Venomancer Overview

Lore & Bio

"No necromancer shall raise what the venomancer puts down."

With the habitants of the Acid Jungles of Jidi Isle, poison is no stranger to them as it is running in their blood or bubbling in their stomach. And among them, Venomancer is the most notorious when it comes to venom. Several years ago, Lesale, a herbalist who was on his way crossing the Bay of Fradj by a small rounded boat to the Jidi's jungle. He was in the hope of finding the most powerful distilled liquid which was extracted from the plants in Acid Jungles. However, the thing he found is out of any thing he could imagine. While he was in the Jidi’s jungle, Lesale accidentally picked at the reptile that looked like an epiphyte on the tree which made the reptile sense the danger and then stung him. In vain, he tried to detoxify himself by mixing the venom of this reptile with nectar of an armored orchid to create an antidote. In the few seconds before losing consciousness, he jabbed himself by using an orchid-thorn with the slight hope to get cured.

 Seventeen year had passed, no sign of Lesale that he was still alive. Suddenly, in the place where he had fallen, a creature emerged: Venomancer. He was no longer a Lesale everyone used to know, he was Lesale the Deathbringer instead. All of his memories had been cleared and his flesh and skin were replaced by an unknown matter that was a combination between the venomous reptile and armored orchid. The time Venomancer was born, all the creatures in the Jidi’s Acid Jungles knew that they had a new master.Soon, he found this lurid isle is too restricting, and with the hunger coming for the human part in his heart, Lesale started seeking new poisons as well as bringing death to others.

In-game, Venomancer is described as:

“Venomancer brings slow death to his enemies. Sprouting an endless army of toxin-spitting watchers to defend his territory, should foes draw near he can release a massive cloud of lingering poison to weaken enemies.”

Attribute & Stats

• Strength: 19 + 2.1 each level;

• Agility: 24 + 2.8 each level;

• Intelligence: 19 + 1.8 each level;

• Health: 580;

• Health regeneration: + 2.15 each second;

• Mana: 303;

• Mana regeneration: + 0.95 each second;

• Damage: 42- 45;

• Amor: 4;

• Magic Resistance: 25%;

• Turn Rate: 0.6;

• Attack Range: 450;

• Attack Speed: 115;

• Projectile speed: 900;

• Attack Animation: 0.3+0.7;

• Movement: 280;

• Sight Range: 1800/800;

• Base Attack time: 1.7 seconds per attack;

• Damage Block: 0;

• Collision size: 24.

Abilities & Talents

Notes:

• The health granted by talent will expand the health pool and remain the current health percentage. 

• The spell lifesteal granted by talent can be stacked with other spell lifesteal which is granted by items or allies. Attack non- hero units, Venomancer will get healed for 2.4%. Creep-heroes are treated as creeps, and illusions are not healed.

Skills building guide

In this build I will focus on guiding you how to play Venomancer as an Offlaner. Then the first ability I recommend you max out is Poison Sting as it is a great tool for harassment besides the damage it deals by arming your regular attack with poison and movement reduction debuff. In addition, the damage per second from this ability makes enemy heroes more prudent when dueling with Venomancer as just a second of carelessness can cost their life.

The second ability to max out is Venomous Gale due to the slow debuff it causes on the enemy movement speed.With Venomous Gale, Venomancer can gank or support other lanes effectively and gain the advantage for the team. It is also useful when chasing the enemies or escaping from the gank.

Plague Ward is your last priority. Although this ability increases the damage output of Venomancer but  it is really easy to dodge and get out so you should consider adding one point when the game is dragging to the mid as there are more teamfights occuring at this time.

The unique thing that you can notice is that I do not place a point on talent at level 10 as the bonus granted by talent is more useful in the late game.

Abilities

Venomous Gale

Venomous Gale (Point Target, Magical)

Effect: Venomancer spits a venomous ball moving in a line which deals damage as well as applies poison debuff over time on the enemy. Venomous Gale also reduces the movement speed of the enemies.

