Viper Strike

Viper StrikeAttack, Duration, Melee, Strike, Chaos
Level: (1-20)
Cost: 5 Mana
Attack Damage: (90-135)% of base
Effectiveness of Added Damage: (90-135)%Hits enemies, adding some of your physical damage as chaos damage and inflicting poison which will be affected by modifiers to skill duration. If dual wielding, will strike with both weapons. Requires a claw, dagger or sword.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent4Phantasmal0.5% increased Attack Speed
0.5% increased Poison Duration1% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage1% increased Chaos Damage0.5% chance to also Poison a nearby Enemy when you inflict PoisonDeals (90-135)% of Base Attack Damage
60% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage
60% chance to Poison on Hit
Base duration is 4 seconds
(5-169) to (7-254) Added Chaos Damage
Each Weapon Hits separately if Dual Wielding, dealing 20% less Damage
30% Less Attack Speed if Dual Wielding
+(0-2) to Melee Strike RangePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.Acquisition
Area level: 5Vendor Prices

Normal

1x Scroll of Wisdom

Vendor Offer
1x Scroll FragmentMetadata
Item class: Active Skill Gems
Metadata ID: Metadata/Items/Gems/SkillGemViperStrike

Viper Strike is a claw / dagger / sword melee strike attack skill. It hits the enemy, converting physical damage to chaos damage, and applies poison, dealing chaos damage over time based on the combined physical and chaos damage dealt. It uses both weapons to deal damage if you are dual wielding.

Skill functions and interactions

Viper Strike applies poison with a 4-second duration on hit. Viper Strike specifically overrides the base poison duration with its own base skill duration. Increased Duration SupportIncreased Duration SupportSupport, Duration
Icon: D
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%Requires Level 31Supports any skill with a duration.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Skill Effect DurationSupported Skills have 1% reduced Mana Cost
Supported Skills have 0.5% reduced Skill Effect DurationSupported Skills have 1% increased Duration of Ailments on EnemiesSupported Skills have (45-64)% increased Skill Effect DurationThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket., Less Duration SupportLess Duration SupportSupport, Duration
Icon: d
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%Requires Level 31Supports any skill that has a duration.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% less Skill Effect DurationSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Attack and Cast SpeedBleeding inflicted by Supported Skills deals Damage 0.5% fasterSupported Skills have (40-49)% less Skill Effect Duration
Supported Skills deal (10-19)% more DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket., Unbound Ailments SupportUnbound Ailments SupportSupport
Icon: U
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 120%Requires Level 8Supports any skill that hits enemies or inflicts ailmentsPer 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Duration of Ailments on EnemiesSupported Skills deal 1% increased Damage with AilmentsSupported Skills deal 1.5% increased Damage while you are affected by an AilmentSupported Skills have (35-54)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies
Supported Skills deal (10-19)% more Damage with Ailments
Supported Skills have (35-54)% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments on EnemiesThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. and Swift Affliction SupportSwift Affliction SupportSupport, Duration
Icon: r
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 140%Requires Level 31Supports any skill that has a duration, or can hit enemies to inflict ailments on them.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills deal 0.5% increased Damage over TimeSupported Skills have 0.25% increased Attack and Cast Speed
Supported Skills have 0.5% increased Projectile SpeedYou and Enemies have 1% increased Movement Speed while inflicted with an Ailment from Supported SkillsSupported Skills deal (20-34)% more Damage over Time
25% less Duration of Supported Skills and Damaging Ailments they inflictThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. all affect the duration of that poison.

