Want to know which character is the least used in all of Valorant? You've come to the right place.
Riot Games' Valorant has quickly taken over the esports scene, becoming increasingly popular. Featuring a rich selection of characters all with unique traits focused on teamwork, this tactical shooter has garnered praise from millions of players around the world.
However, even with such a wide array of unique Agents to choose from, there is one character who is played less than others. None other than Viper, and in this article, we will be exploring why she is the least-played Valorant character and whether or not she deserves more attention.
Who Is Viper?
Viper is one of the original agents that were released with the launch of Valorant. A toxicologist who can control and manipulate poison to her advantage.
Viper's kit includes abilities that revolve around her poisonous themes, such as a cloud that can be placed on the ground, and a toxic screen that can split a site in half. Both abilities block the vision of your enemies.
She also has a poison grenade that can be thrown to damage enemies. Her ultimate ability, Viper's Pit, creates a large area of poisonous gas that can obscure the vision of enemies and damage them over time. As a Controller, Viper is perfect to secure sites defensively or making a swift entry into one.
Why is Viper The Least Played Character In The Game
Despite her unique abilities and in-game potential, Viper remains the least-played character in Valorant.
Complexity
Viper is a very resource dependent Controller, making it hard to initially get a grasp on her abilities. You have to time your poison wall, and your poison cloud, and effectively use your grenades in post-plant situations. This makes her a challenging character to master, and many players simply don't want to put in the time and effort required to learn her abilities.
Lack of Mobility
Viper doesn't have crazy mobility tech like Omen's teleporter, Jett's dash, Chamber's rendezvous, Neon's sprint, Raze's satchel, or even Sage's wall which allows her to reach different spots. Thus, she's perceived as boring to play, it's also difficult for her to flank or surprise enemies.
Limited Range
Unless you know how to position yourself, her poison cloud and toxic screen have a relatively short range, and you need to practice your lineups for her poison grenade to be more reliable. She's a character that needs to anchor down a site for the most part, This makes it challenging for her to engage enemies who are far away
Inflexibility
Viper is a very stationary character. For example, once you place her toxic screen you can't move it for the rest of the round, the poison cloud can be picked up but you'll be putting yourself at risk half of the time. If the enemy rotates you'll be at such a massive disadvantage that you'll have to rely on your aiming alone.
Does Viper Deserve More Attention?
Despite not being a popular pick, Viper can be an excellent pick on the right hands. Her abilities can be devastating when used correctly, and she can control and manipulate areas of the map like no other Controller can.
Viper is an excellent choice for players who enjoy a more strategic and methodical playstyle, and she can be a valuable asset to any team. In pro play, she's the cornerstone of the current meta, which is dominated by two Controllers. Sadly, that means more nerfs are on the way for Viper.
Needless to say, these elite players with similar Valorant accounts that can be found being sold still are few and far between.
On top of all that, Viper is an excellent counter pick Agent. As a Controller with plenty of ways to break visibility, she's the perfect counter for OPers like Jett or Chamber. Poison Cloud also instantly denies healing abilities, hurting characters like Sage, Reyna, and Skye in the process, as their healing-over-time effects will stop immediately.
As for her Ultimate ability, Viper's Pit, can be used to force enemy teams to either rotate, letting your team set up before time, or force them to engage under very dire circumstances. Despite being one of the least played characters in ranked, Viper has been hit with the last recent changes. She can't stay away from the Viper's Pit as long as she could in the past, furthermore, both her Poison Cloud and Toxic Wall have increased recovery time, making Viper means having to be more strategic when utilizing her toolkit.
Viper is the least played Valorant character for multiple, including her complexity, lack of mobility, limited range, and inflexibility. However, despite these drawbacks, she is still a powerful Agent in the right hands and can be a valuable asset to any team. She can control and manipulate areas of the map like no other character can and can counter other popular characters in the game.
Additionally, Riot Games has made changes to her kit to make her more viable, showing that they are committed to making all characters in Valorant fun and viable to play. So if you're looking for a more strategic and methodical playstyle, give Viper a try and see how you can use her poisonous abilities to control the battlefield.
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