Fox Form Venomancer Guide
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Fox Form Venomancer Guide
Lisitania Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:50 pm
First let's define how you wish to play:
1. Eventual fox. You're a Human form Venomancer, like the most. Eventually you switch to Fox in order to debuff bosses/players.
Benefits: Easy AOE grinding with Baby Hercules pet. You may tank some bosses through pet. Your fox curses always hit no matter how low your physical damage or accuracy are for being also magic skills.
Drawbacks: Relies too much on pet. All PvP guides tell to kill pet being a Human form Venomancer without pet the most vulnerable class. Draws aggro easily even after pet skills. As fox your attack skills miss a lot and have very poor damage. Venomancers often complain their magic damage is much lower than Wizards' and Clerics'.
Typical squad roles: Tank through pet, human form attacks and debuffs, fox form debuffs.
Typical PvP roles: Kill players with Flesh Ream pet skill, long range human form attacks and debuffs.
There are great guides for human form Venomancers. If you're lost, try this one: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=234672
2. Full time fox. You don't like human form and wishes to be a full time melee fox.
Benefits: Awesome physical defense boost. Attack rate is great and attack skills have short channel/cast time. Cheap and safe to grind. Good endgame damage.
Drawbacks: Planning is mostly hard. Your pet heal skill is less effective due to the low magic yet acceptable. High expenses with weapon repair. Poor damage at low level. Skills don't add extra % weapon damage. For PvP your Fox Form attracts Magic classes. You're very vulnerable to accuracy curses.
Typical Squad roles: Attack support through fox form attack skills, fox form debuffs. Direct tanking of physical bosses being vastly inferior to Barbarians due to low HP and lack of agressive skills.
Typical PvP roles: Kill players with Flesh Ream pet skill, short range fox form debuffs. Direct attacking players according to the kind of armor.
3. Both. You play both as fox and as human. You try to take advantage of both human and fox forms for all possible situations.
Benefits: Many Magic Venomancers complain their class eventually gets boring being the Fox Form a great way to break the routine.
Drawbacks: The most expensive to play. Lack of spirit at low, mid and even high levels unless you neglect some skills. Damage and survivability depends on armoury choice.
Typical squad roles: Depends vastly on the armor class you wear.
Typical PvP roles: Player judgement to act either as human or as fox.
Now as you have defined your playing style let's talk about builds and item choices:
Check Tailor/Blacksmith items or the Auction House to learn the best way to distribute your points. I don't recommend using formulas.
1. Eventual fox. You attack mainly with magic human form skills so you must focus Magic to deal more damage and to make your MP bar last longer.
The first choice as armor set is Arcane for allowing you to add Magic the most. You must use physical defense belt and necklace otherwise you'll be too squishy against physical attacks for both PvE and PvP, even as fox. Use magic rings to increase your magic damage. Use bracers and ornaments with -% channel to increase your magic damage dealt/time and to decrease the time you spend to channel your curses and pet heal. To make fox form attacks viable you need might rings (as an extra set) with accuracy though your melee damage will be very low. Use sapphires on weapon to get better magic damage and garnets on armoury to help increasing your physical defense.
The second choice is Light. Choosing Light will make your defenses nearly balanced and will also increase your accuracy and critical % rate. As fox your physical defense turns to be very respectable. The price you pay is having lower magic defenses, being vulnerable to magic classes for PvP. You'll also deal lower damage as human and you'll have higher costs with MP charms, compared to the Arcane build, for spending several points with strength and dexterity to wear it. Choosing Light as armor makes your Venomancer flexible in terms of attack meaning your experience with fox form skills will be much better compared to a typical high magic Arcane build. Wear bracers and ornaments with -% channel to increase your magic damage dealt/time and to decrease the time you spend to channel your curses. Wear magic rings with extra magic damage to help compensating your magic damage loss. To play as melee fox eventually, wear might rings with extra physical damage as your dexterity provides you fair accuracy. Add sapphires to weapon to get better magic damage. Pick citrines for armoury if you do mostly PvE (citrines add HP) or sapphires for PvP (endgame Magic classes generally hit considerably higher than melee classes). For more details about the Light build, try this guide: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh....php?p=3578461
2. Full time fox. You're a melee attacker so you focus strength to deal more damage. Magic weapon is required to use skills. You can't play as fox without a magic weapon equipped.
The first choice as armor set is Heavy. Being a melee attacker makes Heavy logical yet hard because you lack points to keep up with the latest armor and magic weapon for your level. Try to keep up with the latest magic weapon's Magic requeriment at all cost. Your physical defense is very high so you may neglect armoury to benefit from the damage gains higher level weapons provide. The easiest way to make a Heavy Venomancer is to wear lower level armoury with added strengh/dexterity in order to pump up your stats. There are few ways to keep up with the latest armoury+weapon for your level, making planning complicated. To do so you need ornaments with plenty of strength/dexterity which are hard to get for lower levels and armoury/weapon with -% requeriments. Items with -% requeriments are often underlooked and most players sell them to NPC so getting these items is not always easy. You must spend some time browsing the Auction House every day to make your item sets. After lvl 60 getting weapons with -% requeriments gets much harder because the vast majority of players switch to TT or legendary weapons so you must be careful with your Magic points to be allowed to use them. Wear bracers with -interval between attacks to have your normal melee attacks' damage dealt/time increased. Your elemental defenses are very low, making you particularly vulnerable to magic classes so getting elemental belt and necklace is a must. Might rings with strength/dexterity are preferred but extra accuracy and damage also help. Use ambers on magic weapon if you're unhappy with your accuracy or garnets for extra physical damage. For armoury using sapphires is mandatory to help increasing your elemental defenses.
The second choice as armor set is Light because Fox form boosts your physical defense and you're not going to take many hits with pet tanking. The extra dexterity required to wear Light is very welcome to your accuracy. Wear elemental belt and necklace to be less vulnerable to magic classes for PvP. Channel reduction belt and nacklace helps decreasing time to use curses and to heal pet. Wear bracers with -interval between attacks to have your normal melee attacks' damage dealt/time increased. Wear might rings with extra physical damage to help pumping up your melee damage. Use garnets on Magic weapon to get better melee damage. Pick citrines for armoury if you do mostly PvE (citrines add HP) or sapphires for PvP (endgame Magic classes generally hit considerably higher than melee classes). For more details about the Light build, try this guide: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh....php?p=3578461
3. Both. Instead of picking a single armoury set you'll have 2 sets for every situation or a mixed one to change the balance of your defenses.
Remind: The lower your Magic is, the lower is the damage your magic skills deal. The lower your Strength is, the lower is the damage your melee attacks deal.
You may drag and drop your items to the skill tabs like you do to any skill to switch quickly. Beware the items you carry in your inventory may drop if you're killed even if your name is blue or white. You may bind the items (using binding stones which are cash shop items) to prevent them from dropping but once you do it you'll be unable to sell or trade them. Guardian angels also keep your items safe.
Heavy+Arcane. Probably the most popular defense variation for foxes. Physical defense is so high even for low level foxes that replacing some Heavy pieces to Arcane permanently is very reasonable. Keep in mind that your pet takes most hits so wearing a full Heavy set is only necessary if you wish to tank a physical boss like a Barbarian does. It's also handy to grind and to PK, making the Heavy Venomancer very flexible in terms of defenses.
Light+Arcane. Light is supposed to be the most balanced build overall but several Light players complain high level magic classes hit much higher than most melee classes. If you already have elemental ornaments and sapphires on armoury but magic classes still hurt you too much, feel free to switch some Light parts to Arcane. Beware there's no perfect solution and doing so will allow melee classes (especially Archers) to hit you a bit higher. For PvE in general it's worth trying against magic mobs and bosses with magic AOE.
Heavy+Light. Not very useful but if you afford a pair of golden TT99 Lionheart (chest and leggings) and a pair of Ashura items (bracers and footwear), you'll be able to unlock the special option -0.05 interval between attacks from both Heavy and Light item sets, gaining extra melee DPS through normal attacks with minor decrease on physical defense. For anything else there's little (if any) appeal in such combination.
Fox form skill guide:
There are great human form skill guides already so let's focus mostly on Fox form skills. For complete reference, see http://www.ecatomb.net/skillpwi.php
The bad news are: You can't play as fox since lvl1.
Remind: Get used to checking your skill tree every time you level up for possible upgrades.
lvl 1: Your starting skill, Venomous Scarab. That's a magic skill. Play just like a Wizard or Cleric would.
lvl 3: Now you have your pet so getting your pet heal and revive skills is mandatory. You must see the Pet Skill Trainer to upgrade your pet related skills.
lvl 6: Get your taming skill. Even if you find it useless there are several quests requesting you to tame mobs.
lvl 9: Finally you have the Fox Form skill. Don't get frustrated. It's not worth playing as fox at that level. Get Fox Wallop skill though you'll probably hate it. Ironwood will seem much a better deal. Don't add Swimming Mastery. That skill was removed months ago. It has no effect.
lvl 13: You may get your first debuff: Purge. It's mainly used for PvP and high level bosses so you don't have to get it so early though its importance is tremendous.
lvl 16: Bramble Guard. At lvl 1 this is skill is nothing but a friend maker. At higher levels it's extremely important for squads. As we're talking about squads, beware your bramble draws aggro for dealing damage so it's best not to cast it on any class but Barbarians and Blademasters during FB, TT and other hunts with elite mobs and bosses. You can't cast it as fox.
lvl 19: Befuddling Mist and Melee Mastery. Befuddling is one of the most important skills you'll ever have. It has short range AOE though skill descrition won't mention it. Don't forget to buy the Melee Mastery. To make a simple comparison, Blademasters and Barbarians only reach 30% damage increase through mastery at lvl49. I can't stress enough how important it is.
lvl 23: Amplify Damage. That's your second debuff. It's not very helpful at lvl 1 but it's useful even then. I had no water pet by the time so I used to cast it on water mobs to pull and give me some advantage. At higher levels it's awesome.
lvl 26: Metabolic Boost. It's not the best healing skill of PW but you should get it. It helps. You can't cast on others. You can't cast it as fox.
lvl 29: Soul Transfusion, Stunning Blow and Summer Sprint. Soul transfusion switches your MP and HP bars so it might save your life when you're in trouble with high MP bar. Get it! Stunning Blow doesn't stun; it's a bit dull at lvl1 but has some uses for both PvE and PvP. Summer Sprint makes you run slightly faster. It's nice. Get it. Upgrade Fox form skill as No.1 priority!
lvl 33: Soul Degenaration. Its usefulness it often questioned. Keep it lvl1.
lvl 36: Nature's Grace. It's just like Metabolic Boost but pumps your MP instead.
lvl 39: Leech. It's the most important Fox skill you'll ever have. It deals decent damage and has about 70% chance to recover HP with it. From this point fighting as Fox starts to get more and more appealing. Once your HP is full and your MP is depleted, use Soul Transfusion to switch bars. It's easy to get all your HP back as long as you're careful enough to take no hits until then. After getting used to doing it you'll barely use any MP potion.
lvl 43: Crush Vigor. Useless unless you do PvP often.
lvl 46: Lending Hand. That's a great friend maker. It gets even more important for lvl 59+ players. You may only cast as human.
lvl 49: Consume Spirit. It doesn't deal any extra damage unlike all other attack skills. It recovers MP at a somewhat high HP cost. Considering it costs over 3M to make it lvl10, it's a bad deal for the most. For charm users it has unique appeal being the combo consume spirit+leech a good way to prevent MP charm from ticking while pumping chi quickly.
lvl 59: Bramble Hood and Malefic Crush. Bramble Hood is one more great trick to survive after your pet's passing for PvE while being much more powerful for PvP, reducing both physical and magic damage taken though the physical damage deflect works only for PvE. Unfortunately you can't cast Bramble Hood as fox. Malefic Crush gives you something to do with your sparks. Get it but don't expect too much.
lvl 79 (you can't buy these skills at the trainer. You must make them instead. Each book requires 20 Apocalypse Pages and 10 Medium Ink. Check 1000 Streams forge for Ink and formulas. After making the book go to the skill trainer to learn.): Myriad Rainbow (FOX FORM) and Feral Concentration. Pay attention to your skill tree. There are 2 different Myriad Rainbow spells. One for human form and the other for fox form. It's a rip off! Myriad is a great skill for both PvE and PvP but it uses a lot of MP to cast. Feral Concentration is the best trick you'll ever have to stay alive though you may only cast it as human.
lvl 100 (similar to lvl79 skills but the formula to make is slightly different. it needs 20 Chrono Pages instead of Apocalypse Pages.): Fossilized Curse. This skill is the ultimate debuff being a nightmare to all physical attack classes (Barbarians, Blademasters and Archers). Though it increases target's physical defense it reduces attack rate and critical % greatly while dealing some damage. It might sound silly as foxes hit physical and generally have no problems tanking physical hits but it's extremely powerful to prevent your Wizards, Clerics and even Magic Venomancers from getting killed by any physical attack class being a great attack debuff focused on support. To get rid of the physical defense boost just purge the target.
