VENOMANCER GUIDE (by Wende)

• Tittle: Wendek's guide to our beloved Zerg
• Author: Wendek

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Veno's stats aren't really impressive tbh. He got 55 starting stats, which is kinda bad (Strygwyr has 65 for instance) but actually it's around the average (55.6, but this "average" takes heroes such as Weaver into account), and his stats growth is 6.2 which is around the average (6.15). However, he suffers from a very bad Str growth which makes him paper, as well as weak Int growth whereas his spells are quite mana intensive. His Agi gain isn’t that bad but…guess what? You’re no carry. More on this later.

Two other little things to notice : you have NO casting animation, unlike say Leshrac (ever seen a Leshrac raising his hands to cast a spell and then his 50 hps target jukes him and survives? Won't happen to you), but he got a terrible backswing after attacking, which is why you should animation cancel when you're chasing a target. If you don't know what the fuck is this, please refer to this link .

Pros : 

• Awesome ganker with low-cooldown spells
• Can actually roam the map from level 1, and one of the best heroes to get First Blood
• Quite item-independent, yet he still benefits from them
• Extremely painful ultimate
• Free wards (although less powerful than purchased ones)
• Above average pusher
• Excellent lane control
• <3 Hydralisks!

Cons : 

• Almost all his damage is magical, hence he’s raped by Hood and even worse, Pipe
• Below average stats
• Low base damage
• Heavily countered by TPs and regeneration
• 3 of your skills can get the enemy denied by his allies

As you can see, there are more pros than cons (the last pro is really important!). Let’s start with serious things now!

Skills

 Venomous Gale

Releases a Venomous Gale which poisons enemy units it comes in contact with. Poisoned units take initial damage, damage over time, and have their movement speed slowed for a short duration.

• Level 1 : 90 manacost, 50 strike damage, 10 duration damage (100 total damage)
• Level 2 : 105 manacost, 70 strike damage, 20 duration damage (170 total damage)
• Level 3 : 120 manacost, 70 strike damage, 40 duration damage (270 total damage)
• Level 4 : 135 manacost, 100 strike damage, 50 duration damage (350 total damage)

• Cooldown is 22 seconds, casting range 800, AoE 125 and duration 15 seconds at all levels.
• Slows by 50% at all levels. (only starting value, slow decreases over time)
• AoE of 125 at all levels.

Notes : Enemies under the effect of this spell can be denied (under 25% of their max hps), so be careful when using it. Most people won’t think about it when running though.

Damage is dealt every 3 seconds.

An important thing to notice is the way it scales. At level 2, its damage is only slightly higher than your average nuke (150 damage), but at level 3, it deals almost as much as a level FOUR nuke! (Dragon Slave deals 280 damage, ok I cheated a bit since average is 300). That means that you should be even more aggressive at level 5. Obviously it is a bit countered by regen, but natural regen is really low at this stage, and poison > salves.

 Poison Sting

Adds poison damage to this hero's normal attacks, slowing movement speed by 10%. Lasts 7 seconds.

• Level 1 : 5 DPS (35 total damage)
• Level 2 : 10 DPS (70 total damage)
• Level 3 : 15 DPS (105 total damage)
• Level 4 : 20 DPS (140 total damage)

• Slows by 10% at all levels and lasts 7 seconds.

Notes : Deals magical damage and is lethal as of 6.63b. (wasn’t the case some time ago)

This is a fantastic tool for harassing early game since it will make your enemies use all their regen quite quickly. You just have to hit them every 7 seconds to keep them permanently harassed, even if it’s just a little. At level 2 already, it negates a lot of a tango’s regeneration.

Another use of this is to land a “last hit” on a fleeing enemy. Since it is lethal, +140 dmg (105 with the natural resistance) can be the difference between a failed gank and a kill.

The slow isn’t that big, but might still make a difference when chasing.

 Plague Ward

Summons an immobile serpentine ward. The ward is immune to magic. Lasts 40 seconds. 

• Level 1 : 75 hit points, 11 max damage
• Level 2 : 200 hit points, 21 max damage
• Level 3 : 325 hit points, 32 max damage
• Level 4 : 450 hit points, 42 max damage

• Manacost is 20, cooldown 5 seconds and duration 40 seconds at all levels.

Notes : They deal piercing damage, which means they will own creeps but do close to nothing against heroes (unless you have a ton of them, since Rhasta’s wards also deal piercing damage and we all know how painful they can be…)

You will mostly use them as mobile wards and to siege towers, not for DPS purposes.

