Crystal Serpent or Venom Staff?

[molten]

I do a mage playthrough and I have Golden Shower (Agile), Crystal Serpent (Mythical) that deals 66 damage with the crystal ball buff and Venom Staff (Masterful) that deals 103 damage also with the crystal ball buff. Crystal Serpent fires a bit faster and consumes only 5 mana. Venom Staff is a bit slower than the Crystal Serpent and it consumes almost 3 times more than Crystal Serpent so 14 mana. Crystal Serpent deals a splash damage too but Venom Staff fires like 5 projectlies at the same time that pierces. Which one should I use as my main weapon? Or do you have a better weapon choice for me? Note: I'm playing in expert and I haven't beat plantera yet.

[Indiekid The Cobrakid1011]

it really depends on your play style, everyone will either say crystal is better, or venom is better, personally i would use a combination of the two to add each ones effects.

[molten]

Originally posted by Cobrakid:

it really depends on your play style, everyone will either say crystal is better, or venom is better, personally i would use a combination of the two to add each ones effects.

Let's say I'm fighting Expert Plantera, will crystal serpent be better because of it's splash damage? Or venom staff would be better because of it's piercing and multiple projectiles?

[Indiekid The Cobrakid1011]

venom staff for piercing it for sure, but when it moves to its second stage use the crystal serpent to help get rid of the tendrils that are attached to plantera.

[JoJo]

Originally posted by molten:

Originally posted by Cobrakid:

it really depends on your play style, everyone will either say crystal is better, or venom is better, personally i would use a combination of the two to add each ones effects.

Let's say I'm fighting Expert Plantera, will crystal serpent be better because of it's splash damage? Or venom staff would be better because of it's piercing and multiple projectiles?

Since plantera is immune to poison and the venom staff consumes more mana, I'd say use the serpent, since Plantera is a somewhat big target.

[molten]

Alright, I'll try the both strategies. Thank you and I found two Plantera Bulbs, what a coincidence :)

[Indiekid The Cobrakid1011]

Originally posted by molten:

Alright, I'll try the both strategies. Thank you and I found two Plantera Bulbs, what a coincidence :)

alright, good luck

[JoJo]

Originally posted by molten:

Alright, I'll try the both strategies. Thank you and I found two Plantera Bulbs, what a coincidence :)

Good luck m8...have fun.

[Piterros990]

I personally prefer Crystal Serpent for bosses, Venom Staff for groups. Even though higher base damage value, only one Venom Staff projectile can hit at once. Crystal Serpent does not pierce, and fragments of the main projectile can hit the same enemy, resulting in a higher damage output. For Plantera I recommend Crystal Serpent at the first stage, you can use Venom Staff after Plantera transforms to clear Tentacles, and then switch back to Crystal Serpent. Also another problem with Venom Staff is mana cost, and with Mana Flower dps can go down quickly (Mana Sickness debuff).