Chi gain for skills:
Sub-section color coding:
Only avaiable for Human Form.
Only avaiable for Fox Form.
Avaible for Both Human and Form Form.
Normal melee attack: 4
Fox Form: 0
Fox Wallop: -20
Befuddling Mist: 10
Stunning Blow: -100
Leech: 15
Consume Spirit: 15
Malefic Crush: -200
Purge: 10
Amplify Damage: 10
Soul Degeneration: 10
Crush Vigor: 10
Heal Pet: 8
Revive Pet: 0
Tame Beast: 0
Soul Transfusion: -100 to 0 (example: you have 2 sparks and 30 chi. After using it you'll have 1 spark and 30 chi; you have 0 sparks and 15 chi. After using it you'll have 0 sparks and 0 chi.)
Summer Sprint: 0
Bramble Guard: 5
Metabolic Boost: 0
Nature's Grace: 0
Lending Hand: -100
Bramble Hood: -200
Feral Concentration: -100
Myriad Rainbow: -20
Myriad Rainbow (Fox Form): -20
Arcane Antinomy: -100
Fossilized Curse: -100
Weapon Considerations:
There are 4 kinds of magic weapons: Wands, Magic Swords, Patakas and Glaives. Though they're all magic weapons they're not the same.
Wands: They have very stable damage. Despite the low melee damage they're particularly nice to Venomancers who use pets to tank bosses for making healing numbers very reliable.
Magic Swords: Their damage is quite stable yet not as much as Wands'. What makes Magic Swords much different than Wands is the melee damage which is lot higher.
Patakas: They're the very opposite of Wands. These weapons have very poor base damage but the peak hits are simply record-breaking. For melee damage, some love them for the spike hits but some hate them due for being slower than the others (1.00 attacks/s).
Glaives: They stand between Magic Swords and Patakas in terms of damage range. Not as good as Magic Swords in terms of melee damage per second.
For levels 1-59:
Before thinking about the best weapon, beware the real problem is that getting the right weapon is just not certain. Most players prefer to sell their low level weapons to NPCs or decompose them so when you think about a certain weapon consider you'll probably have to deal with low avaiablity issues. The Legendary molds and weapons are mostly highly priced and, considering how fast you gain levels, they're not going to be very useful. So the tip is: use your lower levels to choose between 1.00 attacks/s patakas which are more qualified for skills than normal attacks and 1.25 Magic Swords, which are better for normal attacks. Wands and Glaives are, in general, worse for melee attacks but don't take it as a rule. Maybe you find yourself past 30 while still using FB19 reward and happen to find a cheap 3-star weapon which deals more damage.
Flame Wand (lvl22 Legendary Wand) - That's a good weapon but it's not worth spending with it because its damage is nearly the same as your FB19 reward. Not recommended.
Fine Pataka of Bodhi (lvl52 Legenadry Pataka - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - That's a great weapon, especially for Human Form but very rare and too highly priced for what it offers. Not recommended.
Wheel of Fate (lvl43 Legendary Glaive) - That's a good weapon yet popular. If you afford it, get it. Highly Recommended.
Mirage Sword (lvl22 Legendary Magic Sword) - Better than Flame Wand, especially for melee attacks. A good alternative to FB19 weapon but if you find it to be expensive, just forget about it. Not recommended.
Order of the Stars (lvl30 Legendary Magic Sword) - Clearly better than your FB19 reward. It's a balanced weapon for both melee and magic attacks. If you find it for a fair price, you'll be making a good deal. Highly recommended.
For levels 60 and higher:
Now the problem is a lot different. The avaiablity of good weapons is really great but the requeriments can be a headache for Light and Heavy builds. Get used to planning which weapon to use at least 10 levels in advance.
There's no argument about real elite 3-star weapons, like some with -9% channel or better but these weapons are so rare the vast majority of players drop 3-star and skip Old Heaven's Tear weapons because instance weapons are really good overall.
By now you'd have noticed already all items have their own level, not related to the level requeriment for a player to equip. The weapon level reflects the overal damage and additionals but the level required to equip and stat requeriments are not so obvious. That changes the way you plan your character. For instance, a TT80 weapon is actually lvl10, a TT99 is lvl12 and TT100 is lvl13. Frostland and Lunar are even more complicated... Green FF, for instance, are lvl10, just like the TT80 but require 5 more levels to be equipped by the player. Fishy? Now look at some golden FF weapon. It's level 12, just like TT99 but with lvl85 player requeriment! Lunar weapons are similar to FF but the green versions are rather rare and the golden ones, which can only be equipped at lvl95+ are in fact lvl13, just like TT100. To make you even more puzzled let's mention the true endgame goal for any player: Warsoul. These weapons can be equipped by any player lvl80+ while they are actually lvl16!
Old Heaven's Tear is a map you unlock once you complete the quest chain Wraith Ploy. There are special forges there, allowing you to make random quality items. What makes it different than crafting in general is that it only makes 2-star, 3-star and 1-star Legendary items. The additionals are random but not rarely you'll see someone yielding a weapon forged there with great additionals. It's all a matter of luck.
Remind: Once you equip a golden/red Twilight Temple item it binds to your character, meaning it will never drop but also making it impossible to be traded or even decomposed.
Dragon's Will (lvl60 Legendary Wand - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - That's a really great elite weapon but it's so expensive to acquire you'll be sure to skip it. Not recommended.
Ancient Arbor (lvl60 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a popular pick. It's good for any role and it's cheap. You can't go wrong with this. Highly Recommended.
Sakyamuni's Light (lvl70 Legendary Magic Sword) - That's the most balanced lvl70 weapon. It's the best pick for Arcane Venomancers with low physical resistance. It's also a good all-rounder for those who want good magic damage in Human Form yet fair damage while Fox. Recommended.
Grief's Breath (lvl70 Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a cheap alternative to Sakyamuni's Light. The vitality boost is excellent yet not as welcome as the physical resistance addition Sakyamuni comes with. If you wear Light or Heavy, physical resistance is not a problem so it turns to be a good pick. Recommended.
Ashura's Sign (lvl70 Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - If all you want is high magic hits and stealing aggro from pet is not a concern, this is for you. Otherwise, keep distance from this Magic Sword. Not recommended.
Acalanatha Wand (lvl70 Green Twilight Temple Wand) - That's an alternative pick. Damage is poor for melee but its stable magic damage is perfect for pet healing. Overall damage is really good and it's quite cheap to make. Some dislike this weapon because it can't be used as material for a TT80 weapon with the exception of the golden Acalanatha Wand: Sunflame, which is expensive. Recommended.
Glaives of Divinity (lvl79 Legendary Glaive) - That's a popular alternative to TT80 being good to Arcane and Light builds focused on Human attacks. Not the best choice if you wish to play as Fox. Recommended.
Yaksa (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - A great choice to Arcane Venomancers with low physical resistance with the exception of the added 1% critical. Not recommended.
Endless Ambiguity (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not as good as Yaksa's physical resistance additional but offers better additionals overall. Recommended.
Sakra-devanam-Lundra (lvl80 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not as good as the Green TT Magic Swords for having +2% critical hit rate and having lower Magic damage compared to Yaksa and Endless Ambiguity. Not recommended.
Acalanatha Wand: Sunflame (lvl80 Golden Twilight Temple Wand) - If you liked the stable magic damage of Acalanatha Wand you'll love this weapon. Damage is excellent. Like its precursor, the melee damage is poor. It's hard to recommend as the expenses with making are really high compared to any other lvl80 alternative. Not recommended.
Wheel of Life (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Glaive) - Excellent all-rounder. The additionals are really awesome for Light builds but Arcane builds who wish to play melee will also benefit from the extra Dexterity. Highly recommended.
Sensoid, Emerald, Aquaride (lvl85 Green Forgotten Frostland) - Despite being rare and expensive, these green weapons are considerably worse than the popular green TT80 ones. Not recommended.
Sensoid Emptiness (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Wand) - Elite weapon. Melee damage is poor but it's particularly appealing for Venomancers seeking stable healing and a real good HP boost. Recommended.
Emerald Flame (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Pataka) - Elite weapon. It comes with excellent additionals for any Arcane Venomancer. If you like the broad damage range of Patakas and play mostly as Human, this i s for you. Recommended.
Aquadash (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Glaive) - Elite weapon. It's a full attack glaive but magic damage range won't make it reliable for tanking through pet. Not recommended.
Requiem Blade (lvl89 Legendary Magic Sword) - Highly balanced weapon, cheap and broadly avaiable. Particularly good to Heavy and Light builds though the Dexterity additional is nearly useless to any Arcane Venomancer. Recomemended.
Innocent Reverie (lvl90 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not a good pick for any Venomancer for having 1% critical, which can be a problem to Arcane Veno, and the evasion additional. Not recommended.
Wraith Conqueror (lvl90 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Additionals make it a great pick for any Venomancer. Like any Magic Sword, melee damage is great for its attack rate. Highly recommended.
Blade of the Red Dust (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Nearly as offensive as Yaksa but without the critical additional. Despite the 6% channel reduction, the expenses with making make it a poor deal for the benefits. If you happen to get the materials for cheap, it's sure to be a good deal but if it's not the case, forget about it. Not recommended.
Solar Flame: Conquerer (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Pataka) - A full magic attack Pataka with 1% extra critical rate. Unless your only goal is PvP as Human, this is not a good choice. Not recommended.
Ardent Soul Shadow (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Glaive) - Considering the costs to make it and the MP additional which most dislike, it's not a good weapon. A decent alternative to Magic Swords and Patakas if you play mostly as Fox but not the best. Not recommended.
