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Discover how to create the best Poison build in Avowed, with recommendations for skills, attributes, weapons, companions and leveling progression!
Avowed is a first-person RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, the game takes place in the Living Lands, where you are uncovering a secret mystery. The poison build in Avowed is a unique setup that focuses on dealing damage over time by applying poison accumulation to enemies through weapons, spells, and abilities. Every hit with a poison-inflicting weapon or spell increases the poison meter on an enemy.
The poison acts once the meter is full, dealing continuous damage over time. One-Haned Mace, Spar, and Greatsword are your life saviors for this build, allowing you to deal DoT. Allocating points in correct attributes is crucial for the Sniper build as your gameplay revolves around them. Unlock the poison-based skills from the skill trees, maximizing your capability in combat. This build is perfect for players who love sustained damage in long fights. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Avowed Poison build and the valuable gameplay tips along with gear to choose from.
Everything You Need To Know About Poison Build Guide in Avowed
Avowed Poison build offers a unique playstyle centered around damage over time, weakening enemies, and battlefield control. Poison can combine with Bleed, Fire, or Necrotic damage to enhance damage output. Our Poison build includes a One-Handed Mace, Spear, and Greatsword. One-handed mace acts as a primary weapon, Spear works as an off-hand weapon, and Greatsword is your secondary weapon. Perception, Intellect, and Might are the best attributes to invest your points.
Umpara’s Spear features a poison dart attack, applying poison accumulation to enemies. Skills like Tanglefoot, Corrosive Siphon, and Spirit of Decay are the best skills to unlock and upgrade to enhance their effectiveness in combat. The best consumable that we add in the Poison build is Grog which cleanses poison accumulation and grants temporary resistance to poison effects. Marius and Giatta are the best companions, aiding you in combat. Their abilities provide you opportunities to inflict poison status of effect on the foes.
| Poison Build Pros | Poison Build Cons |
|---|---|
| Sustained Damage Over Time | Lower Burst Damage |
| Strong Against Tough Foes | Weak Against Weak Enemies |
| Crowd Control | Low Kill Speed |
| Versatile Playstyle |
Poison Build Features & Mechanics
Below are the essential best Poison build features and mechanics for Avowed:
- Background: Court Augur
- Attribute Points: Perception, Intellect, Might
- Weapon Choices: One-Handed Mace, Spear, and Greatsword
- Best Skills: Blackbow, Sprit of Decay, Corrosive Siphon, Piercing Thrusts, Critical Strike
- Recommended Companions: Marius and Giatta
- Best Consumables: Grog, Thornfruit, Raw Bleathorn Milk
Related:
Background
Court Augur is the best background for the Avowed Poison build. This background provides high Perception and Intellect, enhancing critical hit potential and essence capacity. This gives you an advantage for Poison build that specializes in dealing damage over time. Players who want high-speed, high-damage attacks, then this background is for you. Choosing the Court Augur background also unlocks unique dialogue options related to mysticism and the arcane. It allows you to gain role-playing opportunities and potentially influence interactions.
Background plays a pivotal role in shaping your role-playing experience. It affects your dialogue options and determines your starting weapon during the tutorial. Your initial allocation of attribute points across six stats is also influenced. However, they do not restrict your access to any equipment or abilities as the game progresses. Regardless of your background, you can use any equipment and abilities. Avowed enriches your character’s backstory and provides initial attribute distributions and dialogue options by selecting the background.
Attribute Points
Perception, Intellect, and Might are the best attributes to focus on for the Poison build in Avowed. You need to strategically allocate points to enhance the poison damage and overall combat effectiveness. Investing points in Perception allows you to increase critical hit chance and maximum range, making your poison attacks more potent. Intellect determines your maximum Essence and elemental resistance. Might, on the other hand, boost overall damage output and carry capacity. It ensures that your poison attacks deal significant damage.
Your point distribution boosts your poison capabilities while maintaining overall combat proficiency. Increase your carrying capacity, allowing you to manage more loot while exploring the world. You can earn additional attribute points upon leveling up, offering opportunities to customize your build. You can enhance your attribute points by using the consumables you acquire while progressing. Also, you can select 27 attributes at a max level of 30. Below are the attribute points distribution for the Poison build.
