Dota 2 Heroes – An Introduction to Viper the Netherdrake

By: Jason McCarthy

  |   December 5th, 2012   |  

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Viper the Netherdrake is a ranged agility carry hero that is adept at taking down enemy enemies. He is usually built very tanky because of his skill set.

His first skill Poison Attack is an auto-castable orb ability that at Level 4 will slow for 40% and deal 28 damage per second. The slow and damage are not stackable, but the buffs will last for 2 seconds, so reapplying it is still crucial.

His second skill Nethertoxin is a passive ability that at Level 4 will allow you to deal 8 bonus damage with each attack, which does not sound much for its clients. For every 20% missing hit points (hp) of the target unit, the damage will double. For example, if the unit is missing 40% health, they will be taking 32 extra damage and if they are missing 80% health, then they will be taking maximum 128 bonus damage.

This third skill Corrosive Skin is his second passive ability. This is the skill that shapes tanky build that so many players choose to go for. One aspect of this skill is that at Level 4, Viper be given 25% magic resistance, which is actually stackable. Also, whoever attacks Viper will have a 25 damage per second debuff applied to them, as well as a 25% slow debuff, both of which last 3 seconds.

As if Viper does not have enough slows, his Ultimate Viper Strike is a single-target ultimate that will absolutely cripple any enemy it is applied to. At Level 3, it will deal 145 damage per second and slow move speed by 80%, all of this lasting for 5.1 seconds. Keep in mind that the effects of this ultimate goes through magic immunity.

Aghanim’s Scepter can also be picked up by Viper. It does not actually add any damage to his ultimate, but instead lowers down the mana cost from 250 to 125, buffs the casting range from 500 to 800 units and most importantly lowers the cool-down from 30 seconds to merely 12 seconds.

With a number of slows and over-time damage dealing buffs at his disposal, it is logical to go for items that give you a health boost while playing Viper. The extra bit of health not only works extremely well with his second ability Nethertoxin, it also increases his survivability as more often than not, enemies will resort to attacking you instead of running away as that is something next to impossible due to the large amount of slows that you have with you. Viper is also an excellent ganker, something that becomes quite obvious once you take another look at his abilities. His skills are pretty simple to understand and easy to use, therefore making him a good choice of hero for newbie players.

Disclaimer: The research used in this article is accredited to Dota Cinema and SUNSfan. No copyright infringement is intended.