Purgatory, Buddha's Flower, Decaying Spirit (lvl95 Green Lunar Valley) - These weapons are very rare yet worse than TT90. Unless you happen to get one for cheap and like the additionals, forget about them. Not recommended.
Neon Purgatory (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Wand) - Elite weapon. Awesome attack-oriented Wand. Though its melee damage is erratic, like any Wand, the magic attack is stable yet high. May lead to some PvE troubles due to added 2% critical but it's valuable for PvP. A true endgame weapon for Venomancers who wish to tank TT runs or even world bosses through Hercules pet. Recommended.
Buddha's Leaf (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Magic Sword) - Elite weapon. The best defensive additionals for any Arcane Venomancer. For Light and Heavy builds, however, the extra physical resistance additional and physical damage taken decrease have little appeal. Highly recommended.
Dying Spirit (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Pataka) - Elite weapon. If you play mostly as Fox and the 1.00 attacks/s rate is not a problem to you, this is the best weapon you'll ever have. Highly recommended.
Lunar Glaive (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Glaive) - Elite weapon. That's a full attack weapon but the damage range and the additional critical go against any PvE. Certainly a great pick for Human Venomancers who do PvP frequently. Not recommended.
Midnight Black (lvl97 Legendary Pataka) - That's another underlooked weapon. If you play mostly as Human and drawing aggro occasionaly is not a problem to you, that's a great yet cost-effective choice. A good match for Light Human Venomancers. Recommended.
Demon Thunder (lvl98 Legendary Magic Sword - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - Additionals are mainly defense though not as good as Buddha's Leaf's. The extra 2% critical makes the weapon a poor pick for Human Venomancers. Not recommended.
Broken Dream (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - It comes with 6% channel reduction and adds a lot of HP. A great balanced weapon for both Human and Fox forms. Highly recommended.
Scaredevil (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a full magic attack weapon with 2% critical. Very poor choice for the most. Not recommended.
Garuda's Flame Wing (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Very similar to Broken Dream but comes with only 1 HP additional. On the other hand, it decreases physical damage taken by 2%, being the best TT99 Magic Sword for Arcane Venomancers.
Mirage (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Nearly as offensive as Scaredevil but comes without the extra critical additional. If you're a Light Venomancer and wish your Magic stats to be pumped, this is certainly a great choice. Recommended.
Inferno-Heaven Ravager: Souless (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - It comes with 3% critical so it's certainly not a good pick for PvE Arcane Venomancers though the other 2 additionals are really good for any role. Great pick if you play mainly as Human and do PvP mostly. For anything else, there are better choices. Not recommended.
Aura of Buddha (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Wand) - That's a good attack-oriented Wand but not as good as Neon Purgatory. By the time you reach lvl99 you'll be thinking of high refines and expensive gems so, in the end, either end up being expensive. Not recommended.
Divine Aegis (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Pataka) - That's a full defensive weapon being a great way to make endgame Arcane builds less vulnerable to physical damage. If survivability and spike damage are goals, you can't go wrong with this weapon. Highly Recommended.
Fate Denial: Godspeed (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Glaive) - That's a great balanced weapon for both PvP and PvE but the damage range of glaives may lead to occasional problems with pet healing. Not the best pick if you play as melee fox often. Recommended.
Sinrabansho (lvl100 Red Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - A full attack Magic Sword with massive 4% critical. If you don't care about PvE aggro issues and all you want is a great Human Form PvP experience, this is for you. If PvE or Fox Form are concerns, there are better picks. Recommended.
Pataka of Melodic Prophecy (lvl100 Rank VIII Pataka) - Once you're lvl100+ and reached 200000 reputation there's little in PvE you haven't achieved already so even the 4% critical additional will be welcome to you. This weapon is a true endgame all-rounder. Damage is really massive for both Fox and Human forms. Highly recommended.
Pet and Pet Skill Guide:
Legendary pet considerations:
1. Eventual fox. Baby Herculers and Baby Blazing Phoenix are the most important pets and come with amazing skills. Get them as soon as possible! The Noxious Gas is not the best AOE attack of PW but it matches perfectly your Hercules' overpowered tanking stats and skills. For additional aggro replace Pounce with Roar. Your lucky scarab is a poor stun but vital for PvP when you have a Phoenix flying straight to the misfortunate target.
2. Full time fox. Your AOE attacks aren't as good as the human form ones but your Befuddling Mist has short yet useful AOE. It makes the tied targets miss your pet much more, sparing you from healing it constantly. The only 2 long range area skills are Myriad Rainbow (remember there are 2 different skills being 1 for human form and the other for fox) which is a great skill but MP hungry and the other one is Malefic Crush, which uses 2 sparks. Said that the Baby Hercules loses much appeal for full time foxes. On the other hand, the Baby Blazing Phoenix is a perfect match to foxes for having excellent damage per second.
3. Both. Having multiple pets for every situation might sound smart but keeping them up to your level is painfully boring especially after lvl 60. If you have both both legendary pets, train them and forget about the other ones. Tame higher level ones if you happen to find any usefulness in them.
These were just a few considerations. If you're looking for a real guide for Legendary pets, try this one: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=263181
Popular pet considerations:
You should try different kinds of pets at low level until you find out your perfect match. Most Venomancers prefer tanking pets for better survivability but taking aggro (especially as human) is rather common. Pets with high damage will hold the target longer with the penalty of requiring healing more often. Pets are balanced according to HP, magic/physical defenses, accuracy, attack rate, evasion, movement speed and HP recovery so there are several different pet builds. Rare pets aren't any better than normal pets but their look might be appealing enough.
Getting Roar skill for your tank is a great measure to prevent mobs from running from pet straight to you. Tough skill might help you tanking dungeon mobs. Physical defense curse (Pierce) is particulaly important to foxes, boosting the damage both you and your pet deal. For human form players, the magic defense curse (Howl) is also appealing but will make you steal aggro from pet even more often.
If you chose a damage dealer as pet, Tough skill will help considerably making your pet less squishy. Threaten skill decreases the target's physical damage being a great deal to assist your squad for physical bosses. Your Befuddling Mist's accuracy curse will also play an important role preventing your pet from taking a good ammount of hits. Flesh Ream has fair damage over time so using it as opening attack is an alternative to Roar unless you're fortunate enough to have Pounce (stun/attack rate increase). The physical defense curse (Pierce) is a must if you attack as fox while the Magic defense curse (Howl) will make you take aggro often even though your pet deals more damage than tanking pets.
For squads beware pet skill Pierce overrides Barbarians' Devour which is a Tiger Form skill and has better effect than the pet version even if it's lvl5. Other than Devour you may override any Barbarian/Cleric/Archer curse if you have Pierce/Howl/Threaten lvl4 or 5.
Flesh Ream is the most infamous skill of PW. Level is the most important factor in terms of damage, so if you're lvl 60 and hit a lvl60 mob you'll be dealing the exact damage your build and items tell. As you turn 61 that very mob will be hit for 1% more damage and the mob will deal 1% less damage to you. The problem is that it doesn't apply to Flesh Ream. It does the same very damage no matter the lvl of the target so all that matters is the base attack of the pet. It makes Venomancers extremely powerful when doing TT and other instances because the skull bosses (which are lvl 150, also like some World Bosses) are also hit with no reduction. Flesh Ream is the most important pet skill for any land pet and for any pet if PvP is a concern. Skills like Sacrifice and Penetrate are supposed to be much better than Flesh Ream but, in practise it only applies to normal mobs and bosses below your level.
For a complete pet guide, this one is excellent: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=260362
Genie skill considerations[OBSOLETE. Updates coming soon.]:
Now Genies may have up to 8 skills according to Lucky Points. Lucky Points are random bonuses genies get every 10 levels. The bonus varies from 1 to 10 extra stat points.
So, the Lucky Points required are:
Lucky Points 0 to 50 = 4 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 51 to 70 = 5 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 71 to 80 = 6 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 81 to 90 = 7 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 91 or more = 8 Skill Slots
Sub-section color coding:
Green for harmless skills you could test easily.
Orange for skills that could get you killed. Caution upon usage.
Red for skills that require over 6 affinity points. Think twice before adding these skill for affinity reset notes are not cheap.
Blinding Sand (Earth 1 - PvP): This genie skill decreases target's accuracy and cast speed by 6% (up to 15% for lvl10 skill, +1% to every 8 strength/dexterity added to genie). For PvE the pet skill Strong messes with pet's evasion making the skill nearly useless to make it take fewer hits. Also for PvE seems like mobs' accuracy is based on lvl because neither Befuddling Mist (70%) nor Blinding Sand seem to make them miss as much as they should. For PvP it's vital. The effect sums with Befuddling Mist, making the target's accuracy go 0 if you pump enough strength/dexterity to make the Blinding Sand effect reach the remaining 30%. The effect doesn't change bonuses granted by misty rings or buffs like Bloodbath. Barbarian stuns override both accuracy curses. May only cast on the ground. SKILL BROKEN. The accuracy decrease doesn't work.
Cauterize (Water 1 - PvE and PvP): Adds a chance to remove bleed. Up to 60% for lvl10 + 1% chance to every 4 str or dex added. Might save you in a fight with another Venomancer. Also great for Rebirth.
Blood Clot (Metal 1 - PvE and PvP): Similar to Cauterize but it makes you immune to bleed for a few seconds instead of removing it.
Earthquake (Earth 2 - PvE): This is a range 10 AOE push back skill that gives you a "Barbarian feeling". Has 10% chance to interrupt targets' channel. Useful if you find yourself surrounded by melee mobs while leech is cooling down or when all you want is to run away. Also good when all you want is to prevent a cleric from taking aggro when you have mobs on you that weren't hit. Damage is erratic. May only cast on the ground.
Second Wind (Wood 1, Earth 1, Water 1 - PvE and PvP): This is a very nice healing skill. Heals up to 800 (lvl10) + 2% per strength added to genie. Highly recommended.
Extreme Poison (wood 4 - PvE and PvP): It's a nice debuff, making the target take 20% more damage. It stacks with Amplify Damage.
Whirlwind (Metal 1, Water 2, Fire 1 - PvE and PvP): That's a nice cone AOE skill which freezes targets and decreases their movement speed by 23% (lvl1) or up to 50% (lvl10).
Fortify (Wood 5 - PvE and PvP): Great anti stun skill but there's a chance of getting magic defenses decreased (50% for lvl10). This still can be used instead of Demon Summer Sprint before Feral Concentration (lvl79 skill) to gain the immunities without the freezing effect. Highly recommended.
Relentless Courage (Wood 2, Fire 1, Earth 2 - PvP): It increases your attack, channel and movement speed by 5% (even at lvl10. Raising its level increases length by 0.5 seconds/level but also increases energy consumption by 10 per lvl. To every 4 strength attack and movement speed is increased by 1%. To every 15 dex channeling speed gets 1% faster.). Lasts 8 seconds.
Oxygen Bubble (Water 5 - PvP): It makes you immune to water damage for a few seconds. Excellent against Wizards.
Frenzy (Earth 6 - PvP): Increases your attack by 20 lvl but also decreases all your defenses by 100%. Powerful but dangerous.
Holy Path (Metal 2, Wood 2, Earth 2 - PvE and PvP): Boosts the movement speed of the caster. Vital to rush to a target and to kite.
Tree of Protection (Wood 3, Water 4 - PvE and PvP): That's a somewhat good HP recovery/max HP boost skill. Raises your max HP for up to 30%(lvl10; to every 2 str points max HP increases by 1%) for 5 seconds(to every 60 str points length is increased by 1 second). It recovers up to 20% of HP(lvl10; every 8 dex increases healing effect by 1%).