Mana cost: 125

Cooldown: 21/20/19/18 (Talent 15/14/13/12)

Cast Animation: 0+0.57

Cast Range: 800

Max Travel Distance: 850

Gale Radius: 125

Initial Damage: 50/75/100/125

Number of Instances: 5

Damage per Instance: 15/45/75/105

Move Speed Slow: 50%

Duration: 15

• Upgraded from Aghanim’s Scepter:
• Cast Range: 1200
• Max Travel Distance: 1250
• Number of Plague Wards: 2

Notes:

The traveling speed of the poisonous ball is 1200, which means it needs 0.71 (Upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard: 1.04) seconds to reach to the end.

The total range that Venomous Gale can deal damage is up to 975 (Upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard: 1375).

The effect of the movement reduction will fade away over time. Every 0.3 seconds the affected unit will restore 1% of their movement speed, beginning 0.3 seconds after the debuff is placed.

When the Venomous Gale debuff is placed on a unit with less than 25% of its maximum health, this unit will be denied.

The damage will be dealt every 3 seconds after the initial damage which means Venomous Gale will deal damage 6 times.

The total damage that Venomous Gale can deal before reduction is up to  125/300/475/650 damage on a single unit.

If Venomous Gale is cast several times on the same target, they will not stack but refresh the duration instead.

• Which means the initial damage will be left out and only debuff is placed.

The projectiles temporarily grants 280 radius flying vision.

With the upgrade from Aghanim’s Shard, Venomous Gale can summon 2 Plague Wards around the hit heroes including their clones, not illusions.

• The wards will respawn in the range of 100 around the affected target. These 2 wards will be placed on the opposite sides.

• If Plague Ward hasn’t been leveled up yet, no ward is created.

• To trigger the wards in Ability Draft, these two abilities must be chosen.

Poison Sting

Poison Sting (Passive, Magical)

Effect: The regular attack of Venomancer is armed with poison and slow debuff.

Damage per Second: 6/14/22/30

Plague Wards Damage Percentage: 50%

Move Speed Slow: 8%/10%/12%/14% (Talent 16%/18%/20%/22%)

Duration: 6/9/12/15

Notes:

Undispellable.

The on-damage effects do not apply on Poison Sting as it is considered as HP Removal.

The damage is dealt each tick which means every 1 second. The damage is dealt right after the debuff is applied, which means it will deal damage 6/9/12/15 times.

If Poison Sting is cast several times on the same target, they will not stack but refresh the duration instead.

The total damage can be dealt is up to 36/126/264/450 damage before reductions.

Plague Ward’s attack can benefit from the current Poison Sting.

• If Poison Sting hasn’t been leveled up yet, the Plague Wards will not have poison and slow debuff.

• The wards' Poison Sting has a different modifier than Venomancer. These modifiers do not conflict with one another.

• If the target is already debuffed by Venomancer, The ward’s debuff will be ignored.

• The total damage that the ward armed with Poison Sting is up to 18/63/132/225 damage.

Plague Ward

Plague Ward (Point Target)

Effect: A Plague Ward will be summoned nearby the Venomancer which deals damage to units and structures. These wards are not affected by magical damage. The damage that the Ward deals is 50% of the Venomancer’s damage.

Mana cost:20/22/24/26

Cooldown: 5 (Talent 3.5)

Cast Animation: 0+0.63

Cast Range: 850

Ward Duration: 40

Notes:

Plague Wards after being summoned can attack automatically the target within their range, following ◉ Standard auto-attack rules.

• The player can give order to the wards to attack with A or Right Click an enemy in range.

• All wards can attack the same target With Unified Orders with Ctrl, Ctrl+ Right Click.

• Player can order the wards to stop attacking with S (only works when the auto-attack option is ◎ Never).

Plague Ward’s attack benefits from the current level of Poison Sting.

• Have the same Poison Sting notes with Venomancer.

• The Venomancer is the source of the wards' Poison Sting damage, therefore some on-damage effects (such as Damage Return) respond on the Venomancer rather than the wards.

• For the Plague Wards to use Poison Sting on attack in Ability Draft, Poison Sting must be recruited.

Damage block has no effect on the ward’s attack damage.

The wards will be attacked by towers and lane creeps after all the heroes and allied creeps have been killed.

Other players can Ping on the wards.

