Viper skill page is a complete mess.

[LynxDubh]

In my very little bit of playing this morning I have learned that I just need to press the highlighted skill and that green combo ender is flank and red is rear. I don't even try to understand what is going on because it feels like it is all over the place.

*struggles in colorblind*

[tangentcat]

*struggles in colorblind*

I was really wondering how VPR would feel for people who are colorblind. On other jobs, I have a pattern to where I put flank vs rear buttons. We can't do that with VPR, so the color is the only quick way for me to know.

[ShaolinMike]

I was really wondering how VPR would feel for people who are colorblind. On other jobs, I have a pattern to where I put flank vs rear buttons. We can't do that with VPR, so the color is the only quick way for me to know.

MrHappy said he memorized what one of the flank/rear icons looked like and just hit the flashing one of the flank/rear pair, since they always show up together.

[Darkstride]

I was really wondering how VPR would feel for people who are colorblind. On other jobs, I have a pattern to where I put flank vs rear buttons. We can't do that with VPR, so the color is the only quick way for me to know.

Same. I've always kept the same placement for flank and rear attacks on my hotbar jjst for consistency. Surprise! It doesn't work that way for Viper. I'm just using the green/red recognition and I can't imagine trying to specifically watch the icons otherwise lol.

[EdwinLi]

TBH, it's really not necessary to even pay attention to the skill page. I just used the skill names to figure how to set up my crossbars:

1. Skills ending with "Fangs" are your single target combo buttons.
2. Skills ending with "Maw" are your AOE combo buttons.
3. Serpent's Tail is your oGCD button after combo finishers.
4. The "Dread" skills are your Darth Maul combo starters (Dreadwinder single target; Pit of Dread AOE).
5. Twinfang and Twinblood are your oGCDs in between your Dread 3-part combos.
6. Uncoiled Fury, Serpent's Ire, and Reawaken are self-explanatory.
7. Writing Snap is your "I screwed up and have to peel away from the boss" ranged failure attack, never to be used.

That's really all you need to know in terms of setting up your bars initially. You may want to adjust for comfort once you unlock Reawaken.

Ya the job looks complicated from first impression but it is actually one of the most simple Melee jobs in my opinion.

Viper basically only has to focus on using a 1234 Combo with there being 2 types for both single target and AoE.

Normal Combo always starts with two skills on Combo 1 which is either a raw damage attack or a Debuff attack that makes the enemy take +10% more damage.

Then skill 2 is just use any of the two Combo 2 skills. The order does not matter since the one you did not pick will be your next Combo 2 skill.

Skill 3 is the one players need to pay attention on because the color of Combo 3 skill determines their position for flank or rear. Red skills are Rear attack skills and Green skills are Flank attack skills.

Then end the combo with the Finisher skill being the skill that is Serpent's Tail.

----------------------------------------

Burst skill is the same but the position attack is on Combo 2 skill

Just use the starting Combo 1 skill then use one of the two Combo 2 skills being the Flank or Rear attack skill.

Depending on which Combo 2 skill you use for Burst combo determines which skill will be used first between Twinfang and Twinblood. Then just use the other Combo 2 skill you did not use to finish off the Burst combo chain.

After that it is just waiting until the Burst skill combo cooldown is over by using Normal combo then use Burst Combo again.

[Tufcat]

They were clearly going the Samurai route with one combo giving you haste and the other giving you a damage buff. Thing is the buttons light up arbitrarily and your combo will always end correctly as long as you press one of the two glowing buttons. That's not intuitive at all.

There is oversimplification and button bloat. Viper is leaning towards the former. Having two single target buttons and two aoe buttons that went through their 1-2-3 and ending with Death Rattle/Last Lash would have been the best way to go.

[Eudyptes]

It's almost like all the people who asked for condensed buttons had no clue what they were actually asking for, if they thought it was going to make a typical PvE rotation more intuitive to play. All it does here is make a simple rotation seem more complicated than it is.

Viper hotbars have so much empty space too, what's that point in not letting you dedicate slots?

