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UniversalUniversal · Ranged

Venomancer

Deals damage over time with venomous attacks

SupportNukerDisablerPusherInitiatorSimple to play
Venomancer portrait

Win rate

48.6%

C across all ranks

Pick rate

7.1%

of public matches

Public picks

238.7K

in the sample

Pro scene

1

0 bans · 100% win rate

Win rate by rank

  • Herald1Herald48.9%
  • Guardian2Guardian49.2%
  • Crusader3Crusader48.9%
  • Archon4Archon48.5%
  • Legend5Legend48.4%
  • Ancient6Ancient48.5%
  • Divine+7Divine+48.1%

Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 6.3K · Guardian 21.2K · Crusader 39.7K · Archon 60.3K · Legend 63K · Ancient 31.8K · Divine+ 16.5K.

Last 6 days

48.7%

Popular item build

Starting items

Bought before the horn

  1. 1

    Iron Branch

    55g
  2. 2

    Tango

    90g
  3. 3

    Blood Grenade

    50g
  4. 4

    Observer and Sentry Wards

    50g
  5. 5

    Faerie Fire

    65g
  6. 6

    Sentry Ward

    50g

Laning

The first minutes

  1. 1

    Boots of Speed

    500g
  2. 2

    Urn of Shadows

    825g
  3. 3

    Arcane Boots

    55%1,500g

Mid game

Core items

  1. 1

    Spirit Vessel

    55%2,725g
  2. 2

    Force Staff

    53%2,200g
  3. 3

    Glimmer Cape

    54%2,150g
  4. 4

    Solar Crest

    2,575g
  5. 5

    Guardian Greaves

    4,450g

Late game

The full build

  1. 1

    Force Staff

    53%2,200g
  2. 2

    Aghanim's Scepter

    4,200g
  3. 3

    Glimmer Cape

    54%2,150g
  4. 4

    Blink Dagger

    2,250g
  5. 5

    Lotus Orb

    3,850g
  6. 6

    Guardian Greaves

    4,450g

Most-bought items for Venomancer in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,144 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Venomancer bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Venomancer’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.

Best win rate by purchase time

Bought 20–30 min

  1. Mekansm

    60 games

    62%
  2. Force Staff

    91 games

    56%
  3. Aghanim's Shard

    91 games

    54%

Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.

What these items do

  • Iron Branch

    55

    • +1 All Attributes

    Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.

  • Tango

    90

    Use: Devour: Consumes a target tree to gain 7 health regeneration for 16 seconds. Consuming an Ironwood Tree doubles the heal duration. Comes with 3 charges.

  • Blood Grenade

    50

    • +50 Health

    Use: Throw Grenade: Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5…

    Full description

    10s

    Use: Throw Grenade. Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5 seconds. Radius 300.

  • Observer and Sentry Wards

    50

    Use: Plant: Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.

    Full description

    Use: Plant. Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.

    • Hold Control to give one ward to an allied hero.
  • Faerie Fire

    65

    • +2 Damage

    Use: Imbue: Instantly restores 85 health.

    Full description

    5s

    Use: Imbue. Instantly restores 85 health.

  • Sentry Ward

    50

    Use: Plant: Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a…

    Full description

    1s

    Use: Plant. Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a 1050 radius. Lasts 7 minutes. Does not grant ground vision. Hold Control to give one Sentry Ward to an allied hero.

  • Boots of Speed

    500

    • +45 Move Speed

    Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Urn of Shadows

    825

    • +1 Mana Regen
    • +2 All Attributes
    • +2 Armor

    Active: Soul Release: Provides 30 health regeneration when cast on allies, and deals 25 damage per second when cast on enemies. Lasts 8 seconds.

    Full description

    10s

    Active: Soul Release. Provides 30 health regeneration when cast on allies, and deals 25 damage per second when cast on enemies. Lasts 8 seconds. Gains charges every time an enemy hero dies within 1500 units.

