Viper's smoke has a hidden feature that gives her a peeker's advantage

Fariha Bhatti Published 31/03/2021

Viper may carry only one smoke but a new exploit shows that her Poison Cloud overpowers every other controller’s kit.

Viper was released as one of the original ten agents, but she wasn’t much of a hit as the other nine agents. A new feature in her smoke discovered by YouTuber Swoopy hints that she may have been shadow buffed by Riot Games.

The new find shows that Viper can gain a massive peeker’s advantage by hiding inside her smoke. Unlike other agents, her smoke leaves a residue for enemies for a mini second after Viper has defused her Poison Cloud. For example, if you’re a Viper main hiding in your smoke, the shield will drop for you first, providing you with an edge over the enemy who’s still looking at a big green cloud. This exploit doesn’t apply to the smokes of any other agent in Valorant. Here’s why.

Viper utilizes a device that releases a toxic gas in a round shape. When she turns off the smoke, the gas defuses back into the device’s center, creating a time window where Viper may get a peeker’s advantage. The difference between smoke fading for enemy and Viper is 350ms, which may seem minute, but this time window can make tons of difference in high elo games. A Viper player with quick reaction time can easily pick off multiple agents. To make it worse for enemies, Viper’s smoke is reusable for as long as the round lasts, making this exploit a menace.

It remains unclear whether Viper got shadow-buffed while everyone was busy exploring Astra’s kit, or this exploit existed all along. Numerous Viper players claim that this feature never existed and has just started to appear in their games. There’s also a high possibility that this is another random bug providing Viper with a tactical wall-hack. Whatever the case, more players may start picking Viper in ranked queues, thanks to her mysterious smoke.

Is Viper a bad agent in Valorant?

Viper is not a bad agent by any stretch. The controller is equipped with a wall covering extensive areas, a large cloud of smoke, and two molotovs powerful enough to burn enemies to death. Her ultimate Viper’s pit can shut down an entire bomb point for as long as she wants.

However, Viper’s abilities are available in other agents’ kits coupled with more smokes and better damage capacity. This leads the players to pick agents who’re capable of doing what Viper can and more.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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