Feathers are for the weak (Proffesional Guide)

LORE

The malevolent familiar of a sadistic wizard who captured and hoped to tame him, Viper was curiously glad to have been sprung from the sealed and unchanging subterranean Nether Reaches where his race had lived for millions of years, after tectonic slippage had sealed off the Netherdrakes in luminous caverns. Viper spent some time appearing to submit to the wizard's enchainments, hoping to learn what he could of the dark magics the mage practiced. But he soon realized that few spells were as deadly as the toxins that were his birthright. Exuding an acid that swiftly ate away the bars of his cage, the Netherdrake slipped free of his confines, spit poison in the old spellcaster's eyes, and soared out to let the world know that it had a new master.
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Viper

So, you are playing through all random/ single draft and poof, you met the netherdrake. You decided for a 40 second googling of tips to play this green menace. Being one of my main heroes, I would now tell you one of the ways to play viper to the best. Side effects such as your opponent lane hero smashing his keyboard to the wall, or complaining to valve that "VIPER OP" may occur.

Intro

Being one of the most hated heroes in the game due to his harras and slows, viper is a hero that are becoming more and more popular in pub and in professional games due to his slows that contributes alot in ganks, his poison DOTs and his low Viper Strike cooldown after he got his Ulti upgrade from his scepter.

Pros / Cons

PROS :
Really efficient ganker
Can snowball through early/mid game
Effective even tho not enough farm
Really annoy to lane against
Tough magic resistance and risky to harras against

Cons :
No true escape mechanism if you decide to skip Shadow Blade
Fall off to hard carries in late game
Need alot alot alot and alot of Regeneration
Looks so ugly compared to DOTA 1

Skills

Poison Attack
Best skill for harrasing. IT'S also his most annoying skill since it gives DOT and slows every time it hits. Level up Priorty :2
Ability Affects Damage
Auto-Cast Enemy Units Magical
Intensifies Viper's venom, adding an effect to his normal attack that slows attack and movement speed while dealing damage over time.
Range: 600
Duration: 2
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 10%/20%/30%/40%
Damage Per Second: 10/16/22/28


Nethertoxin
His amazing passive that gives him a whole lot of bonus damage and farming abilities. Level up priorty : 3
Ability Affects Damage
Passive Enemy units and structures Physical
Nethertoxin causes Viper's normal attack to deal bonus damage to units based on how much health they are missing. The bonus damage doubles for each 20% of health missing from the target. Nethertoxin deals half damage to creeps and buildings.
Base Bonus Damage: 2.5/5/7.5/10
Maximum Bonus Damage: 40/80/120/160
Non-hero Damage: 50%


Corrosive Skin
One of viper's most important skills. It gives him high magic resistance against magic damaged base heroes, counters heroes who rights clicks the hell outta you a wee bit of corrosion damage. Level up priorty : 1
Ability Affects Damage
Passive Enemies Magical
Viper exudes an infectious toxin that damages and slows any enemy that damages it. The acid exudate also increases Viper's resistance to spells.
Duration: 4
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 10%/15%/20%/25%
Damage Per Second: 10/15/20/25
Magic Resistance: 10%/15%/20%/25%

Viper Strike
His ulti, main use for ganking or chasing down escapees. Get this whenever level possible Level up priorty : whenever available
Ability Affects Damage
Target Unit Enemies Magical
Viper slows the targeted enemy unit's movement and attack speed while also dealing poison damage over time. The slowing effect reduces over the duration of the poison.
Range: 500 (900*)
Duration: 5.1
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 40%/60%/80%
Damage Per Second: 60/100/145

Early game

Harras Harras Harras, tryna ping for help when trying to get a kill if you are in the mid lane.
Best lane partners (down) below. Your Poison Attack is your main skill for harrasing, use in on auto cast but this will consume almost entirely of your low mana pool. Don't spam mana on creeps oftenly cause you might end up not having enough mana for a gank.

Items needed :

Get a Wraith Band and Power Treads first. Next upgrade to get your Ring of Aquila which solves mana issues. Get a Magic Wand or Magic Stick. This pretty much sums up your early game items.

Le mid game commence

This is probably the peak of when you become most powerful. Join in ganks, killing people will be an ease if your team got a nuke or stunner, you can help your fellow auto attack using heroes such as Anti-Mage, Abaddon by slowing the hell outta opponents with no escape mechanisms . Creep up invisibly to a random weak hero, initiate with your Viper Strike or just get nearer to them and just spam Poison Attack

Items needed :

Proes often get a Mekansm on their viper, gives them takiness and a game changing heal
Aghanim's Scepter would be awesome if you can get it before 20 minutes.

The importance of a TP

Viper would be one of the many heroes who really really really should carry a tp always during mid/late game. Being a very effiecent ganker without a tp scroll, is probably useless

Welcome to the late game

After your got Manta Stlye and Aghanim's Scepter, its time to be the main ganker, since your hard carries now are really hard (if ya know whata mean), you are just probably a iniator/ganker now. Using Viper Strike and just wait for your carries/ supports/everybody to right click everybody to death. If your hard carries din't farm good enough and you guys lost the game, report him/her for international ability abuse, add them on steam, ask them out and slap them in the face.

Items needed :

A really farm carry (nuff said)

Manta Style to just use illusions to attack more
Butterfly Every agi guy needs one
Monkey King Bar Because the kid next door has one too
Basically anything items than can make you tanky or high dps, is ok in this stage in the game.

Important Items

Get it no matter how items


Manta Style Gives you good stats, affordable since Yasha, and you illusions get your passive Nethertoxin


After you get this, it's time to gank, it gives you really good stats, extra hp and mana but mostly, your extremely low level Viper Strike cooldown


Probably your 3rd or 4th item to pick, good stats, high evasion, probably a must for every agi hero


Gives a armour reduction aura giving you the edge in team fights, faster attacks = getting more slowed and frustrated enemies, why not ?


High Hp regen, more survivability, extra mana and str. Asking for anything else ?


Your support might get this but you also can get this as well, gives you a little tankiness

Rejected Items

Why ? In proffesional scenes, supports carry dust, gem or sentries is really common so, skip that **** shall we ?


10% bash why the ~ would you wanna spend 6k on this piece of ****


The slow doesn't stack, it is costly to build so why risk it ?


You have no reason to buy this unless your team is winning 100-0 or you are a alien from planet zoig

ALLIES

The slows people, the slow is too damn long, the damage, the DOT is still too damn high O.O
Stacking with your poison, there is no way the enemy can runaway



The swap, the stuns, are very nice skills for viper to damage with slows and DOT. Nether Swap would give more slows and attacks for viper

AND NOW, THE VENOM COMBO


The venom is strong with this one. Poison stack, slowing, A typical Level 1 first blood combo is Poison Attack slow for Venomancer's Venomous Gale for the first slow, next continuously spam Poison Attack. Play Video

The baddies who will kill yo ass

Laning against this will give you unnecessary harassment. (who the hells like to get harass. And just when you wanna chase that Clinkz , he invis and buh bye. ~


A silenced viper is a pretty useless viper. Without slows and your other skills you are useless. Silencer will just orb walk you down.


His return, stun will probably make you pee in your pants. Since harassment is one of your main ways of attacking, with his return, you can't do stuff.


3>1, with all those crits and stuns, viper will have no chance against this mighty tank.

Those poor little bastards that you need to own

Kunkka mid, dear lord. Just harass the hell outta him, making him not able to farm, thus gg kunkka




Say hi to your master, and you shall blind his eyes again. The nether lord oblivion use to be your master, now it's your turn to slow him and harras the hell out of him. His Nether Blast does nothing to you since you have such a high magic resistance from Corrosive Skin

And whoever mids and is melee based. Magnus, Bloodseeker, Dragon Knight, just harass the hell out of them and you will be good.

When to pick viper ?

When only you can kick butt with viper

When there is a melee/squishy mid hero, and you are confident of that hero going mid, use viper and harras the hell outta him early game, making him not able to farm
eg : Kunkka Magnus
When there are heroes with no escape mechanism
eg : Juggernaut Luna Sniper Razor
Squishy heroes, they are the best and easiest to kill
eg : Crystal Maiden Rubick Shadow Shaman

When not the pick viper to avoid getting your butt kicked

When the opponent team has strong tanky strength hereos
eg : Pudge
Heroes with escape mechanisms and you are trying to solo kill with no gem/dust
eg : Riki Bounty Hunter Nyx Assassin Weaver
A disabler
eg : Silencer Bane