Seal (Wood 4, Earth 4 - PvP): Has 30% chance of sealing the target for 5 seconds (lvl10).
Alpha Male (Wood 5, Earth 4 - PvE): Massive AOE aggro skill. Overrides bramble guard. Damage is very low even at lvl10 while the aggro effect stays the same. Uses a lot of stamina (800 for lvl1). Highly recommended if you wish to play melee tank role.
Bramble Rage (Metal 6, Earth 7 - PvP): High range AOE wood/earth attack with massive damage on ground targets. Uses a lot of stamina. May only cast on the ground.
Dragonfire (Water 6, Fire 7 - PvP): High range defense level curse with plenty of damage. Uses a lot of stamina. May only cast on the ground.
Ice Blast (Wood 7, Fire 7 - PvE): Decreases target's max HP by 10% (lvl10). Effect overrides Sharpened Tooth and Sage Soul Degeneration.
Chaotic Spirit (Metal 7, Wood 7 - PvP): Works like Soul Transfusion. PvP usage is not very effective if the target has both HP and MP charms. venomancers with this genie skill and Sage Malefic Crush can finish off tank Barbarians after someone has already ticked the target's HP charm. You hit with Malefic Crush. After 2 seconds the tank's MP will be 0 then you hit with Chaotic Spirit and... 1 hit to kill until target's HP charm ticks again. Highly recommended.
For more genie skills and details (obsolete): http://www.ecatomb.net/genieskill.php
For a list of genie skill updates, see: http://pwi.perfectworld.com/news/new...ll-update-6471
Comments on Sage and Demon paths:
lvl 89 Fox Form: Sages get higher permanent physical defense and accuracy bonuses than Demons. On the other hand, Demons who play mostly as human will get a great moving speed bonus for 6 seconds after switching to fox which is another great way to stay alive or to rush to a target like a train.
lvl 89 Bramble Guard: Quite a rare skill. Sages get 20 minutes buff which is quite a pointless gain for the price. Demons get 75% deflect instead. Only worth upgrading if you're a Demon.
lvl 89 Purge: Quite a rare skill. Sages have 5m AOE. Not impressive unless you're getting close to a tied group like Rambo to debuff them all at once. Demons have 25 seconds cooldown. Might help for bosses which cast self buffs.
lvl 89 Fox Wallop: Again, a rare skill. Sages get 50% chance to save chi and Demons get 20% chance to make hits critical for 5 seconds. While saving 20 chi looks dull the skill itself is poor. 20% chance to make everything hit crit for 5 seconds is slightly more appealing though chance is tiny.
lvl 89 Amplify Damage: That's another expensive skill yet a worthy one. Sages get their curse pumped to 30% while Demons get 25% over 26 seconds. Both are great.
lvl 89 Befuddling Mist: The extra damage gain for Sages is very important for this skill. Demons slow the targets but 30% for 3 seconds is nothing.
lvl 92 Summer Sprint: The Sage version works like Purify which is a great deal. The Demon version gives immunity to movement debuffs for 6 seconds which is vital for PvP. Both upgrades are awesome.
lvl 92 Soul Degeneration: This useless skill gets new life for Sages. It works like Archers' Sage Sharpened Tooth (for archers it's a lvl99 skill upgrade) decreasing the target's HP by 20% being this upgrade a must for Sages even though the effect does not stack with Archers' HP debuff. The Demon version halves target's evasion which is far less appealing.
lvl 92 Stunning Blow: Sages get 25% chance to save the spark. Unappealing. Demons get 50% chance to get the target also stunned for the 3 first seconds, making the skill name slightly less misleading.
lvl 92 Leech: Those who use this skill often know it's not a reliable one. The Sage version works 100%. The Demon steals 800HP instead. Both are very important.
lvl 92 Melee Mastery: Sages get a massive 200% melee damage bonus. The Demon version is not much worse. It pumps melee damage by 150% and also increase critical rate by 3%. These skill upgrades also make Barbarians and Blademasters 500% more envious.
lvl 99 Crush Vigor: The Sage version is excellent to prevent Blademasters from doing their annoying stuns and ultimates. It's a worthy upgrade but Demons' version really shines. They have 50% chance to get a spark. Even though cooldown is somewhat long (30 seconds) it's a must for Demons.
lvl 99 Lending Hand: Excellent upgrade. The reduced cooldown to 15 seconds for both Sages and Demons is the best part of it. It effectively allows "chi farmers" to keep damage dealers firing their strongest attacks. The 25% chance of saving spark for Sages and 20% chance of transferring 2 sparks for Demons are far less appealing than the reduced cooldown.
lvl 99 Consume Spirit: As many Venomancers either don't need or dislike this skill you might buy the skill book for cheap. Sage version works 100% while demon version has 9s cooldown. Both Sage and Demon versions are fair.
lvl 99 Malefic Crush: This skill upgrade can be marvellous or disasterous depending on the target. Several players use MP charms. For those the Sage version effectively prevents any Barbarian, BM or Archer to attack with skills for about 2 seconds for keeping their MP very low even after MP charm ticks while other classes are nearly immune. Concerning MP charms the higher MP burn time for Demon version makes it nearly useless except for the damage on its own. If the target is not using MP charm the Demon version turns the table, effectively preventing Barbarians, Blademasters and Archers from using skills for at least 5 seconds.
Endgame and restat build suggestion:
lvl 100 Sage Heavy Fox Form Venomancer
To make it real you must use an Old Heaven's Tear weapon Solar Enlightenment (lvl12 Magic Sword; can be equipped by characters lvl 94+) with at least -30% requeriments. While crafting the weapon the chance of getting it with -20% requeriments is 9.52% and the chance of getting -30% requeriments is 4.76%. With such low magic requeriment for weapon wearing any endgame Heavy set is easy. As you're a melee class, more strength means more damage. In other words, if you manage to get the Magic Sword with 3x-30% requeriments you'll be able to have as much strength as a Polearm BM with much more damage because of your melee mastery.
With 2 golden TT99 Lionheart items (being 1 bracers) you'll have -0.15 interval between attacks. That's very important to increase DPS with normal attack but the price and avaiability of the golden materials are problems not to be ignored.
Get elemental belt/necklace with -6% channel to help decreasing channel of your debuffs and a pair of good rings with accuracy/physical attack.
Use garnets on weapon and sapphires (perfect or better highly recommended) on armoury. With the exception of rings, you must refine all your gear to gain HP and elemental defense.
Example: http://pwcalc.ru/pwi/?char=8719d2a15fbf3aa7
Questions and Answers:
For a complete Q&A check: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...ad.php?t=13971
Q: Do I really need to use a Magic Weapon? What's the best weapon for me?
A: You must use Magic Weapons to use your skills. The trick is that you can't change your weapon while in Fox Form and your Melee Mastery only applies to Fox Form so even if other weapons have better damage the final hits won't pay off the drawbacks. If you use more skills than normal attacks, Patakas have the best damage though they hit only once a second if you happen to use normal attacks. If you use more normal attacks than skills, get any of the other 3 magic weapons for being faster (1.25 attacks/second) though Magic Swords have the highest damage among these 3.
Q: Are foxes really better than human form Venomancers?
A: Not really but foxes have fair survivability (especially Light and Heavy) even when pet is killed.
Q: How vulnerable are Light and Heavy Venomancers to magic attacks?
A: A lot, especially Heavy builds. That's why elemental belts/necklaces are so important.
Q: You don't mention how to distribute the points every level. Why?
A: Following a formala is the easy way but generally not the ideal. And for some it's just impossible. All I do is to show some possible paths, the advantages and disadvantages of them. Making your Veno a Goddess or a failure is up to you.
Q: You don't talk about adding Vitality. Isn't it a good deal?
A: Having points to spare with Vitality is hard for Light builds and nearly impossible for Heavy builds. Those who wear only Arcane and have little strength/dexterity are allowed to add Vitality being probably the most popular build. Once you get refined gear you'll notice HP gains are the lowest for Arcane, being better for Light and best for Heavy. Some Venos regret adding Vitality at higher levels claiming refining is best while others claim damage loss is a minor issue compared to survivability gain. Both points are reasonable so It's hard to give a proper answer.
Q: I've just learned the Fox Form skill but my melee damage is too low and I miss a lot. Have I messed with anything?
A: Not at all. Your damage will only get better after getting Melee Mastery while your accuracy gets much better once you get lvl2 Fox Form or items with added accuracy. With -interval between attacks bracers you'll deal more hits per time being also a good way to kill faster.
Q: Are Heavy foxes better than Blademasters?
A: Yes and no. Blademasters have awesome AOE skills, stuns and Alter Marrow skills (allowing the BM to switch part of physical defense to magic and also the opposite). Venomances don't have these tricks but they're cheaper to grind and they have the overpowered Flesh Ream pet skill to kill most classes without a sweat.
Q: Do Heavy foxes tank bosses?
A: Heavy foxes have lower pet heal being less effective to tank with pet compared to pure Magic Arcane builds but Heavy foxes have immense physical defense on their own being more adequate to tank physical bosses directly than Blademasters. The problem is that Venomancers don't have agressive skills (though the genie skill Alpha Male does the trick), being Blademasters with provoke skill on weapon and Barbarians far more reliable. The other problem is that some Clerics may run away rather than healing you...
Q: Do melee foxes steal aggro with pet tanking? What about a boss with Barbarian as tank?
A: Yes melee foxes do steal aggro from pets but not as often as pure Magic Venomancers. Concerning squads with Barbarian as tank everything is safe though some endgame builds (sage/demon) may have damage over time matching fists/claws Blademasters or even higher.
Q: Are Light and Heavy Venomancers any good for Rebirth of Gods?
A: Yes they are. For Alpha and Beta there's not much to do except farming celebeans, giving away sparks, purging and amping bosses and all builds are suitable for that. Having low HP and lacking a good AOE make Venomancers poor in general for Alpha and Beta. For Gamma and Delta a good Venomancer plays a major role in there. Not only the Venomancer will (still) farm the celebeans but also use a higher level Parasitic Nova for the chaotic effect and Myriad Rainbow to make the squad kill mobs considerably faster. Using the genie skill Alpha Male+Fortify+Feral Concentration or summoning pet during certain boss fights can be the difference between a successful run and a wiped squad. The big deal for Light and Heavy Venomancers is the ability to survive physical AOE easily and to change parts to arcane to survive magic AOE.
Q: I see you're a Wizard. Do you even have a Venomancer? What's your experience playing Veno?
A: Yes I do. My experience was mixed though. She wears Heavy since lvl8. I tried to play as melee since very low levels but it was quite a failure. Too many misses and HP was somewhat low. FB19 reward is a pataka (1.00 attacks/second) which I found to be slow as I use mostly normal attack. Magic mobs killed me lots of times also. After 29, with lvl2 Fox Form, it got much better. With survivability increasing greatly (and so did my DPS with mastery upgrades) I started to neglect human form. After 39 the Fox started to shine, with leech skill. Nowadays the only problem I have is when I'm doing BH and someone thinks I'm going nuts while I'm just pulling 1 single mob with pet.
1. Eventual fox. You're a Human form Venomancer, like the most. Eventually you switch to Fox in order to debuff bosses/players.
