Guild Wars 2

So I noticed Skelk venom after my long absence from this game and decided it was time for a venom build.

The build:
With a group: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQRAsY8anMJSpT29EGNB/TmQ2KUhcPMKo6p0eQT2UMB-zUCBYfDimWGmwAg+AkQAK5pIasVRFRjVXDT5iIqOAwBADP8wDP8wlC4phRA-w

Not in a group: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQRAsY8anMJSpT29EGNB/ToI2FwpwoQ1/AZ1eQTbGTA-zUCBYfDimWGmwAg+AkQAK5pIasVRFRjVXDT5iIqOAwBADP8wDP8wlC4phRA-w

It’s pretty self explanatory. I’ve had a pretty good time with it so far. It’s mostly made for running with groups but for solo I would replace Venomous Aura with Shadow’s Rejuvenation.

Looks ok but do you have full ascended like the build shows?
That being said, I’m not keen on Venomous Aura unless running condi build.

Zach.3264:

Looks ok but do you have full ascended like the build shows?
That being said, I’m not keen on Venomous Aura unless running condi build.

I wish need to rebuild it how I have it new to gw2skills usually use build calc

fixed it

I was also wondering about this, and even opened a post about it, although i still think Skale venom is stronger than spider’s, Just because it can easily mean an almost instant 25stacks of vulnerability plus the hard-to-come-by torment. Spiders would just end up being… overlapped.

EDIT: Oh and i’d also swap the shadow step for smoke screen and grab de 20% deception reduction, from a PVE perspective taht is.

Still, spot on!

Ariete.6509:

I was also wondering about this, and even opened a post about it, although i still think Skale venom is stronger than spider’s, Just because it can easily mean an almost instant 25stacks of vulnerability plus the hard-to-come-by torment. Spiders would just end up being… overlapped.

EDIT: Oh and i’d also swap the shadow step for smoke screen and grab de 20% deception reduction, from a PVE perspective taht is.

Still, spot on!

The reason I run Spider venom is to kitten with heals as this is a mostly WvW build thanks for the recommendation though may try it.

Has anyone tested wheather Venoms Strength actually provides might to allies aswell?

Edit: also i take it the trait means “applied” as in the ability activation and not the ability’s + attack effect correct.

It does provide might

Few things to keep in mind with venom builds.

1. Mostly for group play, venoms on their own arn’t that great. The only venoms that work well without a venom share build are devourer and basilik. The others can be easily over rided by other sources or don’t bring nearly enough help to the thief.

2. Venoms power depends on the traits. For example, skale might provide more conditions/dmg than spiders, but if you have leeching venoms thats additional direct damage from each venom strike + healing. On my venom share build, I grant roughly 410 dmg for each venom strike. X 6 strikes from spider X 5 allies. Aldo since poison is being reapplied, their healing is going to suffer for that duration. Leeching venoms also adds defensive support with leeching venoms, and if you spread the uses out ( they do not stack healing) you can provide fairly long heal to allies.

3. Never use skelk venom unless you ’re running venom share. Its healing is aweful compared to withdraw and HiS. Even if you have 20% cd reduction the heal is just far too weak as a self heal. If used in a group, it pulls off impressive numbers.

4. Someone already answered this but, venom traits apply to venoms you share.

5. Ice drake venom is kitten. Not nearly long enough to stronger than devourer, and it is in the same place of movement condi clearing(war wh, withdraw, etc) so you might as well keep them still.

6. Venoms arn’t that good for condi dmg as they are utility. The torment isn’t worth investing for, and poison is easy to apply w/o spider. If your lookin for a condi build and plan to use venoms as apart of your DoT, don’t. There are stronger utilities that will pay off more. Not saying they do nothing but that they arn’t as viable atm for the purpose of DoT.

Hope that helps.

NinjaEd.3946:

Few things to keep in mind with venom builds.

1. Mostly for group play, venoms on their own arn’t that great. The only venoms that work well without a venom share build are devourer and basilik. The others can be easily over rided by other sources or don’t bring nearly enough help to the thief.

2. Venoms power depends on the traits. For example, skale might provide more conditions/dmg than spiders, but if you have leeching venoms thats additional direct damage from each venom strike + healing. On my venom share build, I grant roughly 410 dmg for each venom strike. X 6 strikes from spider X 5 allies. Aldo since poison is being reapplied, their healing is going to suffer for that duration. Leeching venoms also adds defensive support with leeching venoms, and if you spread the uses out ( they do not stack healing) you can provide fairly long heal to allies.

3. Never use skelk venom unless you ’re running venom share. Its healing is aweful compared to withdraw and HiS. Even if you have 20% cd reduction the heal is just far too weak as a self heal. If used in a group, it pulls off impressive numbers.