    • Empty urns gain 2 charges.
    • If the allied unit is attacked by an enemy hero or Roshan, the effect is lost.
    • Does not trigger spell block or spell reflect.
  • Arcane Boots

    1,500

    • +45 Move Speed
    • +0.25 Mana Regen
    • +125 Mana

    Active: Replenish: Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200

    Win rate when bought55.3% · 347 games

    • ≤ 12 min61%158
    • 12–15 min52%107
    • 15–20 min53%53
    • 20–30 min–29
    Full description

    55s

    Active: Replenish. Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200

    Passive: Basilius Aura. Grants 1 mana regeneration to allies. Radius: 1200 Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

    • Does not work on Meepo clones.
  • Spirit Vessel

    2,725

    • +1.75 Mana Regen
    • +10 All Attributes
    • +2 Armor

    Active: Soul Release: When used against enemies, it reduces health by 4% of current health per second, and reduces Health Restoration by 70%. Deals 25 damage per second.

    Win rate when bought54.7% · 234 games

    • ≤ 12 min–23
    • 12–15 min56%32
    • 15–20 min61%103
    • 20–30 min47%76
    Full description

    10s

    Active: Soul Release. When used against enemies, it reduces health by 4% of current health per second, and reduces Health Restoration by 70%. Deals 25 damage per second. When used on allies, it provides 40 health regeneration per second. Lasts 8 seconds. Gains charges every time an enemy hero dies within 1500 units or the user dies.

    • Empty vessels gain 2 charges.
    • Only the closest Spirit Vessel to the dying hero will gain a charge.
    • If the allied unit is attacked by an enemy hero or Roshan, the effect is lost.
    • Does not trigger spell block or spell reflect.
  • Force Staff

    2,200

    • +10 Intelligence
    • +175 Health

    Active: Force: Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.

    Win rate when bought53.2% · 126 games

    • ≤ 12 min–6
    • 12–15 min–8
    • 15–20 min–21
    • 20–30 min56%91
    Full description

    19s150

    Active: Force. Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.

    • Self-cast will cause you to use Force on yourself.
    • Force Staff doesn't interrupt the target's actions.
    • Will not work on a unit inside Chronosphere, Duel, or Black Hole.
    • Force Staff has 850 cast range when cast on enemies.
  • Glimmer Cape

    2,150

    Active: Glimmer: After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit…

    Win rate when bought54.0% · 100 games

    • ≤ 12 min–2
    • 12–15 min–2
    • 15–20 min–20
    • 20–30 min53%76
    Full description

    15s125

    Active: Glimmer. After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit for 5 seconds. Can be cast while channeling.

  • Solar Crest

    2,575

    • +7 Armor
    • +25 Move Speed
    • +200 Mana
    • +200 Health

    Active: Shine: When cast on an ally, grants them 5 armor, 60 attack speed, 15% movement speed and a 350 physical damage barrier.

    Full description

    16s100

    Active: Shine. When cast on an ally, grants them 5 armor, 60 attack speed, 15% movement speed and a 350 physical damage barrier. Does not grant bonus armor, movement or attack speed if used on self. Duration: 7

    • Shares cooldown with Pavise.
  • Guardian Greaves

    4,450

    • +50 Move Speed
    • +5 Armor
    • +150 Mana
    • +1 Mana Regen

    Active: Mend: Restores 325 health and 200 mana to nearby allies, and removes most negative effects from the caster. Radius: 1200 Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    Full description

    45s

    Active: Mend. Restores 325 health and 200 mana to nearby allies, and removes most negative effects from the caster. Radius: 1200 Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    Passive: Guardian Aura. Grants 2.5 health regeneration and 1.5 mana regeneration to allied units. If the wearer's health falls below 25%, their health regeneration is increased to 14.5. Radius: 1200 Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

    • Mend does not affect units that have been affected by Mend or Mekansm Restore within Guardian Greaves' cooldown.
  • Aghanim's Scepter

    4,200

    • +10 All Attributes
    • +175 Health
    • +175 Mana

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.

  • Blink Dagger

    2,250

    Active: Blink: Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    Full description

    15s

    Active: Blink. Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    • Self-casting will cause you to teleport in the direction of your team's fountain.
  • Lotus Orb

    3,850

    • +10 Armor
    • +6.5 Health Regen
    • +4 Mana Regen
    • +250 Mana

    Active: Echo Shell: Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster.

    Full description

    15s175

    Active: Echo Shell. Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster. The shielded unit will still take damage from the spell. Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • Targeted abilities from neutral items do not trigger Echo Shell.

