Valorant Viper Guide – Become a post plant hero

Viper is officially a controller, but is an agent with great versatility to take on multiple roles for her team. Despite being one of the original agents, she continues to be regarded as the most annoying and frankly … “toxic” agents to play against. This is due to her utility, which allows Viper to play post plant and prevent enemies from defusing the spike for an enormous amount of time.

Chances are, you have played against this type of Viper before, a somewhat cringey but extremely powerful playstyle that can be game changing.

Image Credits | Riot Games

Valorant Viper guide – Skills

1. C – Snake Bite – Fires a toxic canister which bursts when it contacts the ground. Once triggered, it will leave a poison puddle, essentially like a molotov. On top of dealing damage to enemies, it also makes them vulnerable, a debuff that causes them to take double damage from all other sources. The ground will remain toxic for 6.5s, with Viper being able to purchase and use two Snake Bites per round.
2. Q – Poison Cloud – Throw an orb that can rest on the ground or other surface. The orb can be retrieved by going close to it, and can be redeployed at any point in the round. After the orb is deployed, Poison Cloud can be triggered, consuming Viper’s fuel bar. Agents inside the poison cloud will have reduced vision, while enemies temporarily lose 30 health / armor instantly, and an additional 10 health / armor for every second inside.
3. E – Toxic Screen – Lines up a wall of gas emitters. Toxic Screen can be deployed in the buy phase and during the round, but cannot be retrieved. Once the wall of gas emitters are deployed, Viper can trigger Toxic Screen to consume fuel, activating the wall of gas. The wall of gas blocks vision and, like Poison Cloud, will cause enemies to lose 30 health / armor instantly along with 10 health / armor for every second they are inside.
4. X – Viper’s Pit – Emits gas around a large area. All agents inside the viper pit have reduced vision, however, Viper has a small advantage as enemy agents will glow red. Enemy agents inside the Viper’s Pit will constantly have their health reduced. The Viper’s Pit will last for 15 seconds, but its duration will be reset once Viper goes inside it.

Valorant Viper tips – Improve with a few easy steps

• C – Snake Bite – When using Snake Bite for post plant situations, it is important to not cast the second one too fast, as Snakebite does not stack. Instead, you may choose to risk it if you know your enemies are low, and maximize its effective time by casting the second Snake Bite 8 seconds after the initial one. This ensures the second snake bite will land right when they try to defuse for the second time, gaining maximum value from its damage and vulnerability.
• Q – Learn lineups for both attack and defense. Defense ones will allow you to gain extremely powerful and long-lasting one way. Knowing attack line ups effectively grants your team an extra smoke for entry, maximizing its use as it can be retrieved for post plant later.
• E – In many instances, Viper’s Poison cloud is sufficient for defense. Saving the toxic screen for retake situations is extremely strong, preventing enemies from cross firing and providing your team cover to take ground.
• E – It is important to note that Toxic Screen can go through large walls / empty map areas if you aim high. While doing so may deploy the gas canister slower, if the wall is good, it may be worth deploying during the buy phase. You may also mind game enemies by deploying your Toxic screen early to bait enemies to rotate while your team hits the other site.
• X – The shape of Viper’s pit can widely vary depending on where you cast it. There are even some viper pit lineups that can create certain pockets to confuse enemies.
• X – Viper’s pit can last indefinitely if Viper stays inside, however, enemies commonly spray inside the pit in an attempt to score a lucky kill. It is best to weave inside and outside the pit to reduce the risk of getting randomly killed.

Image Credits | Esports Driven

Strengths

Post plant – With Viper’s Poison Cloud and Snake Bites, Viper is the Valorant agent with the deadliest post plant. Her ability to stall enemies from defusing for so long forces them to push her, placing her in a favorable situation, even after casting her Snake Bites.

High impact – While Viper may not have the utility to gain quick frags through an entry, her utility impact is extremely strong. Her ability to buy time and take space can largely benefit the team, even with the absence of kills.

Lineups

The most advanced Viper lineups not only use your crosshair for reference, but can include various areas of your bottom HUD bar.

For Valorant beginners, it is best to learn line ups from positions like corners. These lineups allow for quick positioning, are easier to remember, and are much harder to mess up. However, if you choose to main Viper, it may be advantageous to remember a wider range of lineups to confuse enemies. Rotating lineups are also super strong as it makes it more difficult for enemies to hunt you down before your second Snake bite, but are extremely hard to successfully execute without proper timing.

Viper orb lineups also make a world of difference, especially on the defenders side. As the orb can stick to any flat surface, with lineups, learning them will allow you to consistently deploy them on objects and ledges. These often allow for highly favorable one way smokes, making holding a site down much easier.

Counters

Jett – If Viper has utility such as Snake Bite out in defense situations trying to buy time, she may be unable to respond to a Jett that can quickly entry and dash through. This allows Jett to kill Viper as she may be unable to retaliate / shoot back.

Image Credits | Riot Games

Sova – Sova’s drone and recon dart can counter Viper big time, especially when Viper’s Pit is active. This is because when tagged by the drone or scanned by a recon dart, your location is revealed while you are still impacted by your own reduced vision in the pit.

Top Viper Valorant gameplay content creators

Brush – As one of the original Viper content creators, Brush had mainstreamed the popularity of post plant lineups and the use of one ways. His mastery of the agent and top aim as a former Fornite world champion finalist has allowed Brush to maintain his position as a top Valorant Radiant player.

Jinzled – Jinzled is a highly educational content creator, with various videos on Viper’s setups and post plant Snake Bite line ups. While Jinzled does use a heavy amount of the Odin, it shows that even without the ability to one tap headshot, mastery with Viper can do wonders and place you amongst the highest ranked Valorant players in the game.

Ending note

Viper is suitable for all players, from beginners to veterans. The agent heavily pays off if you choose to place the time to learn more line ups and setups. Despite not being a duelist, Viper can 1 v 5, especially in defensive or post plant situations which sets her apart from other agents to carry in a totally different way.