Benefits: Easy AOE grinding with Baby Hercules pet. You may tank some bosses through pet. Your fox curses always hit no matter how low your physical damage or accuracy are for being also magic skills.
Drawbacks: Relies too much on pet. All PvP guides tell to kill pet being a Human form Venomancer without pet the most vulnerable class. Draws aggro easily even after pet skills. As fox your attack skills miss a lot and have very poor damage. Venomancers often complain their magic damage is much lower than Wizards' and Clerics'.
Typical squad roles: Tank through pet, human form attacks and debuffs, fox form debuffs.
Typical PvP roles: Kill players with Flesh Ream pet skill, long range human form attacks and debuffs.
There are great guides for human form Venomancers. If you're lost, try this one: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=234672
2. Full time fox. You don't like human form and wishes to be a full time melee fox.
Benefits: Awesome physical defense boost. Attack rate is great and attack skills have short channel/cast time. Cheap and safe to grind. Good endgame damage.
Drawbacks: Planning is mostly hard. Your pet heal skill is less effective due to the low magic yet acceptable. High expenses with weapon repair. Poor damage at low level. Skills don't add extra % weapon damage. For PvP your Fox Form attracts Magic classes. You're very vulnerable to accuracy curses.
Typical Squad roles: Attack support through fox form attack skills, fox form debuffs. Direct tanking of physical bosses being vastly inferior to Barbarians due to low HP and lack of agressive skills.
Typical PvP roles: Kill players with Flesh Ream pet skill, short range fox form debuffs. Direct attacking players according to the kind of armor.
3. Both. You play both as fox and as human. You try to take advantage of both human and fox forms for all possible situations.
Benefits: Many Magic Venomancers complain their class eventually gets boring being the Fox Form a great way to break the routine.
Drawbacks: The most expensive to play. Lack of spirit at low, mid and even high levels unless you neglect some skills. Damage and survivability depends on armoury choice.
Typical squad roles: Depends vastly on the armor class you wear.
Typical PvP roles: Player judgement to act either as human or as fox.
Now as you have defined your playing style let's talk about builds and item choices:
Check Tailor/Blacksmith items or the Auction House to learn the best way to distribute your points. I don't recommend using formulas.
1. Eventual fox. You attack mainly with magic human form skills so you must focus Magic to deal more damage and to make your MP bar last longer.
The first choice as armor set is Arcane for allowing you to add Magic the most. You must use physical defense belt and necklace otherwise you'll be too squishy against physical attacks for both PvE and PvP, even as fox. Use magic rings to increase your magic damage. Use bracers and ornaments with -% channel to increase your magic damage dealt/time and to decrease the time you spend to channel your curses and pet heal. To make fox form attacks viable you need might rings (as an extra set) with accuracy though your melee damage will be very low. Use sapphires on weapon to get better magic damage and garnets on armoury to help increasing your physical defense.
The second choice is Light. Choosing Light will make your defenses nearly balanced and will also increase your accuracy and critical % rate. As fox your physical defense turns to be very respectable. The price you pay is having lower magic defenses, being vulnerable to magic classes for PvP. You'll also deal lower damage as human and you'll have higher costs with MP charms, compared to the Arcane build, for spending several points with strength and dexterity to wear it. Choosing Light as armor makes your Venomancer flexible in terms of attack meaning your experience with fox form skills will be much better compared to a typical high magic Arcane build. Wear bracers and ornaments with -% channel to increase your magic damage dealt/time and to decrease the time you spend to channel your curses. Wear magic rings with extra magic damage to help compensating your magic damage loss. To play as melee fox eventually, wear might rings with extra physical damage as your dexterity provides you fair accuracy. Add sapphires to weapon to get better magic damage. Pick citrines for armoury if you do mostly PvE (citrines add HP) or sapphires for PvP (endgame Magic classes generally hit considerably higher than melee classes). For more details about the Light build, try this guide: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh....php?p=3578461
2. Full time fox. You're a melee attacker so you focus strength to deal more damage. Magic weapon is required to use skills. You can't play as fox without a magic weapon equipped.
The first choice as armor set is Heavy. Being a melee attacker makes Heavy logical yet hard because you lack points to keep up with the latest armor and magic weapon for your level. Try to keep up with the latest magic weapon's Magic requeriment at all cost. Your physical defense is very high so you may neglect armoury to benefit from the damage gains higher level weapons provide. The easiest way to make a Heavy Venomancer is to wear lower level armoury with added strengh/dexterity in order to pump up your stats. There are few ways to keep up with the latest armoury+weapon for your level, making planning complicated. To do so you need ornaments with plenty of strength/dexterity which are hard to get for lower levels and armoury/weapon with -% requeriments. Items with -% requeriments are often underlooked and most players sell them to NPC so getting these items is not always easy. You must spend some time browsing the Auction House every day to make your item sets. After lvl 60 getting weapons with -% requeriments gets much harder because the vast majority of players switch to TT or legendary weapons so you must be careful with your Magic points to be allowed to use them. Wear bracers with -interval between attacks to have your normal melee attacks' damage dealt/time increased. Your elemental defenses are very low, making you particularly vulnerable to magic classes so getting elemental belt and necklace is a must. Might rings with strength/dexterity are preferred but extra accuracy and damage also help. Use ambers on magic weapon if you're unhappy with your accuracy or garnets for extra physical damage. For armoury using sapphires is mandatory to help increasing your elemental defenses.
The second choice as armor set is Light because Fox form boosts your physical defense and you're not going to take many hits with pet tanking. The extra dexterity required to wear Light is very welcome to your accuracy. Wear elemental belt and necklace to be less vulnerable to magic classes for PvP. Channel reduction belt and nacklace helps decreasing time to use curses and to heal pet. Wear bracers with -interval between attacks to have your normal melee attacks' damage dealt/time increased. Wear might rings with extra physical damage to help pumping up your melee damage. Use garnets on Magic weapon to get better melee damage. Pick citrines for armoury if you do mostly PvE (citrines add HP) or sapphires for PvP (endgame Magic classes generally hit considerably higher than melee classes). For more details about the Light build, try this guide: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh....php?p=3578461
3. Both. Instead of picking a single armoury set you'll have 2 sets for every situation or a mixed one to change the balance of your defenses.
Remind: The lower your Magic is, the lower is the damage your magic skills deal. The lower your Strength is, the lower is the damage your melee attacks deal.
You may drag and drop your items to the skill tabs like you do to any skill to switch quickly. Beware the items you carry in your inventory may drop if you're killed even if your name is blue or white. You may bind the items (using binding stones which are cash shop items) to prevent them from dropping but once you do it you'll be unable to sell or trade them. Guardian angels also keep your items safe.
Heavy+Arcane. Probably the most popular defense variation for foxes. Physical defense is so high even for low level foxes that replacing some Heavy pieces to Arcane permanently is very reasonable. Keep in mind that your pet takes most hits so wearing a full Heavy set is only necessary if you wish to tank a physical boss like a Barbarian does. It's also handy to grind and to PK, making the Heavy Venomancer very flexible in terms of defenses.
Light+Arcane. Light is supposed to be the most balanced build overall but several Light players complain high level magic classes hit much higher than most melee classes. If you already have elemental ornaments and sapphires on armoury but magic classes still hurt you too much, feel free to switch some Light parts to Arcane. Beware there's no perfect solution and doing so will allow melee classes (especially Archers) to hit you a bit higher. For PvE in general it's worth trying against magic mobs and bosses with magic AOE.
Heavy+Light. Not very useful but if you afford a pair of golden TT99 Lionheart (chest and leggings) and a pair of Ashura items (bracers and footwear), you'll be able to unlock the special option -0.05 interval between attacks from both Heavy and Light item sets, gaining extra melee DPS through normal attacks with minor decrease on physical defense. For anything else there's little (if any) appeal in such combination.
Fox form skill guide:
There are great human form skill guides already so let's focus mostly on Fox form skills. For complete reference, see http://www.ecatomb.net/skillpwi.php
The bad news are: You can't play as fox since lvl1.
Remind: Get used to checking your skill tree every time you level up for possible upgrades.
lvl 1: Your starting skill, Venomous Scarab. That's a magic skill. Play just like a Wizard or Cleric would.
lvl 3: Now you have your pet so getting your pet heal and revive skills is mandatory. You must see the Pet Skill Trainer to upgrade your pet related skills.
lvl 6: Get your taming skill. Even if you find it useless there are several quests requesting you to tame mobs.
lvl 9: Finally you have the Fox Form skill. Don't get frustrated. It's not worth playing as fox at that level. Get Fox Wallop skill though you'll probably hate it. Ironwood will seem much a better deal. Don't add Swimming Mastery. That skill was removed months ago. It has no effect.
lvl 13: You may get your first debuff: Purge. It's mainly used for PvP and high level bosses so you don't have to get it so early though its importance is tremendous.
lvl 16: Bramble Guard. At lvl 1 this is skill is nothing but a friend maker. At higher levels it's extremely important for squads. As we're talking about squads, beware your bramble draws aggro for dealing damage so it's best not to cast it on any class but Barbarians and Blademasters during FB, TT and other hunts with elite mobs and bosses. You can't cast it as fox.
lvl 19: Befuddling Mist and Melee Mastery. Befuddling is one of the most important skills you'll ever have. It has short range AOE though skill descrition won't mention it. Don't forget to buy the Melee Mastery. To make a simple comparison, Blademasters and Barbarians only reach 30% damage increase through mastery at lvl49. I can't stress enough how important it is.
lvl 23: Amplify Damage. That's your second debuff. It's not very helpful at lvl 1 but it's useful even then. I had no water pet by the time so I used to cast it on water mobs to pull and give me some advantage. At higher levels it's awesome.
lvl 26: Metabolic Boost. It's not the best healing skill of PW but you should get it. It helps. You can't cast on others. You can't cast it as fox.
lvl 29: Soul Transfusion, Stunning Blow and Summer Sprint. Soul transfusion switches your MP and HP bars so it might save your life when you're in trouble with high MP bar. Get it! Stunning Blow doesn't stun; it's a bit dull at lvl1 but has some uses for both PvE and PvP. Summer Sprint makes you run slightly faster. It's nice. Get it. Upgrade Fox form skill as No.1 priority!
lvl 33: Soul Degenaration. Its usefulness it often questioned. Keep it lvl1.
lvl 36: Nature's Grace. It's just like Metabolic Boost but pumps your MP instead.
lvl 39: Leech. It's the most important Fox skill you'll ever have. It deals decent damage and has about 70% chance to recover HP with it. From this point fighting as Fox starts to get more and more appealing. Once your HP is full and your MP is depleted, use Soul Transfusion to switch bars. It's easy to get all your HP back as long as you're careful enough to take no hits until then. After getting used to doing it you'll barely use any MP potion.
lvl 43: Crush Vigor. Useless unless you do PvP often.
lvl 46: Lending Hand. That's a great friend maker. It gets even more important for lvl 59+ players. You may only cast as human.
lvl 49: Consume Spirit. It doesn't deal any extra damage unlike all other attack skills. It recovers MP at a somewhat high HP cost. Considering it costs over 3M to make it lvl10, it's a bad deal for the most. For charm users it has unique appeal being the combo consume spirit+leech a good way to prevent MP charm from ticking while pumping chi quickly.
lvl 59: Bramble Hood and Malefic Crush. Bramble Hood is one more great trick to survive after your pet's passing for PvE while being much more powerful for PvP, reducing both physical and magic damage taken though the physical damage deflect works only for PvE. Unfortunately you can't cast Bramble Hood as fox. Malefic Crush gives you something to do with your sparks. Get it but don't expect too much.
lvl 79 (you can't buy these skills at the trainer. You must make them instead. Each book requires 20 Apocalypse Pages and 10 Medium Ink. Check 1000 Streams forge for Ink and formulas. After making the book go to the skill trainer to learn.): Myriad Rainbow (FOX FORM) and Feral Concentration. Pay attention to your skill tree. There are 2 different Myriad Rainbow spells. One for human form and the other for fox form. It's a rip off! Myriad is a great skill for both PvE and PvP but it uses a lot of MP to cast. Feral Concentration is the best trick you'll ever have to stay alive though you may only cast it as human.
lvl 100 (similar to lvl79 skills but the formula to make is slightly different. it needs 20 Chrono Pages instead of Apocalypse Pages.): Fossilized Curse. This skill is the ultimate debuff being a nightmare to all physical attack classes (Barbarians, Blademasters and Archers). Though it increases target's physical defense it reduces attack rate and critical % greatly while dealing some damage. It might sound silly as foxes hit physical and generally have no problems tanking physical hits but it's extremely powerful to prevent your Wizards, Clerics and even Magic Venomancers from getting killed by any physical attack class being a great attack debuff focused on support. To get rid of the physical defense boost just purge the target.
