There are ten different characters (Agents) currently available to play in the Valorant closed beta, each of them fitting into one of four different classes: Controller, Initiator, Sentinel, and Duelist. Each of those four roles has different strengths and weaknesses, and each character accomplishes the goals of their roles in a different way.
Viper is one of the controllers in Valorant. Let's take a look at some tips for using Viper to ensure you're getting the most out of playing as her:
10 POISON CLOUD
One of Viper's abilities is her Poison Cloud. Like a lot of different characters in Valorant, this acts as some easy visual cover to make use of, but at the end of the day, functions in a unique way, as does everybody else's. These can be set around whenever you'd like, and so set up well before there's danger present, and activated and deactivated at will (as long as you have enough fuel).
9 TOXIC SCREEN
Toxic Screen is another ability that's similar to a couple others in Valorant, the Toxic Screen is another form of visual cover that can be used for a myriad of reasons. Also, just like the Poison Cloud, this can be set up before you have any intention of using it and deactivated and activated at will (provided you have enough fuel).
8 SNAKE BITE
Again, much like Viper's first two abilities, Snake Bite is going to be familiar to players coming from a few different other characters in Valorant, like Brimstone and his Molotov. Snake Bite blankets an area in poison, damaging anybody (including Viper) unfortunate enough to find themselves standing in it.
7 VIPER'S PIT
However, Viper's Pit, which is Viper Ultimate ability, is very unique. It blankets a, quite frankly, staggeringly huge area in a green haze. This not only reduces the visibility of those inside, but it also reduces the max health of enemies inside.
This is an easy way to create some severely uneven gunfights, especially in Viper's favor, and the ability stays active as long as Viper stays inside the cloud, or at least doesn't leave it for too long of a time.
6 POISON CLOUD PUSH/DEFENSE
Much like every other ability that functions in this way, Viper's Poison Cloud can be used as a method for pushing or defending, depending on which way you would like to use it and how the enemy team is playing a certain section of the map. When attacking, the Poison Cloud can be used as a way to cut off a sightline the enemy is using to prevent your team from getting where they need to get. On Defense, the cloud can be used to force attackers to come around a corner/through a hallway without knowing what's on the other side, creating a very lopsided situation for them to overcome.
5 TOXIC SCREEN FOR VISUAL COVER
Another form of visual cover that Viper has access to, the Toxic Screen can be used in a lot of the same ways that the Poison Cloud can be, though because of it's different shape, it can be used in slightly different ways. Because it's set up in a line instead of a sphere, it's pretty easy to use to simply cover a doorway, or use as a way to dance in and out of an enemy's line of sight without necessarily hampering what you can see too much.
4 SNAKE BITE FOR AREA-DENIAL
The Snake Bite is a pretty simple ability but has a variety of uses. The most obvious use is its area denial, preventing enemies from accessing a certain area unless they'd like to be acid-burned. It can also be a pretty good way to prevent a Spike Plant if an enemy is in mid-plant and you toss this down on them.
3 POISON RECHARGES OVER TIME
One key mechanic of Viper that is entirely unique to her; most of her abilities require fuel to stay active. This fuel is shown in the gauge just above your ability bar and recharges on its own over time. When certain abilities are active, the fuel is drained, and once it's empty, the abilities will deactivate.
Managing the fuel and knowing when to keep your abilities active and when to let them deactivate for a time can really end up being the difference in a round; nothing is worse than relying on some kind of ability just for it to fail you when you need it the most.
2 VIPER'S PIT CREATES UNEVEN GUNFIGHTS
As mentioned before, Viper's Pit is going to create some entirely uneven gunfights. If Viper is in the Pit and already has some good idea of where to look for enemies, those enemies are going to have a severely difficult time winning a gunfight against her. And, due to the absolutely bonkers radius this ability has, you can really lock down a huge area of the map.
1 PREPARE EARLY
Viper, like Cypher, can set up her gameplan pretty early, forcing enemies to adapt to what you're doing instead of the other way around. You always want to be the team dictating the terms of the fight, and Viper can really help your team excel at that, getting you off to a good start and forcing those teams that aren't coordinated enough to adapt to a quick defeat.