Poison Javelin

Magically enhances your javelin to leave a trail of poison clouds.

Poison Javelin is a level 6 Amazon throw (Javelin and Spear tree, no prerequisite; it unlocks Lightning Bolt). The thrown javelin poisons what it hits and leaves a line of poison clouds behind it that poison whatever walks through. The numbers that decide it are the poison, 2,659–2,946 over 46 seconds at level 20, and the single synergy, Plague Javelin at 12% a hard point.

The numbers

• Poison Damage is a rate times a length. The minimum rate is EMin 32 and grows by the EMinLev brackets: +16 a level to level 8, +32 to 16, +48 to 22, +64 to 28, +96 past that; the maximum rate is EMax 48 with +16, +36, +52, +68 and +100 in the same brackets. The tooltip multiplies each rate by the length in frames and divides by 256, so the total poison is 25–37 at level 1, 150–175 at 5, 528–589 at 10, 1,293–1,448 at 15, 2,659–2,946 at 20, 8,146–8,817 at 30. The Basin's page writes the same brackets; its warning that the old game's minimum overtook the maximum past level 36 no longer applies, since the current row's fifth maximum bracket is 100, not the 84 it records for the 1.10–1.13 game.
• Poison Length is ELen 200 frames plus 50 a level in each ELevLen bracket, 8 seconds plus 2 a level: 16 seconds at level 5, 26 at 10, 46 at 20, 66 at 30.
• Mana is 4 at level 1 (mana 16 with manashift 6) and rises 0.25 a level (lvlmana 1): 8.75 at level 20.
• The casting delay is a constant 0.6 seconds (localdelay 15 frames ÷ 25) between throws.
• Each throw spends one javelin (decquant 1), and the row allows javelins only (itypea1 jave); the javelin itself carries 100% of weapon damage (SrcDam 128).

The damage and length lines read lvl; the synergy reads blvl.

How it works

The throw launches the poisonjav missile. The Basin's page describes it as a medium-range single-target attack that applies its poison with the javelin and with the clouds released in its wake, and shows that the poison javelin flies a shorter way than a plain javelin, about 18 yards, so the page's advice is to throw it across the path of advancing enemies and let them walk through the clouds. The poison is skill damage under Dealing Elemental Damage and Poison Damage: it ticks against the target's Poison Resist for the length above, and Poison Skill Damage on items raises it; the Basin's page says the skill level and the +% poison skill damage are both applied when the javelin is thrown, to the javelin and to the clouds it releases.

By the Basin's page, poison from items is added to the javelin's rate, the lengths are added and then divided by the number of sources, and the summed rate runs for that averaged length, rounded down to the frame. With Venom cast, Venom's rate is added and its length is added to the javelin's, the items' lengths being ignored.

Synergies and +skills

One synergy line: Plague Javelin, +12% poison damage per level (Param8 12, read as hard points in EDmgSymPerCalc). Poison Javelin's hard points feed Plague Javelin in turn. +skills from items raise the rates and the length, not the synergy term.

Against players

A player's hit on another player is cut to 17% of its value (difficultylevels.txt PlayerDamagePercentVSPlayer) before anything else, see Player versus Player; the poison rate is cut the same way and then meets the other player's poison resistance and any Poison Length Reduced. The Basin's page says nothing more about this skill against players.

Build notes

• Level 20: 2,659–2,946 poison over 46 seconds (58–64 a second), 8.75 mana, one javelin and 0.6 seconds a throw.
• The length grows 2 seconds a level forever, so the total keeps climbing past 20 while the per-second rate climbs more slowly; +skills from items are worth a full level each.
• Plague Javelin's 12% a hard point is the only multiplier, and it reads hard points: the two skills feed each other, so points split between them pay twice.
• One javelin a throw and a 0.6-second delay between throws cap the pace whatever the attack speed; a stack of javelins is the ammunition.