 | Carrying on in the support role once held by the zerg Defiler, the Viper combines several vicious biological weapons to weaken enemy forces and give an edge to the swarm. This winged menace stores a thick microbial soup within its abdomen, and can spray the viscous mixture into the air whenever ranged foes approach – essentially nullifying the effectiveness of their armaments until they can move out of the cloying mist. Enemies hoping to escape to high ground are quickly snatched from their dominant position by the Viper’s muscular proboscis, allowing the zerg to counter just about any tactical terrain advantage. When wounded, the Viper can siphon bioelectrical energy and nutrients from other zerg buildings, rapidly healing any damage so that they can return to the fray and cause further mayhem. The Viper will be another unit available to the Zerg in Heart of the Swarm |
Stats
| Basic Information | Production | ||
| Race: | Zerg | Producer: | |
| Life: | 150 | Hotkey: | E |
| Energy: | 200 | Cost: | 100 Minerals and 200 Gas |
| Armor: | 1 (4) | Supply: | 3 |
| Movement: | Fast | Requires: | Hive |
| Attributes: | Armored - Biological - Psionic | Build Time: | 40 |
Upgrades
| Name | Hotkey | Cost | Build Time |
| Zerg Flyer Carapace Level 1 | C | 150 Minerals + 150 Gas | 160 |
| Upgrades the armor of all Zerg air units. | |||
| Zerg Flyer Carapace Level 2 | C | 225 Minerals + 225 Gas | 190 |
| Further upgrades the armor of all Zerg air units. | |||
| Zerg Flyer Carapace Level 3 | C | 300 Minerals + 300 Gas | 220 |
| Maximizes the armor of all Zerg air units. | |||
Abilities
| Consume | Targets a player owned structure and consumes 200 life over 20 seconds converting the damage dealt into 50 energy. |
| Blinding Cloud | Creates a cloud for 14 seconds that reduces attack range of ground units and structures underneath to melee range. |
| Abduct | Pulls target unit to the location of the viper. |
General Strategy
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Flying unit with multiple abilities, effective against biological, ranged-ground units as well as single large units.
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Use Vipers in conjunction with fast-moving units such as Zerglings, Banelings, Roaches, or Hydralisks.
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Combining the Viper’s Blinding Cloud ability and the Infestor’s Fungal Growth ability can completely shut down terran ground units.
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Abduct high-cost, key units such as Siege Tanks, Colossi, or Brood Lords to kill them first.
Countermeasures
VS Terran
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Ghosts’ EMP or Snipe abilities are great ways to reduce Viper counts before a battle begins.
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When using Marines or Marauders, watch out for the Blinding Cloud ability and flee from that area as fast as possible.
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Protect your Siege Tanks using Widow Mines so that Vipers attempting to Abduct units can be easily destroyed. Make sure to spread your Siege Tanks out so that a single Blinding Cloud can’t affect multiple tanks.
VS Zerg
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Use swarms of smaller units against large numbers of Vipers in the late game.
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Groups of melee units like Ultralisks, Banelings and Zerglings can be effective against Vipers as well.
VS Protoss
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Use the High Templar’s Feedback ability to deny Vipers the ability to Abduct.
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Use melee-based or lower cost units against large numbers of Vipers.
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Use Observers to spot Vipers for Tempests, as Tempests can easily outdistance them.
