Viper Valorant Guide: The Toxic Agent

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When it comes to nerding out, Mikala can hit you from all angles. She's a massive RPG fan, who has spent more hours in Hyrule than she cares to admit. She's a PC gamer than love's grinding away at the latest MOBA to sink its hook in. Plus, when she's not gaming, she's probably catching up on her anime backlog or settling down for a marvel movie marathon!

Lore

Who Is Viper?

Viper’s birthname is Sabine, but she now goes by the call sign Viper. Viper is an American scientist who hails from Alaska. She was the second agent to join the Valorant Protocol, just behind the founding member and leader, Brimstone.

Since Viper was one of the first members to join Valorant Protocol, she participated in the recruitment of new agents. She did this alongside fellow agents Brimstone and Sage.

Viper’s overall backstory is not entirely known or set in stone, and there are a lot of missing details and timelines that led to the toxic agent we know her to be today. As stated, we know she was once a doctor. What we do not know is what incident caused her somewhat quiet life to become wholly disturbed and turn her into a life of joining the Valorant Protocol.

The little information we know from this ‘incident’ is that whatever it was, it has caused the shift in her personality to now being passive-aggressive and hate-driven.

She is seeking vengeance on someone or something; again, details are unclear, and as a result, she has devoted her life to studying and producing poisons and toxins. She completely abandons her morals and lifestyle of once being a healer as a doctor.

Viper’s Relationships With Other Agents

Rayna

There are rumors that Viper knows the whereabouts of fellow agent Rayna’s younger sister. Rayna’s lore tells us her “hermanita” – younger sister – has been missing. There is also an oddly incriminating photo of a young doctor Sabine with an even younger girl in some sort of laboratory.

Fans have speculated that Viper has had something to do with Rayna’s younger sister’s disappearance and that she is the mystery girl in the incriminating photo. None of these theories have been confirmed, but it would make sense why Viper and Rayna seemingly have beef and why one of Rayna’s voice lines is “for you, hermanita.”

Omen

Viper and Omen‘s origin stories are seemingly intertwined. Based on their voice lines, we know that they knew each other before said ‘incident’ that turned them into the lethal agents they are today. Viper is the only agent to refer to Omen by his real name, and Omen refers to Viper by her’s, Sabine, as well.

She even goes so far as to refer to him as “old friend,” which is a refreshing change of pace from her usual passive-aggressive or even aggressive-aggressive voicelines to other agents.

There are theories that these two may have once been romantically entangled, but nothing has been confirmed. Another conspiracy went as far as to say that Omen played a part in the ‘incident’ that turned Sabine into Viper, but again just fan speculation. Whatever their relationship is, Omen definitely seems as though he is the closest agent to Viper.

Sage

Like Omen, Viper and Sage knew one another before the Valorant Protocol was formed. It is under the assumption that Sage let down or failed Viper at one point in their relationship through the context of various voicelines the agents share during matches.

Possibly Sage was a part of the infamous ‘incident’ that turned Viper into the agent she is today? All hearsay. These two agents do not like one another up to this point but seem to appreciate each other’s skills when forced to work together.

Viper’s Skills/Abilities

Snake Bite

Snake Bite is one of Viper’s basic abilities. To use this ability, you must equip a chemical launcher. When you fire the chemical launcher, a canister will explode upon contact with the ground and omits a deadly chemical zone. This ability apply damage and Vulnerable. This ability lasts 5.5 seconds, puts out 12.5 damage, and costs 200 creds to equip in-game.

Poison Cloud

Poison Cloud is another one of Viper’s basic abilities. Instead of a chemical launch for Snake Bite, you will need to equip a gas emitter. To, you guessed it, emit gas. By doing so, you will create a toxic gas cloud. What is nice about this ability is that you can use it repeatedly in a match as long as you pick it back up.

This ability lasts for a minimum of 2 seconds, and any agent that comes in direct contact with the toxic cloud will immediately lose 30 HP. Since the Poison Cloud can be redeployed, it has a cooldown of 8 seconds and again costs 200 creds to equip as an ability.

