Ascent is far from Viper’s strongest map in VALORANT, but if you put in the work to learn how to use her abilities effectively, she can be a fine choice.
On a map that favors agents with high flexibility and dynamic playstyles, Viper players may find themselves feeling stuck or unable to use their utility to its fullest potential. One word of caution is you’ll probably never want to play with a Viper as your only controller on Ascent. She works better alongside a controller like Omen or Brimstone who both have more flexibility in their smoke placements.
Nevertheless, there are certainly ways to optimize Viper’s playstyle on Ascent. Here is our guide for the best setups for Viper on Ascent.
The best Viper lineups for Ascent in VALORANT
Before diving into any specific placements for Viper’s Toxic Screen and Poison Orbs, it’s best to understand the characteristics of Ascent and why certain utility does and doesn’t work on different areas of the map.
Ascent is one of the maps in VALORANT with the most spacious middle sections. The mid area of this map consists of a huge courtyard where defenders and attackers alike enjoy peeking through a few key angles. Taking control of mid can be a win condition for attackers, though sometimes a full-on assault onto one site will favor defenders spread across the map.
Therefore, while Viper players usually want to set up on one site and adjust their utility based on information from their teammates, on Ascent there are plenty of opportunities for multiple-site setups that can help your team even from afar.
Viper can also flank off of her utility on this map and can be a good choice to try to redirect battles toward that open mid area while simultaneously cutting it off. Below are our guides for each site on Ascent, though many of the Toxic Screens and Poison Orbs also focus heavily on that mid area.
Viper Ascent A Site setups
Viper has one advantage with her Toxic Screen that no other controller agent has the luxury of—once she sets the wall down, it stays there until the round is over. While this has often been considered a weakness, as the wall can’t be positioned dynamically based on changing situations within a round, on a map where rotations and lurks are common, being able to have that permanent setup is actually a strength.
Therefore, we recommend defending Viper players always use their Toxic Screen in a way where it can cover more than one entry point, with one of those points being across mid.
This wall allows the Viper player to hold from a position in A Tree, while also providing cover for their team across not only the entrance to Tree but also mid and even B Main. The only con of this wall is that you probably won’t have enough fuel for it to last for an entire rotation, but this position turns a formerly static piece of utility into a dynamic masterpiece.
If you want to go for a riskier version of this wall, try pushing out a bit from Tree onto the catwalk, and set up from there.
Placing this wall requires you to put yourself in a risky position, so make sure you can safely clear across mid so that you’re able to set up the lineup in the small cubby on the catwalk.
You may be wondering about the obvious risk of leaving A Main open with this setup. Ideally, you’ll have another teammate holding closer to the actual A Site who can cover you there. But if not, feel free to pop a Poison Orb down to cover the main entrance straight onto the site.
As far as your Snakebites go, the roofed area over part of the site unfortunately makes vertical lineups a bit tricky. It’s tough to get a lineup to land directly behind the generator, the main area where attackers usually plant the spike. However, we do have an easy way to hit a Snakebite onto the two boxes in the middle of the site, which can prevent a plant there and also scatter attackers from that middle area.
This lineup can be thrown from the safety of A Heaven, with only a small and quick peek.
You can also try to hit a lineup for a typical plant spot if you are able to clear Tree and also break the door. You’ll have to play around a bit, but take a look at our diagram with the most common spike plant locations (indicated by gold stars) and possible Snakebite landing spots (green).
You can also throw a molly at the entrance to A Tree, as seen in the diagram, to prevent attackers from gaining control of that area.
Overall, we would recommend trying to hold in Tree or A Heaven when playing as Viper as opposed to on the A Site itself.
If you’re trying to attack A Site, try out one of these walls to execute either through A Main or through mid to A Site. This might call for you to play separately from your team to set up, but Viper is a great flanker and late-entry agent anyway, so that isn’t a huge deal.
Viper Ascent B Site setups
Playing on mid can be a great way to set yourself up for success to rotate quickly and use your utility defensively. Yet, one of our favorite B Site setups actually calls for the Viper player to sit deep in Boathouse.
This wall covers not only B Main and Lane, but also prevents enemies from taking control of mid and Market, which are massively contested areas for B Site control. In addition, from the safety of Boathouse, Viper can throw Snakebites on both B Site and Lane (see the diagram above).
If you’d rather hold in Market or mid, you can try throwing up this wall while having your primary attention focused on B Site.
The only risk for this wall is that it can potentially give attackers that first layer of control in mid. But you could try throwing a Poison Orb in that spot to add an extra layer of protection. Alternatively, a classic great spot for a Poison Orb is, of course, B Main. Here’s a diagram of overall fantastic places for defensive Poison Orbs.
Your main Snakebites will want to target Lane and the typical plant spot for B Site, which is right behind the boxes closer to the back of the site and Boathouse. Here’s a lineup you can use if your team has cleared or smoked off B Main, and the rest of the enemy players are all on the site itself ready to plant the spike. You’ll have to peek minimally for this one, so it’s best to have a teammate watching your back.
If you’re attacking on to the B site, there are a few walls you can use. The classic Viper wall for pushing through B Main is set up from the attacker side and allows you to stay playing with your teammates for the entire push. This wall cuts off both Market and the entrance from the defender spawn.
As with all Toxic Screens, make sure you communicate with your team when your wall goes down. And in this case, it’s good to make sure someone closes the physical door into Market as well, for an added protective layer once your fuel runs out.
If your team wants to push through mid toward Market and eventually end up on B site, there’s another wall setup you can try that could be a game-changer. Again, this wall will require you to potentially play separately from your team. You’ll have to set it up from the top of the catwalk, which can potentially also put you at risk if you peek too far or too early, so proceed with caution.
If you’re not feeling the risk of putting up this wall, you can also cover the entrance to Market with a Poison Orb, you’ll just have to make sure to clear the catwalk before crossing.
This diagram shows five excellent spots to put a Poison orb on any attacking round. These smokes will prevent defenders from peeking and getting easy line-of-sight to pick your teammates off as you make your way onto the site.
Good luck trying Viper out on Ascent. She can be a fun agent to play on this map, as long as she gets a bit of assistance.
