Poisoning

Poisoning takes the place of Tactics in determining the probability to perform poison Special Moves - These are Infectious Strike and Serpent Arrow. However, you must have a weapon skill of at least 70 to activate primary move weapons and at least 90 to activate secondary move weapons. The item property of Mage Weapon does not act as a substitute for a weapon skill when it comes to special moves.

Previously, a weapon that had been poisoned could be used by anyone and would have a chance to poison a target with each hit.

One of the criticisms of the Poisoning skill is that nearly any use of a Greater Cure potion or Arch Cure spell in PvP combat would render a successful poisoning of a target useless. Poisoning remains very useful in PvM and roleplaying, however.

Training

Unlike most skills, there is no accelerated skill gain New Player Quest for poisoning. But still, one no longer must train poisoning the old way in which many different targets had to be poisoned. Players may poison the same weapon or food item again and again to gain skill. Poisoning can be expensive and time-consuming to raise. One estimate is that reaching GM Poisoning requires about 80,000 Nightshade worth of various poisons.

The recommended type of poison to use for training is:

0 - 30: Train at an NPC Thief Guildmaster
30 - 40: Apply Lesser Poison
40 - 70: Apply Poison
70 - 92: Apply Greater Poison
92 - 100: Apply Deadly Poison

The skill ranges listed above also apply to the level of poison you may apply during the Infectious Strike/Serpent Arrow weapon skills. Using these abilities will also cause you to gain in poisoning. With each attempt to apply poison to a weapon or food item there is a chance for the player to accidentally poison themselves, so having a few Cure potions on-hand is recommended (especially when first moving on to a higher level of poison).

For a power gaming technique to train this skill see the Satyr Trick.

When you reach 70 in a melee skill, you have a chance of gaining in poisoning whenever you use the Infectious Strike special move; Tactics is not required. When you reach 90 in Archery and Tactics, you have a chance of gaining in poisoning when you use the Serpent Arrow special move.

Alchemy skill is required to produce poison from Nightshade. Many aspiring poisoners purchase poison by the keg-full from other players if they do not possess high levels of Alchemy.

Weapons

Standard weapons with the Infectious Strike/Serpent Arrow moves can be used to inflict Poison.

Prior to the introduction of these Special Moves, poison could be applied to most any weapon and inflicted by simply hitting your targets with it. Weapons coated this way would lose Durability as the poison corroded them, but could be cleaned with an Oil Cloth.

Now days, only Infectious Strike weapons, Shuriken and Fukiya Darts can still be poisoned in the original manner, and corrosion is no longer in effect. The Serpent Arrow move requires no actual poison (either on the weapon or in your pack) but requires high levels of Dexterity to be effective.

Throwing a Shuriken/Fukiya Dart will apply the poison regardless of your skill level. To use other weapons that have been poisoned, you must specifically activate the Infectious Strike move.

Having a high enough level of Poisoning skill can allow you to inflict a level of poison higher then that on the weapon.

Fencing

Stabbing weapons are of course the ideal delivery method when it comes to infecting targets. These items can each created by Blacksmiths. Due to the large variety of poisonable weapons available to Fencers (at least, compared to other weapon skills), this skill could be considered the most popular choice.

Type		Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Hands Used
Category:Assassin Spikes}}	Assassin Spikes	10 - 12	Infectious Strike	Shadowstrike	2s	One
Category:Daggers}}	Daggers	10 - 11	Infectious Strike	Shadowstrike	2s	One
Category:Krysses}}	Kryss	10 - 12	Armor Ignore	Infectious Strike	2s	One
Category:Double Bladed Staves}}	Double Bladed Staves	12 - 13	Double Strike	Infectious Strike	2.25s	Two
Category:Pikes}}	Pikes	14 - 16	Paralyzing Blow	Infectious Strike	3s	Two

Swordsmanship

The two sword class weapons available for use with poisoning are each One-Handed Weapons, but are only craftable by Tinkers. As no Runic Tools are available for these items, poisoning is seldom used with this skill.

Type		Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink
Category:Butcher Knives}}	Butcher Knives	9 - 11	Infectious Strike	Disarm	2.25s
Category:Cleavers}}	Cleavers	11 - 13	Bleed Attack	Infectious Strike	2.5s

Archery

Only one archery weapon set can be used to inflict poison attacks on enemies, however the ability to strike at long distance is a perk not to be ignored. These are craftable by Bowyers and are Two-Handed Weapons.

Note that the Serpent Arrow move requires no poison either on your weapon or in your pack to use, but requires very high levels of Poisoning and Dexterity in order to inflict anything higher then Lesser Poison.

Type		Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Ammunition	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink	Template:ColoredLink
Category:Elven Composite Longbows}}	Elven Composite Longbows	12 - 16	10	Arrows	Force Arrow	Serpent Arrow	4s