Abilities

Venomous Gale

21 / 20 / 19 / 18s95 / 105 / 115 / 125

Launches a ball of venom in a line, poisoning enemy units so that they take both initial damage and damage over time, as well as suffering slowed movement. Venomous Gale deals damage every 3 seconds over its duration.

DURATION
15
INITIAL DAMAGE
25 / 50 / 75 / 100
DAMAGE PER TICK
10 / 40 / 70 / 100
SLOW
-35 / -40 / -45 / -50%
PROJECTILE SPEED
1200
  • Venomous Gale can be lethal.
  • Duration damage is dealt every 3 seconds.
  • Slow starts at -35 / -40 / -45 / -50%, and decreases as time passes.

Aghanim’s ShardIncreases cast range and projectile speed by 25%. When Venomous Gale impacts enemy heroes, 2 Plague Wards are created around them.

Snakebite

20 / 18 / 16 / 14s70 / 80 / 90 / 100

Venomancer summons a Spawn of Aktok to sink its fangs into a target, dealing magic damage and applying a toxin that does damage every second. When the target attacks while infected, they take the initial damage again.

INITIAL DAMAGE
40 / 70 / 100 / 130
DAMAGE PER SECOND
10 / 20 / 30 / 40
DURATION
6

Plague Ward

5s24 / 26 / 28 / 30

Summons a plague ward to attack enemy units and structures. The ward is immune to magic. Wards gain the Poison Sting level from Venomancer, dealing 50% of the full damage.

DURATION
40
WARD DAMAGE
16 / 24 / 32 / 40
WARD HP
150 / 250 / 350 / 450

Poison Sting

Innate

Venomancer's attacks slow enemies and deal damage over time.

DURATION
4.5
DAMAGE PER SECOND
9
MOVEMENT SLOW
8%
  • Poison Sting damage can be lethal.
  • Damage from Poison Sting does not interrupt healing from items, nor does it activate the cooldown on Blink Dagger.

Noxious Plague

Ultimate100 / 90 / 80s200 / 250 / 300

Infects an enemy with a plague that does damage on application then slows the target and deals damage over time based on their maximum health. When the debuff ends for any reason, all debuffs from Venomancer on the initial target and the plague are spread to nearby targets. Additional spreads beyond the first do not deal impact damage.

DURATION
4
INITIAL DAMAGE
150 / 200 / 250
MAX HEALTH DAMAGE
2 / 3 / 4%
SLOW
50%
SPREAD RADIUS
700
SPREAD COUNT
2
MAGIC RESIST REDUCTION
0%
PROJECTILE SPEED
1200
  • Spread debuffs have fixed duration and are not modified by status resistance or debuff amplification.

Aghanim’s ScepterInfected units have decreased magic resistance. Additional spreads from hero targets deal full impact damage.

Talents

Snakebite Undispellable

25

2.5x Plague Ward HP/Damage

+100 Snakebite Initial Damage

20

-2s Plague Ward Cooldown

+75 Noxious Plague Spread Radius

15

+10% Poison Sting Slow

-5s Venomous Gale CD

10

15% Poison Sting Health Regen Reduction

Base stats

Attributes

  • StrengthStrength19+2.1/lvl
  • AgilityAgility25+2.8/lvl
  • IntelligenceIntelligence19+1.9/lvl

Universal heroes get bonus damage from every attribute.

At level 1

Damage
18–21
Attack time
1.7s
Attack range
450
Move speed
280
Armor
4.2
Magic resistance
25%
Health
538 (+2.2/s)
Mana
303 (+1/s)
Vision day / night
1800 / 800