It is possible to solo Roshan using those things, but I don’t like that (more explanations in the “Gameplay Walkthrough” section)

Wards are immune to magic.

 Poison Nova (Ultimate)

Creates a ring of noxious poison that damages enemy units over a 12 second period. Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter. This spell got a very nice buff in 6.67, with improved duration at levels 2, 3 and 4. I'll let both the new and old total damage for a while to let people realize the difference.

• Level 1 : 36 DPS for 12 seconds (432 total damage) (unchanged)
• Level 2 : 58 DPS for 14 seconds (696 total damage) (812 total damage)
• Level 3 : 81 DPS for 15 seconds (972 total damage) (1215 total damage)
• Level 4 (with Aghanim’s Scepter) : 108 DPS for 16 seconds (1296 total damage) (1728 total damage)

• Manacost : 200/300/400/400
• Cooldown : 140/120/100/60
• AoE : 950 at all levels

Notes : This skill does NOT deal lethal damage. Enemy units will be left at 1 hp. Your 2 other poisons are lethal, though.

Note the absurdly high damage that this does. It is close to Laguna Blade’s damage, but in an AoE! (and quite a big one, see later for screens) Early game, it will net you quite a lot of kills, and later in the game, it can still turn the tide during teamfights.

Notice that as of 6.67, this spell is definitely the one that deals the most damage of the whole game (save Obsidian Destroyer's ult if he's farmed) at the last level : lvl 3 now deals almost as much as old lvl 4 Poison Nova. And Aghanim's Scepter adds FIVE HUNDRED damage, so basically it makes it even better to get than before.

Skill Build

• 1. Venomous Gale
• 2. Poison Sting
• 3. Venomous Gale
• 4. Poison Sting
• 5. Venomous Gale
• 6. Poison Nova
• 7. Venomous Gale
• 8. Plague Ward
• 9. Poison Sting
• 10. Poison Sting
• 11. Poison Nova
• 12-15 Plague Ward/Stats
• 16. Poison Nova
• 17-25 Stats/Plague Ward

This build seems quite self-explanatory for me. Venomous Gale is maxed first because it will be your main ganking tool. One level of Poison Sting is taken at 2 for the extra slow. Plague Ward is taken at 8 for the vision it can grant, because at this time it becomes more important. Getting it at 4 is accetable, although I'm not sure it will be really useful. As badmafa pointed out however, getting it at level 2 is a good idea if there's a jungling Enigma/Chen on the other side because otherwise you might get ganked. It depends on the situation and your playstyle. Poison Nova is taken whenever possible, this is a no-brainer. Now, after 11, you have to decide whether you get Stats or the last levels of Plague Ward. It all depends on the game. If you’re dying too much, get stats. Only one level of Plague Ward is needed, the others are good additions for pushing and such, but if you have trouble surviving, you should forget about them.

Now, to solve once and for all the question of early Plague Wards : you're a ganker, getting them early will delay your offensive power and make you into a laner, probably stealing farm from your carry.

There's ONE, and only ONE situation where maxing Plague Wards early is possible, and that's if you go for a pure pushing line-up. Something that constantly pushes all three lanes at once. Ezalor, Leshrac, Broodmother, Pugna... it's possible to get such a team.

Plague Wards have one big advantage over summons such as Spiderlings : they're magic immune. That Pit Lord is going to feel useless when none of his aoe spells can stop your push. Keep in mind that with this build, a single Vanguard makes you kinda useless, but Plague Wards give very few experience (12, 25 at lvl 4 iirc) and gold, so you aren't feeding them if they manage to kill your wards.

Go for Gale (FB is still possible)PW/PW/Sting/PW/Nova/PW/Gale*3/Nova, then decide between stats and the other levels of Sting. It will have lost much of its power by then, so stats are probably a better option if you went this route.

But that's one situation that won't happen a lot. Maxing Plague Wards early if you're laning with Huskar or Juggernaut is just completely retarded and it wastes the potential of your lane.

Item build

Start off with some basic regen (1 set of tangoes + 1 salve + 1 or 2 clarity(ies) I'd say) and stat items. If the level of the game calls for it, grab either a chicken or a set of wards. I personally prefer the wards and let another support get the chick, then I'll upgrade it if I get FB for instance.