- Intellect: 2
- Perception: 11
- Intellect: 5
- Might: 4
- Constitution: 3
- Dexterity: 2
Weapon Choices
One-handed Mace, Spear, and Greatsword are the best weapons for the Avowed Poison build. One-handed Mace deals poison damage and can be enchanted to enhance its poison effects. Power Attacks with these weapons apply significant poison accumulation to enemies. Use these weapons strategically to inflict a poison status effect on the enemy. Mace is an excellent choice for Poison build Avowed. They have high stagger potential and synergy with defensive playstyles. This weapon type has stun effects that can interrupt enemy attacks, giving you control over fights. Maces use less stamina per swing as compared to the greatswords or axes.
Spears are the solid choice for inflicting poison in Avowed. Spears have a long reach and fast attack speed and synergize well with Perception and Intellect. Its long reach keeps you at a safe distance while applying poison. The fast attack speed grants you more opportunities to stack poison over time. Investing points in Perception and Intellect enhances critical hits and poison-related magic. Spear offers a unique combination of reach, critical hit potential, and adaptability.
Secondary Weapon
Greatswords are two-handed weapons and a perfect choice for inflicting a poison effect on the foes. This will make the enemies vulnerable and give you free room to eliminate them with the highest possible attack. Use this weapon to balance reach, power, and blocking capability, making them effective for offense and defense. It is effective against multiple enemies due to its longer reach than smaller melee weapons. This is ideal for players who prefer heavy-hitting melee combat due to their damage, crowd control, and poison effects.
Poison Status Effect
Poison status effect in Avowed causes afflicted characters to suffer damage over time. This effect persists, gradually depleting health. You can use certain weapons, abilities, and throwable items like Forgotten Soul Pods can inflict Poison damage. Consume specific items such as Springberries or Grog to reduce the Poisoned status. Investing in the Constitution attribute enhances maximum health and increases resistance to Poison and Bleeding statuses. Equip the gear, use specific abilities, and choose the best companions to reduce the challenges offered by Poison.
How to Increase Poison Damage
Poison damage increases when you allocate attribute points in Might. It enhances damage from all sources by 4%. Investing in this attribute boosts your overall damage output. Greatswords like The Philosopher’s Riddle add 5% poison damage to each hit. Unlock the Tanglefoot from the Ranger skill tree to root enemies and deal poison damage over time. Equip weapons like Mace and Spear with poison enchantments to add poison damage to your attacks. Overall, selecting appropriate weapons and abilities, and utilizing consumables allow you to increase poison damage.
Skill Selection
The game allows you to unlock skills at each level, starting at 2. One level gives you one more skill point to place in one of three skill trees. You can mix and match skill trees, but Wizard and Fighter synergize the best together. Moreover, you can reset skills at any time with gold, though it gets more expensive the more levels you increase.
