The Thrifty Viper - Early/Mid game superiority

Nice guide, but i find that Shadow Blade is certainly a core on Viper. You are not much in the ways of carrying as you just need a hell of a farm to be able to carry, but the Blade provides you with great ganking power which allows Viper to do what he does best.
Also, i certainly find that you need Yasha right after Treads for the mobility it provides, and something for HP. While the Urn of Shadows is a great choice for yourself and for the team, i find that Point Booster or Health Booster are much better, as they also contribute for getting your Heart of Tarrasque, Aghanim's Scepter, or just a plain Soul Booster which is actually good on him, even though completing it to a Bloodstone is not that good, but sometimes viable, nontheless.
Upvoted, keep the good stuff up!

Thanks! Yeah I was just throwing this together as my first guide one night so I didn't have time to pretty it up. I will definitely give it a tune up at some point.



Oh yes, I totally agree that it can be a good choice as I said in the guide but Corrosive Skin at 2 is much more effective damage wise against someone who will be aggressively trading hits/using damage over time abilities. The Orb will cost you early mana to use and do 2x10(20) damage whereas Corrosive Skin will do 4x10(40) damage for zero mana (+10% magic resist handy as well against bottle starts).



Thanks! Yeah that build you posted is a pretty popular one, but the point of my build is to be active earlier and be the ganker rather then the ganked.

Similar Start: Treads/Stick/Aquila
But then they go for Mek, 2306g, as a defensive item before their core offense.
Urn, 875g, will do similar work for you as a ganker coming online faster and letting you move into your prime offensive candidates (Crystalis/Yasha) minutes earlier. Those extra minutes mean a lot when you can be actively killing people on the map.

As for escapes, Mek is good when farming in lane to give you a boost when trying to escape but with the role of roamer after Urn you will be more focused on being the aggressor. Map awareness and positioning are really the two best tools for Viper, extra movement speed from a Yasha helps too (or Shadow Blade if you like). If you get fat, a Linkin's is nice.

agree, Poison Attack as soon as possible is great for harassing.

hey, man.
nice guide.
I've tried some approaches to viper, and the best I've found was this guy's.

By putting some lvls early on Corrosive Skin and using both Magic Wand and Mekansm it's pretty hard for oponents to gank you, specially if he is alone.

But my question is, with your setup, how do you escape from a bad situation? Just positioning and run? Because sometimes that's not enough, and a nice timed heal can save you, specially with Corrosive Skin maxed.

I prefer to get a point into his Q at 2 and then get corrosive skin at 3 since it allows you to orbwalk harass.

Nice guide, love the triple twig!



To make it easier to read you should add some color and pictures Viper


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