Plague Ward’s base statistics:

• Duration: 40 seconds;

• Health: 120/230/340/450 (Talent 300/575/50/1125);

• Health regeneration: 0.25;

• Armor: 0;

• Magic Resistance: 0%;

• Status Resistance: 0%;

• Attack damage: 12/21/30/39 - 14/23/32/41 (Talent 1.5/54/76.5/99 - 3.5/56/78.5/101);

• Acquisition range: 600;

• Attack range: 600;

• Base attack time: 1.4;

• Attack Speed: 100;

• Attack Animation: 0.3+0.7;

• Projectile Speed: 1900;

• Turn rate: 0.5;

• Collision size: 24;

• Vision range: 800;

• Bounty: 15/17/19/21;

• Experience: 20/25/30/35.

Poison Nova

Poison Nova (No Target, Magical)

Effect: Venomancer coils and spins around his position dispersing poison that deals damage over time to the nearby enemies in the active range. Poison Nova can not kill the damage so the target will still survive with at least 1 health.

Mana cost:200/300/400

Cooldown: 140/120/100

Cast Animation: 0+0.87

Radius: 630 (Talent 1270)

Nova Width: 255

Base Damage per Second: 20/30/40

Max Health as Damage per Second: 2%/2.75%/3.5%

Duration: 20 (Talent 25)

• Upgradable with Aghanim’s Scepter:
• Cooldown:100/80/60
• Max Health as Damage per Second:  3%/3.75%/4.5%

Notes:

Undispellable

Other channeling abilities of Venomancer will be disrupted when Poison Nova is cast.

The speed that poisonous fog disperses is 500.

The enemy within the range of 85 (talent 1525) can be affected by poison fog.

• Despite the fact that Poison Nova has a width, units between the ring and Venomancer are still impacted, even if they are not inside the ring's 255 width.

The damage is dealt every 1 second, beginning right after the debuff is applied which means Poison Nova will deal damage 21 (talents 26) times.

• The DPS from Poison Nova does not finish the enemies. The health of the target will not drop below 1 health when affected by Poison Nova.

• The total damage that Poison Nova can apply on the single target is up to  420/630/840 + 42%/57.75%/73.5% of maximum health (Talent 520/780/1040 + 52%/71.5%/91%) before any reduction.

• The damage can be dealt on a single target with the upgrades from Aghanim’s Shard is 420/630/840 + 63%/78.75%/94.5% of maximum health (Talent 520/780/1040 + 78%/97.5%/117%) damage.

Poison Nova’s debuff will not stack but refresh the duration instead.

Effective items guides

Early game

Healing Salve

Healing Salve keeps Venomaner in lane longer by restoring his health.

Tango

Tango grants a small amount of health regeneration for a specific period of time which keeps Venomaner’s HP in the sustain state in the laning phase.

Clarity

Clarity provides mana regen which helps Venomaner cast his abilities more frequently.

Observer Ward

Observer Wards grants Venomancer and his allies vision which prevents them from being ganked by jungler.

Magic Stick

Magic Stick instantly restores mana and health which helps Venomancer to cast more Venomous Gale.

Boots of Speed

Boots of Speed makes up for Venomancer’s lack of mobility.

Sentry Ward

Sentry Ward is extremely important for Venomancer to control the way that the opponent heroes are moving by placing the wards deep in the enemy jungle or in key objectives.

Mid game

Magic Wand

Magic Wand restores mana and health with more charges.

Power Treads

Power Treads is a good investment for Venomancer due to the bonus attributes it grants. The Power Tread can be swapped between intelligence and  strength in order to cast more spells or to increase the survivability.

Force Staff

Force Staff is a great Blink Dagger alternative with a reasonable price. This item expands the mana pool which allows Venomancer to cast spells more frequently. Furthermore it is a useful tool to escape.

Town Portal Scroll

Town Portal Scroll helps Venomancer appear in the right place in order to fight the enemies or to defend the towers or buildings. Besides, It also works as an escape tool.

Late game

Aghanim's Scepter

Aghanim’s Scepter increases the damage output of Venomancer significantly by reducing the cooldown and increasing DPS damage of  Poison Nova.

