Guild Wars 2

Can anybody explain to me what’s the good use of this Healing? Or explain to me good tips for this healing? Is it worth it?

30/x/30/x/x with Residual Venoms, Quick Venoms, Venomous Aura and Leeching venoms is the only way mathematically for the heal to be superior to Withdraw or HiS (HiS doesn’t heal more, but Stealth can have a very high value for many specs that’s hard to put a strict number to).

While the above spec grants good healing to your team in a coordinated scenario, the survivability it grants the thief player is questionable – it does nothing to deal with conditions like HiS and Withdraw do, and if you don’t land all of your Skelk venom triggers, the actual healing value starts to drop off steeply.

I feel it’s tied for worst new heal with the Necro signet, and was a very poor choice for a new thief heal.

I am wondering the same thing, I would love to know if this skill is really worth my 25 skill points. I do not run a venom build so it just does not seem like a good idea to me and from the looks of it the skill does less healing overall than hide in the shadows.

I only see it working in a Venom build and even there other heals might be better.

The cooldown is bad enough, but at least you can trait it. But the lack of Condition removal really kills it for me.

It’s not terrible and I can understand being cautious when introducing new skills but it’s really too niche to be all that useful.

30/0/30/0/0 is the only build its worth running in. I’ve been running it today in that build and it can be amazing, Heals me for 12/15k of my hp and heals allies for 6.5k.
IMO:
Fail skill if not traited, best heal for venomshare builds.

MyCondolences.8172:

30/0/30/0/0 is the only build its worth running in. I’ve been running it today in that build and it can be amazing, Heals me for 12/15k of my hp and heals allies for 6.5k.
IMO:
Fail skill if not traited, best heal for venomshare builds.

thats if u use clerics. which means you do crap dmg. which also means you have no condi removal and no extra evades and no stun breaks no defense no util invis. nothing. your a sitting duck for 36-45 seconds.

forthose of you whom havent bought a set to make this build happen. heres a tip. DONT> anything u do for productivity with this build will be outdone by EVERY other class.

interesting concept. this is even more deadly than d/d 30 30 0 0 10 d/d full zerk in wvw. no defense at all…. none. and u sit auto attacking for 98% of the time.

Travlane.5948:

MyCondolences.8172:

30/0/30/0/0 is the only build its worth running in. I’ve been running it today in that build and it can be amazing, Heals me for 12/15k of my hp and heals allies for 6.5k.
IMO:
Fail skill if not traited, best heal for venomshare builds.

thats if u use clerics. which means you do crap dmg. which also means you have no condi removal and no extra evades and no stun breaks no defense no util invis. nothing. your a sitting duck for 36-45 seconds.

forthose of you whom havent bought a set to make this build happen. heres a tip. DONT> anything u do for productivity with this build will be outdone by EVERY other class.

interesting concept. this is even more deadly than d/d 30 30 0 0 10 d/d full zerk in wvw. no defense at all…. none. and u sit auto attacking for 98% of the time.

What I’m running atm although using skelk venom for heal.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlYmiPXaS0E/5EC3DmCqeKvCOo2jbymiJA-jkBBoOCiZQFRjtGsIasadER1qJYeFER1RBATA-w

Not using a single cleric’s piece and i can still do good heals and moderate dps aswell as having excellent sustain. People too close minded to think that condition requires only 1 stat while physical DPS requires 3.

MyCondolences.8172:

Travlane.5948:

MyCondolences.8172:

30/0/30/0/0 is the only build its worth running in. I’ve been running it today in that build and it can be amazing, Heals me for 12/15k of my hp and heals allies for 6.5k.
IMO:
Fail skill if not traited, best heal for venomshare builds.

thats if u use clerics. which means you do crap dmg. which also means you have no condi removal and no extra evades and no stun breaks no defense no util invis. nothing. your a sitting duck for 36-45 seconds.

forthose of you whom havent bought a set to make this build happen. heres a tip. DONT> anything u do for productivity with this build will be outdone by EVERY other class.

interesting concept. this is even more deadly than d/d 30 30 0 0 10 d/d full zerk in wvw. no defense at all…. none. and u sit auto attacking for 98% of the time.