Levels 1-10 Skills
Charge, Corrosive Siphon, Minor Missiles, Piercing Thrusts, and Finesse are the best skills to unlock at the initial stages. Invest skill points to gain the skills that can keep you alive in the initial stages of the game. Passive skills are used to increase damage or survivability, while active skills require essence, and you can’t use them due to their cost.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Poison Build for Avowed from levels 1 to 10:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | None | ||
| 2 | Charge Rank 1 | Fighter | Dash forward and smash into anything in your way, interrupting enemies and dealing Explosive Damage to break enemy Blocks, destroy walls, and shatter frozen enemies for bonus damage. |
| 3 | Constant Recovery Rank 1 | Fighter | After taking damage, slowly regenerate 50% of the last amount of Health lost. |
| 4 | Tanglefoot Rank 1 | Ranger | Summon lingering entangling vines that Root nearby enemies in place for 8 seconds. |
| 5 | Minor Missiles Rank 1 | Wizard | Summons 3 magical projectiles that seek out enemies, dealing large amounts of damage to nearby enemies on impact. |
| 6 | Corrosive Siphon Rank 1 | Wizard | Channels a beam that eats away at an enemy’s soul, inflicting periodic Poison Accumulation and converting that energy into Health for the caster. |
| 7 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 1 | Wizard | Unlock level 5 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 10%. |
| 8 | Grimoire Snap Rank 1 | Wizard | Forcefully snap your grimoire shut, expelling a shockwave of Explosive Damage that knocks nearby enemies back and deals Stun. |
| 9 | Piercing Thrusts Rank 1 | Ranger | Power Attacks with daggers, swords, and spears deal +25% damage. |
| 10 | Finesse Rank 1 | Ranger | Increases damage with one-handed melee weapons by 25%. |
Levels 11-20 Skills
Devastating Criticals, Brawn, Spirit of Decay, and Blackbow are the best skills to use after reaching level 11. Upgrade your equipped abilities to make them more effective in combat. You need to enhance your damage potential as you’ll encounter high-level enemies equipped with heavy armor.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Poison Build for Avowed from levels 11 to 20:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Devastating Criticals Rank 1 | Fighter | Critical Hits with melee weapons deal 30% more damage. |
| 12 | Brawn Rank 1 | Fighter | Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 25%. |
| 13 | Corrosive Siphon Rank 2 | Wizard | Enemies are Stunned in place for the duration of the siphon. |
| 14 | Piercing Thrusts Rank 2 | Ranger | Power Attacks with daggers, swords, and spears deal +35% damage. |
| 15 | Finesse Rank 2 | Ranger | Increases damage with one-handed melee weapons by 40%. |
| 16 | Charge Rank 2 | Fighter | Increases the distance traveled during Charge by 100% |
| 17 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 2 | Wizard | Unlock level 10 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 15%. |
| 18 | Spirit of Decay Rank 1 | Wizard | Increases the amount of Poison Accumulation you deal by 20%. |
| 19 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 3 | Wizard | Unlock level 15 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 18%. |
| 20 | Blackbow Rank 1 | Wizard | Summons a magical bow for 30 seconds with arrows that deal with high Poison Accumulation. |
Levels 21-30 Skills
At levels 21-30, you want to increase damage per second potential with high-level skills. You can use a Mace in the main hand and a Spear in your off-hand to add poison status of effect on enemies in combat.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Poison Build for Avowed from levels 21 to 30:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Spirit of Decay Rank 2 | Wizard | Increases the amount of Poison Accumulation you deal by 35%. |
| 22 | Corrosive Siphon Rank 3 | Wizard | The siphon gives Temporary Health when the caster’s Health is full. |
| 23 | Piercing Thrusts Rank 3 | Ranger | Power Attacks with daggers, swords, and spears deal +40% damage. |
| 24 | Devastating Criticals Rank 2 | Fighter | Critical Hits with melee weapons deal 50% more damage. |
| 25 | Blackbow Rank 2 | Wizard | Power Attacks pierce through enemies, only stopping when they hit the environment. |
| 26 | Spirit of Decay Rank 3 | Wizard | Increases the amount of Poison Accumulation you deal by 45%. |
| 27 | Critical Strike Rank 1 | Ranger | Increases your Critical Hit Chance by 10%. |
| 28 | Brawn Rank 2 | Fighter | Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 40%. |
| 29 | Blackbow Rank 3 | Wizard | Increases summon duration to 45 seconds. |
| 30 | Critical Strike Rank 2 | Ranger | Increases your Critical Hit Chance by 15%. |
Best Poison Skills Explained
The best skills for Avowed Poison build are Blackbow, Sprit of Decay, Corrosive Siphon, Piercing Thrusts, and Critical Strike. Blackbow is a Wizard ability that conjures a magical bow, enabling spellcasters to engage enemies from a distance with poison-infused attacks. Spirit of Decay is a passive ability that increases your poison-based attacks. A corrosive Siphon is an active ability that channels a beam, inflicting poison damage over time to enemies. Piercing Thrusts is a passive ability that boosts the damage of power attacks when using specific one-handed melee weapons. Critical Strike is a passive ability that enhances your chance to land critical hits, thereby increasing your overall damage output.
- Critical Strike- This ability allows you to increase your critical hit chance.