So here is your core : 

• Alright, that’s your core. You’re oriented support, so it’s not that expensive.
• Boots of Speed are a no-brainer. Even if your natural movespeed is low, you don’t really need the upgrades. BoT are excellent, but are a luxury, and tbh I finish most of my games with BoS.
• Magic Wand is just great to have on most heroes, and Veno is no exception. Might grant you the mana needed to land that Gale or Nova, or simply heal you enough to survive a gank. Also gives you some needed stats.
• One random bracer is there to fill space, don’t bother with it if you’re doing well and can afford Point Booster but Veno is paper and against Pudge or Lina for instance, I would definitely get one.
• Bottle is here because you're a ganker, so this item perfectly fits your role. Theory-speaking, it is not really wise to get one if your team already has 2 (or more) other bottle-users (especially if you have someone like Tinker who NEEDS the runes), but it's the most cost-efficient item for regenerating purposes so now I almost always get one for Veno. Bottle-crow is also a powerful option if you can't afford to get the runes.
• And now, Aghanim’s Scepter. There is no better item for Venomancer. First of all, it gives useful stats and hp/mana that will definitely help you. At level 16 (unfortunately not before like it does for Clock), it will give your ultimate an absurd cooldown of 60 seconds. It means you can almost spam it every gank while still having it up for big fights. Not only that, it also significantly boosts your damage (unlike Crix who gets +110 damage)
• So, that’s only 5 items, actually 4 since you will often sell that bracer to buy Ogre Axe. This is because first, you should ALWAYS carry a TP scroll with you. That means you shouldn’t EVER run around with 3 pieces of Scepter, just let one in base and complete it when you have everything. TP Scrolls save towers, teammates, and yourself.
• The last slot should be reserved for wards/dust if your team needs them. You are an item-independent support hero (though a fast Aghanim’s is devastating), hence you should be the one getting wards or dust for the team if there’s a need for it.

About the boots : as of 6.66b, sticking with BoS until later isn't the best choice anymore. Phase will give you impressive damage which is good since your natural physical damage is quite low and the Phase ability is still as useful as ever. On the other hand, Treads are damn cheap and they can give some health. The movespeed is a bit low though, and the AS is quite wasted. Get them if you're dying too much because it's a hard game or you got outplayed or something.

As of 6.67, there's really NO reason whatsoever to skip Aghanim's Scepter. The damage boost is just more than what any other item could provide, and it gives survivability as well.

Optional items : 

 Urn of Shadows: Urn is great on any support hero, so don't hesitate to get it if there aren't too much in your team already (if there are two urns in the same area, only one will get a charge when an enemy hero dies). Provides some mana regeneration as well as welcome hps and another DoT nuke for you, or a quick heal after a gank.

 Force Staff: A lulz item that can save you, net you a kill and so much. It's cheap and it gives you mana that you need (should get this right after Point Booster imo), so there's nothing wrong with getting it. It can also act as a pseudo-initiation item to get off a better Nova without spending 2150 gold only for that.

 Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Another cheap item, and very cost effective. Can save you or allow you to hold an enemy to give your allies the time to come. I'm not really a fan of this item but there's nothing wrong with getting it.

 Kelen’s Dagger: Some people like this item on Veno. After all, he got a potentially gamebreaking AoE ultimate, so it seems to require a dagger. Well…not really. You should NOT be the first one to enter a fight, but rather the second one. Your ult does a lot of damage, but it doesn’t stun, slow or anything. Let that Earthshaker or Axe blink in first, and then just follow up. Moreover, Poison Nova has a very large AoE and doesn’t really need placement like Reverse Polarity does.

 Kadghar's Pipe of Insight: Against heavy magical damage line-ups, a Pipe might be needed. I would rather have a real tank buy this, but if they can’t afford it (getting owned for instance) or your team has no tank, it is acceptable to get it. It will also increase your own survivability against spells. Try to have Point Booster before though, it will really help you.

Now that it isn't stackeable anymore and its build-up doesn't give any armor, you should really let a real tank get this item.

 Ghost Scepter: This should be bought if there are some heavy DPSers in the enemy team that are farmed enough to kill you in a few hits. You should probably get this right after Aghanim's Scepter, because that's when physical damage-dealers will probably start shining.

Now that it upgrades to Ethereal Blade it's even better than before, but you shouldn't feel forced to upgrade it in every game where you get it. Sometimes a Hex could help you a lot more.

