Make love,not venom.

Welcome

Hello Dotafire,and welcome to my guide to:

Pros and Cons

Pros:

-One of the best slows in the game,50% at level one is a sure first blood with the right teammate.
-Ward *****,literaly.
-Can solo Roshan.
-DoT *****.
-Beneficial passive,great slows.
-A very good ultimate.
-Multi-roles.

Cons

Squishy
-Very realiant on teammates(if playing support).
-Very ability reliant as well as item reliant.
-DoT is good,but enemies can deny each other.
-Falls off teribly late game.
-Soloing Roshan takes too much.
-His voice is anoying as hell,ever played Ghosts and Goblins?Its like those squeeky ghosts that go :EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK.(damn,one of the hardest games on the NES).

Venomancer's role in a team

Venomancer is played mainly as a support,but he can do multi-roles like semi-carry or even carry in the right team comp.

Semi-carry/Carry-3/5
Support-5/5
Initiate-2/5

CARRY

Venomancer as a Semi-carry is actually pretty decent,needs no introduction.The sheer damage output of his shills,combined with his decent attack speed,slows and poisons,make for a fearful opponent.Take heed, Venomancer can actually carry,but he is not played as that because he falls off terribly late game.

SUPPORT

Ah yes,the role that most Venomancer players take up in the moment of picking.Venomancer makes for an amasing support,as his skills are wonderful in acomplishing this kind of a role.
Plague wards are amasing for scouting as well as just for warding off some spots, Venomous Gale is one of the best non-ultimate slows in the game, Poison Sting is one of the best harassing tools,and Poison Nova is just the icing on the cake.

INITITATOR

A not so good role for Venomancer,but still possible but by a different playstyle,that revolves arround rushing an Eul's Scepter of Divinity. Poison Nova and Venomous Gale make for good initiation tools though,so don't be discouraged.

THIS GUIDE FOCUSES ON THE SUPPORT VENOMACER.

Early game and laning

Laning with Venomancer is not that hard,but you should never lane with a hard-carry.Why is that.you ask?Well Venomancers plague wards are meant to push and take over a lane very fast,leaving no room for the hard carry to farm and expand.

You should,however,lane with a semi-carry,that doesn't need that much of a gold advantage,and has strong nukes early that complement Venomancers agressive playstyle.Examples of these would be: Tiny, Ursa, Slardar or Bounty Hunter.

A well placed ward like:
will help you fend off ganks and watch the rune.

However,for the dire-side,you need to use both wards from the set,to watch the rune and the gank heavy route:
Cut down the circled trees to grant even more vision.

These are all DEFENSIVE WARDS.

Mid game and the starting of ganks-teamfights

You got to this point by pushing down the tower on the lane you were laning on,and even possibly pushing down all Tier-1 towers.This means its time to push deeper into enemy teritory,and means you need to use some techniques in order to succeed,and not to lose an oportunity of a gank.

This means,we need good ward spots to cover the map for organising ganks and gaining an advantage in teamfights:

WHEN THE ENEMY IS THE DIRE(YOU BEING ON THE RADIANT TEAM)

The first picture shows us a good spot on warding the middle lane after the Tier-1 tower is gone.This ward will help you see deeper into enemy territory,and also,see the ramp part of the mid lane(the one above the stairs),where Pudge or Clockwerk could hide.




Second picture shows us the possition of a ward well placed after destroying the bottom Tier-1 tower.Thos ward is good because:
-You see the entrance to the secret shop comming down from the ancients
-You see the defending spots that your enemy might take up while defending the Tier-2 tower
-It is out of tower range




This ward is placed after the Tier-1 top tower is destroyed.The ward shows you:
-The part of the lane where the nemy tower was
-Retreating path of enemis that would push out the lane(E.g:Given you are playing Pudge,you aren't running in blindly in the lane,you know if they would teleport away or just leave the lane,and wait for the proper time to hook)
-One of the creep camps that is commonly farmed




This ward is terribly good at scouting out the jungle,and organising smoke-ganks.The ward shows 2 of the creepcamps,gives vision over the Tier-2 tower,and on the staircase near the ramp.