- Blackbow- Summons a magical bow that fires arrows causing high poison accumulation.
- Sprit of Decay- Boosts the poison accumulation you deal with.
- Corrosive Siphon- Channels a beam that inflicts poison and restores health to the caster.
- Piercing Thrusts- Enhance damage with daggers, swords, and spears.
Companions
Marius and Giatta are the two best companions for the Avowed Poison build. Marius’s Binding Roots can immobilize enemies, making them susceptible to poison attacks. The Wounding Shots apply bleed accumulation, adding damage over time that stacks with poison effects. Use Marius for crowd control and damage-over-time abilities, aligning well with a poison build. It makes sure that your foes remain vulnerable while taking continuous damage. Giatta is the healer in Avowed her Healing Light restores health to the party. Giatta joins your party during the main story quest, “The Animancy Method.”
Marius becomes available after the main story quest, “An Untimely End.” Each of these companions brings unique abilities and backgrounds to your journey. Giatta’s Purification ability restores health to allies and can be upgraded to include crowd control effects. Giatt’s healing and defensive capabilities ensure you maintain optimal health. Enhance your combat effectiveness with his DoT effects and dealing support. Use Marius’s Heart Seeker’s ability to increase damage dealt to low-health enemies.
Marius
| Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binding Roots | Heart Seeker | Shadow Step | Wounding Shots |
| Entangle enemies | Increases damage dealt to low-health enemies | Devastating Blow | Damage over time |
Giatta
| Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purification | Barrier | Acceleration | Reconstruction |
| Essence Generator | Protective shields to reduce incoming damage | Increases the movement and attack speed | Heal and restore health |
Poison Build Gameplay & Tips
Use Marius and Giatta as your companions to aid you in intense combat, giving you opportunities to inflict poison effects on the enemies. Invest in attributes like Might, Perception, Intellect, and Dexterity. Might enhance all damage types, including poison. You can amplify your poison attacks by allocating significant points to this attribute. Perception increases your critical hit chance, making the poison effect more effective. Equip a Greatsword that adds additional poison damage to each hit.
Spears like Umpara’s Spear feature a poison attack, applying poison accumulation to enemies. Skills like Tanglefoot, Corrosive Siphon, and Arcane Veil enhance your ability to add poison effects to your gameplay. Unlock the Corrosive Siphon at level 5 to drain enemy health while applying poison. Marius’s abilities like Binding Roots and Wounding Shots synergize well by immobilizing enemies and adding bleed damage. Combine poison with bleed effects to maximize damage output. It’s best to use ranged poison attacks to weaken enemies before they approach you.
Weapons and Armor
Beginner
| Slot | Item | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | Lodestone | 242 Physical Damage 234 Stun 18 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
| Off-Hand | Umpara’s Spear | 168 Physical Damage 156 Stun 13 Stamina Cost 6% Critical Hit Chance |
| Secondary Weapon | The Philosopher’s Riddle | 284 Physical Damage 260 Stun 20 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
| Armor | Stelgaer’s Pride | 18% Damage Reduction -35 Maximum Stamina -30 Maximum Essence |
| Gloves | Death Knight Gloves | -10% Stamina cost while blocking |
| Boots | Wayfarer’s Boots | 10% resistance to Poison and Bleed Accumulation |
| Trinket | Berath’s Blessed Ward | -5% damage from Vessels |
| Ring | Ring of Pain Amplification | +15% Critical Damage |
| Ring | Arcanist’s Ring | +1 Intellect |
Location
- Lodestone (One-Handed Mace)- Location is Emerald Stair. Purchased from Merchant Stephan in Essence of War in Fior mes Iverno in the Emerald Stair for 3,780 Skeyt.
- Umpara’s Spear (Spear) – Location is Shatterscarp. Give Keipo the Leviathan Heart at the end of the Side Quest “Heart of Valor.”
- The Philosopher’s Riddle (Greatsword)- Location is Dawnshore. Found in the ruined building on the northwest of Castol’s Folly in Dawnshore.
- Stelgaer’s Pride- Location is Dawnshore. Found in a boarded-up cave underneath Watcher’s Mirror on the eastern cliff as part of the Treasure Map.
