Valorant: How to master Viper in 2023

It’s been more than two years since Riot Games launched Valorant. Since then, the craze for the game has been overwhelming. Since its release, the studio has introduced a plethora of characters in the title. Among them, Viper is a flexible Agent who can use her abilities to obscure the enemy’s line of sight. Compared to other Controllers, she is incredibly challenging to master.

Viper doesn’t use any conventional smoke like other Controller Agents in Valorant. She is now in her most tranquil state following a series of changes.

Viper is a great pick for those who love to play with lineups instead of taking direct gunfights with adversaries.

Note: Some elements of this article are subjective and solely represent the author’s ideas.

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Viper’s abilities in Valorant

Fuel (Passive) :

As a Viper player, you slowly produce and replenish the poison that fuels your abilities. It takes a total of 30 seconds to replenish your passive from 0-100.

Toxin (Passive) :

Toxin is one of Viper's most lethal passive abilities. When an enemy enters Viper’s Pit, Toxic Screen, or Poison Cloud, their health immediately decays. The longer they are in contact with it, the higher the amount of decay becomes.

Snake Bite:

Using Snake Bite, Viper gets equipped with a chemical launcher and shoots a canister with it. The canister explodes when it hits the ground, leaving a chemical residue that deals a lot of damage to her adversaries. She has two of these in her loadout.

Poison Cloud:

Using Poison Cloud, Viper can equip herself with a gas emitter. She can place the gas emitter in certain areas of the map, and it remains available throughout the round.

This gas emitter emits a hazardous gas cloud once more at the expense of fuel. It can be picked up and redeployed after being used previously.

Toxic Screen:

Viper’s Signature ability, Toxic Screen, gives her the ability to block off the enemy's line of sight. She equips a land-penetrating gas emitter launcher that can spread across the map to a certain distance. Players can re-use it to expand fuel and build a tall wall of hazardous gas.

Viper’s Pit:

Viper’s Pit is one of the most broken ultimates in Valorant. This ability requires eight ultimate points to use.

Thanks to this ability, Viper is outfitted with a chemical sprayer that continuously releases a chemical cloud around her. When an enemy player is inside it, their health automatically degrades, and they become nearsighted.

This Pit will exist as long as Viper is alive inside it. If she exits, the poisonous cloud takes up to eight seconds to completely vanish.

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How to use Viper to her maximum potential

Viper is different from any other Controllers that exist in Valorant. She is capable of blocking off enemy sights with her Toxic Screen and cutting off a section of the map, depending on whether she is attacking or defending. She can be utilized to smoke certain areas of a map and can help teammates capture or retake the bomb site.

Viper can be played as a solo Controller on any map. However, she is an Agent that needs a lot of micromanagement.

Fuel is the main passive ability that players need to take care of. Her Fuel takes up to 15 seconds to fully finish. If both passive and signature abilities are active, it takes 10 seconds to finish it off. Proper management of both passive abilities can win your team fights, and your team can reposition themselves according to the situation.

Viper’s Toxic Screen can be used in different ways in Valorant. When attacking, it is generally used to cut off the enemy's sight so that her teammates can enter a site without any drawbacks. In intense fights, players can use this wall as a barrier to reposition themselves in a better spot.

When defending, this wall prevents attackers from getting any information about the activity inside the bomb site. Meanwhile, when retaking any site, the adversaries crossing the wall will get a health decay due to the toxin, giving your team a health advantage against them.

Viper’s Snake Bite helps teammates to clear off some cheeky angles. The moment the canister hits the ground, it is over for enemies. Not only does Snake Bite work as a Molotov, dealing continuous damage to enemies caught in its vicinity, but it also applies the Vulnerable debuff to all opponents affected by the venom.

Viper's Poison Cloud is truly a game-changer. The gas emitter can block off a limited area and be used if things go south. When retaking any site, players can directly place it on the spike and cover the area to defuse without any hesitation.

One of the most broken ultimate abilities in Valorant is Viper’s Pit. Whether it’s capturing a certain part of the bomb site or solo holding a particular site, this ability is incredible.

As Viper players usually don’t take direct gunfights, compared to other Agents, they receive less attention. As a Viper player, you should focus more on mind games instead of getting kills.

Depending on the situation, Viper's abilities can be used to avoid traps like Chamber’s Trademark, Killjoy’s Turret, etc.

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Best maps for Viper in Valorant

Viper requires a lot of micromanagement and is not easy to play with. However, once players have mastered her utility across all the maps, they can make a huge impact.

Since Viper is quite a flexible option, she can be played on any map in Valorant. However, she does significantly well in maps like Pearl, Lotus, and Fracture.