The recent Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV) Media Tour gave players a glimpse of the newest Melee DPS job: Viper. In this guide, we will walk you through everything we know about FFXIV's Viper so far, including the job's skills, abilities, combo rotation, and more.
Do note that all tooltips shown in this guide are based on play of an in-development build of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, and content in the final version is subject to change.
FFXIV Viper Guide
Let's start off with the basics. Viper is a Dexterity-scaling Melee DPS job, similar to the Ninja. As such, both Ninja and Viper will share the game's Scouting Gear, which prioritizes Dexterity, Critical Hit, and Skill Speed, among other things.
Vipers wield two swords and constantly switch between the dual-blade stance and the double-bladed stance. From the trailer previously shown during the London 2023 Fanfest, as well as the recent Live Letter 81, Viper plays a lot like the game's Reaper job.
Now, let's move on to the specifics, starting with Viper's Job Gauge.
FFXIV Viper Guide – Job Gauge
The Viper Job Gauge consists of three parts, each connected to one part of the Viper's kit. Let's start with the most standout one, the Serpent Offerings Gauge. This acts in a similar way to Reaper's Shroud Gauge, as it fills up whenever players perform specific skills. We will tackle which skills do this later.
Once the Serpent Offerings Gauge fills up to at least 50, players are able to use the skill Reawaken. Reawaken gives players up to 5 stacks of Anguine Tribute, which lets them use powerful attacks. In the trailers and demo, these are the attacks the Viper performs while shrouded in blue.
Next is the Vipersight Gauge. Similar to other Melee DPS jobs, Viper has a 1-2-3 combo where a majority of their damage will come from. Like other Melee Jobs, Viper players will have to perform specific combos to deal the maximum amount of damage.
The Vipersight Gauge will provide players with a visual queue (alongside their HUD lighting up) of which attacks to perform next. We will go in-depth with this later.
The final part of the job gauge is the Rattling Coils. Performing specific actions will provide the player with Rattling Coils, which allows the player to carry out powerful ranged attacks in quick succession.
Now, let's dive into Viper's Skills, as well as the rotation.
FFXIV Viper Guide – Skill Combos
Tooltip images come from the Dawntrail Media Tour Job Infographics made by SlyAKAgreyfox.
There are a total of five skill combos that Vipers can perform during a fight. These are the Single Target combo, the AoE combo, the Dreadwinder Combo, the Pit of Dread Combo, and the Reawaken Combo.
It's important to note that quite a few of the Viper's skills in FFXIV are Unassignable, meaning that players have to perform certain actions to turn abilities into other abilities. Three important examples of this are Serpent's Tail (ST), Twinfang (TF), and Twinblood (TB). Take note of these abilities.
Let's go through them in turn.
FFXIV Viper – Single Target Combo
It's important to note that a majority of Viper's skills are Unassignable, and as such numerous skills will turn into other skills.
Viper's Single Target Combo starts from one of two skills: Steel Fangs (SF) and Dread Fangs (DF). Steel Fangs deals purely damage, while Dread Fangs afflict the target with Noxious Gnash, increasing the damage they take.
After using any of the two attacks, SF will turn into Hunter's Sting, while DF will turn into Swiftskin's Sting.
Hunter's Sting gives the player Hunter's Instinct, which increases the damage they deal. Swiftskin's Sting, on the other hand, grants Swiftscaled, which lowers the cast and recast time for skills and spells, as well as the auto-attack delay.
If the player chooses to use Hunter's Instinct, SF will turn into Flanksting Strike, while DF will turn into Flanksbane Fang. These are positional skills, increasing the damage they deal when attacking the target's Flank, These attacks will also increase the Serpent Offerings Gauge by 10.
If the player chooses instead to use Swiftskin's Sting, SF will instead turn into Hindsting Strike, and DF will turn into Hindsbane Fang. These are positional skills, increasing the damage they deal when attacking the target's Rear. These attacks will also increase the Serpent Offerings Gauge by 10.
All of the Flank and Hind attacks, once executed, allow the execution of Death Rattle, an Unassignable ability that replaces ST. Additionally, the Flank and Hind attacks each empower one attack, which dictates the sequence in which players will perform the attacks.
Flanksting Strike will empower Hindsting Strike, which empowers Flanksbane Fang, which empowers Hindsbane Fang, which empowers Flankstring Strike. As such, the player is incentivized to constantly go between Flank and Hind attacks. The Vipersight Gauge, as well as the player's HUD will guide the player in performing the ideal rotation.
FFXIV Viper – AoE Combo
The Viper's AoE combo is similar to the Single Target combo in that it starts from two skills: Steel Maw (SM) and Dread Maw (DM). SM purely deals damage, while DM applies Noxious Gnash to all enemies hit.
After using either SM or DM, they will turn into new skills. SM becomes Hunter's Bite, while DM becomes Swiftskin's Bite. Hunter's Bite grants Hunter's Instinct, while Swiftskin's Bite grants Swiftscaled. Afterward, SM will turn into Jagged Maw, and DM will become Bloodied Maw.
Performing Jagged Maw will empower the next Bloodied Maw cast while performing Bloodied Maw will empower the next Jagged Maw cast. As such, players will need to alternate between the two to maximize their damage. Additionally, these attacks will also increase the Serpent Offerings Gauge by 10.
After performing either Jagged Maw or Bloodied Maw, players will be able to execute Last Lash, which replaces ST. This deals damage to all enemies nearby.
FFXIV Viper – Dreadwinder Combo
The Dreadwinder Combo, as well as the Pit of Dread combo we'll discuss next, are special combos locked behind Viper Skills that have charges with 40-second cooldowns. Dreadwinder and Pit of Dread both share recast timers, and have 2 charges which have a 40s charge time each.
