Riot revealed in a Valorant State of the Agents post on Friday that Viper’s much-anticipated changes aren’t coming with the next patch.
Viper has been one of Valorant’s weakest agents since the game released last June, with some of the lowest pick and win percentages on the competitive ladder. Riot has attempted to buff her several times in different balance patches, but she still can’t compete with Omen and Brimstone, the game’s other two Controller agents. Riot has promised more changes to her, but the company hasn’t committed to a timeline for them. According to character producer John Goscicki, the development team hasn’t settled on a new direction for Viper.
“Many of you have been perusing the patch notes, waiting for some larger updates to address issues that Viper’s run into,” Goscicki wrote. “I’m gonna be the bearer of bad news that the next patch is not when you’ll see that update. We need to spend more time really defining where she fits within the choice competition among Brimstone and Omen.”
Valorant State Of Agents Article for February 2021 | #VALORANT https://t.co/4AvtVePkaj
— Mike – Valorant Leaks & Info (@ValorLeaks) February 12, 2021
One of Viper’s problems is her competition, Brimstone and Omen, who both have smoke abilities that can strategically block vision at specific spots safely from a distance. Viper, on the other hand, relies heavily on her poison wall for vision control. This ability is far more restricting because she can only place it once per round, and it isn’t quite as effective at blocking precise angles. While Viper’s other abilities help her out once she has control of a site, she isn’t the greatest at assisting her team in pushing onto sites.
It’s unclear when Riot plans to release these changes, but they did also announce that their next character will be a brand new Controller agent. To see whether Valorant’s worst controller gets her buff alongside the release of agent 16, stay tuned to Daily Esports.
