Combat
Poisoning
Poisoning is what turns a Poison Potion into something that hurts. Brush one onto the weapon you are holding and every landed hit has a chance to poison the target; the better your skill, the likelier the hit poisons and the stronger the poison you can lay on — from Lesser Poison, which anyone can manage, up to Deathly Poison at 90, which never wears off. The Poison spell reads the same skill for its own rank, though a blade ticks a share of the monster's health and the spell only a flat number, so the poisoner with a sword gets the better of it.
The four ranks
| Rank | Poisoning needed | From a weapon (per tick) | From the spell (per tick) | Lasts | Charges on a lace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lesser Poison | No requirement | 0.75% of max HP | 3–6 | 3 ticks | 20 |
| Poison | 30.0 | 1.5% of max HP | 5–10 | 5 ticks | 16 |
| Greater Poison | 60.0 | 2.25% of max HP | 9–16 | 8 ticks | 12 |
| Deathly Poison | 90.0 | 3% of max HP | 15–25 | The whole fight | 8 |
How the numbers move with skill
- Chance a landed hit poisons, at Grandmaster
- 30%
- Chance a lace or cast is the best rank you can make, at Grandmaster
- 65%
- A tick lands every
- 2s
- Bottles to Grandmaster, studying one a tick
- About 2,500
Brew Poison Potions (Alchemy, 30 skill) and right-click one to apply it to the weapon you are holding. A stronger roll replaces what is on the blade, an equal one refreshes the charges, a weaker one is wasted — so keep trying for Deathly.
A charge is only spent when a poison actually takes: a miss costs nothing, and so does a hit on a monster already carrying something stronger. Carry spare bottles and the moment a lace runs dry mid-fight a fresh one is brushed on for you — online and offline alike.
Bosses shrug off poison ticks: a Dungeon Boss resists each tick at its tier x 10% (Grendel never, a tier-8 boss and the World Boss four ticks in five). A resisted tick does nothing and says so over the boss's head, but the poison itself stays on and keeps counting down.
Start Poisoning in the Skills panel to study a bottle every six seconds — it trains the skill and does nothing else. Casting the Poison spell and applying a lace train it too.