Gargoyle's Bite

Gargoyle's Bite is an elite unique Winged Harpoon designed for poison damage builds, featuring +293 Poison Damage Over 10 Seconds and Level 11 Plague Javelin (60 charges). This level 70 javelin attempts to support Poison Javazons, but struggles to find relevance in the current meta due to poison's inherent limitations in endgame content.

Poison Damage Focus

The weapon's signature feature is its poison application. The flat poison damage applies to all attacks, while the Plague Javelin charges provide a pseudo-skill boost for poison builds that lack hard points. Combined with +180-230% Enhanced Damage, 9-15% Life Stolen Per Hit, and Replenishes Quantity, Gargoyle's Bite offers the complete package—for a poison build. Unfortunately, poison Javazons are one of the weakest Amazon archetypes due to poison's slow tick rate and the prevalence of poison immune enemies in Hell difficulty.

The Fundamental Problem

Poison damage in Diablo 2 deals damage over time rather than instantly, which makes it significantly slower for clearing than lightning or physical builds. In a game where clear speed determines farming efficiency, waiting for poison to tick down is simply inefficient. Additionally, unlike lightning or physical immunity which can be broken with Conviction aura or Amplify Damage, poison immunes are common and difficult to handle. Even with Gargoyle's Bite, Plague Javazon builds struggle in Hell difficulty.

Current Status

Gargoyle's Bite is widely considered one of the least useful unique javelins in the game. An ethereal version with perfect rolls can work for leveling or as a novelty build, but the community has long requested buffs to make it viable. If you find one, it's more of a Holy Grail checkmark than a weapon you'll actually use. The lack of skill bonuses and the inherent weakness of poison builds in endgame keep this weapon firmly in meme territory.