Some beneficial curses and auras for Viper Strike include DespairDespairSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos, Curse, Hex
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (16-33) Mana
Cast Time: 0.50 sec
Radius: 22Requires Level 24Curses all targets in an area, lowering their chaos resistance and increasing damage over time they take. All hits will deal added chaos damage to the cursed enemies.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentCursed enemies take 0.5% increased Damage from Damage Over Time effects0.5% increased Effect of CurseSpell Hits have 0.5% chance to Hinder Cursed Enemies with 30% reduced Movement Speed for 4 secondsBase duration is (9-10.9) seconds
Cursed enemies have -(20-29)% to Chaos Resistance
Cursed enemies take (15-25)% increased Damage from Damage Over Time effects
Adds (9-46) to (12-57) Chaos Damage to Hits against Cursed Enemies
Curse gains 10 Doom per second if you Cast this Spell yourself
+(0-10) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Temporal ChainsTemporal ChainsSpell, AoE, Duration, Curse, Hex
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (16-33) Mana
Cast Time: 0.50 sec
Radius: 22Requires Level 24Curses all enemies in an area, lowering their action speed and making other effects on them expire more slowly.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent0.5% increased Effect of CurseCurse has 2% increased Doom gain rate1% increased Curse DurationBase duration is (5-5.95) seconds
Cursed Normal and Magic Enemies have (20-29)% less Action Speed
Other effects on Cursed enemies expire 40% slower
50% less Effect of Curse against Players
Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies have (10-14)% less Action Speed
Curse gains 10 Doom per second if you Cast this Spell yourself
+(0-10) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. and MalevolenceMalevolenceAura, Spell, AoE
Level: (1-20)
Reservation: 50% Mana
Cooldown Time: 1.20 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: InstantRequires Level 24Casts an aura that multiplies damage over time and increases skill effect duration of you and your allies.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent2% increased Area of EffectYou and nearby allies have 0.1% increased Skill Effect DurationYou and nearby Allies deal 0.25% increased Damage with AilmentsYou and nearby allies deal (14-20)% more Damage over Time
You and nearby allies have (10-19)% increased Skill Effect Duration
+(0-19) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket..

Viper Strike is a Strike attack, thus:

• Multistrike SupportMultistrike SupportAttack, Melee, Support
  Icon: 3
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 150%Requires Level 38Supports melee attack skills, making them repeat twice when used, targeting a random enemy each time. Cannot support Vaal skills, channelling skills, or triggered skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills deal 0.5% increased Melee Physical DamageSupported Skills have 1% reduced Attack Speed
  Supported Skills have 1% increased Area of Effect per RepeatSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Attack SpeedSupported Skills Repeat 2 additional times
  Supported Skills have (35-44)% more Melee Attack Speed
  First Repeat of Supported Skills deals 22% more Damage
  Second Repeat of Supported Skills deals 44% more Damage
  Supported Skills deal (30-20)% less Attack DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. allows to automatically target nearby enemies for two additional strikes. Note that even though this support gem lessens attack damage, poison does not scale from attack damage modifiers.
• Melee Splash SupportMelee Splash SupportSupport, Melee, Attack, Strike, AoE
  Icon: S
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%
  Radius: 14Requires Level 8Supports melee strike skills, causing their melee strike to deal splash damage around each target hit.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Area of EffectSupported Skills deal 1% increased Melee DamageSupported Skills deal -2% less Damage to surrounding targetsSupported Skills deal (50-41)% less Damage to surrounding targets
  Supported Skills deal Splash Damage to surrounding targets
  Supported Skills have (0-57)% more Melee Splash Area of EffectThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. causes Viper Strike to hit enemies around the initial target, poisoning each.
• Ancestral Call SupportAncestral Call SupportSupport, Melee, Attack, Strike
  Icon: A
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%Supports melee strike skills, causing them to also strike at extra targets simultaneously. The extra targets must be a minimum distance from the user. If supporting a minion attack skill, the minion's skills will not also strike extra targets. Cannot support triggered skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Attack SpeedSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Area of EffectSupported Skills have +0.2 to Melee Strike RangeSupported Strike Skills target 2 additional nearby Enemies
  Supported Skills deal (19-0)% less DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket., Strike Skills target an additional nearby Enemy prefix modifier on hunter-influenced gloves, and annointable passive Tribal Fury all work with Viper Strike.