What I’m running atm although using skelk venom for heal.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlYmiPXaS0E/5EC3DmCqeKvCOo2jbymiJA-jkBBoOCiZQFRjtGsIasadER1qJYeFER1RBATA-w

Not using a single cleric’s piece and i can still do good heals and moderate dps aswell as having excellent sustain. People too close minded to think that condition requires only 1 stat while physical DPS requires 3.

for thief….you require enough stats to do dmg. u cant just run power or precision and a mix of this n that. thief is so fragile it needs to be as strong as it is weak or it wont balance. it has to be super defensive with evades invis/blinds or run full gank you kitten before you gank mine. go ahead and try run a zerk gear with 0 0 x x x and then tell me you are doing good dmg. lol . video plz?

also… about skelk…ive posted this before and ill repost now.

skelk venom = 9573 hp per minute heal (16350 traited (1 strike/leeching))
skelk venom = 159 hp per second heal (272 traited (1 strike/leeching))
withdraw = 18100 hp per minute heal
withdraw = 301 hp per second heal
Hide in shadows = 12440 hp per minute (17014 traited)
Hide in shadows = 207 hp per second heal (284 traited)

If you count the damage/mitigation from condition removal and avoidance from stealth….. the other heals not only BEAT skelk venom but blow it out of the water.
Now is that really worth sacrificing all your defense for ? a bunch of maybe hits and maybe buffs if allies are close enough? low hp, low defense, no invulnerbilty, no protection, no aegis, no blocks etc etc.
Im gonna pass. i guess venoms are “almost there” STILL. Perhaps put them on f2 f3 f4 and replace them with real utilities. right now they are just sub par and garbage UNLESS you use 30/x/30/x/x build and even then your defenseless.
Might i add that skelk venom is probably about 25% less due to half the strikes of venom not hitting.

now this is set up with full zerk and 30 0 30 0 10 . build was hitting like average class but with worse defense than a 30 30 0 0 10 d/d d/d signet build. ssssssooooo yeah its a pretty bad build. ive tested it. ive run venom share alot in wvw. ive run pretty much every build including rare ones like givers’ p/d crit setup. venomshare is a huge risk and small reward. not worth it in the grand scheme of things. if u are doing a 5 v 5 id say b ring it. if not forget it.

In venom share is good heal , with the right venom share, it heal you 7380 each 36 sec, because you must calculate the plus healing that can give you with leaching venom in shadow arts tree, so think before speake, if you want a good venom share i suggest 20 0 30 20 0 using thief guild and ambush trap.

You can’t have a 45 second cd heal on an ultra-low-HP glassy profession. It just doesn’t make sense.

45 sec ? Man have you ever play a venom build? If you trait for 20 0 30 20 0 you have quik venom in deadly arts tree that give it 36 sec CD not 45 …

What you have say HAVE NO SENSE!

Travlane.5948:

for thief….you require enough stats to do dmg. u cant just run power or precision and a mix of this n that. thief is so fragile it needs to be as strong as it is weak or it wont balance. it has to be super defensive with evades invis/blinds or run full gank you kitten before you gank mine. go ahead and try run a zerk gear with 0 0 x x x and then tell me you are doing good dmg. lol . video plz?

Your making up stuff here, i actually said the exact opposite of what your asking. Why gear for phyiscal dps that requires 3 stats for dmg when you can stat from condition that only requires one. I’m sure you already knew this but lvl80 gear has 3 stats, meaning that i can have condition dmg on every piece and since i dont have to bother with 2 other stats to dps i could concentrate on defensive stats. If you bothered to check out my build you would know this.

Also skelk venom+leeching venoms scales alot better with healing power then withdraw does.

If you have something against venom share builds… thats fine. but please dont go talking non sense.

