Proper Venusaur Venusaur - 1derful1

Guide

This is the proper Venusaur build. The Sludge Bomb + Solar Beam variants have lower damage, no ability to defend themselves in a knife fight, and farm slower. Giga Drain should be taken in all circumstances.

Petal Dance is a better move than Solar Beam, but it does not make for a good build. Zora can do anything Petal Dance / Giga Drain Venusaur can do, only better, and with more mobility. Solar Beam should also be taken whenever playing Venusaur. Petal Dance is fun every once in a while.

Your greatest defense is sniping enemies before they engage onto you. With them on low HP, you will win the followup fight, but you should still disengage rather than attack unless you have a teammate to engage for you.

Your second greatest defense is your ultimate, especially with Buddy Barrier. In cases where you cannot use either of these, you have probably overextended, in which case you will die. Use Eject Button preemptively to avoid this sort of situation. Farming liberally will ensure that your ultimate is up often.

Venusaur does not have the ability to turn games around on its own. You must be playing from ahead at all times. To accomplish this, constant farming and smart lane positioning are required. You can win many fights that you should probably have lost using your ultimate and your held items, but you still aren't a brawler.

Focus Band is the only required item, as it synergizes with Overgrowth and allows you to survive fights you otherwise couldn't, especially during your weak earlygame. In cases where scoring early is difficult, as is often the case in higher-level games, replacing Cookie with Assault Vest or Shell Bell can be an option. Float Stone should be avoided, as you should be farming, not roaming.

Your lane partner should be using XP share to allow them to harass the opponents while you farm. When possible, participate in battles from a distance with Razor Leaf and eventually Solar Beam.

Remember that Solar Beam on its own is not enough to kill anything.