Viper is WAY too difficult for where he is in the game

[The Ultimate Despair]

Did we REALLY need such an over aggressive boss with absurd constant delayed hits, absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hitboxes on his moves and with TWO phases as the literal second boss??????
I'm sorry but as much as this game is great, this boss is completely absurd. I'm all for a good challenge, but this isn't even fun. Tried summoning the 'helper' he dies in literally less than 30 seconds. Absolute joke.

Like yeah, 'block'. Yeah buddy, I am. But it feels like a lot of time I block to 'parry' and it doesn't even register properly. Christ sake's it's the second boss of the game, maybe chill out and have progressive difficulty????

*Edit

Finally got him, but i'll take the L on the fact I didn't think about the 25% extra damage against dragonkin. I feel like I would have gotten that boss on 3rd try if I had that on me.

[khamthien251]

Grind the hunter set, this armot set give +25% dmg to dragonkin. and gid gud for the rest...

[Wick3d]

They just nerfed him after alot of casuals were complaining about him. Maybe this game just isn't for you. Memorize his patterns and look for openings. He really isn't that hard, just wait until later game and you'll see how easy Viper really is. Upgrade your gear as much as possible and maybe switch weapons and skills to find what works for you.

[电动天使]

The most important skill to acquire and learn to use is deflection. Unlock it from the common skill tree and try using it on him.

[Retsubty]

Just pump your dps as much as possible. This game can be cheesed with DPS. survivability won't help you much.

[The Ultimate Despair]

FINALLY got it after WAY too long. Jesus christ. But at least that's done. I like things about it, just feels like he hits me unwarrantingly sometimes.

[The Ultimate Despair]

Originally posted by khamthien251:

Grind the hunter set, this armot set give +25% dmg to dragonkin. and gid gud for the rest...

KNow what, I didn't think about that one. I'll take the L on it, cause it wasn't my damage that was the issue, more the fact it was an attrition battle. I feel like 25% more damage would have helped..

[The Ultimate Despair]

Originally posted by ♥♥♥♥:

The most important skill to acquire and learn to use is deflection. Unlock it from the common skill tree and try using it on him.

I was too focused on getting the super cool spear skills, but i'mma need to revisit common skills a bit.

[Fetty Whoppa]

"unwarrantingly" 💔

[Kisama]

Viper isn't hard and he's already been nerfed. The game is literally tagged with difficult why do you all think you're going in playing an easy game ?

[Chacheya1G]

Originally posted by The Ultimate Despair:

Did we REALLY need such an over aggressive boss with absurd constant delayed hits, absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hitboxes on his moves and with TWO phases as the literal second boss??????
I'm sorry but as much as this game is great, this boss is completely absurd. I'm all for a good challenge, but this isn't even fun. Tried summoning the 'helper' he dies in literally less than 30 seconds. Absolute joke.

Like yeah, 'block'. Yeah buddy, I am. But it feels like a lot of time I block to 'parry' and it doesn't even register properly. Christ sake's it's the second boss of the game, maybe chill out and have progressive difficulty????

*Edit

Finally got him, but i'll take the L on the fact I didn't think about the 25% extra damage against dragonkin. I feel like I would have gotten that boss on 3rd try if I had that on me.

Switch to Easy. It is that simple.

[Holyblades]

I'm in the same boat as you, OP. I made the mistake of buying the game before even getting to Viper. Been stuck on him for a bit and the fun factor is pretty much gone already. I've beaten the other souls games and Elden Ring DLC at +5 and I don't remember difficulty being like this.

[choree]

The Viper is tedious. It isn't super hard, but it isn't a pinnacle of boss design either, as some tout it to be. It's just a long fight that requires endurance and focus from you. Try to relax, learn his moveset (there is some BS with hitboxes, for sure), and grind at it. You'll get it.

[Noel]

I wont lie, I wish I fought him pre-nerf to see what the hubbub was about. As far as I know, only his hp was touched, but otherwise, imo, one of the best bossfights in any souls like i've played as I was actually pushed to properly learn all of his delayed attack windows to brink guard every single one and counter attack with whatever sparing stamina I had.

It's a boss where you, after the first two, literally have to play by his rules or else you're gonna get smacked. I can understand that it's a huge jump in difficulty, but as far as I'm concerned, it is WAY more than welcome to me. It only took me about... 15 tries, and prior to the nerf, I'd wager due to hp differences and potentially damage, it'd have taken me something like 20 as I had practically remembered all of his patterns by that point.

The main reason why Viper is so difficult, other than previously mentioend, is because he not only has essentially 2 phases, but also has an enhanced kit halfway into each phase, meaning he has 2 core movesets with 2 additional movesets per phase.
This boss fight is reminiscent of Ludwig the Accursed from Bloodborne in that way, where you are fighting a completely different battle after the first HP bar and must also relearn the fight + whatever new moves it throws at you half way into the new phase.

It's a lot to throw early on for many people, but if anything, it was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cinema to me. Phase 2 gave me huge Orphan of Kos vibes with its wild, feral behaviour, its leaps and screams. And when the thunder storm kicks in, it's pitch black, you have 0 hp restores left, and the music stops completely... Cinema. One of the best fights in the soulslike genre as it is and I will never experience it again for the first time. Hoping the bosses after the 4th are even better (Viper being the 3rd, 4th was cool tho)

tl;dr: viper has a lot of moves and you gotta learn all of them. also the fight was cinema

[Vadnarr]

I don't really agree. He took me a few tries to learn both phases but I think it was 4 tries both phases and killed on the 9th attempt. It's just about brink guard and knowing when to dodge specific moves (as you learned up to this point)

I may be bias because I've played so many souls-likes and for so long. I'm also not trying to flex here and say I'm some crazy good player, I'm really not.

My unsolicited advice: Take a break and a breath. Focus on defense and learning his move set. He doesn't deviate from a set once he starts it. It becomes almost trivial once you are able to identify the move set he starts and have the proper dodge/blocks memorized.

Hang in there, it'll get easier. Not because the game gets easier but because you get better.

[sgrey]

They already nerfed him. You should switch to easy mode since this is too hard for you. No shame there.