"RIP Viper": Valorant fans in shambles as two OP Agents get nerfed

The Valorant 8.08 update that dropped on April 30, 2024, brought in a host of additions to the game, from an Act change to a brand-new battle pass. While much of the new content pleased fans, the massive nerfs to Viper and Cypher were not received well.

Viper has been nerfed rather significantly. Her Snakebite charge has been reduced from two charges to only one, and its price has also been increased from 200 to 300. Moreover, her Poison Cloud (Q) ability can only be picked up again during the buy phase of the game.

There are also reductions in the uptime of her smokes, which used to be 15 seconds. It has now been brought down to about 12.5 seconds. Additionally, the minimum fuel required to put up smokes has been increased from 20% to 30%, and the cooldown has been reduced to five seconds from the previous eight.

Meanwhile, Cypher's wires will take one second longer to re-arm after an enemy gets caught. The caught opponent will only be slowed down for 1.25 seconds as compared to the previous two. Moreover, whenever an enemy is being watched by Cypher's spycam, they will get an active audio cue that will alert them of being watched.

Naturally, the reactions to these changes have not been positive, with one Valorant fan (@chaanellxo) taking to X to say:

"rip viper & lol i guess we’re stuck w/ icebox and breeze stilll"

One player stated that the Viper nerfs were unfair to the Agent, who has been a staple on many maps with wide open entry points and multiple attacker angles, such as Icebox and Breeze.

Another wanted Valorant developer Riot Games to give fans the reason behind the nerf of Viper's Poison Cloud ability, which allowed players to be a little flexible and creative in their offensive and defensive gameplay.

Meanwhile, one user was convinced that an already balanced Agent like Viper did not need to be nerfed to such a large extent. They also predicted that the changes could make things worse for the unit.

Valorant fan predicts Viper's downfall (Image via X/@eeeisu_san)

Other fans were upset with Cypher's changes. They understood why the Trapwire was nerfed, but the Spycam changes were less welcome.

Player upset over Cypher changes (Image via X/@SirAlackad)

Cypher Spycam idea bothers fan (Image via X/@Ethanrix23)

One player claimed that nobody in the game would play Cypher anymore after the latest nerfs. This could mean a sharp decline in the Agent's pickrate.

Valorant fan predicts Cypher's downfall (Image via X/@WardTheGod)

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Valorant fans experience major glitch in patch 8.08

While Valorant patch 8.08 introduced several changes to the game, it also brought a few unusual glitches.

It turns out the brand-new skin bundle, Mystbloom, has a see-through glitch in the game, with the gun allowing players to see through walls. However, fans can expect an official fix to be on its way.