- Death Knight Gloves- Location is Emerald Stair. Kill Captain Aelfyr at the end of the Emerald Stair chapter.
- Wayfarer’s Boots- Location is Dawnshore. In Fellowship Harbor, directly under the docks area at the top of the “ll” in the Fellowship Harbor Marker.
- Berath’s Blessed Ward- Location is Emerald Stair. Complete the side quest “Elder Offerings” in Emerald Stair and don’t report the food theft.
- Ring of Pain Amplification- Location is Emerald Stair. Obtained from Dolina as a reward for defeating Amadio and the Xaureps in the Fortified Xaurep Camp in the northeastern Grim Wetlands of Emerald Stair.
- Arcanist’s Ring- Location is Dawnshore. Found in a small lockbox near the smugglers at Castol’s Folly in Dawnshore.
Advanced
| Slot | Item | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | Battletrance | 242 Physical Damage 234 Stun 18 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
| Off-Hand | Giant’s Slumber | 168 Physical Damage 156 Stun 13 Stamina Cost 6% Critical Hit Chance |
| Secondary Weapon | Unmaker | 284 Physical Damage 260 Stun 20 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
| Armor | Necropants | +30% resistance to Poison Accumulation |
| Gloves | Sentinel Gloves | +15% Stun |
| Boots | Greaves of Exalted Stride | +10% resistance to Poison and Bleed Accumulation |
| Trinket | Poisoner’s Kit | Your weapons deal +5% bonus Poison Damage |
| Ring | Ring of the Founder | +10% damage against targets with full health |
| Ring | Ring of Greater Overseeing | +20% area of effect damage |
Location
- Battletrance (One-Handed Mace)- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found inside Cavern of Voices to the Southeast of Lost Village. You go here as part of Marius’ Companion Quest. You’ll find this in the room behind Rezvan.
- Giant’s Slumber (Spear)- Location is Emerald Stair. Found stabbed in the body of a dead creature in the ruins under Naku Tedek Grounds, accessed toward the end of the Emerald Stair chapter.
- Unmaker (Greatsword)- Location is The Garden. Found embedded in a dead Maegfolc underwater and underneath a waterfall in the Broken Aqueduct.
- Necropants- Location is Shatterscarp. On a high wall northwest of the Shark’s Teeth Party Camp and northeast of the nearby merchant.
- Sentinel Gloves- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found in the building on the north side of Ash Forest Outpost. Head up the stairs towards where you rescue Petru, but take a right to jump over and drop into the building.
- Greaves of Exalted Stride- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Sold by Merchant Alonya at Oddments and Oddities south of the Living Archives for 9,500 Skeyt.
- Poisoner’s Kit- Location is Shatterscarp. Wasteland Courier Side Quest – Test the “goods” you receive from Aiko, and tell Daiko nothing happened.
- Ring of the Founder- Found in the Ancient Grotto, on the body of the Idol of Secret Hatred Totem Piece.
- Ring of Greater Overseeing- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found behind a destructible wall in the Northern Warden Tower.
Consumables
Grog is a consumable that cures Poison, bleeding, and elemental effects on your character. Raw Bleathorn Milk provides you with 10 Health Regeneration. Thornfruit is also another consumable as it grants you 15 Health Regeneration and 15 Essence Regeneration. You need to take three points into the survivalist skill in the Poison Tree. Once unlocked, you can craft advanced food and buffs that drastically increase your survivability, damage, and regeneration. Consumables into your gameplay can significantly enhance your effectiveness in a poison-centric build.
FAQs about Poison in Avowed
What is the best Poison build in Avowed?
The best poison build in Avowed uses a One-handed mace that acts as a primary weapon, a Spear that works as an off-hand weapon, and a Greatsword as your secondary weapon.
Which is the best Background for Poison build?
Court Augur is the best background for the Avowed Poison build. This background provides high Perception and Intellect, enhancing critical hit potential and essence capacity.
Which are the best skills for Poison build?
Blackbow, Sprit of Decay, Corrosive Siphon, Piercing Thrusts, and Critical Strike are the best skills for Avowed Poison build.
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