Situation items

Veil of Discord

Veil of Discord grants bonus attributes as well as armor for Venomancer which increase his survivability. Besides, its ability can increase the damage output of Venomancer

Eul's Scepter of Divinity

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: Besides being a great tool to disable an enemy or himself, it also grants Venomancer movement speed as well as mana. Eul’s Scepter of Divinity  synergizes well with Poison Nova as it temporarily keeps Venomnacer out of the combat while dealing damage and preventing his spells from being broken.

Blink Dagger

Blink Dagger makes up for the Venomancer’s lack of mobility which helps him to cast his spells easily as well as escape when necessary.

Shadow Blade

Shadow Blade: Besides the damage and attack speed it grants, Shadow Blade’s ability provides a tool for Venomancer to initiate the combat or escape from the gank.

Butterfly

Butterfly grants a high amount of Venomancer’s attack speed and damage. Besides, It also provides evasion and a moderate amount of armor which increases his survivability when encountering physical heroes.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid Malevolence will make all the issues about mana of Venomancer disappear and grants physical damage per second. Furthermore, its ability can reduce the enemy damage output by silencing them.

Manta Style

Manta Style removes the rebuff cast on Venomancer and creates an illusion which increases the damage output and confuses enemies.

Drum of Endurance

Drum of Endurance grants valuable bonus stats as well as attack speed which helps him trigger Poison Sting easier. It also increases Venomancer’s movement speed.

Octarine Core

Octarine Core is the ideal item for Venomaner as it expands the mana and health pool, grants mana regeneration as well as cast range which allows Venomancer to cast more spells in a safe distance and survive better. Besides, the cooldown reduction lets Venomancer spam his skills more frequently.

Gem of True Sight

Gem of True Sight grants great vision as well as spot the position of the invisible enemies. If using this item during nighttime, Night Stalker can have an enormous vision around the map which helps him roam and support other lane batters.

Arcane Boots

Arcane Boost expands the mana pool and restores mana, allowing him to cast more spells.

Ghost Scepter

Ghost Scepter makes Venomancer immune to the physical attacks besides the attributes it grants. This item is also a great tool to help escape after initiating the combat.

Glimmer Cape

Glimmer Cape makes him a little tankier by granting magic resistance. Additionally, Glimmer can turn Venomancer invisible which helps him escape easily.

Shiva's Guard

Shiva’s Guard allows Venomancer to cast more spells by expanding the mana pool. Furthermore, its aura slows the enemy down and keeps them in the effective range of his abilities.

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse:morphs the target into a harmless swine which gives him more time to use up his abilities.

Enemies & Allies

Allies

Ancient Apparition

Ancient Apparition: Ice Blast can finish the enemies on behalf of Venomancer when he casts Poison Nova. Venomcaner’s damage output can benefit from the Ice Vortex. Venomous Gale allows Ancient Apparition to trigger Cold Feet easier.

Undying

Undying: In the combination with Decay, Venomancer’s poison can easily put enemy health in the warning state. Venomous Gale and Poison Nova’s damage can be amplified by Flesh Golem.Venomous Gale and Poison Sting, as well as the Flesh Golem aura and Tombstone zombies constantly applying Deathlust, slow opponents to a crawl and impose massive teamfight dominance.

Viper

Viper’s Nethertoxin reduces the magic resistance of the target which amplifies Venomancer’s spells.

Counters

Abaddon

Abaddon: Venomous Gale and Poison Sting have little to no effect on Abaddon while casting Borrowed Time and Aphotic Shield.

Anti-Mage

Anti-Mage : Venomancer’s spell can not leave a scratch on Anti-Mage when he casts Counterspell. Venomancer’s abilities can not stop ANti-Mage from escaping when he casts Blink.

Huskar

Huskar’s Berserker’s Blood can regenerate all the heath which is lost by Venomancer’s damage. Life Break can put the life of Venomancer on the line.

Legion Commander

Legion Commander: Venomous Gale and Poison Sting can not affect Legion Commander or her allies when she casts Press the Attack. When being caught in Duel, Venomancer have zero chance to survive.

Oracle

Oracle’s Fortune End can disrupt the effect of Venomous Gale and Poison Sting on allies. Venomancer can not harm Oracle during Fate’s Edict due to 100% magic resistance it grants.