Well I’m different I have toughness and power build and vitality I use mad king superior rune with the malice heal and use the lowest cool down elite which is the stone one and heal perfect. Mind you if u have the venom build it would reduce the cooldown of that elite which is 30 second(30 second less cooldown is a good one) the point is the superior makes mes summon birds everytime I use elite and the more hits the more heal so that’s basically what I use to heal. But only use this in some occasion don’t use it all the time I wouldn’t use it if your solo. Use it in dungeons and groups of wvw helps alot

Sorry not power I meant condition I think

simonerd.8672:

45 sec ? Man have you ever play a venom build? If you trait for 20 0 30 20 0 you have quik venom in deadly arts tree that give it 36 sec CD not 45 …

well you are saying its ONLY good in venom share….. which is a build with NO defense.

we get that its 36s in venomshare. but thats not the skill the skill is kitten . you cant say a skill is good or bad unless you view it by itself…. not with a bunch of buffs and traits. if it needs 60 traits to be a decent heal….. then its not a good heal.

hide in shadows heals 2x more when u consider everything.

MyCondolences.8172:

Travlane.5948:

for thief….you require enough stats to do dmg. u cant just run power or precision and a mix of this n that. thief is so fragile it needs to be as strong as it is weak or it wont balance. it has to be super defensive with evades invis/blinds or run full gank you kitten before you gank mine. go ahead and try run a zerk gear with 0 0 x x x and then tell me you are doing good dmg. lol . video plz?

Your making up stuff here, i actually said the exact opposite of what your asking. Why gear for phyiscal dps that requires 3 stats for dmg when you can stat from condition that only requires one. I’m sure you already knew this but lvl80 gear has 3 stats, meaning that i can have condition dmg on every piece and since i dont have to bother with 2 other stats to dps i could concentrate on defensive stats. If you bothered to check out my build you would know this.

Also skelk venom+leeching venoms scales alot better with healing power then withdraw does.

If you have something against venom share builds… thats fine. but please dont go talking non sense.

withdraw still gives you MUCH more healing per second plus condi removal. withdraw is about 40 % better overall than skelk venom. id say about 70% better bc it doesnt require hits…. but 40% is pretty realistic. i posted the HPS (heal per sec) above somewhere. withdraw is the best overall and HIS is a very close 2nd. HIS is first if traited tho.

Obviously if the person is running a venom share build they are not focusing on their own abilities and comparing it to other heals is silly when it is essentially a group heal when used with a venom share build(which is the only build I’d recommend using it in unless you have it for flavor I guess). Heck, if we wanted to compare it number vs number, then account for the venom share on 5 other people. HiS gets a boost when traited for stealth, skelk gets a boost when traited for venoms, which is the draw of the skill.

So, assuming you have leeching venoms and venom aura(we’ll exclude residual venom just for simplicity sake), skelk venom will give you 4210 healing off the bat and 4 ticks of venom for each person so that is 24 ticks total with 20 on your 5 allies and 4 on you.(Obviously this is just an optimal situation where you have 5 allies within range, just to get a feel for the full potential). Skelk heals for 645 each tick so that is 2580 per person coming up to a total of 15480 healed from the venom. Now leeching venoms will heal for 325 times 4 for each person(it works when other’s get it right? If not disregard this part) so that is an additional 1300 per person or 7800 total.

This brings the grand total of healing up to 23280 minus the initial 4k heal on yourself. It is obvious this does not benefit the thief alone as much as the other skills do, but then again it is also obvious that the thief alone is not what the purpose of venoms is about. If venoms were meant to be as selfish as the other thief heals(just saying selfish because thief skills tend to focus on the thief alone) they wouldn’t have traits designed to make them benefit the group.

Venoms are best in a VENOM build(go figure). Hide in Shadows is best in a STEALTH build(again, go figure) and Withdraw is best in any situation that does not require stealth or venoms. Saying one is definitively better than the others in every situation is simple minded and very arrogant.

I’d say Skelk Venom is best used on a Venom support build. I’m running a build of this type right now and so far I have tested it only in small WvW roaming groups and it did quite well at keeping alive the people around. Tomorrow I will test it in Fractals.
On any other build, however, all the other healing skills seem like a better choice.

