Everything we know about VALORANT’s Viper

Riot Games released its second VALORANT character profile yesterday, this time focusing on Viper. She’s an agent from the U.S. clad in black and green with thigh-high boots, similar to Kim Possible’s villain, Shego. 

Viper uses poison and chemical devices to her advantage, crippling her enemy’s vision to take control of the battlefield. She has a range of abilities all focused around deadly biological warfare.

Her skillset can be used to secure or defend an objective, to push chokepoints, and to outplay opponents. She has a total of four abilities, including a passive signature and an ultimate. 

Here’s everything we know about Viper so far.

Abilities

Snakebite – Fire a projectile that explodes into a pool of damaging acid.

Poison Cloud – Throw a gas emitter that you can reactivate to create a poisonous smoke cloud at the cost of fuel. The emitter can be picked up and thrown again after a short cooldown.

Signature Ability: Toxic Screen – Deploy a long line of gas emitters that you can reactivate to create a tall wall of toxic gas at the cost of fuel.

Ultimate: Viper’s Pit – Emit a massive toxic cloud in a large area that lasts as long as Viper stays inside the cloud. Enemies inside the cloud are highlighted to Viper.

Game plan

Viper is the bread and butter utility character in VALORANT. Her kit revolves around controlling the map and assisting her teammates. In terms of damage, she has her Snakebite ability, exploding her enemies into a pool of acid, but her strength lies in strategy.

In Counter-Strike, smokes, flashes, and Molotov cocktails are key to finding space on the map, pushing through chokepoints, or simply defending bombsites. Without utility, the game is a gun blazing free-for-all. The same can said for VALORANT.

Viper has a whole arsenal of smoke screens to her advantage. Her Poison Cloud ability is a miniature green smoke grenade, allowing her to block vision, disrupt pushing, and take hold of a bombsite. It has a relatively small cooldown and can be used in a number of creative ways depending on the map. A skilled Viper player will learn the ins and outs of each map and find the best spots to use Poison Cloud.

Toxic Screen is a similar ability, but with different geometry. Instead of a circle, it creates a long wall of green gas. Only the most daring of players will push through the wall, and if Viper or one her teammates are waiting on the other side, they’re doomed. Viper should use this ability to block off key sections of the map and, similar to Poison Cloud, to prevent pushes.

Viper’s Pit is her ultimate ability and can only be used as a one-off in certain situations. It’s ideal for blocking off a bombsite, but it has an element of flexibility to it. It’s a massive toxic cloud that covers a large area and its duration is fairly long. Viper should weave in and out of the cloud, pick off enemies, run down the clock, or hide. It’s dynamic and will be useful in many circumstances.

Viper is a supportive character. While she does have the potential to deal damage, she should be looking to work with her team and create spaces on the map.

When VALORANT is released this summer, Viper will be one of the playmakers of the game. She looks fun and exciting, but she’ll undoubtedly be tricky to master.