Guild Wars 2

So i was going to do a venom build but then i realized thres no stun break.. i think a venom stun breaker would help make these builds more viable. maybe have one that breaks stun and gives stealth? or breaks stun and dazes foe? i really wanted to do a venom build jst for fun but i cant troll without a stun breaker =[

well every build has a weakness… To run perfect venom you need to sacrifice both cond removal and stun breaker x.x

i have condi removal in stealth. also i disagree. i play both thief/ necro and necros have no trade off. spectral has stun breaks, wells have stun breaks even minions, and signets. every build for necro CAN use a stun break if needed or wanted. its not even a choice for thief. venoms is the one of the few ability niche that does not have a breaker. on top of that thieves are super squishy even if you put point in to tough or vit.

You have to use a utility to get a stunbreaker on a venom Thief. On the bright side, you can slot a venom into your Elite skill. Your choices for breakers:

- Haste (Quickness)
- Shadowstep (teleport, condition removal, double stunbreaker)
- Roll for Init (evade, init gain)
- Infiltrator’s Signet (passive init regen, gap-closer)
- Shadow Trap/Pursuit (hard to use effectively as a breaker, but might fit your style)

Pick your fave.

All of which are not venoms and would not be effeceted by any venom trait.

It’s not like Necromancers have a Well on their Elite, though.

Mystogan.4157:

i have condi removal in stealth. also i disagree. i play both thief/ necro and necros have no trade off. spectral has stun breaks, wells have stun breaks even minions, and signets. every build for necro CAN use a stun break if needed or wanted. its not even a choice for thief. venoms is the one of the few ability niche that does not have a breaker. on top of that thieves are super squishy even if you put point in to tough or vit.

Stun breakers aren’t supposed to fill each utility skill type, its about fulfilling the various playstyles. Venom’s really aren’t a playstyle that thief lives/kills off of. Portals, evasions, and for w/e reason being stunned and suddenly going ape-kitten on the guy (haste) as a surprise. Venoms are utility skills and it would make 0 sense for them to behave as a stun breaker. We could use better stun breaker skills or traits (uhherm, Hard to catch) no doubt and venoms certainly need a buff or rework for some (ice drake venom) but a stun break just isn’t the answer.

Also when I see a necro’s stun break wurm, I often kill it and laugh as they lost their get out of jail free card. They often place it on far ledges that get them to safety, they aren’t likely to throw it in the middle of the battle spot and expect it to stick around for the right time.

Mystogan.4157:

So i was going to do a venom build …

Where were you going to use it? In a group setting with venomshare you can/should leave some of your defence to the group – iow no stunbreaker – to maximize the venomshare while in solo roaming you may need some solo survival utilities.

So when i run a venom build i run 20/0/30/0/20… i use skale, and spider venom, with heal on venom and reduced cooldown! Shadow step as your stunbreak and condi removal, with condi removal in stealth, and gain health in stealth… youre set. P/D as your weps you have plenty of kite, and quite a bit of survivability. This may be a commonly used build, not sure. lots of variations of condi builds (:

The poison venom is simply bad tbh, sb #4 is enough for poison and the chill venom is inferior to Devourer Venom. A “venom build” invest too much on some rather lackluster utility skills, with venom share I only see utility with the heal venom and skale venom, maybe devourer venom. You have to have a stun breaker in your utility so if you really want venoms, I’d go with the heal venom, skale venom, and devourer venom, with the last utility as shadowstep. Might want to switch devourer venom with Shadow Refuge for more utility (reviving downed allies, etc).

Tachii.3506:

The poison venom is simply bad tbh, sb #4 is enough for poison and the chill venom is inferior to Devourer Venom. A “venom build” invest too much on some rather lackluster utility skills, with venom share I only see utility with the heal venom and skale venom, maybe devourer venom. You have to have a stun breaker in your utility so if you really want venoms, I’d go with the heal venom, skale venom, and devourer venom, with the last utility as shadowstep. Might want to switch devourer venom with Shadow Refuge for more utility (reviving downed allies, etc).

I use poison venom because its a great burst of poison, torment, and bleed when entering a fight, if you approach with steal, CnD, and Pstealth skill. Also i wouldnt call spider venom useless as when used with leeching venoms its a nice 1.5-2.5k heal.

What? I was referring to the Spider Venom, which only gives poison. Most if not all condi thieves build invest at least 10 in Deadly Arts which gives 13 seconds of poison upon steal already. Poison is mostly used to prevent effective healing, not to deal damage with. Even on condition builds, you rely more on bleed and torment for the majority of condi damage.

The issue I have with Spider Venom is there are already 2 better venoms out there, and you need to reserve a slot for a break stun skill.

Leeching Venoms is a valid point, especially for venom Thieves that are specced to share. Spider has more hits (AKA chances to proc LV) than any of the other options.

Interceptor.2653:

Leeching Venoms is a valid point, especially for venom Thieves that are specced to share. Spider has more hits (AKA chances to proc LV) than any of the other options.

Thank you interceptor! That is more the point i was trying to get across, understood thieves have plenty of access to applying poison! with shortbow, and steal, I still use spider venom for a nice little burst heal. Also most people will be able to cleanse 13s of poison before it can effect them too much.. understood it doesnt do too much dmg, it does add quite a bit when torment and bleeding are already ticking away!

venoms build can split to 2
full venom – mainly for group but can do 1vx if you are experience player.
the main idea is the surprise and fully burst with massive conditions dmg and stacks. go stealth and repeat.
the main venoms you wanna take are skale, devourer and basilisk. the third can be spider (i like it more) or ice. the last 2 just use to be cover conditions and chill as cc and spider as health negator.
you dont need stunbreak as if you surprise your foe he will be dead in 3-5 seconds and you got clean stealth as he chill or immobilize so easy cnd.
i dont like skelk as i need mobility so withdraw is better imo.
dont forget its group so you want to share thus spider imo is better even if we got SB or steal which are shorter.

semi venom – more 1vX so you take 2 venoms or maybe 1. skale venom and shadow refuge and shadow step or blinding powder and basilisk or thieves guild to maximize the share for the burst.
this build is bit for longer fight against heavy conditions counter and less as group build. the main idea is to cover your bleed condition stacks.

if they give venom stun break/stealth ability (i would love it) the full venom build will be op with group and solo thus unbalance
i would like burning venom and confusion venom thus more versatility to choose and to adapt each situation

If you’re running full venoms, Steal is your stun breaker. Reserve it for when you need it.

I’ve posted this prolly a hundred times by now.

Karka venom: Transfer conditions to your foe on attack.
Number of attacks: 3
Venom duration 30 seconds.
Cool down: 45 seconds.

Ways to deal with condition meta? Veteran karka’s do in fact transfer conditions on hit, and we are supposed to play “dirty”.

Only then would I seriously pressure my guild leader to allow venom share in our groups. ATM I don’t feel like any of them bring enough to the table to be acceptable.