Question on Poisons

[Hitman187]

When you apply an injury poison to a weapon how many hits can you get off with the weapon before the poison is gone? Is it one hit per application or multiple?

 

[Nookie]

I believe its just one per application.

 

[dragonis111]

well it depends on the poison's description, I remembered that some magical poisons back in 3.5 lasted multiple hits, but it is 1 hit unless otherwise specified in the description of the poison.

 

[paradox42]

It is 1 hit unless otherwise specified, yes. This is why the Sticky Poison Alchemist Discovery is a cool ability- it lets you get a lot more bang for your buck, so to speak.

 

[Hitman187]

Damn, so unless you're an alchemist poisons seem like a waste; at least at higher levels. Just retired my cleric in a game and was making an inquisitor, hoping to make use of poisons in combat but one hit per application kinda blows.

 

[SteelDraco]

Poisons are better than they were in 3.5, but you do need some investment to use them well. Alchemists and rogues are the best at it. I know my archer has a small collection of poisons we found on an assassin, but I haven't bothered using any of them. Just hasn't seemed worth it.

 

[hippononymous]

Agreed. I was going to make poison use regular with my level 12 rogue, but even with the large amounts of money we get from loot, spending ~700 for a single dose of a good poison (ie, high DC) just isn't worth it, considering I can get a magic item that gives me an ability x/day that is just as deadly.

Even on limited use items your money might be better spent on, say, a necklace of fireball. There are even animal-summoning tomes that, yes, can be costly (16k for the best kind), but can do a lot more damage for you and are not single use (10x/week usage).

 

[jefgorbach]

Even with a high DC, poison remains subject to the victim's immunity and access to Neutralize Poison making it even less attractive/useful option, esp at higher CRs.