... You could buy one if you really wanted. o.o

    Venos are the best solo class... if you want to avoid drama, this is a good class to try. o.o
    Eh. I do wish the people wouldn't kill them, but I chalk that up to bad game design, personally. They oughta be in the CS, that'd solve some of the drama. :P

    I envision this character being somewhat winter-themed, however, so snow hare, shadou cub and any kind of antelope are all top choices. :P I love the little cat, but I dunno if it's worth drama, or .6 mil. -_-
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Yes, I'm still a stubborn holdout in favor of the old game. Haters gonna hate. ;]

    Other Active Characters:
    LigerKing (Barb), Girasole (BM), Shamsheer (Sin), ArborSoul (Mystic).
  • Laranda - Heavens Tear
    Laranda - Heavens Tear Posts: 283 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Miugre - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    I envision this character being somewhat winter-themed, however, so snow hare, shadou cub and any kind of antelope are all top choiches. :P I love the little cat, but I dunno if it's worth drama, or .6 mil. -_-

    I have a friend who loves her kitty. o.o Bears are pretty good to... they've earned their reputation. o.o

    One possible pet choice for winter-themed... there are some artic wolves up north of etherblade. Frozen wolfkin and Frozen Wolfmaster iirc. They have good defense, and I've heard of a veno that's used hers to tank to good effect. That said, I don't know what skill setup she gave hers... I have no idea how well it'll work for you. XD

    I like my snow hare. She's really nice to have around when I'm in fox form. o.o Pierce and boost are so nice. ^^
  • Miugre - Heavens Tear
    Miugre - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,390 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    See, I'd sooner get the all-class cat for one of my other characters. And I'd have this character do the taming work for it, except...... yeah. XD
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Yes, I'm still a stubborn holdout in favor of the old game. Haters gonna hate. ;]

    Other Active Characters:
    LigerKing (Barb), Girasole (BM), Shamsheer (Sin), ArborSoul (Mystic).
  • Solandri - Heavens Tear
    Solandri - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,843 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Miugre - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    I envision this character being somewhat winter-themed, however, so snow hare, shadou cub and any kind of antelope are all top choices.

    One of the higher level antelopes is white like Kun Kun.
  • Tsidii - Heavens Tear
    Tsidii - Heavens Tear Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Personally I go with light armor only because I tend to get creamed in fox form in arcane. It's the happy medium IMO. b:victory

    I saw the tabby scene twice...ah, I think saving up for one would be a lot more stressless. First time on accident and the second time thinking no one would show up at the AM time. Uh, yeah...b:surrender
  • Dioica - Sanctuary
    Dioica - Sanctuary Posts: 136 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Spellbind - Lost City wrote: »
    My reponse to those who said go magic for PvE is that that is bull. Every character should always plan for PvP because at Endgame(highest level), that is all thats left.

    If you are on lost city, that would make sense, but on other servers I am not so sure, since end game restats are trivial and because you gain experience in pve but not in pvp.

    Of course, if pvp interests you, you will need lots of practice. But if you want lots of pvp practice I think you should make a character on lost city.

    Personally, I have almost no interest in pvp and have been hoping they will be lifting our level ceiling before I run out of other things to do (I expect I will run out of fun things to do on13 December 2013).
  • fuzzles
    fuzzles Posts: 628 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Dioica - Sanctuary wrote: »
    If you are on lost city, that would make sense, but on other servers I am not so sure, since end game restats are trivial and because you gain experience in pve but not in pvp.

    Of course, if pvp interests you, you will need lots of practice. But if you want lots of pvp practice I think you should make a character on lost city.

    Personally, I have almost no interest in pvp and have been hoping they will be lifting our level ceiling before I run out of other things to do (I expect I will run out of fun things to do on13 December 2013).

    Err.. you say that now... but you just wait..

    If you're purely interested in PvE, you'll find that there's little in the way of end-game content. What are you planning to do? Endless TT runs, endless Frost Walk (whatever it's called here), endless Godless Valley?

    PvP is the biggest and best thing there is in the end-game. I'm willing to bet that once you're up there, and you dip your toes into it, you'll enjoy it a whole lot.
    Everyone here is ridiculously oversensitive.
  • esmm40
    esmm40 Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    b:victorylvl68 Light Armor Veno (Arelycia) Lost City

    I just have to say that while it may not be the end all/kill all build, it has got to be the most versitile and interesting character builds I have had to work with in this or any other game (since guild wars maybe)

    I love the fact that my gear (ornaments and stones) can be used to augment my build for different purposes (PVE or PVP, FB or Grind) Same goes for the pet. If i need to I can change them out and focus my attention for different encounters, whether it be pvp, or pve, melee or magic.

    What it comes down to is how well do you know your class and how well can you play it. People complain about the Crit, I love it!!!, Becuase I know how to use my pet (with appropriatly lvled pet skills) to take back aggro and debuff. IF i do it just right, I can have the mob running back and forth between us and never let it actually deal damage.

    Veno also has some of the nicest skills, as was said earlier, that add to its versitilty. If you use your skills at the right time or the right order it can make or break even a pvp fight.

    So count my as a vote for Light Armor Veno
    b:victory

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