Valorant’s Viper gains an unintentional peeker’s advantage when standing inside her Poison Cloud

Viper has been one of the least played Agents since Valorant officially launched in June 2020.

The Agent barely gets to see the time of day in competitive play. Although her pick rate is getting better in solo queue in Episode 2 Act 2, she is still far from being a meta pick in Valorant.

That being said, Viper has, over the months, created a niche of one-tricks for those who love playing her. These Viper mains appreciate the play-making potential that she has to offer and wield her with great proficiency.

Recently, it seems the Valorant community has found a Viper exploit, which allows the Agent to gain an unintentional peeker’s advantage when standing inside her own Poison Cloud.

In the Reddit post, the Valorant player who goes by the handle Sparkles100HD highlighted a bug known as the “Swoop peek” (named after the YouTuber Swoopy who discovered the bug), which grants Viper an advantage when she is inside her own smoke.

In the video, Swoopy explained how Ascend could beat Team Heretics in the Valorant Champions Tour Stage One Master Europe.

This Valorant smoke exploit a Viper exclusive

Valorant would've broken and become absolutely unplayable if every Agent was privy to this exploit. Fortunately, Viper is the only one who can gain the peeker’s advantage.

The Reddit post also showcased another player unsuccessfully trying out the exploit with other Agents. Brimstone, Omen, Jett, Astra, and Cypher do not gain any peeker’s advantage when they are inside their own smoke.

For Viper, the delay in the smoke disappearing appears to be about 350 milliseconds. It might not seem like a lot in standard matches, but in highly competitive Valorant matches, a split second’s advantage can go a very long way in securing victory.

It’s unknown if Riot Games intentionally added the Viper exploit or if developers will patch it out in an upcoming update. But this bug will certainly help her pick rate when it comes to professional play and the upper ranks of Valorant’s competitive ladder.

Viper has often been overlooked as one of the more underwhelming controllers of the shooter game. With Omen and Brimstone taking up the spotlight most of the time, she saw a meager pick rate, with only one-tricks giving her the time of day.