Chi gain for skills:
Sub-section color coding:
Only avaiable for Human Form.
Only avaiable for Fox Form.
Avaible for Both Human and Form Form.
Normal melee attack: 4
Fox Form: 0
Fox Wallop: -20
Befuddling Mist: 10
Stunning Blow: -100
Leech: 15
Consume Spirit: 15
Malefic Crush: -200
Purge: 10
Amplify Damage: 10
Soul Degeneration: 10
Crush Vigor: 10
Heal Pet: 8
Revive Pet: 0
Tame Beast: 0
Soul Transfusion: -100 to 0 (example: you have 2 sparks and 30 chi. After using it you'll have 1 spark and 30 chi; you have 0 sparks and 15 chi. After using it you'll have 0 sparks and 0 chi.)
Summer Sprint: 0
Bramble Guard: 5
Metabolic Boost: 0
Nature's Grace: 0
Lending Hand: -100
Bramble Hood: -200
Feral Concentration: -100
Myriad Rainbow: -20
Myriad Rainbow (Fox Form): -20
Arcane Antinomy: -100
Fossilized Curse: -100
Weapon Considerations:
There are 4 kinds of magic weapons: Wands, Magic Swords, Patakas and Glaives. Though they're all magic weapons they're not the same.
Wands: They have very stable damage. Despite the low melee damage they're particularly nice to Venomancers who use pets to tank bosses for making healing numbers very reliable.
Magic Swords: Their damage is quite stable yet not as much as Wands'. What makes Magic Swords much different than Wands is the melee damage which is lot higher.
Patakas: They're the very opposite of Wands. These weapons have very poor base damage but the peak hits are simply record-breaking. For melee damage, some love them for the spike hits but some hate them due for being slower than the others (1.00 attacks/s).
Glaives: They stand between Magic Swords and Patakas in terms of damage range. Not as good as Magic Swords in terms of melee damage per second.
For levels 1-59:
Before thinking about the best weapon, beware the real problem is that getting the right weapon is just not certain. Most players prefer to sell their low level weapons to NPCs or decompose them so when you think about a certain weapon consider you'll probably have to deal with low avaiablity issues. The Legendary molds and weapons are mostly highly priced and, considering how fast you gain levels, they're not going to be very useful. So the tip is: use your lower levels to choose between 1.00 attacks/s patakas which are more qualified for skills than normal attacks and 1.25 Magic Swords, which are better for normal attacks. Wands and Glaives are, in general, worse for melee attacks but don't take it as a rule. Maybe you find yourself past 30 while still using FB19 reward and happen to find a cheap 3-star weapon which deals more damage.
Flame Wand (lvl22 Legendary Wand) - That's a good weapon but it's not worth spending with it because its damage is nearly the same as your FB19 reward. Not recommended.
Fine Pataka of Bodhi (lvl52 Legenadry Pataka - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - That's a great weapon, especially for Human Form but very rare and too highly priced for what it offers. Not recommended.
Wheel of Fate (lvl43 Legendary Glaive) - That's a good weapon yet popular. If you afford it, get it. Highly Recommended.
Mirage Sword (lvl22 Legendary Magic Sword) - Better than Flame Wand, especially for melee attacks. A good alternative to FB19 weapon but if you find it to be expensive, just forget about it. Not recommended.
Order of the Stars (lvl30 Legendary Magic Sword) - Clearly better than your FB19 reward. It's a balanced weapon for both melee and magic attacks. If you find it for a fair price, you'll be making a good deal. Highly recommended.
For levels 60 and higher:
Now the problem is a lot different. The avaiablity of good weapons is really great but the requeriments can be a headache for Light and Heavy builds. Get used to planning which weapon to use at least 10 levels in advance.
There's no argument about real elite 3-star weapons, like some with -9% channel or better but these weapons are so rare the vast majority of players drop 3-star and skip Old Heaven's Tear weapons because instance weapons are really good overall.
By now you'd have noticed already all items have their own level, not related to the level requeriment for a player to equip. The weapon level reflects the overal damage and additionals but the level required to equip and stat requeriments are not so obvious. That changes the way you plan your character. For instance, a TT80 weapon is actually lvl10, a TT99 is lvl12 and TT100 is lvl13. Frostland and Lunar are even more complicated... Green FF, for instance, are lvl10, just like the TT80 but require 5 more levels to be equipped by the player. Fishy? Now look at some golden FF weapon. It's level 12, just like TT99 but with lvl85 player requeriment! Lunar weapons are similar to FF but the green versions are rather rare and the golden ones, which can only be equipped at lvl95+ are in fact lvl13, just like TT100. To make you even more puzzled let's mention the true endgame goal for any player: Warsoul. These weapons can be equipped by any player lvl80+ while they are actually lvl16!
Old Heaven's Tear is a map you unlock once you complete the quest chain Wraith Ploy. There are special forges there, allowing you to make random quality items. What makes it different than crafting in general is that it only makes 2-star, 3-star and 1-star Legendary items. The additionals are random but not rarely you'll see someone yielding a weapon forged there with great additionals. It's all a matter of luck.
Remind: Once you equip a golden/red Twilight Temple item it binds to your character, meaning it will never drop but also making it impossible to be traded or even decomposed.
Dragon's Will (lvl60 Legendary Wand - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - That's a really great elite weapon but it's so expensive to acquire you'll be sure to skip it. Not recommended.
Ancient Arbor (lvl60 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a popular pick. It's good for any role and it's cheap. You can't go wrong with this. Highly Recommended.
Sakyamuni's Light (lvl70 Legendary Magic Sword) - That's the most balanced lvl70 weapon. It's the best pick for Arcane Venomancers with low physical resistance. It's also a good all-rounder for those who want good magic damage in Human Form yet fair damage while Fox. Recommended.
Grief's Breath (lvl70 Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a cheap alternative to Sakyamuni's Light. The vitality boost is excellent yet not as welcome as the physical resistance addition Sakyamuni comes with. If you wear Light or Heavy, physical resistance is not a problem so it turns to be a good pick. Recommended.
Ashura's Sign (lvl70 Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - If all you want is high magic hits and stealing aggro from pet is not a concern, this is for you. Otherwise, keep distance from this Magic Sword. Not recommended.
Acalanatha Wand (lvl70 Green Twilight Temple Wand) - That's an alternative pick. Damage is poor for melee but its stable magic damage is perfect for pet healing. Overall damage is really good and it's quite cheap to make. Some dislike this weapon because it can't be used as material for a TT80 weapon with the exception of the golden Acalanatha Wand: Sunflame, which is expensive. Recommended.
Glaives of Divinity (lvl79 Legendary Glaive) - That's a popular alternative to TT80 being good to Arcane and Light builds focused on Human attacks. Not the best choice if you wish to play as Fox. Recommended.
Yaksa (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - A great choice to Arcane Venomancers with low physical resistance with the exception of the added 1% critical. Not recommended.
Endless Ambiguity (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not as good as Yaksa's physical resistance additional but offers better additionals overall. Recommended.
Sakra-devanam-Lundra (lvl80 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not as good as the Green TT Magic Swords for having +2% critical hit rate and having lower Magic damage compared to Yaksa and Endless Ambiguity. Not recommended.
Acalanatha Wand: Sunflame (lvl80 Golden Twilight Temple Wand) - If you liked the stable magic damage of Acalanatha Wand you'll love this weapon. Damage is excellent. Like its precursor, the melee damage is poor. It's hard to recommend as the expenses with making are really high compared to any other lvl80 alternative. Not recommended.
Wheel of Life (lvl80 Green Twilight Temple Glaive) - Excellent all-rounder. The additionals are really awesome for Light builds but Arcane builds who wish to play melee will also benefit from the extra Dexterity. Highly recommended.
Sensoid, Emerald, Aquaride (lvl85 Green Forgotten Frostland) - Despite being rare and expensive, these green weapons are considerably worse than the popular green TT80 ones. Not recommended.
Sensoid Emptiness (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Wand) - Elite weapon. Melee damage is poor but it's particularly appealing for Venomancers seeking stable healing and a real good HP boost. Recommended.
Emerald Flame (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Pataka) - Elite weapon. It comes with excellent additionals for any Arcane Venomancer. If you like the broad damage range of Patakas and play mostly as Human, this i s for you. Recommended.
Aquadash (lvl85 Golden Forgotten Frostland Glaive) - Elite weapon. It's a full attack glaive but magic damage range won't make it reliable for tanking through pet. Not recommended.
Requiem Blade (lvl89 Legendary Magic Sword) - Highly balanced weapon, cheap and broadly avaiable. Particularly good to Heavy and Light builds though the Dexterity additional is nearly useless to any Arcane Venomancer. Recomemended.
Innocent Reverie (lvl90 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Not a good pick for any Venomancer for having 1% critical, which can be a problem to Arcane Veno, and the evasion additional. Not recommended.
Wraith Conqueror (lvl90 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Additionals make it a great pick for any Venomancer. Like any Magic Sword, melee damage is great for its attack rate. Highly recommended.
Blade of the Red Dust (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Nearly as offensive as Yaksa but without the critical additional. Despite the 6% channel reduction, the expenses with making make it a poor deal for the benefits. If you happen to get the materials for cheap, it's sure to be a good deal but if it's not the case, forget about it. Not recommended.
Solar Flame: Conquerer (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Pataka) - A full magic attack Pataka with 1% extra critical rate. Unless your only goal is PvP as Human, this is not a good choice. Not recommended.
Ardent Soul Shadow (lvl90 Golden Twilight Temple Glaive) - Considering the costs to make it and the MP additional which most dislike, it's not a good weapon. A decent alternative to Magic Swords and Patakas if you play mostly as Fox but not the best. Not recommended.
Purgatory, Buddha's Flower, Decaying Spirit (lvl95 Green Lunar Valley) - These weapons are very rare yet worse than TT90. Unless you happen to get one for cheap and like the additionals, forget about them. Not recommended.