Toxic Screen

Viper’s signature ability is her Toxic Screen. It works similar to her Poison Cloud ability, but this ability is a wall instead of a cloud of toxicity. The wall will stretch through almost the entire map. So, knowing the maps you are playing on is critical.

Because you would be able to set the Toxic Screen down from a safe distance and reap the benefits of its positioning on the other side of the map, it possesses the same stats as Poison Cloud, with a minimum duration of 2 seconds and an 8-second cooldown.

Viper’s Pit

Viper’s Pit is her Ultimate ability. Unlike the aforementioned abilities, this Ult cannot be bought and is not given to agents at the start of every match. You have to earn it. By equipping a chemical sprayer to use it, firing will create a massive chemical cloud spreading out in all directions from Viper’s position.

The cloud damages and limits the visibility of agents that find themselves unfortunately nearby. While vision is obstructed for enemies, like Viper, you will be able to see all of your opponents outlined, lining up easy eliminations.

This Ult typically lasts between 7 and 15 seconds. The longer you stay in your Ult, the longer it will last. Like a Catch-22 moment, if you remain in your Ult longer, the longer it will last, equating to more damage to your opponents and more time clearing your point.

But, you will be more susceptible as a target since the other team will know exactly where you are. On the flip side, you can Ult on the site and immediately run to safety. But, the Ult will be shorter-lived, lacking your presence, ultimately dealing minor damage and less of an effect on your opponents.

How To Play The Best Viper

Positioning

Your role as Viper is a control agent. To take control of a match, you must have the knowledge to do so. Map layouts are a vital piece of knowledge to possess if you are wanting to have a significant impact while playing Viper. Knowing attack routes teams habitually take while heading for sites is also essential. Having the ability to use choke points on a map to your advantage is also key.

Knowing when, but more importantly, where to use your abilities is also detrimental to playing Viper. We know Viper’s Pit is very powerful, but it is relatively useless if you are using it at an area on the map that still allows your opponents access to a site.

The same thing goes for her Toxic Screen; if you throw that wall up and it does not automatically put the other team in a vulnerable position, you are putting it in the wrong spot.

Maintaining Toxin Fuel

Viper’s abilities are based on your conserved amount of toxin fuel. So, knowing the times in a match of when to exert the toxic fuel for skills and when to hoard it is a fine line to walk.

Amateur Viper players often find themselves draining out their toxin fuel to spam abilities at the beginning of the match, leaving themselves vulnerable and depleted of the necessary energy later on. I, myself, have fallen victim to this novice mistake.

The good news is that Viper, along with just about every other agent within Valorant, is all about the learning curve. Learning how to preserve her toxin fuel, the right moments to use it, and how to maneuver around those times you are running on E all come with experience as Viper in the game. If you want to main Viper, my advice would be to familiarize yourself with the fuel usage for each of her abilities.

Knowing When Opponents Have Their Ults

Knowing where your opposing team members are at with gaining their Ults is another crucial observation to make while playing. Specific agents can take Viper out of her Ult or use their Ult to take her down much more manageable. So, it is vital to know when to use it to the best of its ability.

Brimstone can use his Orbital Bombardment and select for the nuke to hit the center of Viper’s Viper’s Viper Pit, resulting in your ultimate demise. Even if it does not kill you on impact, the threat of the nuke heading towards you alone will rush you out of your Ult, resulting in it being up for a shorter amount of time.

Breach can use his Rolling Thunder to engage you in your Ult immediately as you enter it, which will result in you immediately becoming dazed, and again resulting in you being rushed out of your Ult and a shorter Ult time.

Phoenix can Run It Back, pinpoint your exact target, and take a crack at taking you down. Even if you get the upper hand and he starts to die, this Ult ability allows him to be resurrected at that exact location with his full health. This is more than enough of a threat to cut your Ult time short.

Best Maps For Viper

Breeze

There are a lot of open areas on Breeze. This typically results in many longer-range duels between teams rather than close-range combat. Viper especially comes in handy with a more open map like this one because of her ability to create toxic walls and clouds.

