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Iron BranchIron BranchIron Branch
Circlet
Healing Salve
Tango
Ring of Aquila
Magic Wand
Boots of Speed
Urn of Shadows
Power Treads
Crystalys
Yasha
Daedalus
Butterfly
Sange and Yasha
Shadow Blade
Assault Cuirass
Black King Bar
Heart of Tarrasque
Hood of Defiance
Linken's Sphere
Manta Style
Monkey King Bar
Orchid Malevolence
Aghanim's Scepter
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3 | 4 | 5 | 14 |  |
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1 | 7 | 8 | 9 |  |
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2 | 10 | 12 | 13 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Viper is known as a hero who is very underrated in the competitive scene but known to accomplish much in PUBs. Why is this? Viper has the ability to completely overpower the opposition in lane but lacks the hard disables preferred in the competitive scene, that being said Viper is strong enough to be played at high levels shown by his recent inclusion in TI3.
So what do we want to accomplish with Viper? I personally see him as a great laner either in a solo mid situation or in a dual lane vs. dual lane setup. You do not want to use him as a solo offlane because he has no escape mechanism and is vulnerable early on, he will likely be feed in such a situation. You could farm viper in a trilane but it is really a waste of his talents as he is much stronger when he uses his ability to dominate a lane and deprive the opposition on an even field.
One particular thing to note about Viper is that since he is lacking in disables or utility abilities a team that can compensate for that by having good utility helps him greatly. Viper really benefits in a lineup that has solid initiation.
My particular goal with Viper is to dominate the laning phase (preferably as solo mid) and then switch over to a roaming ganker once you have your base items up. I'll walk you through my build and item choices in the following sections.
Ability: Auto-Cast
Affects: Enemy Units
Damage: Magical
Range: 600
Duration: 2
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 10%/20%/30%/40%
Damage Per Second: 10/16/22/28
4/3/0/0 (20)
Becoming magic immune while affected will not remove it.
Poison Attack is a very good ability because once you get 3 points into it, you have it on zero cooldown. This means that you can constantly use the ability to permentantly keep a target's movement and attack speed slowed by at least 30%, allowing you to prevent an enemy from escaping as well as reduce their damage output if they try and fight.
3 points into this ability by level 5 is a must. Level 4 is nice, but a luxury so I generally will wait to get it last.
The poison damage on this ability is also a great way to win harass wars in lane. Also note that if you manually activate the ability by pressing Q and then on the opponent, you will not draw aggro from creeps.
Ability: Passive
Affects: Enemy units and structures
Base Bonus Damage: 2.5/5/7.5/10
Maximum Bonus Damage: 40/80/120/160
Non-hero Damage: 50%
Nethertoxin is what makes Viper such a beast in the mid game. As the enemy heath scales down you get bonus damage that grows exponentially. With 4 points you can get as much as 160 extra bonus damage (that can be modified by things like critical hit) when the opponent is below 20%hp. This also means that Viper does not scale as well into the very late game because his abilities provide flat bonuses rather then percentage based ones.
Make use of Nethertoxin at 1 point early to get +20 damage to your last hitting power vs. lane creeps. Make sure this is your first ability maxed as it is your best skill to have 4 points in.
Ability: Passive
Affects: Enemies
Damage: Magical
Duration: 4
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 10%/15%/20%/25%
Damage Per Second: 10/15/20/25
Magic Resistance: 10%/15%/20%/25%
Damage is blocked, slow is not.
Corrosive Skin is a great ability is the early laning stage with 1 point as it allows you to deal 4x10 (40) damage to your oppenent when they decide to hit you with ANY damage source. It also provides a nice added magic resistance to help avoid death in lane vs. bottle starts.
In the late game you will want to max this after Nethertoxin for the most part as it provides you with a valuable 25% magic resistance, as well as all the other benefits it gives.
Ability: Target Unit
Affects: Enemies
Damage: Magical
Range: 500 (900*)
Duration: 5.1
Attack and Movement Speed Slow: 40%/60%/80%
Damage Per Second: 60/100/145
80/50/30 (12*) 125/175/250 (125*)
Damage is blocked, slow is not.
*Decreases mana cost and cooldown, and increases cast range. (Aghanim's Scepter)
Viper Strike is a great ability as soon as you hit 6, and for a long time after. Due to it's set damage though, it isn't a great ability in the late end game.