Dreadwinder is a Single-Target skill that applies Noxious Gnash upon damaging an enemy. After performing Dreadwinder, the player will be able to execute either Hunter's Coil and Swiftskin's Coil. Hunter's Coil grants Hunter's Instinct, while Swiftskin's Coil grants Swiftscaled.
These skills increase the Serpent Offerings Gauge by 5.
After the player performs any of these actions, TF and TB will turn into Twinfang Bite and Twinblood Bite respectively. If the player uses Hunter's Coil, Twinfang Bite will be empowered. If instead, they used Swiftskin's Coil, Twinblood Bite would be empowered.
It's important to note that each use of Dreadwinder allows the player to use Hunter's Coil and Swiftskin's Coil twice. That is, they can use one skill twice, or both of them once. It is ideal to do the latter to maximize the buffs that the player gets.
For example, the player can go Dreadwinder -> Hunter's Coil -> Twinfang Bite -> Swiftskin's Coil -> Twinblood Bite. This way, they can get all three buffs from the combo.
Additionally, casting Dreadwinder will give players a stack of Rattling Coil, which allows them to use Uncoiled Fury. We will go in-depth on what Rattling Coil does later.
FFXIV Viper – Pit of Dread Combo
The Pit of Dread Combo is the AoE version of the Dreadwinder combo, and follows the same flow. Performing Pit of Dread unlocks Hunter's Den and Swiftskin's Den, which grants Hunter's Instinct and Swiftscaled respectively.
Using Hunter's Den empowers Twinfang Thresh, which takes the place of TF, and using Switftskin's Den will empower Twinblood Thresh, which takes the place of TB.
Similar to Dreadwinder, each use of Pit of Dread allows the player to use Hunter's Den and Swiftskin's Den twice. That is, they can use one skill twice, or both of them once. It is ideal to do the latter to maximize the buffs that the player gets.
For example, the player can go Pit of Dread -> Hunter's Den -> Twinfang Thresh -> Swiftskin's Den -> Twinblood Thresh. This way, they can get all three buffs from the combo.
Casting Pit of Dread will also give the player a stack of Rattling Coil, which allows them to use Uncoiled Fury.
FFXIV Viper – Uncoiled Fury
If you will notice in the previous two flowcharts, there is a column for Uncoiled Fury. Uncoiled Fury is a ranged attack that consumes one stack of Rattling Coil to use. Upon using Uncoiled Fury, TF will turn into Uncoiled Twinfang, which players can instantly use.
After using Uncoiled Twinfang, TB will then turn into Uncoiled Twinblood, which ends the Uncoiled Fury combo.
FFXIV Viper – Reawaken Combo
The Reawaken combo is Viper's version of the Reaper's Enshroud, allowing the Viper to perform a flurry of attacks against a single enemy, or a group of them. To start the Reawaken Combo, players must first have a Serpent Offering Gauge value of 50, or use the Serpent's Ire ability, which allows the player to use Reawaken.
The player must then use Rewaken, dealing damage to nearby enemies and granting up to five stacks of Anguine Tribute. Each step of the combo will need one stack of Anguine Tribute.
The first step is First Generation, which takes the place of Steel Fangs and Steel Maw. After using First Generation, ST will turn into First Legacy, which players must immediately use. Then, the player can use Second Generation, which takes the place of Dread Fangs and Dread Maw. Afterward, ST will become Second Legacy.
Third Generation comes next, taking the place of the Hunter's skills. Follow this up with Third Legacy (ST switches to this skill). Then comes Fourth Generation, which takes the place of the Swiftskin skills. Follow this up with Fourth Legacy after ST turns into said skill.
The closer of the Reawaken Combo is Ouroboros, which takes the place of the Reawaken skill itself. This deals a large burst of damage and finishes the Reawaken Combo.
FFXIV Viper Guide – Other Skills
Of course, the above skills aren't the only skills that the Viper has access to in FFXIV. Much like the other FFXIV Melee Jobs, Viper also has access to the Melee Role Actions, namely Second Wind, Leg Sweep, Bloodbath, Feint, Arm's Length, and True North.
Additionally, Viper has the Slither skill, which allows them to rush to an enemy's or party member's location. This ability has a maximum of 3 charges, each with a 30 second cooldown.
Viper also has a ranged attack skill, called Writhing Snap. This is your go-to ranged attack if you do not have Rattling Coil stacks to perform an Uncoield Fury combo.
FFXIV Viper Skill Rotation Guide
A possible rotation for the Viper in FFXIV (when fighting a single target) involves opening a fight with the Dreadwinder combo. This allows players to easily stack up their buffs using strong attacks. Then, if the player has access to Serpent's Ire, use that to perform a Reawaken combo.
After finishing the Reawaken combo (or not depending on whether you had Serpent's Ire), players should then perform another Dreadwinder combo. Once Dreadwinder is on cooldown, players must then switch to the basic single-target combo, with the primary goal of charging up the Serpent Offering Gauge.
Once the Serpent Offering Gauge is charged up, perform yet another Reawaken Combo. Whenever Dreadwinder goes off cooldown, use that and perform a full combo. Repeat until the enemy is dead.
If, instead, the player has to fight against multiple enemies, simply switch the Dreadwinder combo with the Pit of Dread combo and the single-target combo with the AoE combo.
Save up Rattling Coil stacks for when you are far from the boss so that you can still deal damage from afar.
That's all for our guide to the Viper in FFXIV Dawntrail, from their skills to its possible rotation, and more. Dawntrail has a release date of July 2, 2024, with an Early Access date of June 28, 2024.
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