This ward is good,you might spot with it counter-gank atempts,and oponents trying to flank you while you try to push the Tier-2 tower.This ward won me many teamfights,and it is also hard to notice even with a gem,because its placed behind the rock.

These are all:OFFENSIVE WARDS.

WHEN THE ENEMY IS THE RADIANT(YOU BEING ON THE DIRE TEAM)

This ward is very good at scouting the enemy jungle.You can see on the picture that it shows:
-The rune
-The enemy high ramp(near the low tier camp)
-The path that is going off the ramp.
A mainly good ward for organising early game ganks on junglers,that rely on farming or stacking the low tier camp for a quick level 2:Lycanthrope, Lifestealer, Ursa.



This ward is good at spotting counter-gank atemps or flaking atemps from the enemy whhen you are pushing the tier 2 tower down.Also shows all their main pathing in the jungle,for organising smoke ganks.



Not much to say about this ward,replaces their vision from the tower with your vision from the ward.Could fend off some unfavorale fighting scenarios.



This ward is terribly good to spot ancient stacks on your enemy team.Not much to say about it,but I always see people place it on the edge of the small burning clumn(or torch whatever),but that doesn't block the ancient camp from stacking or spawning.This ward also shows the small road that people usually follow to get to the ancients,while the one placed on the edge doesn't,because its blocked by the trees.



This ward shows off much of the lane after the tower is destroyed and the entrance to the secret shop from the lane.Can help you not get flanked from the secret shop area when you are pusing the tier 2 tower.



This ward is mainly there just for taking away the vision from the enemy team.Ensures some good vision for: Pudge or Clockwerk to initiate from affar.

These are,once again:OFFENSIVE WARDS

Now,about the DEFENSIVE WARDS:The defensive wards are the enemies offensive wards(if the radiant loses the tier 2 tower,the dire places an ofensive ward while the radiant places a defensive ward).

Late game-Breaking through the walls

In all the 3 pictures,the main role of the ward is to keep an eye on the inside of the enemy base.Not much else to say here,but these wards are exceptional for the end game,assuring you a good teamfight.

Itemization

STARTING OUT

You are the one that is supposed to get the Animal Courier in your team.No arguements,no debate over this.At least as a support Venomancer.



The item that allows you to spam those pesky plague wards, Ring of Basilius is an item that is actually really good for pushing out a lane.Giving extra armor,damage and especially mana regeneration,your teammates will be happy to have you standing near them.

CORE

Mekansm,the portable fountain,is good on every support hero.Not much to say about this one,but one thing:The active ability of this item wins teamfights.Easy to build,and each component has a real use during its build-up time.



As the recipe for Force Staff has been changed,gives some nice bonuses to Venomancer.The push and the regeneration are good in every teamcomp,but Venomancer,due to his squishy nature,should have this almost every game.

CORE EXTENSION

Drum of Endurance,who doesn't love this item?The aura it provides compliments every team in:ganks,teamfights,pushes,roshan atemps and whatnot.The extra active ability goes overcharging this beauty into an item with many uses.And it also provides some decent stats for its price,and the components are again,useful to a point(damn that expensive recepe)



The scepter on Venomancer might be the best ultimate upgrade in the game.The extra bonus damage can assist in killing slipery heroes that escape teamfights with barely any HP left,provided they have another DoT source.Also gives some extra tankyness and mana.Well suited for any purpose you might have.



Want to go a bit more agressive after your core items are done?The answer is: Orchid Malevolence.One of the best items raported to cost-benefit, Orchid Malevolence gives our buddy here,some attack speed,damage and that ever useful silence+the damage increase on one target.

LUXURY

What? Eye of Skadi on Venomancer?Well its called a luxury,nonthenless.So basicly this item gives us some nice stats,raw HP and Mana,but it is expensive over belief.You won't be able to get this every game,but its worth the price.Now why do I say that?Well,your passive Poison Sting stacks with the slow given out by Eye of Skadi.



Ah,yes the everloved sheep stick.This item gives a tom of mana regeneration,and the ever loved, Hex.Not much to say here honestly,just use the hex on the most important target on their team.