Recent changes

latest 12 patches
  1. 7.41e
    • Snakebite:Initial Damage increased from 40/60/80/100 to 40/70/100/130
  2. 7.41d
    • Intelligence gain increased from 1.8 to 1.9
    • Damage gain per level increased from 3.0 to 3.1
  3. 7.41c
    • Poison Sting:Movement Slow decreased from 10% to 8%
    • Snakebite:Damage per second rescaled from 20/25/30/35 to 10/20/30/40
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent Poison Sting Slow increased from +7% to +10%
    • Level 20 Talent +40% Snakebite Damage replaced with +100 Snakebite Initial Damage
  4. 7.41
    • Removed Septic Shock innate ability
    • Poison Sting:Now an innate ability
    • Imbues Venomancer's attack with poison, which deals damage per second equal to 9 + 1 per level and slows movement by 10%. Duration: 4.5s + 0.5s per level
    • Venomous Gale:Aghanim's Shard upgrade reworked
    • Increases cast range and projectile speed by 25%. Creates 2 Plague Wards around every enemy hero hit
    • Snakebite:New Basic Ability
    • Venomancer summons a Spawn of Aktok to sink its fangs into an enemy, dealing 40/60/80/100 magic damage and applying a deadly toxin which does 20/25/30/35 magical damage per second for 6 seconds. When the target attacks, they take the initial magic damage again. Cast Range: 600. Mana Cost: 70/80/90/100. Cooldown: 20/18/16/14s
    • Noxious Plague:Ability reworked
    • No longer has AoE effect, now affects only the host
    • Now when the plague spreads, it also carries all debuffs placed by Venomancer
    • Doesn't stack. Applying plague to an already plague-infected unit will deal projectile damage again, but won't affect the remaining debuff duration. Duration of carried debuffs is fixed and cannot be altered with Status Resistance or Debuff Amplification
    • Mana Cost decreased from 200/300/400 to 200/250/300
    • Duration decreased from 5s to 4s
    • Initial Damage decreased from 200/300/400 to 150/200/250
    • Initial Damage is now non-lethal
    • Now spreads a second time, but all spreads after the first one deal no initial damage
    • Spread Radius decreased from 800 to 700
    • Max HP as damage decreased from 3/4/5% to 2/3/4%
    • Now upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter
    • Decreases cooldown by 35s. Reduces Magic Resistance of affected units by 20% and allows additional spreads to deal initial damage
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent Poison Sting Slow increased from +5% to +7%
    • Level 15 Talent -1s Plague Ward Cooldown replaced with +75 Noxious Plague Spread Radius
    • Level 20 Talent +50 Base Damage replaced with -2s Plague Ward Cooldown
    • Level 20 Talent +1% Noxious Plague Max HP Damage replaced with +40% Snakebite Damage (applies to both initial damage and damage per second)
    • Level 25 Talent Noxious Plague Aura reduces 200 Attack Speed replaced with Snakebite Undispellable
  5. 7.40
    • Septic Shock: Base Damage per Debuff decreased from 10% to 8%
  6. 7.39e
    • Base agility increased from 24 to 25
    • Damage at level 1 increased by 1 (from 45–48 to 46–49)
    • Plague Ward:Ward damage increased from 14/22/30/38 to 16/24/32/40

Lore

In the Acid Jungles of Jidi Isle, poison runs in the veins and bubbles in the guts of every creature that scuttles, climbs or swoops between fluorescent vines dripping with caustic sap. Yet even in this toxic menagerie, Venomancer is acknowledged as the most venomous. Ages ago, an Herbalist named Lesale crossed the Bay of Fradj by coracle, searching for potent essences that might be extracted from bark and root, and found instead a nightmare transformation. Two leagues into Jidi's jungle, Lesale encountered a reptile camouflaged as an epiphyte, which stung him as he mistakenly plucked it. In desperation, he used his partial knowledge of the jungle's herbal bounty, mixing the venom of the (swiftly throttled) reptile with the nectar of an armored orchid, to compound an antidote. In the moments before a black paralysis claimed him completely, he injected himself by orchid-thorn, and instantly fell into a coma. Seventeen years later, something stirred in the spot where he had fallen, throwing off the years' accumulation of humus: Venomancer. Lesale the Herbalist no longer--but Lesale the Deathbringer. His mind was all but erased, and his flesh had been consumed and replaced by a new type of matter--one fusing the venom of the reptile with the poisonous integument of the orchid. Jidi's Acid Jungles knew a new master, one before whom even the most vicious predators soon learned to bow or burrow for their lives. The lurid isle proved too confining, and some human hunger deep in the heart of the Venomancer drove Lesale out in search of new poisons--and new deaths to bring.

Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.