Necrotize.2974:

Venoms are best in a VENOM build(go figure). Hide in Shadows is best in a STEALTH build(again, go figure) and Withdraw is best in any situation that does not require stealth or venoms. Saying one is definitively better than the others in every situation is simple minded and very arrogant.

Venom’s being best in a venom build makes complete sense. Venom’s being Underpowered outside of a venom build is the problem most thieves have with venoms.

HiS and Withdraw are solid heals on their own – they can be strengthened with traits but they are worth taking on their own. Skelk venom is not worth taking without investing 50-60 points in specific trait lines and dedicating 3-5 traits just to making venoms worth it. That is the problem thieves are having with the new heal – it’s the opposite of versatile, it’s useful in 1 very very specific spec which takes alot of coordination to make worth taking, does nothing to mitigate conditions, and makes the thief player little more than a buff dispensary.

evilapprentice.6379:

Necrotize.2974:

Venoms are best in a VENOM build(go figure). Hide in Shadows is best in a STEALTH build(again, go figure) and Withdraw is best in any situation that does not require stealth or venoms. Saying one is definitively better than the others in every situation is simple minded and very arrogant.

Venom’s being best in a venom build makes complete sense. Venom’s being Underpowered outside of a venom build is the problem most thieves have with venoms.

HiS and Withdraw are solid heals on their own – they can be strengthened with traits but they are worth taking on their own. Skelk venom is not worth taking without investing 50-60 points in specific trait lines and dedicating 3-5 traits just to making venoms worth it. That is the problem thieves are having with the new heal – it’s the opposite of versatile, it’s useful in 1 very very specific spec which takes alot of coordination to make worth taking, does nothing to mitigate conditions, and makes the thief player little more than a buff dispensary.

virtue of resolve is better than skelk venom. not even a normal heal. also gives more than just HP too when traited. skelk venom is VERY underwhelming.

i agree with what u said.

after testing 4 days the new skelk heal i can say its useless
i really want it to be great in venom build but it simple aint
you cant go 1v1 unless you catch your enemy by surprise but than the healing skills wont give any edge over other healing skills
you cant go in group play with 36 cd as you risk yourself being immobilize, stun etc for 21 more seconds versus withdraw
i even tried in in DB build but again i lose condition dmg to get higher healing points, lose mobility versus withdraw

maybe if the 4-5 attack would also steal health i could imagine it being useful (like necro skill) as it would add 1800 more dmg burst for you team which is bit nice
but most of all we really need those conditions clear on healing skills like other healing skills as venom share build is too vulnerable

i am testing now a S/P build with it and getting nice result but not all the time so i trying to find the tactics and the pros over other healing skills . if it will succeed i will post it

I guess it just seems UP because Anet’s goal for these new heals was obviously to make heals that were an actual type of skill that could be traited, not just a random skill like withdraw. They wanted to make Skelk venom a venom heal skill but they also didn’t want it to be too powerful since it can and probably will be traited for, which you can’t do for the other heals. Take ranger heals for example. None of their heals had a skill type and therefore none of them could be traited for. But now they have the spirit type heal and can trait it. But Anet doesn’t want these new skills to invalidate the old ones so they have to make them weaker as a base than the original heals because unlike those heals, the new ones can be traited for things like shorter cds, longer durations, etc.

signet of malice can be traited and still better (is some group situation) than skelk venum.
still 36 seconds on heal which give you less health per seconds, no cure for conditions, no stealth for thief class with almost no defense but his mobility and stealth is big NO NO
maybe 25 seconds (20 sec when traited) would be suitable and balance

if you check every heal skill will heal you for more than 300 per seconds
hide in shadow will do base 200 but cure burning, poison, bleeding , and if traited than regen pops up so you get more than 350 per seconds
withdraw heals for more than 300 and cure cc conditions and evade so again 350 or more actual
signet of malice heal for 350 per seconds
so i would expect that skelk venom will do 350 as well (as with share you can heal 4 more ppl)
so or buff the base heal or reduce the cooldown to 25 seconds
and still i think ppl will consider twice if to use this skill