Another idea is to use an entire set of target locations, rather than focusing on a single one.
For example;
Your bot is hit. This triggers the poison shot.
The target of the poison is the first element of the list, which, for our purposes, makes the guy stop shooting.
Next cycle, it iterates the target sequence and now targets .up, next cycle, .dn. This makes it impossible (or just very difficult) for most bots to escape.
Next, target eyes, common conspec locations, ect.
All the while, your bot is gearing up to either fight or run.
But I agree, venom has many more uses.