By limiting visibility or creating obstructions for the other team, Viper can give her team the advantage and often shorten the range in which battles occur.

Bind

Any Viper main will auto-lock her as their agent once Bind pops up. She is a deadly agent on both the attack and on defense. You can allow your teammates to take either the A Site or B Site by all three of her primary abilities.

What’s nice about the Bind map is that you can expel your abilities from a distance into the air, so they land directly on the sites you are trying to attack. This will allow your teammates the rush the point while simultaneously damaging your opponents and clearing them from the site you are trying to attack. All while staying at a safe distance.

Icebox

Due to this map’s layout having very long sidelines paired with multiple lines of sight, having a controlling agent is critical, and my choice would be Viper. One important thing to note is that if you want to reign supreme over this map, it is vital to know the map outline and know where crucial points are.

Just like with Breeze and Bind, knowing when and where to omit your abilities is where these matches will be won and lost. During plants, her Poison Clouds provide privacy and security, and her Snake Bite is very effective during post-plants.

Worst Maps For Viper

Ascent

Viper is not a “Bad choice” by any means for any map in that regard, but there are some instances where her powers prove to be more challenging to yield or times where another controlling agent is just plain easier. The way this map is laid out does not provide Viper with ample strategic positioning spots.

With Viper, it is all about positioning your Toxic Screen and other abilities to give your team the best advantage. Unfortunately, with Ascent, she is not provided those opportune positions.

Haven

Since Haven is a longer and bigger map than most, it does not always make sense to choose Viper. She is not a mobile character, so it is harder for her to travel to either side of the map where Site A and Site B are. Choosing Viper for Haven is not the worst choice in the world, but it would not be my go-to on a map style like this one.

FAQs

Question: Is Viper a good agent to play for newcomers to Valorant?

Answer: To have access to Viper as a playable agent, you will need to unlock her. She is not one of the five initial characters unlocked by default upon installation. To unlock our toxic scientist, you will have to reach beta level 5. By hitting level 5, you will unlock Viper, along with Raze, Cypher, and Breach.

Due to her being a locked character for the beginning of your Valorant journey, I would not deem her the best option for beginners. However, by the time you reach beta level 5, you will have played a good amount of matches and experienced enough of the maps that Viper would be a solid choice. She has a learning curve since her abilities go beyond a “point and shoot” hit scan-styled character, but she has the ability to dominate any match she is in with some practice and training.

Question: Which agents work best along with Viper?

Answer: Astra works great on a team with Viper because they are both smoke/toxin agents. They have the ability to work well off one another. If Viper has used up all of her toxic fuel, Astra can step in to throw up smoke walls. And vice versa, when Astra can no longer pop smoke and Viper has had time to recoup toxins, and she can reactive said wall. It is not advised to only have one smoker agent on a team, so teaming up with another smoker agent is always a wise choice.
Sova also works well paired with Viper. When Viper puts up her Toxic Screen, Sova can use his Recon Bolt to dart behind her smoke-screen of a wall and find enemy positions. Having both of these agents on one team makes their abilities used in tandem deadly for any opponent.

Question: What are the best guns to use as Viper?

Answer: The answer to this question depends on what kind of player you are. If you are someone that likes to play more aggressively and lead the charge on pushing to sites, the best weapons would be Ghost, Stinger, and Spectre. If you are more of a passive player that likes to stay a bit behind the action, you should get Bulldog, Marshall, or the Guardian. I have seen both play styles work well for a Viper agent. It ultimately comes down to the type of gamer you are. Or the role you feel you need to fill on your team.

Conclusion

If you make the decision to make Viper your main, practice makes perfect. Knowing how and when to manage your toxic fuel should be priority number one! She is not an easy agent to play by any means, but mastering her abilities will result in you dominating any match you are thrown in.

Valorant has proven itself to be a top MOBA game, and having a character like Viper only adds to the excitement behind it. This Shego from Kim Possible on steroids is toxic through and through. With a tragic unknown background, you cannot help but root for her. After all, we support women’s rights, but also women’s wrongs.