
How to play VyperHow to play
46.7% win rate · #32 of 44 · Gunner · Slippery · Rat-a-Tat
Updated 2026-10-30 01:19 UTC · n = 3,827,247 matches
How to play Vyper
1Lethal Venom
2Petrifying BolaYour combo: Poison them with Lethal Venom, petrify them for 2.2s with Petrifying Bola (the venom ignores the petrify’s damage block), then burst them when it ends.
Don’t waste: Petrifying Bola is on a 115s cooldown. Once it’s used, enemies commit.
Edge: Lethal Venom hits hardest below 30% health, and Slither tier 3 gives you a 180 barrier on slides.
From community hero guides, Oct 2026 patches, checked against deadlock.wiki. The same combo from the other side is on how to counter Vyper.
Your kit

Throw a dagger, dealing spirit damage and applying slow. Every subsequent dagger against the same target stacks in spirit damage and slow.

Inject a target with lethal venom. After a delay the venom triggers, dealing Spirit Damage. The damage is increased by the target's missing health.Lethal Venom will ignore Petrify's damage block.

You have increased Slide Distance, can Slide up hills, and can turn faster while Sliding.

Throw an explosive bola. On exploding, the bola Slows and Damages all enemies in the area. Direct hits deal Additional Damage and Petrify instead. Petrified units block all damage, but cannot take actions.
Skill order
Max first:
Slither›
Lethal Venom›
Petrifying Bola›
Screwjab Dagger
From the most common upgrade order (27k matches): the order abilities reach their last tier.
| 10m | 21m | 32m | 43m | 54m | 65m | 76m | 811m | 912m | 1016m | 1117m | 1219m | 1326m | 1427m | 1531m | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Screwjab DaggerAbility 1 | I | II | |||||||||||||
Lethal VenomAbility 2 | I | II | III | ||||||||||||
SlitherAbility 3 | I | II | III | ||||||||||||
Petrifying BolaUltimate | I | II | III |
unlock I II III upgrade tiers · column labels are the average minute of each step
Build path with timings
Close Quarters~3:35 · 86%
sold ~25:57
Extra Spirit~4:51 · 65%
sold ~13:44
Grit~7:01 · 37%
sold ~17:07
Rapid Rounds~8:00 · 82%
→ Burst Fire

Quicksilver Reload~14:17 · 74%
→ Mercurial Magnum
Split Shot~14:22 · 64%
Burst Fire~17:17 · 88%
Stamina Mastery~22:16 · 46%
Mercurial Magnum~25:01 · 66%
Vampiric Burst~30:34 · 25%
Items that win most on Vyper
+12.6 pp · 2% buy it
+12.0 pp · 10% buy it
+12.0 pp · 8% buy it
+11.7 pp · 20% buy it
+10.9 pp · 7% buy it
+10.0 pp · 21% buy it
Lanes you win
Lanes to play safe
When they counter you
−8.1 ppGravesBuy against Graves:
Armor Piercer+2.8 pp
Plated Armor+2.7 pp
Cursed Relic+2.3 pp
−6.4 ppRat KingBuy against Rat King:
Ethereal Shift+3.3 pp
Juggernaut+2.9 pp
Spellbreaker+2.8 pp
−6.1 ppPaigeBuy against Paige:
Magic Carpet+1.7 pp
Armor Piercer+1.6 pp
Spellbreaker+1.6 pp
Best teammates
54.1% together
53.9% together
53.1% together
52.1% together
51.5% together
51.3% together
Notes from the best builds
Your spirit spike is in an insta kill combo with dagger ult venom Start farm maxing once you have tesla YOU NEED A SIDELANE, try to avoid laning into characters with I-frames Mercurial Magnum is your biggest power spike twitch.tv/jiggahx
#Citadel_HeroBuilds_EarlyGame: L -> R
Core: L -> R
Late buys: Not ordered but fav L -> R (AP Rounds if they have 2+ plateds)
55.2% over 747 games · open build →L-R read annotations Twitch.tv/imbrck DONT USE SPLIT SHOT UNLESS YOU NEED IT
1) Early: after 4.8k spirit you are strong but have a big wait for tesla
2) Mid Game: Tesla big spike, perma slide and fight with fortitude
3) Burst + Merc: Skip Burst if Rich
4) Rico: <3 Farm till next 6.4k
49.7% over 17k games · open build →