Arcane Venomancer's Guide to Skills

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Magic Attack Affinity...

   First of all it is important to note that all of a venomancer's magic attacks have a Wood affinity. As such, you will be at an advantage against Earth mobs but at a disadvantage against Metal mobs. It would thus be in your best interest to compliment your skills with a pet that has either a Fire or Metal affinity.

Skill Type...

   As an arcane venomancer you will be primarily relying on your magic skill tree. However that is not to say that you shouldn't find yourself with skills from the fox form skill tree as well. Oftentimes, venomancers will have an eclectic collection of skills from both trees.

Magic Attack Skills

Venomous Scarab
	Learned At: Level 1 Maxed At: Level 45
Description: Throw a virulent parasite at the enemy. Deals wood damage.    While it has the lowest damage output, Venomous Scarab is a definite must for a venomancer. Being the magic skill with the shortest cooldown you'll often find yourself relying on it while waiting to reuse your other skills. Additionally, it's particularly useful for regenerating chi. It's recommended to max this skill as soon as possible.

Ironwood Scarab
	Learned At: Level 9 Maxed At: Level 54
Description: Throw a splinted bug at the enemy inflicting wood damage and reducing the target's physical defense.    Ironwood Scarab is another extremely important skill for a venomancer to have. This skill allows you to do considerable damage as well as reduce the target's physical defense. Taking into consideration that the majority of any pet's attacks will be physical, you will be helping to amplify your pet's damage output. It's also an important debuff to use when squadded with blademasters, barbarians, archers, assassins, and seekers as they will primarily be doing physical damage. Be wary though as spamming this skill too much will cause you to lose chi quickly. Max this skill as soon as possible.

Blazing Scarab
	Learned At: Level 19 Maxed At: Level 64
Description: Throw a flaming parasite, can cause damage by fire continually.    Blazing Scarab is a fairly mediocre skill. It does however shine when used against mobs that have a metal affinity (fire being their weakness). Avoid using this skill against mobs with a water affinity as your damage will be weakened. Leveling this skill will be a personal preference but it should not be a priority.

Frost Scarab
	Learned At: Level 29 Maxed At: Level 74
Description: Throw an icy bug at the enemy inflicting wood damage. Has a chance to freeze the target in place.    Since this skill requires one spark, venomancers oftentimes do not find it worthwhile to use. With Ironwood Scarab already consuming chi and Bramble Hood requiring two sparks in later levels, this skill can simply be replaced with higher level skills that do not consume chi. It's recommended that you leave this skill at level one and max it at later levels when you have spirit to spare.

Noxious Gas
	Learned At: Level 39 Maxed At: Level 75
Description: A large disease ridden toxic parasite attacks the target causing it and surrounding enemies to suffer wood damage over time.    Noxious Gas is one of two area of effects that venomancers have. As such, it too is a must-have skill. Noxious Gas is fairly unique because it inflicts instant damage as well as damage over time. You will find this skill much more helpful at higher levels when you're grinding with several mobs at once or when in a zhen party. This skill should be maxed but feel free to pace its leveling.

Lucky Scarab
	Learned At: Level 49 Maxed At: Level 85
Description: Sling-shot a sharp stone covered with viral plagues at the enemy. Has a chance to stun the target.    This is perhaps one of the highest damage attacks that a venomancer can use. At later levels it will also become one of your primary attacks. Due to its long cooldown you will not be able to use this skill as frequently as Venomous Scarab or Ironwood Scarab but it is still very worthwhile to attain. The stun provides an added bonus to the attack but even when maxed, this stun lasts for an extremely short time. You should therefore not rely on this casting effect too heavily. Max this skill as soon as possible.

Parasitic Nova
	Learned At: Level 59 Maxed At: Level 86
Description: Summon a toxic parasite array to attack the target and all enemies within a radius around it. Deals wood damage.    This skill is the second area of effect that venomancers have. It does a considerable amount of damage and can paralyze a target. You will most likely not find yourself using this skill often because it consumes two sparks but it works well for dealing damage against bosses. It is recommended that you get this skill but pace leveling it.

Buff Skills

Bramble Guard
	Learned At: Level 16 Maxed At: Level 59
Description: Cast a bramble shield of protection on a friendly target. Returns melee damage to attacker.    While this skill will not make you immune to a melee attack, it will help you deal extra damage to a mob that has escaped your pet's grasp. It is particularly important to have this support skill when squadding with close-range physical attack characters such as blademasters or barbarians. Max this skill as soon as possible.

Summer Sprint
	Learned At: Level 29 Maxed At: Level 89
Description: Greatly increases movement speed.    A basic skill that no venomancer should go without, this buff allows you to move at a much faster speed. It is particularly useful when needing a quick escape or when needing to navigating a large dungeon or city. This skill should be maxed as soon as possible.

Bramble Hood
	Learned At: Level 59 Maxed At: Level 59
Description: Create an array of magical brambles to return physical damage. Also reduces damage taken for a period.    Bramble Hood is perhaps one of the most important skills that a venomancer can have. Its ability to reduce both magical and physical damage taken makes it an irreplaceable asset in a variety of situations. This skill takes the most maintenance however as it requires the use of two sparks. Be sure to use skills such as Venomous Scarab, Lucky Scarab, and Noxious Gas to help you have these two sparks at all times. It is highly recommended that you attain this skill as soon as possible.

Wood Mastery
	Learned At: Level 29 Maxed At: Level 74
Description: Increase all Wood magic damage.    Wood Mastery is a passive skill that will help you improve the damage that you deal. As such, this skill should be maxed as soon as possible.