Neon Purgatory (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Wand) - Elite weapon. Awesome attack-oriented Wand. Though its melee damage is erratic, like any Wand, the magic attack is stable yet high. May lead to some PvE troubles due to added 2% critical but it's valuable for PvP. A true endgame weapon for Venomancers who wish to tank TT runs or even world bosses through Hercules pet. Recommended.
Buddha's Leaf (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Magic Sword) - Elite weapon. The best defensive additionals for any Arcane Venomancer. For Light and Heavy builds, however, the extra physical resistance additional and physical damage taken decrease have little appeal. Highly recommended.
Dying Spirit (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Pataka) - Elite weapon. If you play mostly as Fox and the 1.00 attacks/s rate is not a problem to you, this is the best weapon you'll ever have. Highly recommended.
Lunar Glaive (lvl95 Golden Lunar Valley Glaive) - Elite weapon. That's a full attack weapon but the damage range and the additional critical go against any PvE. Certainly a great pick for Human Venomancers who do PvP frequently. Not recommended.
Midnight Black (lvl97 Legendary Pataka) - That's another underlooked weapon. If you play mostly as Human and drawing aggro occasionaly is not a problem to you, that's a great yet cost-effective choice. A good match for Light Human Venomancers. Recommended.
Demon Thunder (lvl98 Legendary Magic Sword - Mold can only be acquired through Dragon Quest Director) - Additionals are mainly defense though not as good as Buddha's Leaf's. The extra 2% critical makes the weapon a poor pick for Human Venomancers. Not recommended.
Broken Dream (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - It comes with 6% channel reduction and adds a lot of HP. A great balanced weapon for both Human and Fox forms. Highly recommended.
Scaredevil (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - That's a full magic attack weapon with 2% critical. Very poor choice for the most. Not recommended.
Garuda's Flame Wing (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Very similar to Broken Dream but comes with only 1 HP additional. On the other hand, it decreases physical damage taken by 2%, being the best TT99 Magic Sword for Arcane Venomancers.
Mirage (lvl99 Green Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - Nearly as offensive as Scaredevil but comes without the extra critical additional. If you're a Light Venomancer and wish your Magic stats to be pumped, this is certainly a great choice. Recommended.
Inferno-Heaven Ravager: Souless (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - It comes with 3% critical so it's certainly not a good pick for PvE Arcane Venomancers though the other 2 additionals are really good for any role. Great pick if you play mainly as Human and do PvP mostly. For anything else, there are better choices. Not recommended.
Aura of Buddha (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Wand) - That's a good attack-oriented Wand but not as good as Neon Purgatory. By the time you reach lvl99 you'll be thinking of high refines and expensive gems so, in the end, either end up being expensive. Not recommended.
Divine Aegis (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Pataka) - That's a full defensive weapon being a great way to make endgame Arcane builds less vulnerable to physical damage. If survivability and spike damage are goals, you can't go wrong with this weapon. Highly Recommended.
Fate Denial: Godspeed (lvl99 Golden Twilight Temple Glaive) - That's a great balanced weapon for both PvP and PvE but the damage range of glaives may lead to occasional problems with pet healing. Not the best pick if you play as melee fox often. Recommended.
Sinrabansho (lvl100 Red Twilight Temple Magic Sword) - A full attack Magic Sword with massive 4% critical. If you don't care about PvE aggro issues and all you want is a great Human Form PvP experience, this is for you. If PvE or Fox Form are concerns, there are better picks. Recommended.
Pataka of Melodic Prophecy (lvl100 Rank VIII Pataka) - Once you're lvl100+ and reached 200000 reputation there's little in PvE you haven't achieved already so even the 4% critical additional will be welcome to you. This weapon is a true endgame all-rounder. Damage is really massive for both Fox and Human forms. Highly recommended.
Pet and Pet Skill Guide:
Legendary pet considerations:
1. Eventual fox. Baby Herculers and Baby Blazing Phoenix are the most important pets and come with amazing skills. Get them as soon as possible! The Noxious Gas is not the best AOE attack of PW but it matches perfectly your Hercules' overpowered tanking stats and skills. For additional aggro replace Pounce with Roar. Your lucky scarab is a poor stun but vital for PvP when you have a Phoenix flying straight to the misfortunate target.
2. Full time fox. Your AOE attacks aren't as good as the human form ones but your Befuddling Mist has short yet useful AOE. It makes the tied targets miss your pet much more, sparing you from healing it constantly. The only 2 long range area skills are Myriad Rainbow (remember there are 2 different skills being 1 for human form and the other for fox) which is a great skill but MP hungry and the other one is Malefic Crush, which uses 2 sparks. Said that the Baby Hercules loses much appeal for full time foxes. On the other hand, the Baby Blazing Phoenix is a perfect match to foxes for having excellent damage per second.
3. Both. Having multiple pets for every situation might sound smart but keeping them up to your level is painfully boring especially after lvl 60. If you have both both legendary pets, train them and forget about the other ones. Tame higher level ones if you happen to find any usefulness in them.
These were just a few considerations. If you're looking for a real guide for Legendary pets, try this one: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=263181
Popular pet considerations:
You should try different kinds of pets at low level until you find out your perfect match. Most Venomancers prefer tanking pets for better survivability but taking aggro (especially as human) is rather common. Pets with high damage will hold the target longer with the penalty of requiring healing more often. Pets are balanced according to HP, magic/physical defenses, accuracy, attack rate, evasion, movement speed and HP recovery so there are several different pet builds. Rare pets aren't any better than normal pets but their look might be appealing enough.
Getting Roar skill for your tank is a great measure to prevent mobs from running from pet straight to you. Tough skill might help you tanking dungeon mobs. Physical defense curse (Pierce) is particulaly important to foxes, boosting the damage both you and your pet deal. For human form players, the magic defense curse (Howl) is also appealing but will make you steal aggro from pet even more often.
If you chose a damage dealer as pet, Tough skill will help considerably making your pet less squishy. Threaten skill decreases the target's physical damage being a great deal to assist your squad for physical bosses. Your Befuddling Mist's accuracy curse will also play an important role preventing your pet from taking a good ammount of hits. Flesh Ream has fair damage over time so using it as opening attack is an alternative to Roar unless you're fortunate enough to have Pounce (stun/attack rate increase). The physical defense curse (Pierce) is a must if you attack as fox while the Magic defense curse (Howl) will make you take aggro often even though your pet deals more damage than tanking pets.
For squads beware pet skill Pierce overrides Barbarians' Devour which is a Tiger Form skill and has better effect than the pet version even if it's lvl5. Other than Devour you may override any Barbarian/Cleric/Archer curse if you have Pierce/Howl/Threaten lvl4 or 5.
Flesh Ream is the most infamous skill of PW. Level is the most important factor in terms of damage, so if you're lvl 60 and hit a lvl60 mob you'll be dealing the exact damage your build and items tell. As you turn 61 that very mob will be hit for 1% more damage and the mob will deal 1% less damage to you. The problem is that it doesn't apply to Flesh Ream. It does the same very damage no matter the lvl of the target so all that matters is the base attack of the pet. It makes Venomancers extremely powerful when doing TT and other instances because the skull bosses (which are lvl 150, also like some World Bosses) are also hit with no reduction. Flesh Ream is the most important pet skill for any land pet and for any pet if PvP is a concern. Skills like Sacrifice and Penetrate are supposed to be much better than Flesh Ream but, in practise it only applies to normal mobs and bosses below your level.
For a complete pet guide, this one is excellent: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...d.php?t=260362
Genie skill considerations[OBSOLETE. Updates coming soon.]:
Now Genies may have up to 8 skills according to Lucky Points. Lucky Points are random bonuses genies get every 10 levels. The bonus varies from 1 to 10 extra stat points.
So, the Lucky Points required are:
Lucky Points 0 to 50 = 4 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 51 to 70 = 5 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 71 to 80 = 6 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 81 to 90 = 7 Skill Slots
Lucky Points 91 or more = 8 Skill Slots
Sub-section color coding:
Green for harmless skills you could test easily.
Orange for skills that could get you killed. Caution upon usage.
Red for skills that require over 6 affinity points. Think twice before adding these skill for affinity reset notes are not cheap.
Blinding Sand (Earth 1 - PvP): This genie skill decreases target's accuracy and cast speed by 6% (up to 15% for lvl10 skill, +1% to every 8 strength/dexterity added to genie). For PvE the pet skill Strong messes with pet's evasion making the skill nearly useless to make it take fewer hits. Also for PvE seems like mobs' accuracy is based on lvl because neither Befuddling Mist (70%) nor Blinding Sand seem to make them miss as much as they should. For PvP it's vital. The effect sums with Befuddling Mist, making the target's accuracy go 0 if you pump enough strength/dexterity to make the Blinding Sand effect reach the remaining 30%. The effect doesn't change bonuses granted by misty rings or buffs like Bloodbath. Barbarian stuns override both accuracy curses. May only cast on the ground. SKILL BROKEN. The accuracy decrease doesn't work.
Cauterize (Water 1 - PvE and PvP): Adds a chance to remove bleed. Up to 60% for lvl10 + 1% chance to every 4 str or dex added. Might save you in a fight with another Venomancer. Also great for Rebirth.
Blood Clot (Metal 1 - PvE and PvP): Similar to Cauterize but it makes you immune to bleed for a few seconds instead of removing it.
Earthquake (Earth 2 - PvE): This is a range 10 AOE push back skill that gives you a "Barbarian feeling". Has 10% chance to interrupt targets' channel. Useful if you find yourself surrounded by melee mobs while leech is cooling down or when all you want is to run away. Also good when all you want is to prevent a cleric from taking aggro when you have mobs on you that weren't hit. Damage is erratic. May only cast on the ground.
Second Wind (Wood 1, Earth 1, Water 1 - PvE and PvP): This is a very nice healing skill. Heals up to 800 (lvl10) + 2% per strength added to genie. Highly recommended.
Extreme Poison (wood 4 - PvE and PvP): It's a nice debuff, making the target take 20% more damage. It stacks with Amplify Damage.
Whirlwind (Metal 1, Water 2, Fire 1 - PvE and PvP): That's a nice cone AOE skill which freezes targets and decreases their movement speed by 23% (lvl1) or up to 50% (lvl10).
Fortify (Wood 5 - PvE and PvP): Great anti stun skill but there's a chance of getting magic defenses decreased (50% for lvl10). This still can be used instead of Demon Summer Sprint before Feral Concentration (lvl79 skill) to gain the immunities without the freezing effect. Highly recommended.
Relentless Courage (Wood 2, Fire 1, Earth 2 - PvP): It increases your attack, channel and movement speed by 5% (even at lvl10. Raising its level increases length by 0.5 seconds/level but also increases energy consumption by 10 per lvl. To every 4 strength attack and movement speed is increased by 1%. To every 15 dex channeling speed gets 1% faster.). Lasts 8 seconds.
Oxygen Bubble (Water 5 - PvP): It makes you immune to water damage for a few seconds. Excellent against Wizards.
Frenzy (Earth 6 - PvP): Increases your attack by 20 lvl but also decreases all your defenses by 100%. Powerful but dangerous.
Holy Path (Metal 2, Wood 2, Earth 2 - PvE and PvP): Boosts the movement speed of the caster. Vital to rush to a target and to kite.
