Venato is one of those survivors that immediately feels different, not because the numbers are insane at first glance, but because of how his main skill works and where it fits in a run. He isn’t trying to replace Taxa or Master Yan directly. He’s doing something more selfish and risk-reward focused, which already tells you the kind of builds he’s meant for.
Survivor Io Venato Guide – Skills, Awakening, S-Grade
Core Skill – Adrenaline (Supply Skill)
Venato’s defining skill is Adrenaline, and the most important thing to understand right away is that it’s a supply skill, not a weapon or active damage skill. That alone is a big deal. It means you can slot it without sacrificing a weapon choice, which opens more aggressive setups than usual.
Adrenaline is a close-range skill that boosts your damage as your HP drops. The lower your health, the more damage you push out during its active duration. It doesn’t stack, and the duration isn’t clearly defined in the files yet, which already makes it feel a little risky on paper. Still, the concept is simple: Venato wants you playing near danger instead of playing safe.
At three stars, Adrenaline gets a straight upgrade. The damage scaling improves and the duration extends by five seconds. That extra time matters a lot because this skill isn’t about quick bursts. It’s about staying alive just barely long enough to abuse the damage boost.
Level-Up Bonuses
Venato follows the standard S-Grade survivor growth pattern. Each level gives you extra attack and healing effectiveness. Nothing fancy here, and nothing that changes how he plays. Unlike Master Yan, who shifts stats into crit rate, Venato stays focused on raw damage output and sustain scaling.
Yellow Star Skills – Where He Starts to Take Shape
At six stars, Venato gains a shield when using Adrenaline. You can actually see this shield briefly in leaked gameplay footage. To be honest, shields are everywhere now. Gear, passives, teammates, events — you’re already drowning in shields most runs. On its own, this part of the kit doesn’t feel exciting.
What does matter is the 20% bonus damage to elites and bosses. This is where Venato quietly becomes dangerous. Elite and boss fights are where builds either work or fall apart, and Venato is clearly tuned to spike hard during those moments.
Awakening Stars – Venato’s Real Power Curve
This is where Venato stops being “interesting” and starts being scary.
At Awakening 1, triggering Adrenaline becomes easier. His button skill damage jumps by 50%, and he gains stacking damage bonuses that can reach up to 10%. This already pushes him toward longer fights where stacks can actually matter.
By Awakening 3, he gains a flat 30% increase to buff damage. That’s huge, because Adrenaline is a buff, and Venato’s entire kit revolves around amplifying that window.
At Awakening 5, Adrenaline damage is doubled. This is the point where Venato stops being balanced for casual play. If you’re comfortable sitting at low HP and managing shields and healing carefully, the damage spike here is very real.
At Awakening 6, he gains extra stacks and an additional teamwork passive. That extra teamwork slot is easy to underestimate, but it matters a lot for endgame builds where synergy starts to matter more than raw stats.
Seven and Eight Awakening Stars – Endgame Scaling
Only S-Grade survivors get these, and Venato benefits heavily.
At seven stars, he gains massive bonuses: increased kill-based damage scaling and 60% bonus damage to bosses. At this point, Venato is no longer competing with Taxa in general content. He’s competing in boss melting scenarios.
At eight stars, each stack increases damage by an additional 6%, and he gains yet another teamwork passive, bringing him to four total. This turns him into a stacking monster that rewards aggressive, risky play more than any survivor so far.
Venato isn’t overpowered by default. He becomes overpowered if you understand him. His kit rewards confidence, bad habits in the hands of good players, and aggressive decision-making. If you like survivors that feel dangerous to play but rewarding when mastered, Venato is worth investing into. If not, he’ll feel underwhelming and inconsistent.