Gem level progression

Level			Damage Effectiveness	Attack Damage	Melee range	Added Chaos Damage	Exp.	Total Exp.
1	1	0	90%	90%	N/A	5 to 7	0	0
2	2	0	92%	92.4%	N/A	5 to 8	70	70
3	4	16	95%	94.7%	N/A	6 to 10	308	378
4	7	22	97%	97.1%	N/A	8 to 12	1554	1932
5	11	31	99%	99.5%	N/A	11 to 17	6667	8599
6	16	41	102%	101.9%	N/A	16 to 24	26047	34646
7	20	50	104%	104.2%	1	20 to 30	49725	84371
8	24	58	107%	106.6%	1	25 to 37	95714	180085
9	28	67	109%	109%	1	30 to 46	169595	349680
10	32	75	111%	111.3%	1	37 to 55	283759	633439
11	36	83	114%	113.7%	1	44 to 66	453996	1087435
12	40	92	116%	116.1%	1	53 to 79	703128	1790563
13	44	100	118%	118.4%	1	63 to 94	1061223	2851786
14	48	109	121%	120.8%	2	74 to 111	2065870	4917656
15	52	117	123%	123.2%	2	86 to 130	2507110	7424766
16	56	125	126%	125.6%	2	101 to 151	5798936	13223702
17	60	134	128%	127.9%	2	117 to 176	15083919	28307621
18	64	142	130%	130.3%	2	136 to 204	27792735	56100356
19	67	148	133%	132.7%	2	152 to 228	43869739	99970095
20	70	155	135%	135%	2	169 to 254	242081556	342051651
21	72	159	137%	137.4%	3	181 to 272	N/A	N/A
22	74	N/A	140%	139.8%	3	195 to 292	N/A	N/A
23	76	N/A	142%	142.2%	3	209 to 313	N/A	N/A
24	78	N/A	145%	144.5%	3	224 to 335	N/A	N/A
25	80	N/A	147%	146.9%	3	239 to 359	N/A	N/A
26	82	N/A	149%	149.3%	3	256 to 384	N/A	N/A
27	84	N/A	152%	151.6%	3	274 to 411	N/A	N/A
28	86	N/A	154%	154%	4	293 to 440	N/A	N/A
29	88	N/A	156%	156.4%	4	314 to 470	N/A	N/A
30	90	N/A	159%	158.7%	4	335 to 503	N/A	N/A
31	91	N/A	159%	158.7%	4	346 to 519	N/A	N/A
32	92	N/A	161%	161.1%	4	358 to 537	N/A	N/A
33	93	N/A	164%	163.5%	4	370 to 555	N/A	N/A
34	94	N/A	166%	165.9%	4	382 to 573	N/A	N/A
35	95	N/A	168%	168.2%	5	395 to 592	N/A	N/A
36	96	N/A	171%	170.6%	5	408 to 612	N/A	N/A
37	97	N/A	173%	173%	5	421 to 632	N/A	N/A
38	98	N/A	175%	175.3%	5	435 to 653	N/A	N/A
39	99	N/A	178%	177.7%	5	449 to 674	N/A	N/A
40	100	N/A	180%	180.1%	5	464 to 696	N/A	N/A

Item acquisition

Upgrade paths

This item can be acquired through the following upgrade paths or vendor recipes:

Amount	Ingredient	General Notes	Type
3	The Bitter BlossomThe Bitter Blossom3Level 21 Chaos Gem Quality: +23% CorruptedThe pain you feel is of no consequence, it is evolution, to be made whole within something greater.	random corrupted superior level 21 Chaos gem with 23% quality	Automatic
8	Dying AnguishDying Anguish8Level 19 Gem Alternative Quality: +19%Moribund, he gazed upon the journey taken as blood trickled down his chin. His eye closed on the city ahead that he would never call home.	random level 19 gem with 19% alternative quality	Automatic
1	Gemcutter's IncubatorGemcutter's IncubatorAdds an incubated Quality Gem item to an equippable item Item drops after killing # monstersQuality GemRight click this item then left click an item to apply it. The Incubated item drops after killing a specific number of monsters.	random superior gem	Automatic
6	The FoxThe Fox6Level 20 Gem"Masters of wit, strength and cunning. To survive the harsh winters, you must be like the fox." - Ezomyte Proverb	random level 20 gem	Automatic
3	Gemcutter's PromiseGemcutter's Promise3Superior Gem Quality: +20%"I swore to use my position to help the people. What good is power when it just accumulates on the already-powerful?" - Erasmus, Imperial Gemcutter	random superior gem with 20% quality	Automatic
1	The VoidThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.	random divination card set exchange	Automatic

Vendor reward

This item can be bought at the listed NPC vendors, after completing the following quests:

Class →	Witch	Shadow	Ranger	Duelist	Marauder	Templar	Scion
Quest ↓
Enemy at the Gate Act 1 Nessa	✗	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✓
A Fixture of Fate Act 3 Siosa	✓
Fallen from Grace Act 6 Lilly Roth	✓

In addition, Viper Strike is the starting skill gem for Shadow. It drops after killing the first monster of the game, Hungry Corpse.

Threshold jewels

The following threshold jewels augment Viper Strike:

Item	Limit	Radius	Stats
Growing AgonyGrowing Agony Viridian JewelLimited to: 1 Radius: Medium(8-12)% increased Damage over Time With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Viper Strike deals 2% increased Damage with Hits and Poison for each Poison on the Enemy With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Viper Strike has a 10% chance per Poison on Enemy to grant Unholy Might for 4 seconds on HitMaligaro understood that devotion to science, Means devotion to trial and error. For Maligaro's errors, death was slow, And very painful.Place into an allocated Jewel Socket on the Passive Skill Tree. Right click to remove from the Socket.	1	Medium	(8-12)% increased Damage over Time With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Viper Strike deals 2% increased Damage with Hits and Poison for each Poison on the Enemy With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Viper Strike has a 10% chance per Poison on Enemy to grant Unholy Might for 4 seconds on Hit

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Viper Strike.

