Every poison (be it from NPC, from a weapon, or food/beverage) has these basic properties:

Poison Duration: How long this poison lasts. Each ingredient has a poison duration value, and the end toxin will have the average poison duration of all ingredients used.

Poison Acting Speed: How many times in 10 seconds this poison acts (5 would mean the poison acts every 2 seconds, because 10/5 = 2). This means how often the effects are applied. Each ingredient has an acting speed value, and the end toxin will have the average acting speed of all ingredients used.

Poison Effects: Much like alchemical potions, poison has varying effects. Unlike alchemical effects, poison effects scale over time. The poison will be in its most potent stage the second it is about to end. For example, when the poison begins it will apply only 1% intensity of its effects, the second 'tick'(see Poison Acting Speed) 2% and so on, until it is about to end, at 100%. For stat debuffs, this means that they will gradually debuff the poisoned character. For damage effects, this means they will damage more as time passes by (the poison might take 1 stamina point at the start, but end up doing 10 each tick towards the end)


Corrosivity: This only applies to when the toxin is applied to a weapon. Please refer to the alchemy guide regarding oils, as this is the same thing.

Poison Strength: This is a hidden property, but it's easily deducted if you know the poison's effects and intensities of those effects (basically, if you brewed the poison yourself): simply add up all effect intensities together. The number you get determines the cure difficulty in this manner: (CureIntensity - PoisonStrength/2)%
That is the chance to cure the poison. Cure Intensity (unless it is a potion, then that becomes obvious, as it is the intensity of the cure effect) is anatomy+healing for bandages, so 200 intensity at 100 healing and 100 anatomy.

Another thing poison strength affects is when a stronger poison (that is, has higher poison strength) is applied to a person that already has a weaker poison in his bloodstream. The stronger poison simply takes over, and the weaker poison is removed. That is the only way for poisons to override eachother (hitting a poisoned person with a weapon that has the same poison on it will do nothing).

Poison strength can also be approximately derived from the message displayed upon being poisoned:
Poison strength 0 - 100
"Bob looks ill."
Poison strength 100 - 200
"Bob looks extremely ill."
Poison strength 200 - 300
"Bob stumbles around in pain and confusion."
Poison strength 300 - 400
"Bob is wracked with extreme pain."
Poison strength > 400
"Bob begins to spasm uncontrollably."

Poison applications: You can apply poison to a weapon, in which case it will act like an oil (you cannot have both an oil and poison on a weapon). How long a poison remains on the weapon is based on your poisoning skill (when the poison is applied).

You can also poison food/drinks. Poisoned food/beverage is much more potent than a poisoned weapon, in fact, it receives a 3x boost to all effects! This includes alchemical potions. Poisoned alchemical potions will still retain their original effects, but upon being drunk will also poison the player.

Note, however, that you can detect poisoned food/beverage with sufficient skill in Forensic Evaluation. When trying to detect poison, your skill in Forensic Eval. is compared against the poisoner's poisoning skill. If your skill is equal to or greater than the poisoner's poisoning skill, then you will succeed in detecting the poison, else, you won't be able to tell the difference.

Additionally, you can poison Azhuran blowgun darts, for use with the Azhuran blowgun. (it is an Azhuran racial craftable)

Removing poison: Simply use an oil cloth on the weapon. Poisoned food/beverage can't be "cleaned" though.

Obtaining ingredients: Each ingredient has a different level of Poisoning skill requirement. When this requirement is met, simply carve the corpse of a creature that "uses" poison in its attacks. The ingredients have more or less identical properties to the creature's venom.

Crafting toxins: Assassins can make toxins by using a mixing set (purchased from tinkers, or made by player tinkers). It uses the poisoning skill for craft chance, etc.