Rubick

Rubick: All spells of Venomancer are ideal prey for Rubick’s Spell Steal.

Slark

Slark: Venomous Gale and Poison Sting can not affect Slark during Dark Pact. Shadow Dance grants Slark more recovery when she is out of sight, making DoTs less dangerous.

Terrorblade

Terrorblade’s Reflection can force Venomancer to suffer his poison debuff from Poison Sting. Conjure Image and Metamorphosis can destroy Plague Wards quickly. When the health of Terror blade is worn down by poison, casting Sunder on other heroes can increase his survivability.

Underlord

Underlord’s Dark Rift can bring allies out of the active range of the Poison Nova. With the magic resistance granted by Pipe of Insight, Underlord and his allies do not worry about the Venomancer’s damage.

Wraith King

Wraith King: Killing Wraith King is never an easy task when he has Reincarnation available. DoT damage from Poison Sting leaves no effect on Wraith King after he casts Vampiric Spirit.

Items Counter

Town Portal Scroll

Town Portal Scroll: as Venomancer has no tool to disable the enemies which means can not stop them from channeling to the safe place or to join the combat.

Pipe of Insight

Pipe of Insight reduces the magical damage output from Venomancer significantly.

Glimmer Cape

Glimmer Cape minimizes the magical damage from Venomancer by granting magic resistance.

Black King Bar

Black King Bar: most Venomancer’s abilities become useless.

Blade Mail

Blade Mail reflects the damage which makes him suffer from his own damage.

Favorable Matchups

Axe

Axe: Venomancer can kite Axe easily due to his lack of mobility. Plague Wards can be used to wear down Axe and reveal his position which prevents him from initiating any combat.

Earthshaker

Earthshaker: Venomancer can kite Earthshaker easily due to his lack of mobility Furthermore, with the help from Plague Wards, Earthshaker has no chance to get away from being kited and harassed by Venomancer. Plague Wards can also be used to wear down Earthshaker and reveal his position which prevents him from initiating any combat.

Magnus

Magnus: Plague Wards can easily spot the location of Magnus and put his Blink Dagger on cooldown, which hinders him from initiating a team fight.

Mars

Mars: Bulwark can not guard Mars against the magical damage from Venomancer. Plague Ward can pierce the protection from Arena of Blood and deal damage on Mars.

Monkey King

Monkey King: Venomancer's magical damage-over-time poisons Tree Dance, reducing Monkey King's mobility significantly. Mischief or Tree Dance can not protect Monkey King from Venomous Gale and Poison Nova.

Spectre

Spectre: Due to his lack of magic resistance, Spectre is an ideal opponent for Venomancer. Spectre still has a slow debuff by Venomancer even when casting Spectral Dagger. Spectre’s position will be revealed by Plague Wards.

Templar Assassin

Templar Assassin: Venomous Gale and Plague Wards can break through Refraction charges easily. Meld cannot be used defensively because Poison Nova and Venomous Gale both harm invisible troops.

Techies

Teachies can not hide from the Plague Wards.

Windranger

WindRanger: Venomancer poison will put Windranger’s health in the fatal state due to her lack of magic resistance.

Game plan

Early game

As an offlaner, Venomaner does not rely much on farming in the early game. What you try to do is to prevent the enemy hero from farming by denying as much creep as possible as well as supporting your ally to last hit easier. You might have your eye on the rune in the river as It can help you stay in the lane longer and survive better. And if your ally can not get to the lane on time to farm some creeps, feel free to do so on behalf of him.

Mid game

In the mid game, your job is pretty the same as the early game. It means you also stick with your ally in the lane and fully support him in farming as well as getting the kill from enemy heroes. When the night begins, you can start to roam to other lanes if they need your support or to secure a kill but remember your main task is to help the carry in your team have their strength get accelerated as fast as possible. And always be prepared for the teamfight that might happen any time.

Late game

In the late game, your team will mostly focus on the key objectives like Roshan or buildings and winning the crucial teamfight. You should find yourself a good spot among enemy heroes by using Force Staff,then cast Poison Nova and let your team do the rest. Don't try to initiate any combat or teamfight as you have no tool to do that, just find a good spot to deal DoT damage and debuff, your team can take care of the rest.