Tree of Protection (Wood 3, Water 4 - PvE and PvP): That's a somewhat good HP recovery/max HP boost skill. Raises your max HP for up to 30%(lvl10; to every 2 str points max HP increases by 1%) for 5 seconds(to every 60 str points length is increased by 1 second). It recovers up to 20% of HP(lvl10; every 8 dex increases healing effect by 1%).
Seal (Wood 4, Earth 4 - PvP): Has 30% chance of sealing the target for 5 seconds (lvl10).
Alpha Male (Wood 5, Earth 4 - PvE): Massive AOE aggro skill. Overrides bramble guard. Damage is very low even at lvl10 while the aggro effect stays the same. Uses a lot of stamina (800 for lvl1). Highly recommended if you wish to play melee tank role.
Bramble Rage (Metal 6, Earth 7 - PvP): High range AOE wood/earth attack with massive damage on ground targets. Uses a lot of stamina. May only cast on the ground.
Dragonfire (Water 6, Fire 7 - PvP): High range defense level curse with plenty of damage. Uses a lot of stamina. May only cast on the ground.
Ice Blast (Wood 7, Fire 7 - PvE): Decreases target's max HP by 10% (lvl10). Effect overrides Sharpened Tooth and Sage Soul Degeneration.
Chaotic Spirit (Metal 7, Wood 7 - PvP): Works like Soul Transfusion. PvP usage is not very effective if the target has both HP and MP charms. venomancers with this genie skill and Sage Malefic Crush can finish off tank Barbarians after someone has already ticked the target's HP charm. You hit with Malefic Crush. After 2 seconds the tank's MP will be 0 then you hit with Chaotic Spirit and... 1 hit to kill until target's HP charm ticks again. Highly recommended.
For more genie skills and details (obsolete): http://www.ecatomb.net/genieskill.php
For a list of genie skill updates, see: http://pwi.perfectworld.com/news/new...ll-update-6471
Comments on Sage and Demon paths:
lvl 89 Fox Form: Sages get higher permanent physical defense and accuracy bonuses than Demons. On the other hand, Demons who play mostly as human will get a great moving speed bonus for 6 seconds after switching to fox which is another great way to stay alive or to rush to a target like a train.
lvl 89 Bramble Guard: Quite a rare skill. Sages get 20 minutes buff which is quite a pointless gain for the price. Demons get 75% deflect instead. Only worth upgrading if you're a Demon.
lvl 89 Purge: Quite a rare skill. Sages have 5m AOE. Not impressive unless you're getting close to a tied group like Rambo to debuff them all at once. Demons have 25 seconds cooldown. Might help for bosses which cast self buffs.
lvl 89 Fox Wallop: Again, a rare skill. Sages get 50% chance to save chi and Demons get 20% chance to make hits critical for 5 seconds. While saving 20 chi looks dull the skill itself is poor. 20% chance to make everything hit crit for 5 seconds is slightly more appealing though chance is tiny.
lvl 89 Amplify Damage: That's another expensive skill yet a worthy one. Sages get their curse pumped to 30% while Demons get 25% over 26 seconds. Both are great.
lvl 89 Befuddling Mist: The extra damage gain for Sages is very important for this skill. Demons slow the targets but 30% for 3 seconds is nothing.
lvl 92 Summer Sprint: The Sage version works like Purify which is a great deal. The Demon version gives immunity to movement debuffs for 6 seconds which is vital for PvP. Both upgrades are awesome.
lvl 92 Soul Degeneration: This useless skill gets new life for Sages. It works like Archers' Sage Sharpened Tooth (for archers it's a lvl99 skill upgrade) decreasing the target's HP by 20% being this upgrade a must for Sages even though the effect does not stack with Archers' HP debuff. The Demon version halves target's evasion which is far less appealing.
lvl 92 Stunning Blow: Sages get 25% chance to save the spark. Unappealing. Demons get 50% chance to get the target also stunned for the 3 first seconds, making the skill name slightly less misleading.
lvl 92 Leech: Those who use this skill often know it's not a reliable one. The Sage version works 100%. The Demon steals 800HP instead. Both are very important.
lvl 92 Melee Mastery: Sages get a massive 200% melee damage bonus. The Demon version is not much worse. It pumps melee damage by 150% and also increase critical rate by 3%. These skill upgrades also make Barbarians and Blademasters 500% more envious.
lvl 99 Crush Vigor: The Sage version is excellent to prevent Blademasters from doing their annoying stuns and ultimates. It's a worthy upgrade but Demons' version really shines. They have 50% chance to get a spark. Even though cooldown is somewhat long (30 seconds) it's a must for Demons.
lvl 99 Lending Hand: Excellent upgrade. The reduced cooldown to 15 seconds for both Sages and Demons is the best part of it. It effectively allows "chi farmers" to keep damage dealers firing their strongest attacks. The 25% chance of saving spark for Sages and 20% chance of transferring 2 sparks for Demons are far less appealing than the reduced cooldown.
lvl 99 Consume Spirit: As many Venomancers either don't need or dislike this skill you might buy the skill book for cheap. Sage version works 100% while demon version has 9s cooldown. Both Sage and Demon versions are fair.
lvl 99 Malefic Crush: This skill upgrade can be marvellous or disasterous depending on the target. Several players use MP charms. For those the Sage version effectively prevents any Barbarian, BM or Archer to attack with skills for about 2 seconds for keeping their MP very low even after MP charm ticks while other classes are nearly immune. Concerning MP charms the higher MP burn time for Demon version makes it nearly useless except for the damage on its own. If the target is not using MP charm the Demon version turns the table, effectively preventing Barbarians, Blademasters and Archers from using skills for at least 5 seconds.
Endgame and restat build suggestion:
lvl 100 Sage Heavy Fox Form Venomancer
To make it real you must use an Old Heaven's Tear weapon Solar Enlightenment (lvl12 Magic Sword; can be equipped by characters lvl 94+) with at least -30% requeriments. While crafting the weapon the chance of getting it with -20% requeriments is 9.52% and the chance of getting -30% requeriments is 4.76%. With such low magic requeriment for weapon wearing any endgame Heavy set is easy. As you're a melee class, more strength means more damage. In other words, if you manage to get the Magic Sword with 3x-30% requeriments you'll be able to have as much strength as a Polearm BM with much more damage because of your melee mastery.
With 2 golden TT99 Lionheart items (being 1 bracers) you'll have -0.15 interval between attacks. That's very important to increase DPS with normal attack but the price and avaiability of the golden materials are problems not to be ignored.
Get elemental belt/necklace with -6% channel to help decreasing channel of your debuffs and a pair of good rings with accuracy/physical attack.
Use garnets on weapon and sapphires (perfect or better highly recommended) on armoury. With the exception of rings, you must refine all your gear to gain HP and elemental defense.
Example: http://pwcalc.ru/pwi/?char=8719d2a15fbf3aa7
Questions and Answers:
For a complete Q&A check: http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...ad.php?t=13971
Q: Do I really need to use a Magic Weapon? What's the best weapon for me?
A: You must use Magic Weapons to use your skills. The trick is that you can't change your weapon while in Fox Form and your Melee Mastery only applies to Fox Form so even if other weapons have better damage the final hits won't pay off the drawbacks. If you use more skills than normal attacks, Patakas have the best damage though they hit only once a second if you happen to use normal attacks. If you use more normal attacks than skills, get any of the other 3 magic weapons for being faster (1.25 attacks/second) though Magic Swords have the highest damage among these 3.
Q: Are foxes really better than human form Venomancers?
A: Not really but foxes have fair survivability (especially Light and Heavy) even when pet is killed.
Q: How vulnerable are Light and Heavy Venomancers to magic attacks?
A: A lot, especially Heavy builds. That's why elemental belts/necklaces are so important.
Q: You don't mention how to distribute the points every level. Why?
A: Following a formala is the easy way but generally not the ideal. And for some it's just impossible. All I do is to show some possible paths, the advantages and disadvantages of them. Making your Veno a Goddess or a failure is up to you.
Q: You don't talk about adding Vitality. Isn't it a good deal?
A: Having points to spare with Vitality is hard for Light builds and nearly impossible for Heavy builds. Those who wear only Arcane and have little strength/dexterity are allowed to add Vitality being probably the most popular build. Once you get refined gear you'll notice HP gains are the lowest for Arcane, being better for Light and best for Heavy. Some Venos regret adding Vitality at higher levels claiming refining is best while others claim damage loss is a minor issue compared to survivability gain. Both points are reasonable so It's hard to give a proper answer.
Q: I've just learned the Fox Form skill but my melee damage is too low and I miss a lot. Have I messed with anything?
A: Not at all. Your damage will only get better after getting Melee Mastery while your accuracy gets much better once you get lvl2 Fox Form or items with added accuracy. With -interval between attacks bracers you'll deal more hits per time being also a good way to kill faster.
Q: Are Heavy foxes better than Blademasters?
A: Yes and no. Blademasters have awesome AOE skills, stuns and Alter Marrow skills (allowing the BM to switch part of physical defense to magic and also the opposite). Venomances don't have these tricks but they're cheaper to grind and they have the overpowered Flesh Ream pet skill to kill most classes without a sweat.
Q: Do Heavy foxes tank bosses?
A: Heavy foxes have lower pet heal being less effective to tank with pet compared to pure Magic Arcane builds but Heavy foxes have immense physical defense on their own being more adequate to tank physical bosses directly than Blademasters. The problem is that Venomancers don't have agressive skills (though the genie skill Alpha Male does the trick), being Blademasters with provoke skill on weapon and Barbarians far more reliable. The other problem is that some Clerics may run away rather than healing you...
Q: Do melee foxes steal aggro with pet tanking? What about a boss with Barbarian as tank?
A: Yes melee foxes do steal aggro from pets but not as often as pure Magic Venomancers. Concerning squads with Barbarian as tank everything is safe though some endgame builds (sage/demon) may have damage over time matching fists/claws Blademasters or even higher.
Q: Are Light and Heavy Venomancers any good for Rebirth of Gods?
A: Yes they are. For Alpha and Beta there's not much to do except farming celebeans, giving away sparks, purging and amping bosses and all builds are suitable for that. Having low HP and lacking a good AOE make Venomancers poor in general for Alpha and Beta. For Gamma and Delta a good Venomancer plays a major role in there. Not only the Venomancer will (still) farm the celebeans but also use a higher level Parasitic Nova for the chaotic effect and Myriad Rainbow to make the squad kill mobs considerably faster. Using the genie skill Alpha Male+Fortify+Feral Concentration or summoning pet during certain boss fights can be the difference between a successful run and a wiped squad. The big deal for Light and Heavy Venomancers is the ability to survive physical AOE easily and to change parts to arcane to survive magic AOE.
Q: I see you're a Wizard. Do you even have a Venomancer? What's your experience playing Veno?
A: Yes I do. My experience was mixed though. She wears Heavy since lvl8. I tried to play as melee since very low levels but it was quite a failure. Too many misses and HP was somewhat low. FB19 reward is a pataka (1.00 attacks/second) which I found to be slow as I use mostly normal attack. Magic mobs killed me lots of times also. After 29, with lvl2 Fox Form, it got much better. With survivability increasing greatly (and so did my DPS with mastery upgrades) I started to neglect human form. After 39 the Fox started to shine, with leech skill. Nowadays the only problem I have is when I'm doing BH and someone thinks I'm going nuts while I'm just pulling 1 single mob with pet.
Lisitania- Admin
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Join date : 2010-03-15
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