Luxury items : 

Now there are two possible kind of items you can get (or more like, try to get) as luxuries : either moar support items, or you can also go semi-carry route. Veno is really a subpar carry because he got no scaling skill and his agi gain is under the average (PotM has 2.75 for instance) and he also has a rather weak base damage, but he can still become scary if the game drags on. I don't personally advocate this route, but it is acceptable if there's no real carry in your team or if the carries are noobs/got ganked too much and falled behind in gold.

 Boots of Travel: If the game drags on, Boots of Travel will become more and more powerful for the added mobility and the priceless teleportation ability. You’re also quite a good pusher and tower sieger, so you can take down a tower after a teamfight for instance.

Never hesitate to sell your other boots to get BoT, it's really worth it when all your outer towers are gone and mobility becomes key. A teamfight without you can mean the loss of the game even if you're not the most gamebreaking hero during lategame.

 Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse: The item I usually aim for after BoT, though I almost never complete it since game is over before. You’re a support, so play like a support. At that time, at least one enemy carry/semi-carry is farmed and scary, and 3.5 seconds of disable can decide the outcome of a battle, thus of the game. (have you ever seen three raxes down in a single push? It did happen to me, great when you’re in the winning side, not when you’re getting owned at the last second^^)

 Orchid Malevolence: Serves the same purpose as Guinsoo’s, but against int carries (quite an old-fashioned concept that post-6.60 players might not understand... but watch 13abyknight's Storm and you'll get it more easily  ) that rely on their spells to kill and/or survive. Heroes such as Necrolyte, QoP or Storm Spirit might force you to get this if you ever want to kill them.

I don't recommand this item for like 95% of the games, but sometimes it can become needed, especially against Storm, on which Silence > Stun (since usually the former lasts longer than the latter, and half a second is enough for Storm to GTFO). The easy build-up is also very nice, but the manaregen is completely overkill.

 Shiva's Guard: MOAR AoE slow is always cool, and the aura is very valuable lategame when autoattacking heroes shine the most. Armor might help you survive two more seconds, too.

Those were the support items you could aim for as luxuries, but remember you ain't supposed to farm too much. Sometimes though you'll get Triple Kills or such so you better use that gold wisely 

Now the semi-carrying items that are decent on Veno : 

 Manta Style is a really good item for a lot of heroes, so there's no reason why it wouldn't work with Veno if you want some DPS. Gives some health with ult orb, agility that's always welcome and moar movespeed so that you can chase even better. Images will probably die in a split second but casting it can remove some annoying buffs or temporary add some firepower. Helps to take down towers, also.

Note that Images get a fake Poison Sting buff which does nothing.

 The Butterfly: I really don't like putting this item here, but I must face the truth : any butterfly-wielding agility hero is damn scary lategame (yes, even NA, I've actually seen noobs NA with Butterfly + BF carry a game, what a sad vision :/ ), so it can "somewhat" work. But then again that shouldn't be your primary role and a Guinsoo's can be a LOT more gamebreaking lategame than a fifth Butterfly in your team.

Rejected items : 

 Lothar's Edge: If you feel like you need an initiation item (but then please go read again the reasons why you should NOT be doing this with Veno, as you aren't Crixalis or Enigma), then get Dagger but not this. WW isn't a reliable escape mechanism (it can work even against dust because of the +ms, but any targeted stun will screw you) and the damage is kinda wasted. There's really no reason to get this item. :/ Point Booster will boost your survivability more than this for something like a third of the price.

 Sange & Yasha: This item just fails on Venomancer. You don’t really need the movespeed and maim orb is wasted because you got two slows, one of which is one of the best non-ultimate ones.You don’t need the str since anyway Aghanim’s provides more hps. The only good part about this item is its cheap cost, but then again Aghanim's isn't really more expensive (actually it's less expensive) and is made of Point Booster, a really cost-effective item.

If you really want movespeed that badly, get a single Yasha and turn it into Manta later.

 /  Orbs (and even worse, buff placers): Lifesteal and other orbs aren't for you. Mjollnir's AS is quite useless (Poison Sting only works every 7 seconds, it's not like you have a skill with a proc chance) except for the Static Charge buff, so you *could* get one if Axe is in your team because of the obvious synergy.

Skadi doesn't stack with Poison Sting, and I already talked specifically about S&Y's case. The only orb that could be gotten is Diffusal Blade because of the purge, ONLY if no one else can get it (either they are int/str or they're agi with a natural orb such as Broodmother) or the other guy ran out of charges 'cause the game is getting very, very long.

Quite a boring part, but it's needed I think. I see too much people with wrong items for Veno, then they wonder why they're getting owned by that Mortred/Troll/PL, who's a real carry.

