Rishab The Venomancer - Caster Druid

Howdy folks,
I am currently trying out this build just for the heck of it. He is quite some "squishy" fun I have to admit.
But I have been wondering about the poison damage display in the character screen and if it is actually trustworthy.
As of now I am using the TU6 Dubhdroiacht but i was thinking about switching to the Lojban RW staff.
Just comparing poison damage, the TU wins by almost double. (4927-11k MoTW) vs 2144-4990 of the RW staff.
Actually, the arachnomancy spell on the RW does more damage than my own Plague Avatar hehe
His life is also almost 1k more with TU6 than with the RW. I have been trying to craft a decent one but thats something for a very very rainy day.
Is there any reason to use the RW one (resists maybe) or am I missing something ?

Nicolas72 wrote:or am I missing something ?

The Character Screen is referred to as the "LCS" (Lying Character Screen) for a reason.

The TU Gnarled Staff adds Poison duration, while the RW adds Poison damage.

Duration would be nice to hit something and then run away and hope it dies, while pure spell damage might be better if you're spamming avatars over and over.

Poison damage in Diablo2 is tricky. You can read more about it HERE!

itsmars wrote:
Nicolas72 wrote:or am I missing something ?

The Character Screen is referred to as the "LCS" (Lying Character Screen) for a reason.

The TU Gnarled Staff adds Poison duration, while the RW adds Poison damage.

Duration would be nice to hit something and then run away and hope it dies, while pure spell damage might be better if you're spamming avatars over and over.

Poison damage in Diablo2 is tricky. You can read more about it HERE!

Thanks for the link...seems like i was indeed "missing" something.
For now I will stick to the TU for the added life alone. I will have to do some tests to see which one packs the higher punch. Since I am still in Terror, they all kind of drop like flies so it is difficult to judge.
Once in Destruction I should have a fairly good idea whats what.

Thanks for the guide. I've followed it since I started playing Median last friday and am loving this build. I do have one question though, because I'm not quite sure where to go with MOs now. I've hit my fhr and fcr breakpoints and am roughly in phase 4, but am not quite ready to start rolling MOs into MF. What would you recommend for MOs?

I've considered minion damage, but the damage seems somewhat insignificant compared to the power I can get from increasing psn dmg. Would increased minion health or resistances be beneficial or should I focus on something else entirely?

It's worth noting that I'm still sorting getting melted. I've got one last part of brc to do tonight which should help significantly, but I'm just not sure what the best "bang for your buck" MO would be to help either damage output or survivability.

Nullifiy wrote:Thanks for the guide. I've followed it since I started playing Median last friday and am loving this build. I do have one question though, because I'm not quite sure where to go with MOs now. I've hit my fhr and fcr breakpoints and am roughly in phase 4, but am not quite ready to start rolling MOs into MF. What would you recommend for MOs?

I've considered minion damage, but the damage seems somewhat insignificant compared to the power I can get from increasing psn dmg. Would increased minion health or resistances be beneficial or should I focus on something else entirely?

It's worth noting that I'm still sorting getting melted. I've got one last part of brc to do tonight which should help significantly, but I'm just not sure what the best "bang for your buck" MO would be to help either damage output or survivability.

Welcome to Median. Glad you're enjoying the guide and the build

Personally, I MOd using %MF. But since you think it's too early, you should most like go for %ED on all your armor units. In addition, % reanimate is not bad as it provides you with that extra flesh in areas of high monster density such as TA or cows. Remember that crafted items gives twice the MO effects and 200% ED is the highest an armor can get so don't waste any more than that. If you have good def and want to go for something else, MO with psn or fire dmg.

Any of the above works. Just see what areas you feel weak in and fill MO to compensate for that. If you're happy with your char's performance, you could always do more dmg. That's how I basically think about it

Updated some Uber guides and

The Tesseract

The Tesseract
Amulet
Required Level: 100
Item Level: 105
+2 to All Skills
25% Cast Speed
+(1 to 30)% to Fire Spell Damage
-(1 to 20)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+(1 to 30)% to Lightning Spell Damage
-(1 to 20)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(1 to 30)% to Cold Spell Damage
-(1 to 20)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(1 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(1 to 20)% to Enemy Poison Resistance

is imo now the main amu for the build when going up against late game ubers!

Also added Buff gear suggestions.

At first I used Scourge for my staff, and a bit of crafted gear. Upon switching a few things up, I switched to a different staff(forgot name) that adds +44% mark elemental damage, as well as 25% damage reduction & various other mods, forgot the name of the staff. Overall I do SLIGHTLY less damage, but more than make up for it in survivability.

