Venomurder | A Guide to Venomancer

I don't really share same vision on Venomancer.
Here is why:

1. Blink Dagger - Useless most of the time. Why ? Cause Venom need very good timing. And you are not disable initiator. Your ult does no slow, os if your Q will not catch at least 3 heroes there is no initiation, mainly you send the opposing team back. So delay, 0 effect. In late game a bad rushed ult will only make them safeguard and a simple town portal just made your spell useless and you're probably dead also. So, Venom is much better second guy to enter the fight vs low HP heroes, or mid fight for team fights vs high HP heroes (or at least u keep ult unused yet). In any case, Force Staff is much better for placement and stats, and also can work much better as escape. Sometimes even shadowblade is better.

2. One solo point in wards is very dangerous, if not perfectly unwanted vs ranged heroes. You only give them more gold/xp. Even use the skill or completly drop it.

3. While you can play Venom as support, understand that he is agility char, not intellect. So with mana boots and Mek as your first 2 items you'll find yourself not being able to use more than 3 spells in a fight (doubt you get mek sooner than level 11 as support).

4. Counters:
QoP is **** vs Venom. Use safe while u have ultimate CD. Keep tango and get the damn stick also. If you have ult ready, let her blink. You need to survive 3 seconds to kill her, fighting face to face (she might die after u died tho).

Ogre Magi and Dragon Knight ? They are damn melle, up wards against them, forget about Q, just W and E. Let the fight wards if they want, they will never reach you. And you have damn vision advantage all time. Not to mention you'll never be in range of their spells (well, Ogre might be able land a W once in a while).

5. Be more creative.
Venomancer is an awesome mid. And you got 2 playstyles to develop. Pusher, and you'll get sooooo much gold without even getting tired to last hit (W+E). Ganker, by maxing Q and W fast and taking shadowblade. And most important thing for Venomancer, he is master bait, if not his perfect role. He is kind of a mix between Zeus and Techies. For example, in mid/late game, max W and E first, choose a spot, like the small tree packs behind tier 1 mid tower on dire side, plant wards on escape roots closing the circle, and bait them. Use ult on enemy team and with 8 wards up they are almost dead already.

ITS TIME FOR MATH *Dj snake catchy tune here*


A hero has 1000 health. 25% magic resist. with veil debuff its 6.25% (don't ask)

Venomancer full combo without aghs including 1 hit does 600 + 384 + 1360 = 2344 damage before reductions.

Without veil, the combo would deal 2344 - 2344*25/100 = 2344 - 586 = 1758 damage

With veil, the combo would deal 2344 - 2344*6.25/100 = 2344 - 146 = 2198 damage

So, there is a 586 - 146 = 440 damage increase which comes from the veil.

please note that veil and poison nova duration is the same.

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in short, veil is awesome.also armor and health

I hate to be blunt like this, but I entirely disagree. It is not essential, and I would even consider buying BKB or octorine before it depending on how I am doing in game. But thanks for the feedback!

i would put the veil of discord on core personally as it makes his ult and venomous gale immensely better

Alright! Thanks! I will add a skill build that focuses more on wards!

I think if you aren't maxing Plague Ward, you don't need to take the value point till 4, and get more immediate value from Venomous Gale at 3 instead. Because level 1 wards are kinda trashy.

I would also agree you need to have at least one max ward build, because it's the most common build. It's also his best laning build, so worth mentioning.

Formatting seems fine to me, as long as its readable with not too many bug chunks of text, it should be ok to read. This guide is quite easy on the eyes, i don't think many will complain about format.

Content wise, another big tick from me, makes sense and describes enough on how to play veno. However, like hamster said, you could add some alternate skill builds based on situation, as Venomancer can adapt his build to fit any lane well.

Item build is definitely good. Blink Dagger and Aghanim's Scepter are indeed absolute core items on Veno. And all the other items are good as well.

Yes, maxing Q and W on Veno instead of wards is actually legit. It gives you massive burst damage and lots of harass in lane. Although maxing sting at 8/9/10 is a bit weird, because by that time the laning stage has probably ended so the harass isn't that important anymore. It's still the max burst damage build, so sure.

Still, it would be a good idea to add more skill builds because Veno's build is very adaptable (literally every skill build can make sense situationally). The hero at least needs a build where you max wards for pushing.

Definitely a good first guide. Some people here may complain about the formatting but seriously content >> eye candy, and content is fine. +1 from me :)

EDIT : the guide wasn't formatted when I commented, that's why I said that. It changed xD