4. Someone already answered this but, venom traits apply to venoms you share.

5. Ice drake venom is kitten. Not nearly long enough to stronger than devourer, and it is in the same place of movement condi clearing(war wh, withdraw, etc) so you might as well keep them still.

6. Venoms arn’t that good for condi dmg as they are utility. The torment isn’t worth investing for, and poison is easy to apply w/o spider. If your lookin for a condi build and plan to use venoms as apart of your DoT, don’t. There are stronger utilities that will pay off more. Not saying they do nothing but that they arn’t as viable atm for the purpose of DoT.

Hope that helps.

I’m trying to make use of venoms in a solo build. It seems like used correctly they can work pretty well especially with life siphon. Sure it can be used well in groups but I would like to think that there is more than one way to use them. So far the build hasn’t been that bad for me. Also this build is mostly a power build not condi.

Stewie.3549:

I’m trying to make use of venoms in a solo build. It seems like used correctly they can work pretty well especially with life siphon. Sure it can be used well in groups but I would like to think that there is more than one way to use them. So far the build hasn’t been that bad for me. Also this build is mostly a power build not condi.

DV and BV have a place in any build as they don’t need any investment to be strong.

Question, what game mode are you using that in?

NinjaEd.3946:

Stewie.3549:

I’m trying to make use of venoms in a solo build. It seems like used correctly they can work pretty well especially with life siphon. Sure it can be used well in groups but I would like to think that there is more than one way to use them. So far the build hasn’t been that bad for me. Also this build is mostly a power build not condi.

DV and BV have a place in any build as they don’t need any investment to be strong.

Question, what game mode are you using that in?

WvW

Ehhh I’d rework your gear a little then. There is no need to exceed 60% crit chance, especially in a group build where AoE fury should be present.

For your solo build, you’re better off putting the 5 points from CS into trickery for say vigor or uncatchable or even Sa for the added might. 5% on a thresh hold thieves barely can maintain isn’t worth it and the loss in prec/crit dmg will hardly be noticed. Caltrops on dodge are good for non-condi builds too, since it has a 5 second cripple base and since you have 30 in DA + lyssa it’s more like 7 seconds of them limping around.

For both builds, full on zerker is hit and miss. I wouldn’t be using venoms if that’s the playstyle you prefer, because escaping is that much harder even with d/p and SR. Skelk venom is still not the greatest choice for a solo healing skill. It is easily interrupted, the heal-on-hit can be negated by blind/block/evade/invuln ultimately trashing your overall recovery. It’s a nice idea in theory but 1 second believe it or not is a long time when dueling primarily for thieves who cannot make mistakes without heavy punishment. Same reason I rarely run HiS, the cast time is a pain but even still it pays off more than skelk. Since you already have a ton of precision, you could get some vitality with valk and lose no crit dmg from gear, or get the zerker/valk mixed trinkets for that little bump (no full valk trinkets sadly). Hp is valuable to a thief, since it works on conditions and direct damage + thief has the lowest health pool. Toughness has nearly 0 use in a thief unless heavily invested.

NinjaEd.3946:

Ehhh I’d rework your gear a little then. There is no need to exceed 60% crit chance, especially in a group build where AoE fury should be present.

For your solo build, you’re better off putting the 5 points from CS into trickery for say vigor or uncatchable or even Sa for the added might. 5% on a thresh hold thieves barely can maintain isn’t worth it and the loss in prec/crit dmg will hardly be noticed. Caltrops on dodge are good for non-condi builds too, since it has a 5 second cripple base and since you have 30 in DA + lyssa it’s more like 7 seconds of them limping around.

For both builds, full on zerker is hit and miss. I wouldn’t be using venoms if that’s the playstyle you prefer, because escaping is that much harder even with d/p and SR. Skelk venom is still not the greatest choice for a solo healing skill. It is easily interrupted, the heal-on-hit can be negated by blind/block/evade/invuln ultimately trashing your overall recovery. It’s a nice idea in theory but 1 second believe it or not is a long time when dueling primarily for thieves who cannot make mistakes without heavy punishment. Same reason I rarely run HiS, the cast time is a pain but even still it pays off more than skelk. Since you already have a ton of precision, you could get some vitality with valk and lose no crit dmg from gear, or get the zerker/valk mixed trinkets for that little bump (no full valk trinkets sadly). Hp is valuable to a thief, since it works on conditions and direct damage + thief has the lowest health pool. Toughness has nearly 0 use in a thief unless heavily invested.

The survivability of this build is not based on its health pool it is from the life siphon which is why I changed the armor to Zealot’s. Sure up front HiS is better than skelk but with life siphon and the healing from the skill you will heal about 1k for your next 4-kittens.