Feral Concentration
	Learned At: Level 79 Maxed At: Level 79
Description: Stuns the caster, but also grants invulnerability for a short time.    Along with Bramble Hood, this skill is important to have for dire situations. It will allow you to take overwhelming damage for a short period of time. This skill is invaluable for those odd times that you need to tank physical damage. Acquire this skill as soon as possible.

Debuff Skills

Purge
	Learned At: Level 13 Maxed At: Level 58
Description: Remove all positive enhancements (buffs) on the target enemy.    Though this skill is better suited for PVP, it finds its uses in PVE gameplay as well. This skill is particularly useful against bosses (e.g. Oggo – The Quillhog King) as well as mobs that cast buffs, such as Bramble Guard. Your pets and melee damage squad members will greatly thank-you for this. Leveling this skill will only help reduce its cool down so it is a personal preference as to whether you choose to level it passed the first level.

Amplify Damage
	Learned At: Level 23 Maxed At: Level 68
Description: Increases damage done to target.    Another major role that venomancers have is to use this skill in instances where bosses have a damage reduction (e.g. Twilight Temple). This will greatly improve the rate at which your squad is able to dispose of such bosses. It's recommended to max this skill however you can pace its leveling as you will primarily need it at higher levels.

Myriad Rainbow
	Learned At: Level 79 Maxed At: Level 79
Description: Launch a scarab at a distant single target, causing a random curse effect.    You will most likely not find yourself using this skill often but it becomes helpful when used against a boss. Please note that a curse effect is not guaranteed upon using this skill. It is recommended that you acquire this skill only if you have the spirit to do so and have maxed all other necessary skills. Please note that there are two versions of this skill. One is only castable in humanoid form while the second one is only castable in fox form. The humanoid version has a much higher range (25m) compared to the fox form version (12m). The only catch is that the fox form version has a medium sized AoE targeting multiple mobs and the humanoid version only affects one target per cast. It is recommended that you get the fox-form version (even if you're an arcane venomancer) for its AoE. Since this is not a practical skill in regular grinding, however the AoE is extremely useful in Rebirth Gamma and Rebirth Delta.

Restorative Skills

Metabolic Boost
	Learned At: Level 26 Maxed At: Level 71
Description: Recovers the caster's health.    This skill lends itself well to extreme situations. Be wary of its long cooldown though, you will not be able to use it frequently. Your timing of the use of this skill will be crucial. Regardless, it should be maxed as soon as possible.

Nature's Grace
	Learned At: Level 36 Maxed At: Level 72
Description: Recovers some of the caster's mana.    While you are blessed with a considerable amount of mana as an arcane venomancer, you will oftentimes find yourself running out of it. As such, this skill is crucial for ensuring that you have the mana that you need to cast your skills. It should be maxed as soon as possible.

Lending Hand
	Learned At: Level 46 Maxed At: Level 46
Description: Exchange vigor with target ally.    This is another extremely important support skill that allows you to pass a spark to another player. Particularly in instances, Lending Hand enables barbarians to continue to spam their chi-consuming skills in order to successfully hold a boss's aggression. This skill should be acquired as soon as possible.

Soul Transfusion
	Learned At: Level 29 Maxed At: Level 29
Description: Instantly exchange hit points and mana point values.    Should you pull aggression onto yourself, Soul Transfusion allows you to swap your hit point and mana values. If your mana is greater than your hit points at the time that you cast this skill, it will act as a heal. Inversely, if you find that you've used up your mana you can use this skill to regain a full bar by switching it with your untouched health bar. Follow up with a Metabolic Boost to reduce your use of health and mana potions. Much like Metabolic Boost and Nature's Grace though, the cooldown will not allow you to use Soul Transfusion frequently. This skill should be acquired as soon as possible. Note: This skill will use up a spark, or if you don't have a spark it will consume all of your chi.

Pet Skills

Heal Pet
	Learned At: Level 3 Maxed At: Level 93
Description: Heal your pet.    This skill is irreplaceable for venomancers that wish to tank bosses with their pets. The more you level this skill, the greater your ability to restore your pet's hit points during battle. This skill must be maxed as soon as possible.

Revive Pet
	Learned At: Level 3 Maxed At: Level 93
Description: Revive your dead pet.    Every arcane venomancer must have this skill as it will be needed in situations where your pet is overwhelmed by a boss or mob. Using this skill takes a significant amount of mana so it is recommended that you pace leveling it to reduce the amount of mana required.

Tame Pet
Tame Pet	Learned At: Level 7 Maxed At: Level 97
Description: Attempt to tame targeted beast.    Leveling this skill is a personal preference. Should you wish to tame rare pets, it's suggested that you level this skill in order to improve your success rate. Otherwise, it would be wise to leave this skill at level one.

Miscellaneous Skills

Fox Form
	Learned At: Level 9 Maxed At: Level 59
Description: Transform into a fox. Physical defense and accuracy increases and maximum MP falls. Allows fox form skills to be used.    This skill becomes crucial when tanking any bosses that have physical area of effects (e.g. Lord of Percussion – Twilight Temple). Being an arcane build one of your major weaknesses is your lack of physical defense. Using Fox Form allows you to reduce the damage that you take from physical attacks which greatly improves your survivability. It also gives you access to skills such as Amplify Damage and Purge which can only be cast in Fox Form. This skill should be maxed but feel free to pace leveling it.