Viper

Viper

The Dire

20 + 1.9 21 + 2.5 15 + 1.8

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 530 1100 1765 Mana 195 572 1014 Damage 44-46 83-85 124-126 Armor 1.94 7.4 13.14 Attacks / Second 0.71 0.94 1.18

Movement Speed 285 Turn Rate 0.4 Sight Range 1800/800 Attack Range 575 Missile Speed 1200 Attack Duration 0.33+1 Cast Duration 0.3+0.51 Base Attack Time 1.7

Viper the Netherdrake is a ranged agility Hero who can function as an excellent ganker and carry due to his slowing auto-attacks and his low cooldown ultimate. Although ganking is often made easier with Viper's presence, his true carry potential is revealed with sheer item power. Farming with Viper is relatively easy; while he has no area of effect abilities to clear waves, Nethertoxin makes last-hitting a cinch. However, active participation in ganking is very important before his ganking power wears out in mid-late game, due to enemy heroes playing more cautiously and obtaining better items. Orb-walking with Poison Attack makes Viper very potent in hero harassing and pushing.

Bio

Viper, the Netherdrake Play "My fangs drip." Role: Carry / Durable 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. Voice: Tony Todd (Responses)

Abilities

Poison Attack Q C 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 4/3/0/0 20 Becoming magic immune while affected will not remove it. The Netherdrake's inborn toxic breath quickly drains the vitality of its afflicted.

Notes: The slow and damage will not be increased by successive casts; the duration of the spell will be refreshed instead. Deal a total of 20/32/44/56 damage.

Nethertoxin W L Ability Affects Passive Enemy units and structures 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% Poison from the Nether Reaches turns wounds into fatalities, and fatigue into death.

Notes: Against someone at 100-80% health, it deals 2.5/5/7.5/10 damage. Against someone at 80-60% health, it deals 5/10/15/20 damage. Against someone at 60-40% health, it deals 10/20/30/40 damage. Against someone at 40-20% health, it deals 20/40/60/80 damage. Against someone at 20-0% health, it deals the full 40/80/120/160 damage.

Corrosive Skin E I Ability Affects Damage Passive Enemies Magical Viper exudes an infectious toxin that damages and slows any enemy that attacks 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% Damage is blocked, slow is not. It is not unusual for sword and shield alike to corrode in the very hands of those who attack the Netherdrake.

Notes: Magic resistance stacks with magic resistance from items. Affects the attacking unit before the attack is actually released. Deal a total of 40/60/80/100 damage.

Viper Strike R V 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 80/50/30 (12*) 125/175/250 (125*) Damage is blocked, slow is not. Decreases mana cost and cooldown, and increases cast range. Once used to slay his sadistic summoner, the most powerful of Netherdrake infections spreads through the veins of those foolish enough to cross Viper.

Notes: This skill does not allow for heroes to be denied. The slow is applied before the projectile connects. Deal a total of 300/500/725 damage.

Recommended items

Explanation: Starting: The slippers and the branches early game will give you a great boost to your harass and last hitting ability. Core: Power Treads are the boots of choice to augment Viper's DPS and increase his tankiness. A Wraith Band or two give you a decent boost in damage, which helps with lasthitting, and one of them can be upgraded to a Ring of Aquila. Vanguard, however, is actually a very poor choice of items on Viper, thanks to its reduced efficiency on ranged heroes and his decent armor growth. A Mekansm is actually a very strong replacement for it if no one else on your team intends to build one and your team is going to group up for pushes early. Situational: Shadow Blade is a good pickup on Viper if you intend to use it for ganking. Viper is a very capable ganker if he can get into close range with a target. Between both of his slows and his damage scaling up as his target's health decreases, Viper is a very good hero for dueling. Aghanim's Scepter massively increases Viper's usefulness. The much, much lower CD on his ult allows him to almost spam it in teamfights which lowers his target's DPS, slows them, and deals a hefty amount of damage. It also increases his tankiness, and Viper's usefulness goes up greatly the longer he's in a fight. Manta Style provides a mix of tankiness, damage, and chasing potential, all which greatly help Viper. It also provides a way to remove certain debuffs. Butterfly is another item that provides a mix of damage and tankiness. Once you have a solid HP pool, evasion makes Viper much, much harder to bring down with physical damage. Monkey King Bar provides an unreliable disable on top of a solid chunk of damage. It's best if your team is low on disables or enemy carries are picking up evasion. If neither of these are true, it is probably better to pick up a Daedalus for pure damage output. This is another item that shouldn't be rushed and should be your 3rd or 4th item finished.