Also, Been using

Angel's Wrath

Angel's Wrath
Chain Boots (Sacred)
Defense: (1625 - 2217) to (1762 - 2403)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 575
Item Level: 120
+(0 to 2) to Paladin Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Druid Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Amazon Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Assassin Skill Levels
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(120 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Life +5%
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (4)

so now i'm running 35% reduction, and i'm at about 56 to all my skill levels. Plague hitting for roughly 16k top end, not as much -% poison, but quite a bit of -% fire, rain of fire hitting for about 7k? Next upgrade i'm looking for is

Scales of the Drake

Scales of the Drake
Ring Mail (Sacred)
Defense: (5239 - 5921) to (5764 - 6514)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 550
Item Level: 120
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
30% Cast Speed
+(25 to 38)% to Poison Spell Damage
-35% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(14 to 18) to Lorenado
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+300 to Life
Maximum Poison Resist +5%
Physical Resist (5 to 10)%
Socketed (6)

.

All in all, i'm at about 140k defense, 11k+ HP, minions sitting at about 30k HP, and 1700-1800 dmg.

path0s wrote:At first I used Scourge for my staff, and a bit of crafted gear. Upon switching a few things up, I switched to a different staff(forgot name) that adds +44% mark elemental damage, as well as 25% damage reduction & various other mods, forgot the name of the staff. Overall I do SLIGHTLY less damage, but more than make up for it in survivability.

Also, Been using
Angel's Wrath
Angel's Wrath
Chain Boots (Sacred)
Defense: (1625 - 2217) to (1762 - 2403)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 575
Item Level: 120
+(0 to 2) to Paladin Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Druid Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Amazon Skill Levels
+(0 to 2) to Assassin Skill Levels
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(120 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Life +5%
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (4)
so now i'm running 35% reduction, and i'm at about 56 to all my skill levels. Plague hitting for roughly 16k top end, not as much -% poison, but quite a bit of -% fire, rain of fire hitting for about 7k? Next upgrade i'm looking for is
Scales of the Drake
Scales of the Drake
Ring Mail (Sacred)
Defense: (5239 - 5921) to (5764 - 6514)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 550
Item Level: 120
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
30% Cast Speed
+(25 to 38)% to Poison Spell Damage
-35% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(14 to 18) to Lorenado
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+300 to Life
Maximum Poison Resist +5%
Physical Resist (5 to 10)%
Socketed (6)
.

All in all, i'm at about 140k defense, 11k+ HP, minions sitting at about 30k HP, and 1700-1800 dmg.

Was the staff

Azgar's Nemeton

by any chance?

This staff would work rly well as a pre-buff together with

Robe of Leaves

Robe of Leaves
Scale Mail (4)
Defense: (127 - 147) to (254 - 293)
Required Level: 4
Required Strength: 27 to 28
Item Level: 10
+5% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(24 to 43)% Enhanced Defense
+10 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(2 to 3)%
Poison Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(3 to 5)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (452 - 505) to (816 - 911)
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 52 to 54
Item Level: 31
+10% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(64 to 83)% Enhanced Defense
+20 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(3 to 4)%
Poison Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(6 to 10)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1166 - 1275) to (2031 - 2221)
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 171 to 179
Item Level: 51
+15% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(104 to 123)% Enhanced Defense
+35 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(4 to 5)%
Poison Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (1738 - 1885) to (3030 - 3287)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 322 to 338
Item Level: 77
+20% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(124 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+50 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(5 to 6)%
Poison Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(16 to 20)%
Socketed (6)

and

Clawfeet

. %DR is rly good but the idea behind casters in general and this one in particular is that you should not get hit to begin with. Or at least, you should get hit as little as possible and let your minions tank the rest for you.

I have been experimenting a lot lately and from my experience, - enemy res means nothing when talking about regular monsters such as Amazons in TA. Regular monsters will just die regardless. - res is however a MUST HAVE when you go up against ubers such as Athulua. Reason being is that you want to stay off the screen, bait with your summons and hit her with a few spells while running around. - res here will speed up the process by a lot!

Scales of the Drake is a good next step however I only use this armor when I am up against non-psn immune ubers (such as Athulua). Otherwise I use a crafted %MF armor with 2sk and lots of other goodies.

yea, I'm having a issue finding a crafted 2sk armor as well as % all. And yes, i've been going back and forth with azgar's. I may switch to scourge again, or possibly a crafted.

At this point it's become more of a point to buff my armor more than anything else to take the possible hits. I wish fiends were slightly more tanky. They tend to die pretty fast.

The top end of my plague with scourge is about 17k, and I sit around 115k armor, 11k hp.