Name		Stats	Spawn Weighting
Enchantment Viper Strike Critical Strike Chance 1	66	60% increased Viper Strike Critical Strike Chance	helmet 100 default 0
Enchantment Viper Strike Critical Strike Chance 2	75	90% increased Viper Strike Critical Strike Chance	helmet 100 default 0
Enchantment Viper Strike Damage 1	66	25% increased Viper Strike Damage	helmet 100 default 0
Enchantment Viper Strike Damage 2	75	40% increased Viper Strike Damage	helmet 100 default 0
Enchantment Viper Strike Poison Duration 1	66	20% increased Viper Strike Duration	helmet 100 default 0
Enchantment Viper Strike Poison Duration 2	75	30% increased Viper Strike Duration	helmet 100 default 0

Version history

Version	Changes
3.13.0	Now converts 60% of physical damage to chaos damage (from 50%).
3.12.0	Now has alternative gem quality.
3.8.0	Now deals 90% of base damage at gem level 1 (from 80%), up to 135% at gem level 20 (from 130%). Now uses both weapons if you attack while Dual Wielding, but has 30% less Attack Speed if Dual Wielding. Each weapon now hits separately if Dual Wielding, dealing 20% less Damage.
3.7.0	Now deals base damage equal to, and has an added damage effectiveness of, 80% at gem level 1 (from 115%), up to 130% at gem level 20 (from 142%). Now converts 50% of physical damage to chaos (from 25%). Now adds 5 to 7 chaos damage to attacks at gem level 1, up to 169 to 254 at gem level 20. Now gains 0.5% increased attack speed and 0.5% increased poison duration per 1% gem quality (previously just 0.5% increased attack speed per 1% gem quality).
3.4.0	Now gain additional melee weapon range every 7 levels, up to +2 at level 20 (and +3 at level 21)
2.4.0	11% more damage at gem level 20.
2.1.0	Attack skills that have their damage based on the wielded weapon have their mana costs fixed in place from level 1 onwards. Viper Strike now applies poison on hit and has a 100% chance to do so. Viper Strike now has 25% of its physical damage converted to chaos (instead of 10% physical added as chaos). Poisons applied by Viper Strike have a base duration of 8 seconds (up from 7 seconds). The Base Damage of Viper Strike has been increased from 100% to 130% at level 1, and from 122.8% to 160.4% at level 20.
1.2.0	This skill now adds 10% of physical damage as Chaos Damage and has a 50% chance to deal 175% of the attack's damage as chaos damage over seven seconds. The effect duration won't be refreshed by new attacks, but there is no limit to how many Viper Strike debuffs an enemy can have.
1.0.3	Damage progression has been increased. It is now around 15% better at level 15 than it was in 1.0.2.
1.0.2b	Fixed a bug where area damage bonuses would not benefit Viper StrikeViper StrikeAttack, Duration, Melee, Strike, Chaos Level: (1-20) Cost: 5 Mana Attack Damage: (90-135)% of base Effectiveness of Added Damage: (90-135)%Hits enemies, adding some of your physical damage as chaos damage and inflicting poison which will be affected by modifiers to skill duration. If dual wielding, will strike with both weapons. Requires a claw, dagger or sword.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent4Phantasmal0.5% increased Attack Speed 0.5% increased Poison Duration1% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage1% increased Chaos Damage0.5% chance to also Poison a nearby Enemy when you inflict PoisonDeals (90-135)% of Base Attack Damage 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage 60% chance to Poison on Hit Base duration is 4 seconds (5-169) to (7-254) Added Chaos Damage Each Weapon Hits separately if Dual Wielding, dealing 20% less Damage 30% Less Attack Speed if Dual Wielding +(0-2) to Melee Strike RangePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. when supported by Melee Splash SupportMelee Splash SupportSupport, Melee, Attack, Strike, AoE Icon: S Level: (1-20) Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130% Radius: 14Requires Level 8Supports melee strike skills, causing their melee strike to deal splash damage around each target hit.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Area of EffectSupported Skills deal 1% increased Melee DamageSupported Skills deal -2% less Damage to surrounding targetsSupported Skills deal (50-41)% less Damage to surrounding targets Supported Skills deal Splash Damage to surrounding targets Supported Skills have (0-57)% more Melee Splash Area of EffectThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket..
1.0.2	Generic modifiers to damage dealt will now apply to damage over time that your character causes. