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Wraith Band
Tango
Boots of Speed
Ring of Aquila
Power Treads
Mekansm
Yasha
Ultimate Orb
Manta Style
Eaglesong
Butterfly
Monkey King Bar
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1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |  |
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2 | 8 | 9 | 12 |  |
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4 | 10 | 13 | 14 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
INTRODUCTION
This guide is meant for beginner-intermediate level pub playing. When i write this guide, my assumption is that the other 4 heroes on YOUR team are ineffective players while the 5 players on the other team are reasonably good and YET you still can win the game.
Very simple. I want to keep this guide short and sweet, and teach you how to realistically secure a >65% pub win rate on viper, EVEN if you are a beginner.
ROLE PLAYING
You might have read many other guides to viper prior to this and may be confused over the myriad of combinations whether it is skill or item builds. Fret not, viper is a very simple hero to excel at without much practice if you heed my advice.
The main reason for the multitude of builds you see around is due to:
the role you choose to play in the game, which will in turn affect your playstyle, or maybe the other way round, just like the chicken and egg theory.These choices would ultimately affect your skill and item build.
In essence, identifying what role you want to play is the cornerstone to your success.
FIRST off, understand this: VIPER is pretty versatile. What do I mean?
1) It can be a rather hard carry. (Can't match heroes like PA/riki/antimage/troll though)
2) It can be a semi-carry. (which means you also play a support role at times.)
That is the REASON YOU CAN SECURE A >65% WIN RATE. YOUR FATE IS NOT PRE-DETERMINED BY LESS ABLE SUPPORTS IN PUB LEVEL PLAYING. YOU DECIDE YOUR OWN FATE.
1) If. your team supports are good, simple, then go all out to be the hard carry.
2) BUT in most cases in pub playing, most selfish supports do not want to buy a courier or ward. Or this can happen if all 5 players choose carry heroes. Then you have to step in to support, but at the same time DO NOT go all out to support, remember, you are still mainly a carry.
*I will dwell on this delicate balance of being carry and support in my item build later.
Q: How about play it as a tank?
A: The 3rd role that viper can play, which i did not mention above, is a tank. Viper is pretty durable and can soak up the intital damage for your team during a teamfight.
(However as i mentioned, we are now discussing about a beginner-intermediate pub game. Bare in mind that the assumption that the other 4 members of your team are just mediocre/incapable players still holds.)
To put things into perspective, you wont want to sacrifice yourself in vain during a mid/late game teamfight because your less competent teammate carries fail to take down the enemy team when you were tanking the initial damage for them. So, I would rather trust myself to take on the role of the carry/semi-carry. As for now, assuming the role of a tank would take a backseat. Till I reach a stage where pubmates aint ******ed.
OK first i need to instill a few realistic concepts into you before I even talk about the skill or item build.
PROS:
1) 1ST SKILL(poison attack), THIS IS WHY VIPER IS SO POWERFUL in early till mid game.
First thing, the slow in your 1st skill pretty much renders the enemy incapable of escaping.
Two, the low mana cost for damage over time makes this a SPAMMABLE skill to constantly. harass you enemy.
Together with you ULTI, it makes for easy kills. Early to mid game coupled with the right items. It really isn't that hard to get kills for viper, my personal record was 43 thus far.
Side note: To use the 1st skill effectively, you need to practice a little on the skill of orb walking. Which essentially means walk, then attack using poison attack, the walk then attack using poison attack... it goes on. Google it if you still dont understand. This helps you to effectively catch up with your enemy when they are escaping.
CONS:
2) Indeed viper is a hard carry, but in the late game, can it out carry pub harder-carry heroes like phantom assasin, anti-mage, riki and troll warlord? Answer is a FIRM NO. That is why IF YOU SEE such heores in your opponent team, you MUST TAKE THEM DOWN EARLY GAME. YOU MUST. You will understand how to do this later.
In the case where you failed to take them down effectively during early game, you have to(it is not a choice) to try your best to end the game FAST. The moment the game drags, say >45 minutes, YOU HAVE ESSENTIALLY LOST THE GAME UNLESS your team have had mega creeps.(To get mega creeps, take down all the 6 barracks, google if you dont understand.)
3) Another scenrio would make your life playing viper even tougher. You see heroes like phantom lancer, chaos knight in the enemy team which has illusions AND ASSUMING your ineffective pub team mates do not choose hero counters to them (eg earthshaker), you have to take these heroes down early game too. Sometimes, i give viper a miss when i see such illusion-heroes though. Viper is weak against illusions because its damage (1st skill and ulti) do not have an area of impact, they all focus on a single target. Illusions would definetely make you tear you hair apart trying to decipher which is the real deal during your game. I urge you to try playing out phantom lancer and learn how to identify the real one. One simle trick is to RUN AWAY, then most often the one at the back is the real one. (not 100% fullproof though). Coz if you stay on the same spot, there is simply no way to tell real from illusions. OK, enough of digressing onto phantom lancer.
3) With reference to the above two points, THIS IS THE GIST. LISTEN UP. I SUMMARISE.
early game. you must secure early kills. you can take mid or any side lanes, doesnt matter, you HAVE TO HELP your teammates gank in early game/ take down enemy heroes in your lane.(esp i you see fragile support heroes like crystal maiden or lina, wohoo time for a killing spree.) Because viper runs out of steam in the late game.
4) Last but not least, one paramount inherent weakness I have to highlight about viper is that it has no escape mechanism at all. SO. listen up. I always rush for a manta style. MANTA STYLE. This item very well complements viper's weakness, rendering it a hero not to be reckoned with. You might ask why not shadow blade, I'll explain later.
NOW, talking about manta style in the aforementioned chapter aptly brings me on to the next part, also the final and most crucial part of the guide and you will have to open up your eyes LOOK, READ, ABSORB, ASSIMILATE THEN EXECUTE your gameplay for a very realisgtic 65% win rate.
Prep yourselves. This wont be like the usual skill and item build guide.
I will explain this in terms of game progression.
STEP 1
You picked VIPER.
STEP 2
You FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING STEPS LIKE A BIBLE.
STEP 3
GAME STARTS. Get a wraith band and tango. If no one gets a courier, get 1. Then it'll be tango, slippers and courier.
You request to go mid. But if it fails, top or bottom lane dose't matter that much actually. Best scenario is still mid though.
STEP 4
GO to rune. If got two enemy heroes there, forget it. Back to lane. Not worth dying or draining your mana by using 1st skill, you most likely wouldnt get a kill.
STEP 5
Assuming you are mid, well try to get all the last hits. Use poison attack to get last hits if you find using the normal attack difficult. You are now only level 1. Normal attack damage is low.
STEP 6
Level-5. (Mid lane) Remember, you only have tango, no healing salve. Dont be too aggressive or too ambitious to get a kill from level 1-5. Just farm well, get gold. Hard to get a kill at this point in the mid lane to be honest, but do harass the enemy once in a while using poison attack. If the rare opportunity arises, take the kill.
No diving of tower at this point. I stress,NO DIVING OF TOWER.
AND i wouldnt gank from 1evel 1-5 because the probablity of getting a kill is not high enough for me to sacrifice my time walking to top or bottom lanes. Remember, you might not even have had your boots yet! Dont wasre that time walking, use it to farm. I will only go over in rare scenarios where BOTH of the enemy heroes are VERY LOW IN HEALTH(<1/4) AND are not going back base to heal. You might die but a least secure one kill though. If you're lucky, double kill. Depends on what hero too. My advice still: Stay in your mid lane from level 1-5.
Additional note: Maintain lane equilibrium (very important). I will only slightly push the lane towards the enemy at 1:45,3:45 etc so that i can take the runes at 2:00, 4:00 etc.
STEP 7
Level 6. SIX. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT LEVEL. Game changes from here. (lvl 6-8)Now you probably would have gotten a boots and ring of aquila. you need a ring of aquila for the mana regen to spam your 1st skill(poison attack) during fights. (ring of aquila builds from wraith band).
If your mid enemy is standing right on the river at the mid lane, time to strike, regardless of how much health he has. Straight away use your ulti(last skill),followed by orb walk to poison attack the enemy for a few times. 90% of the time you get the kill if the enemy has no escape mechanism. (I wouldnt use this strategy on sickening enemies like morphling and antimage that escapes well.) note: The moment the enemy is out of the river and is back on its own ground, it is too risky to do this. You wont get the kill. Only when the enemy is on the river or closer towads your tower then do this.
I you dont get this opportunity, time to gank the side lanes.
A)See which lane-top or bottom is more threatened. go and help.
B)If both lanes the same, i will choose to gank the lane with a hard carry to take it down. Most of the time its a double kill scenario when i gank i level 6. Just make sure you have sufficient mana for you ulti(last skill) though. Get 1-2 clarity in times you need mana at level 6.
Side note: Get dust of appearance if there happen to be invisible heroes on opponent team. This is where you also play support. Dont have to reply on people to get sentry wards or what. Rely on yourself. Be the support and the carry at the same time. I usually get at level 6.
STEP 8
If you done step 7 successfully, well, you would be level 9-10 by now and gotten a power threads.
STEP 9
Level 11-16: Now, you are very powerful compared to the rest of the heroes. Conduct more ganks together with your teams when appropriate and pushing of towers should also happen.
Get your mekansm then your yasha, then your manta style. (manta builds from yasha).
Most of the time your game will end with these items: power threads, ring of aquila, mekansm, manta style.
Your mekansm and manta style adds on to the already overpowered viper at this stage of the gameplay.
By the way,YOU ROLE AS A SUPPORT COMES IN NOW. GET YOUR OBSERVER OR SENTRY WARDS. i ALWAYS buy wards AFTER getting yasha because the next item, ultimate orb (2100 gold) to get you manta is too ex. I between getting yasha and ultimate orb, i say again, dont be a selfish douche, get WARDS if no other teammate gets one.
Continue getting dust too, i there are invisible heroes on the other team. If youre lucky and have good supports, then focus on being the carry ie dont need to buy wards or dust.
FAQ ON MY CHOICE OF ITEMS:
Q: Why not buy vanguard and leave it to the support heroes to buy mekansm?
A; I dont trust pub gamers to turn on mekansm at the appropriate time; some even forget to do so. Most often, i would say, this item helps you get a kill instead of preventing you to get killed. going up 1 on 1 with half health, i often lure opponents into thinking they can get an easy kill, but once they engage me in a fight, I will turn on meakansm and they will die UNEXPECTLY LOL. Meakansm also makes you a support! you save others! See, the delicate balance of being a support-carry.
Q: Why manta style and not shadow blade as an escape mechanism?
A: This item complents your mekansm in getting a kill. As a viper, you must kill, kill and kill in early-mid game. If not you become worthless. NOT HIDE. Manta style always helps you to make a comeback in a fight/ give you advantage in a fight. You can use it to KILL or escape. Shadow blade only helps you escape.
Just imagine, enemy sees you half health, takes you on (assuming they full health), then you whip out 2 other illusions using manta, by the time they figure out the real you they left with half health, then you turn on mekansm, there you have won the fight, very simple). Just think about how this mind game thing works. It actually works alot for me in pub matches by tricking others into thiking they could have killed me but I KILL THEM LOL. MIND games haha.
Take note: In very rare situations when my early gameplay is not effective ie to say steps 1-7 not executed succesully, shadow blade will be the option. Because even before i farm till manta style, you may already lost the game.
Q: Why manta style and not Aghanim's Scepter?
A: You need an escape mechanism asap yo. Manta style serves that purpose. Aghanim's scept
er does not.
I only get Aghanim's scepter when my prior item is shadow blade, which also implies that im losing. (The more defensive build)
AND during late gameplay aghanim's is quite useless to be honest. In theory, your ulti cooldown duration is shortened to a mere 12s and you can spam your ulti (viper strike) more often now. But. Thats just theory mofo. Let me paint a quick picture for you
in the case where you decided to be defiant and stubbornly took the Aghanims route against my advice. Basically, you now rely on your 12 seconds cooldown ulti (viper strike) to kill. Think realistically, within 12s, a 5v5 fight would have/almost ended. By the time you wait for the cooldown, either you are dead or the enemy team is dead. You wont get to use it twice in a teamight most of the time. So why not spend that money on a butterfly? At least thats my perspective. No hard feelings here.
Furthermore, Aaghanims does not really give you the stats to take down towers fast like butterly? With 30 agil + 30 attack speed, the turbo spitting power from butterfly is insane. Taking down heroes or towers has become a task as simple as breathing. That is why the item you should get after manta is butterfly and not aghanims.
STEP 10
Level 17-25: If you executed the above per se, you are already overlevelled compared to the most of the heroes.
Get an eaglesong, then a butterfly. (butterfly builds from eagle song) The extra egility from eagle song makes viper a really potent hero. With this item, you can take down towers VERY EASILY.
DOUBLE TO TRIPLE KILLS OR EVEN RAMPAGE IS VERY REALISTIC. IM not trying to overstate the prowess of viper but that is the simple truth if you adhere to my guide. Try it out, you'll see what i mean.
Q: Why butterfly and not heart of tarrasque?
A: You are already tanky enough. Heart prevents you from dying but butterfly helps you KILL, IT HELPS YOU take down the whole opponent team. You decide for youself what you want. I want to kill.
Really viper relies on that bonus agility boost (nitro i call it) because 1st skill is aleardy so overpowered then you spam it FAST using a butterfly. I tell you, GODLIKE ALR.
Most of time, after butterly the game would have ended. If you have the luxury, get an Monkey king bar. Agility of butterfly and damage from MKB, go figure it out.
STEP 11
Just an additional pointer,
1)If youre winning alr, get mega creeps. assure you a 99%win.
2) If youre losing BUT manage to get an opportunity to team wipe out their team once. push mid all the way FAST BEFORE THEY REVIVE. THIS IS THE CRUX. At the 45 minnute mark, with all heroes AROUND lvl 20, deinitely do-able. Note this rule only applies WHEN THE GAME IS PAST THE 45 MINUTE MARK. Anytime beore that, cant realy assure you whether it is possible to mid all way to victory.
Summary for item build
Level 1: Wraith band and tango/ slippers, tango, courier
Level 2-5: Boots of speed
sage mask followed by ring of protection (builds your ring of aquila)
Level 6-8: Power threads
Level 9-12: Mekansm
Level 13-15: Yasha
wards and dust (if got invis heroes on opponent team)
Level 16: Manta style
Level 17-25: butterfly, followed by MKB
Summary for strategy
Level 1-5: Stay in lane farm (mid)
Harrass the opponent with your poison attack (mid/ side)
Harrass and kill if you happen to have a good support(side)
Level 6-8: Time to gank once you get your ulti
Go to the lane which is more threatened (assumuing you were mid)
You can now ambush and kill (assuming you are from a side line)
Most of the time you get double kills
Level 9-16: Gank, gank and gank. Assuming you followed my steps and your team is
winning. In a game where you know you wont win a team fight, you either
defend tower or farm in the jungle. (at least lvl 8 to jungle)
Level 17-25: Where the fun begins. Your rampage, god like streaks.
If you have a good team, this guide would work 99% of the time to secure you a win.
Going by probability, 50% you get a good team and vice versa. So what this guide does is to help you carry your not-so-good-team and get that extra 15%win rate.
Thanks and pardon me if I've made any mistakes along the way. Im just giving my 2 cents worth.
Tips: Keep some snacks by your computer and chew really hard. I MEAN SUPER DUPER ULTRA HARD just in case you get team mates that annoy you real bad. This helps to calm your salvage breast and consequently keep your anger hormones in control and not rage at your team. Morale is an important factor in determining your team's fate. Tell your teammates to have faith when you're losing, it really works sometimes, or at least the outcome is always certainly better than admonishing them.
Ok guys this FAQ is created to answer some of the queries raised in the comments section. I'll try to answer them to the best of my knowledge and ability.
The ULTIMATE SUMMARY
End of the day, you need understand that my ultimate goal is to build a powerful viper that places its focus on killing, killing and KILLING in the early-mid game so that you can be useul in the late game. There is absolutely no place for passiveness or defensiveness. Remember this. NO ROOM for passiveness or defensiveness in the early game. (Bare in mind that from lvl 1-5, best to concentrate on farm and minimise wasting time walking around to gank or whatsoever)
Essentially, anchoring upon this core idea, I will explain the rationale behind my course of actions to the following questions some of you have raised.
Q: Why is corrosive skin not levelled up more in the earlier game?
A: I have emphasised this time and again and now I say again. Understand that viper needs to get this HEADSTART and GET YOUR KILLS in the early game because if you dont get this competitive edge in the early game, essentially you will not be able to be of much use later on in ganks during mid game, worse off during late game. I stress, it is a MUST to get this early headstart and it is absolutely possible to do so with viper. The early game (lvl 6-10) is the key to the success of your viper. DRILL THIS CONCEPT INTO YOUR MIND.
With this understanding etched in your mind, you can see why priority is placed on levelling up nethertoxin as opposed to corrosive skin. This bonus damage not only helps you last hit better, the most important part IS, IT HELPS YOU KILL. In the situation where you place priority on levelling corrosive skin, yes you slow your enemies, you get get your magic resistance, thats pretty awesome, i must admit.
QUESITON TO YOU IS, WHY ARE YOU PLAYING SO DEFENSIVELY? Corrosive skin is a skill more inclined towards defending/protecting yourself. Wrong play style for viper yo. You are supposed to get the kill, not get killed. Get the headstart. Roger? Drill this in.
The only time I prioritize my corrosive skin is when I have really strong lane opponents eg axe/troll. Or maybe heroes like zeus with a constant supply of harassment backed by its strong magic. (But that is rarely that case because viper is a strong laner, most of the time I will harass/kill zeus to the extent it does not dare come near me) And if this most unfortunate scenario happens, you know your viper will not shine as bright during your mid game because of that lack of headstart. It becomes an ordinary hero in the mid and late game which will not be noticed.
It is not that there is no way to circumvent this, but this would require ganks from your teammates in other lanes, which you can kindly request, albeit occasionally in vain.
Q: Why no Aghanims Sceptor?
A: Actually, I have already explained it it my guide. But let me just reiterate the gist. I want to build a viper that:
In the early game, get the headstart.
So that in the mid game, you can be a strong team member during fights/ganks that can also escape.
Late game, you are reasonably effective in pushing down towers and taking down enemies. (Using the turbo spitting power of butterfly,I'll elaborate later)
You can go:
shadow blade-->aghanims--> etc. (I do this when Im losing)
Mek-->manta-->aghanims OR Mek-->aghanims-->manta (i dont use this build)
Mek-->manta-->butterfly (highly recommended)
MEK-MANTA BUILD VS SHADOWBLADE-AGHANIMS BUILD
You need an escape mechanism asap yo. Manta style serves that purpose. Aganihm's sceptor does not.
I only get Aghanims scepter when my prior item is shadow blade, which also implies that im losing.
AND during late gameplay aganims is quite useless to be honest, YES your ulti cooldown duration shortened, but i tell you, in a team fight, within that time frame of cooldown(12s), either you would have died or your enemy team has died, no chance to use ulti twice one. (most of the time, im not saying all of the time)
Q: Then you will ask me, Why manta style and not shadow blade as an escape mechanism?
A: Manta complements your mekansm very well in getting a kill. As a viper, you must kill, kill and kill in early-mid game. If not you become worthless. NOT HIDE. Manta style always helps you to make a comeback in a fight/ give you advantage in a fight. You can use it to KILL or escape. Shadow blade only helps you escape.
Just imagine, enemy sees you half health, takes you on (assuming they full health), you whip out 2 other illusions out using manta, by the time they figure out the real you they left with half health, then you turn on mekansm, there you have won the fight, very simple). Just think about how this mind game thing works. It actually works alot for me in pub matches by tricking others into thiking they could have killed me but I KILL THEM instead LOL. MIND games haha.
Take note: In very rare situations when my early gameplay is not effective ie to say steps 1-7 not executed succesully, shadow blade will be the option. Because even before i farm till manta style, you may already lost the game.
NEXT QUESTION: Why get butterfly after manta and not aghanims after manta? (assuming you took my advice and bought manta as a escape *** kill mechanism)
Butterfly. 30 agil+30 attack speed. What more do i need to say? The immense speed burst of spitting your poison attack is so great that taking down 2-3 enemies in a couple of seconds is achievable. Taking down towers is a breeze too.
If you decided to be defiant and took the Aghanims route, you now rely on your 12 seconds cooldown ulti (viper strike) to kill. Think realistically, within 12s, a 5v5 fight would have/almost ended. By the time you wait for the cooldown, either you are dead or the enemy team is dead. You wont get to use it twice in a teamight most of the time. So why not spend that money on a butterfly? At least thats my perspective. No hard feelings here.
LAST QUESTION YOU MIGHT HAVE: What item to get after manta+butterfly?
Without doubt, get an MKB. Manta+ butterfly+MKB makes your opponent fear you like no tomorrow.
Manta confuses your opponent.
High damage output from MKB fuelled by turbo spitting power of butterfly. Viper is simply UNSTOPPABLE.
Well, that said, most of the time you won't have the luxury to get an MKB coz yr game would have ended after you got your butterfly.
Small add-on: A minority would ask why not sange and yasha during mid game which boosts viper's survivability?
I cannot deny that the stats from sange makes viper tankier but seriously, viper is tanky enough. It is certainly not as squishy as drow or sniper. I really would strongly suggest that that money be better off spent on a manta-read above on why.
Small add on: No blink/ shadow blade for initiation as situational items?
As I have stated, this guide is only meant for beginner-intermediate pub playing. Most of the time, you do not require the surprise factor from these initiation items to get the kill. All you need is
ambush and kill because you know, beginner pub matches, they usually don't ward well/less team coordination and stuff like that.
What if I have QOP/PA/morphing/puck/faceless void/storm spirit in the opponent team and they escape well? In that case, i may consider a blink.
But still, in a beginner-intermediate level pub playing, that money would be better off spent on other items.
Small add on: why no bkb as situational item?
by simple logic, most ppl would buy this item when the other team have heroes like lion,Lina, crystal maiden that inflict high magic damage, no thanks to their skills.
However, really, the only reason I would get it is when such heroes like lion/ Lina are well-fed and over leveled compared to the rest, which shouldn't have been the case if you followed my guide religiously. So, no bkb for me 90% of the time.
Mek-->manta--> butterfly still works best for me in beginner-intermediate pub playing.
If you disagree with any of my pointers/have any suggestions to improve my pointers, feel free to highlight them to me in the comments section. Thank you for reading and have a good day ahead!
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