Viper Strike will do work for you once you hit level 6 by applying huge movement/attack speed slow to go along with a good chunk of damage. This will let you set up ganks and debuff enemy carries in teamfights. Make sure you put points into this at 6, 11, and 16 no exceptions.
I see most people seem to be singing the praises of the Mek on Viper as it gives him some good all around stats, armour, and a group heal. Although I agree it is good, I feel like the Mek could be built on one of the supports and Viper would be better off going for most cost effective item purchases in the early game that can better help his all around game.
- Tango
- Healing Salve
- Circlet
- 3x Ironwood Branch
My starting item choices are pretty simple. Tango and Salve are sufficient in supporting my laning presence with regen while the Circlet and 3x Branch setup affords me an all around +5 to all stats. This leaves me with a slightly low 50 base damage, but with Nethertoxin[/color] at level 1 it will be effectively 70 base damage for last hits.
- Aquila's Ring
- Boots of Speed
- Magic Stick
Prioritize your Aquila first as it will provide you with a very good bang for your buck stat/damage/armour wise as well as giving you a needed passive boost in the form of a mana regen aura.
Magic Stick/Boots are your next pickups. Boots are obvious while the magic stick is another great cheap utility item that can provide you burst HP/MP healing when running or chasing as well as some more base stats.
- Urn of Shadows
- Power Treads
Urn/Treads are your next priorities. I personally like Urn first as it makes you want to be active but if you can get a good start with a kill or two in lane you can have both before you need to start actively ganking.
Now why do I choose Urn? I had been mulling over Viper's unique skill set and was trying to find the right items to overcome his weaknesses without sacrificing to much in the gold department. The Urn is the perfect compliment for what is needed.
+6 STR gives him a higher base HP pool, which when combined with all the extra base stats given from your other starting items makes you pretty beefy early on. +50% Mana Regen gives you a solid boost to your mana pool by being combined with Aquila Ring and INT treads during downtime, I find that between the three of them I generally regen enough mana between skirmishes that I do not have to go back to fountain (just remember to refrain from using Poison Attack on creeps). Lastly the burst heal compensates for Viper's lack of HP regen in his item builds. Since you want to be out in the field participating in kills the Urn allows you to keep yourself and teammates refreshed after battles rather then needing to heal at fountain. All in all, this is the single most key item for my Viper build all for the paltry cost of 875. This is my answer to other people who go Mek first, use Urn.
Power Treads are very versatile for Viper. Team fights swap to STR for the extra HP, your damage will be good enough without the extra 8 AGI. During small ganks use the AGI to squeak out a little more damage to burst down opponents faster. During downtime between fights and while farming, flip over to INT to add some extra needed mana regen. Of course the attack speed is also another deciding factor for Viper as Viper wants to be taking full advantage of his additional Nethertoxin damage.
- Crystalis
- Yasha
First of all let me address the Shadow Blade which is NOT in my core. I feel it fits a more situational style where you expect to be able to get solo pick offs in lane or jungle. The simple threat of a SB can have a psychological toll on the enemy and cause them to play safer by grouping up, which means that it is largely less useful once the enemy adjusts. Any decent group will buy dust/wards/gem to counter you, and if they aren't they are just feed anyway.
So my first pick is the Crystalis or Yasha. I prefer the Crystalis first as it is the single most cost effective DPS item you can buy. With Nethertoxin you will hit like a truck when you critical hit which can allow you to 2-3 shot squishy supports or burst down carries quickly with help. It does lack attack speed, but the side effect is that you will use less mana in team fights which is a big plus. That being said, a Yasha is also a great starting item as it gives extra mobility and good all around stats for basically the same price.
The great thing is that these items will come online FAST as your early items will make you very effective in the field far outplaying a standard Mek into Shadow Blade.
- Daedulus
- Butterfly
- Sange and Yasha
These items are great to finish up at any point later in the game. Which you get first really depends on your play style as well the situation.
Daedalus is my favourite first pick since you only need to pick up the Demon Edge to finish it with a Crystalis in your inventory. Again, it gives the same benefits I outlined before.
Butterfly is an amazing item giving you both defense and offense in a single item. The downside is you would be starting from scratch to build it so it will take longer to come online. With the extra armour and evasion it gives you, combined with your innate magic resist from corrosive skin you will be hard to take down quickly (you know, plus the damage and all).