Good stats+the necrowarriors.But wait,there's more,as Billy Mays would say,we also give out free invis detect and some insane mana burn.Not enough?We still give you an attack speed and movement speed aura+the true damage penalty on killing the necrowarriors.



What does this piece of armor give us?A ton of intelligence,and an important upgrade to our physical resistance. Shiva's Guard is an amasing item that compliments Venomancer really well.The active ability also allows you to make sure you catch everyone in your Poison Nova.

BOOTS OF CHOICE

This snazzy footwear gives our friend +60 movespeed,and some extra mana.The active ability is also useful for pushes and replenishing peoples mana.



Power Treads I believe,are the most common boots I find in the game.Gives some decent stats,the stat swapping,movement speed bonus and the attack speed.A really good pick on Venomancer.



Do you want to be this fast?Do you want to phase through everything you see?Do you want to chase down Weaver or Clinkz early game?Well Phase Boots is the answer to your questions.Gives some cheap movespeed,and attack damage.Oh and also the active part,the phasing,which allows you to chase down even blinks,yup,even Anti-Mage or Queen of Pain.

SITUATIONAL

I rarely see this item in-game,although it is really,really good.Gives +20 intelligence,+250 HP and an active slow.Basicly the Vanguard made for intelligence heroes.Its also good on Venomancer,to achieve an insane slow.



As even the in-game description says it:"The headpiece of corrupt magi".This item is plain evil on Venomancer,allowing him to increase the DoT damage from his ultimate received by everyone who gets hit.Also gives some armor which is useful for Venomancer.



Is there somebody who likes flanking your team like Clinkz?Well Heaven's Halberd is the key.Just stop the attacker by shutting down his main capability,auto attacking.Same goes for enemy carries.

Your role in a teamfight

Venomancers role in a teamfight is to:
-Use its ultimate on as much heroes as he can get it off on(preferably more than 2).
-Slow as much people as he can(again,more than 2).
-Scout the Roshan pit.This is importantas not many heroes have this capability.
-Give vision over possible escape routes for enemies,to get finished of by skill-shot nukes like Powershot.
-Keeping your allies alive.

Acomplishing almost every advice given here will make your team thank you for being that responsive to their main requests.They will also try to repay the favor.

Soloing Roshan

Venomancer is another hero that can solo roshan easily,by the way of his wards.
Note:I soloed roshan in a private lobby,for the sake of the guide.



So in the first picture as shown,I created a wall of wards in roshans pit.This will slow him down in exiting the pit to hit you.



After he breached through the wall,attack him and lure him to the top of that ramp.He will slowly start going back to his pit,but the plague wards will still hit him.



You have claimed the Aegis of the Immortal!

Friends and Foes

Friends of Venomancer are those that benefit from his spells.Examples of these would be:

• Juggernaut
• Windrunner
• Ursa
• Tiny
• Chaos Knight
  Basicly every semi-carry or hard carry out there,but the combo with Juggernaut is insane.

Enemies of Venomancer are those backstabbing people and the ones with insane burst,like:

• Nyx Assassin
• Weaver
• Bounty Hunter
• Clinkz
• Lion
• Lina
• Everyone that stops Venomancer from doing something in a fight,those that instantly burst him down.
  
  P.S:
  Venomancer as 2 lorewise enemies,or 2 enemies that he hats most,namely:
  • Viper
  • Necrolyte

Prolonged laning after the buff

As you have probably noticed, Venomancer got a buff that got him back to the state of playabilty in competitive games.One of the few buffs was the ability to poison your enemies with Poison Sting via plague wards.

This buff and especially that small thing gave birth to a new build that players use, maxing out Poison Sting and getting only 2 levels in the plague wards for proliferating the poison.(2nd level is for the ward's HP, else it gets 1 shotted)


Also, Poison Nova got buffed so it can hit invisible units too.That is especially good ganking, when people pop their invisiblity / Shadow Blade and then you just cast Poison Nova with no effect.This will ensure that you can actually kill an invisble enemy early on without needing detection ( not everytime, but it is a possibility)

End note

I hope the guide made you comprehend on how to play Venomancer effectively,and make you use him in games you never thought about using him.

Thank you for reading the guide.