Bad take. All the classes people are asking for them to condense have a simple 1, 2, 3, (or 4) combo and they want that condensed. Viper has a lot of crossover in the combos which ends up making it more like mnk, which are exceptions to the rule and do not translate smoothly into a condensed rotation.

[WeakestZenosEnjoyer]

It's dummy simple but explained absolutely horribly and the tooltips are deeply unhelpful.

1st hit, no glow in gauge, do you want debuff yes/no,

2nd hit, red glow in gauge, hit side that's glowing or if both glow just hit one,

3rd hit, blue glow in gauge, hit side that's glowing or if both glow they're literally identical, positional based on choice in step 2 (right -> rear, left -> flank) and hit Serpent's Tail.

Meanwhile a real tooltip to explain this basic interaction:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 300.
360 when executed from a target's rear.
Potencies are increased by 100 while under the effect of Hindsbane Venom.
Additional Effect: Grants Flankstung Venom
Flankstung Venom Effect: Increases potency of Flanksting Strike by 100
Duration: 40s
Effect cannot be stacked with other viper venom effects.
Additional Effect: Increases Serpent Offerings Gauge by 10
Can only be executed after successfully landing Swiftskin's Sting.

※This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
※Swiftskin's Sting changes to Hindsbane Fang when requirements for execution are met. (Swiftskin's Sting isn't even on your hotbar)

[Rakdar]

It's almost like all the people who asked for condensed buttons had no clue what they were actually asking for, if they thought it was going to make a typical PvE rotation more intuitive to play. All it does here is make a simple rotation seem more complicated than it is.

Viper hotbars have so much empty space too, what's that point in not letting you dedicate slots?

The idea would be to fill that space with new abilities that have more interesting interactions than "Please press these in the specified order. Look, we'll even light them up for you so you don't have to think." Because that quite literally is *all* there is to Viper. Just follow the glowing button. Its singular non-damage ability is a gap closer.

This would be a half developed class even if its combos weren't condensed this way.

[Jag227]

"Hit the glowy button" is not an acceptable explanation to me. That's just not how my brain works. I need to know HOW skills relate together. On that note I will attempt to explain the Job:
I can only speak on the lvl80 rotation. For now, I will ignore the AoE rotation (which is quite simple) and focus on the basic single target rotation. The ST rotation is why this class feels so incomprehensible.

The Viper's gameplay is meant to relate to the Viper's signature 2 sword style. Viper essentially has a 1-2-3 combo split between 2 buttons. This is meant to serve as the Viper's Job identity. These 2 buttons are meant to alternate in sequence to constitute the single target rotation. You are meant to alternate between these two buttons in a 3 step process.

The 2 combo buttons begin as the skills named Steel Fangs and Dread Fangs. Both these skills (and their future morphs)have 3 steps in their combo progression: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Repeat. In Step 1, I will refer to these original 2 skills not by name but simply as (button)1 and (button)2. For sake of explanation don't worry about the names or effects of skills. For sake of simplicity, pretend that Dread Fangs (in Step 1) doesn't exist. We will always start Step 1 by casting Steel Fangs (Button 1). This leads us into Step 2. I call these skills in Step 2, x (button 1, previously Steel Fangs) and y (button 2, previously Dread Fangs). Your input in Step 2 will lead to a pair of unique finisher skills in Step 3. x will lead to Button 1 becoming, what I call, skill 1a and Button 2 becoming skill 2a. y will lead to Button 1 becoming skill 1b and Button 2 becoming skill 2b. 4 distinct finishers - 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b. The rotation is meant to alternate between those 4 finishers.

Step 1 1
|
Step 2 x | y
| |
Step 3 1a 2a | 1b 2b

To simplify - there are 4 combo finishers: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b
The combo sequence to arrive at these finishers is as follows:
1a = 1 - x - 1 (Flanksting Strike)
1b = 1 - y - 1 (Hindsting Strike)
2a = 1 - x - 2 (Flanksbane Fang)
2b = 1 - y - 2 (Hindsbane Fang)

A pattern emerges. Step 1: repeated Button 1 input. Step 2: alternating 1/2 button inputs every round. Step 3: alternating button inputs every other round.

(CONTINUED IN REPLY TO THIS POST)