Sange and Yasha is a decent pickup I included for posterity. Not my favourite, but if you already have a Yasha it is a solid choice to complete for a paltry extra 2050 gold. The Yasha could also go into a Manta Style, but I find that to be a more situational pick up when you want to get out of silence or you want some extra pushing power.
Shadow Blade: It is a good item for initiating as it will allow you to attack under the cover of invsibility as well as adding another 150 damage to your first attack, but it does cost 3000 gold. My problem with Shadow Blade is that if you are playing good opponents they will adjust by warding, dusting, and/or getting gems so a good chunk of Shadow Blades effectiveness is neutralized. Rather then being stealthy, if you can play with proper postioning and TP at appropriate times you should be able to get kills without Shadow Blade.
All being said, if you like it you can get it. It IS good for stomping PUBs... But do you really NEED Shadow Blade for that?
Assault Cuirass: A good item pickup if you are facing a large volume of incoming physical damage. The armour bonus it provides will tank up you and your entire team as well as providing more damage through minus armour.
Black King Bar: A good option if you are expecting lots of teamfighting against big spells and/or disables. BKB will give you the time you need to deal damage before being subjected to lockdown.
Heart of Tarrasque: A good item that gives you some amazing raw HP. This is a good middle ground tanking item between Hood and AC because it provides protection against both equally.
Hood of Defiance: I have never used Hood on Viper myself, but theoretically it could be good against a nuke heavy lineup. By stacking with his Corrosive Skin and natural magic resist, you would be all but impervious to magical damage.
Linkin Sphere: One of my favourite optional items, but I don't often get a chance to build it. If you are ahead early you often want to be able to apply more pressure by increasing your DPS or getting BKB for teamfights... But the Sphere provides great utility as a pickup after your core items. It's ability to blank a spell every 17 seconds can save you a lot in fights by preventing enemy initiation. On top of that you have decent stats that give you a nice combination of tank and damage.
Manta Style: If you already have Yasha and are expecting to go up against a lineup where you are likely to get silenced, Manta is a great way to add a way to get out of it.
Monkey King Bar: Pick this up if you are facing characters with innate evasion or ones that decide to go for a Butterfly.
Orchid of Malevolence: A very interesting choice on Viper, likely to be picked up if you end up religated to more of a 3 role in the mid game. It can have great utility in fights stopping annoying heroes, or seal enemies from using their escape mechanisms during a gank.
Aghanim's Scepter: This is also another great pickup if you arn't expected to be a top carry on your team. The Aghanim's Scepter will give you a 12 second cooldown on your Ultimate allowing you to fight more often then the enemy.
Viper is strong as a solo mid, but can also be very effective in shutting down a dual lane situation with proper use of his harassment techniques. Here are a few partners that go particularly well with Viper.
Venomancer: If you want a combo with great level 1 first blood ability that can completely dominate a lane, Veno is a great partner in crime. Level 1 Gale does massive damage and slow for it's level, combined with taking Poison Attack early the opponent will not be able to run. Throw in Veno's passive slow on his attacks and you two will have a field day. Level 1 wards are useful for watching your flanks.
Support Silencer: Although lacking a strict disable, his level 1 damage capability with his glaves combined with your own poison can have your opponents running for the hills. His curses are decent as well. Not really the most ideal laning partner but it is fun when it works. Beware of laning against 2x stuns.
Lich: He gives you lane control by consuming creeps for mana, has a slow/nuke with a low cooldown, and the ability to give you frost armour to further dominate the harass war in lane. Plus Chainfrost is awsome!
Leshrac: You give Leshrac an easier chance to land his stun with your slow, Leshrac gives you nuke power. He also helps you push down an early tower for extra gold at the start of the game giving you more mobility and map control.
And plenty more!
Viper although simple in theory, is a bit more complex then people may understand. Minor alterations in skill build/item build are completely necessary to be the most effective in any given game to get the most out of your hero.
Practice makes perfect, so remember to play a few games with him before you think you have him down pat. Always play aggressive with Viper when you can, but also recognize that if you have been zoning out the opposition for a couple minutes and all of a sudden they start running at you... BAIL as there will be backup coming up your flank for a gank.
Small things like positioning and timing will go a long way towards making you a more crisp and effective Viper player.
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