Now, let's get to a more interesting part : 

Gameplay Walkthrough

Early game

Get your starting items, then head for the rune closest to your short lane (Sentinel bot/Scourge top, I know some people call it long lane, but for me it’s short since you will fight at your tower). You should try to get a First Blood, unless your lanemate got a useless hero like Clinkz (I don’t consider Mortred useless for this since she can slow). At 0:00, the rune will spawn. If there’s one where you are : good for you, you are lucky. Take it (unless it’s a Regeneration, obviously) and go own your enemies. Double Damage, Haste and Illusion rune all mean a sure kill most of the time, while Invisibility is a bit less powerful in this situation. If there’s no rune, you can still try to get a kill, but DO NOT get too much greedy and chase past tower only to die.

You can also get First Blood mid, but it is harder since the enemy hero will be closer to his tower. Last time I did it with Ogre Magi + Viper for instance. That’s two slows and a stun, and it was enough to get the kill. It’s really good if you can do it because it will give a huge advantage to your own solo. I forgot to say it, but the said solo should NOT be you, you’re much better in a lane. Soloing the short lane 1v2 is fine though if you have a jungler, even if it wastes a bit of your early game potential.

After your First Blood (hopefully), it’s not time to rest, at all. Constantly harass your enemies, especially if they are melee. At level 3, you can usually get a kill with your lane partner. If not, at least you will send an enemy (preferably a carry) back to base, making him lose valuable experience and gold, and leaving his ally much more vulnerable. At level 5 you should usually gank mid. As I already said, Venomous Gale deals huge damage at this time, plus your solo should be level 7 and able to do quite a lot of damage on his own. At level 6, you get your ultimate. Your combo deals around 500 hps after reduction. Add to this the 50 damage from Poison Sting (if it’s lvl 2) and your own damage, and you can pretty much kill anyone except hard tanks like Roof. (even Centaur isn't that bulky at this stage of the game)

Early game ends when you reach level 7-8.

Mid game

Mid game is the time for you to shine. You deal a lot of damage while enemies still have low health pools. At this time, you shouldn’t be seen laning and farming for more than a couple of minutes, unless you want to disrupt the farm of an enemy carry. (like come in, attack him to get a Sting, last-hit some creeps, attack him again a few times, go back ganking or helping teammates)

Your Gale is spammable, so you can really gank the whole time. You got a stick to help you regen, and maybe a bottle, that will usually be enough. Try not to waste your ultimate on lone heroes unless it’s needed (either to scare enemy gankers or to help you getting a kill during a tough fight) as it has a pretty long cooldown as well as a really high manacost.

Be sure to always have a TP scroll with you, because the first teamfights will start occurring at that time. Your ult is devastating, and anyone hit by it will usually die.

There aren’t too much to say about this time, even if it’s your best one. Just keep on ganking, making sure your carry can farm and the enemy one got nothing.

Mid game ends when you reach level 14-16 and you hopefully have your core items.

Late game

Unless you got owned hard, you have your Scepter by now and maybe a luxury. You can use your ultimate on every gank, and it still deals very high damage (more than Laguna Blade or Finger of Death, even with Scepter) even if it will be getting less and less effective due to heroes getting more regeneration. However, since the Heart nerf (Lil’ zerg thanks you for that IceFrog! <3) it will be really hard for enemies to completely negate your damage, since Vanguard and Hood remain situational. Pipe rapes you hard though, and if there is another aoe ultimate in your team, be sure that you will have to face one, maybe less now that it got nerfed. (armorless build-up and not stackeable anymore)

Try to push as much as possible with your team by now. You can no longer solo-kill anyone except squishy supports like Crystal Maiden or Chen. Most heroes can 1v1 you without any problem, and TPs own your Damage over Time spells, so when your allies aren’t here, you can’t do much.

Late game, either team will attempt to kill Roshan. If you notice that enemies are missing (and you didn’t ward the area), you can always plant a Plague Ward at Rosh thanks to its long casting range. It already made me win decisive battles. Some people call it “maphack” when actually it’s just intuition. =)

You could also solo Rosh with your Wards, but you shouldn’t. Why? Because you would get ganked VERY easily (and it takes you a shitload of time to do it, unlike Ursa), and more importantly, you would offer a free Aegis to the enemy team, as well as the gold from Roshan. If your team tries to help you, they will be fucked because of the 4v5 most of the time, so not only will you die, some of your teammates are likely to die too.

Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com