At the moment, I'm only level 30, but I figure I might as well shape a venomancer taking advatange of the new synergies.
(Note: I don't play on Battle net since I prefer to play on lan with my two sibblings. We simply swap the expansion disc around the comps.)
The goal is simple:
20 skill pts in Poison Dagger(PD). 20 skill pts in Poison Nova(PN).
15+ pts in dim vision, 1-5 pts in lower resist, one pt in all curses.
PD and PN synergy:
From the new 1.10 patch (as known so far), PD benefits 20% from each level in poison explosion and poison nova, so when you want even more damage in PD, you can boost poison explosion if you have spare skill pts. The PN also benefits from synergy, although not nearly as much as PD (unless you take the area damage into account).
A level 20 PD does more than 500 poison damage while a PN alone does around 450 poison damage. By using the 20% synergy bonus to PD and 8% bonus to PN, you effectively get a very concentrated dagger attack and a better PN to weaken the masses. In numbers, this is around 2000 poison damage and around 720 nova damage.
Dim Vision:
The skill plan also concentrates heavily on Dim Vision into account. This is hands-down the best crowd control I've used.
Against lots and lots of monters, dim vision would more likely serve me better than decrepify or amplify damage. My second act merc simply picks at them slowly while the enemy is blinded. If I see he's hurt, I run away and the enemy won't chase after me.
Even against bosses, it would neatly isolate the boss from its minions. Simply cast it and run away. The boss chases you and now you're free to use lower resist (with PD) or lifetap (w/ merc) or amplify damage (w/ merc).
The reason why I would put 15+ pts into dim vision is merely for convenience. I have spare pts anyway. In hell, the duration is cut by 3/4 so the extra pts will come in VERY handy for the duration. A lvl 20 dim vision would last 15 seconds, which is quite good enough.
Merc Choice:
At the moment, I'm using a prayer merc temporarily. However, I think a holy freeze merc or a barbarian might be the best choice. Although dim vision + rogue merc seems to work well, it's a pain to keep her alive from bosses. Lifetap or Amplify damage (w/ life leech) come in very handy against bosses.
I invest now mostly in dexterity and vitality. At 50 energy, it's more than enough mana for me, although I keep like 3 mana pots against bosses to keep the PD going.
Edit: I'd like to add that I'm also trying to get 5+ necromancer skills. The poison synergy will be even better and the curses become more useful such as lower resist and amplify damage/decrepify.
(Note: I don't play on Battle net since I prefer to play on lan with my two sibblings. We simply swap the expansion disc around the comps.)
The goal is simple:
20 skill pts in Poison Dagger(PD). 20 skill pts in Poison Nova(PN).
15+ pts in dim vision, 1-5 pts in lower resist, one pt in all curses.
PD and PN synergy:
From the new 1.10 patch (as known so far), PD benefits 20% from each level in poison explosion and poison nova, so when you want even more damage in PD, you can boost poison explosion if you have spare skill pts. The PN also benefits from synergy, although not nearly as much as PD (unless you take the area damage into account).
A level 20 PD does more than 500 poison damage while a PN alone does around 450 poison damage. By using the 20% synergy bonus to PD and 8% bonus to PN, you effectively get a very concentrated dagger attack and a better PN to weaken the masses. In numbers, this is around 2000 poison damage and around 720 nova damage.
Dim Vision:
The skill plan also concentrates heavily on Dim Vision into account. This is hands-down the best crowd control I've used.
Against lots and lots of monters, dim vision would more likely serve me better than decrepify or amplify damage. My second act merc simply picks at them slowly while the enemy is blinded. If I see he's hurt, I run away and the enemy won't chase after me.
Even against bosses, it would neatly isolate the boss from its minions. Simply cast it and run away. The boss chases you and now you're free to use lower resist (with PD) or lifetap (w/ merc) or amplify damage (w/ merc).
The reason why I would put 15+ pts into dim vision is merely for convenience. I have spare pts anyway. In hell, the duration is cut by 3/4 so the extra pts will come in VERY handy for the duration. A lvl 20 dim vision would last 15 seconds, which is quite good enough.
Merc Choice:
At the moment, I'm using a prayer merc temporarily. However, I think a holy freeze merc or a barbarian might be the best choice. Although dim vision + rogue merc seems to work well, it's a pain to keep her alive from bosses. Lifetap or Amplify damage (w/ life leech) come in very handy against bosses.
I invest now mostly in dexterity and vitality. At 50 energy, it's more than enough mana for me, although I keep like 3 mana pots against bosses to keep the PD going.
Edit: I'd like to add that I'm also trying to get 5+ necromancer skills. The poison synergy will be even better and the curses become more useful such as lower resist and amplify damage/decrepify.