Tips

• It is imperative to get Poison Attack to rank 3 as soon as possible, as the incredible slow makes it difficult for an opponent to flee or even fight back.
  • However, it may be wise to not rank up Poison Attack when the game starts; depending on your lane, Nethertoxin may be more helpful to secure last-hits and denies.
• As a carry, you will generally want to put points into Nethertoxin over Corrosive Skin, to maximise your damage. This is especially true mid-game, when your abilities' damage over time will bring enemies low enough to trigger Nethertoxin's damage increases.
  • One early point in Corrosive Skin can be highly useful for the magic resistance; 10% damage reduction makes a notable difference to the end result of an enemy nuke combo.
• As your Poison Attack and Viper Strike slow attack speed as well, apply them to the enemy carry to cripple their damage output.
• Late-game, Viper can help push by tanking the enemy creep wave; his Corrosive Skin will shrug off most of the damage while simultaneously killing the creeps with speed. Of course, the enemy heroes' position should be taken into account.

Trivia

• Viper's response "Holy shit, it's me!" is a reference to the movie Top Gun. Gyrocopter makes a similar, yet more accurate response upon meeting him as an ally.

Update history

March 21, 2013 Patch

• Added a unique sound for Viper's orb attack.

December 06, 2012 Patch

• Updates on sound effects for Visage, Viper, Warlock, Tiny and Earthshaker.

October 18, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Nethertoxin damage not being critable.

April 19, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Corrosive Skin affecting Serpent Wards.

April 12, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Viper Strike being an instant effect instead of a dodgeable projectile.

February 16, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Poison Attack damage being lethal.

October 13, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Viper's Viper Strike buff tooltip not showing correct values.

September 16, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Corrosive Skin to happen at the start of the attack animation rather than at the end of it.

September 15, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Corrosive Skin to happen at the start of the attack animation rather than at the end of it.

June 02, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Corrosive Skin having a bug that caused it to not work properly.

May 20, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Corrosive Skin vs mechanical units.

March 22, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Viper Strike slow doing maximum power for the entire duration instead of falling off.

March 03, 2011 Patch

• Removed Tiny, Enigma, and Viper from "New heroes" list, so they won't be the only ones chosen with Random Hero.
• Fixed a bug where Viper's corrosive skin debuff wouldn't do any damage to the creeps that it had poisoned.
• Fixed Viper Strike not slowing Magic Immune.
• Fixed Nethertoxin working on allied units for denies.
• Fixed Corrosive Skin working on buildings.

February 19, 2011 Patch

• Added Faceless Void, Viper, and Tiny.

Balance changelog

6.77

• Base strength increased by 3

6.75

• Corrosive Skin duration increased from 3 to 4.
• Viper Strike Aghanim's cast range increased from 800 to 900.
• Nethertoxin max damage increased from 32/64/96/128 to 40/80/120/160.

6.74

• Poison Attack
  • Damage increased from 6/12/18/24 to 10/16/22/28.
  • Attack damage not being lethal.

6.72

• Corrosive Skin now stacks with Poison Attack.

6.71

• Corrosive Skin, slow and magic resistance increased from 5/10/15/20 to 10/15/20/25.

6.69

• Viper Strike (Aghanim's version) mana cost reduced from 125/175/250 to 125

6.68

• Added Aghanim's Scepter to Viper

Cast Range increased from 500 to 800 and cooldown from 80/50/30 to 12

6.64

• Movement speed decreased by 5

6.63

• Movement speed decreased by 10

6.61

• Nethertoxin now only works on enemy units

6.60

• Replaced Frenzy with a new ability Nethertoxin

6.58

• Viper Strike's cooldown reduced from 80 to 80/50/30 seconds

Replaced Abilities

Frenzy Q R Ability Affects No Target Self Increases attack speed, at the cost of taking additional damage. Duration: 20 Bonus Attack Speed: 25/50/75/100 Bonus Damage Taken: 5%/10%/15%/20% 40 80/90/110/130

Notes: Does not stack with Mask of Madness. Poison Attack was the second ability at this time.

See also

• Viper responses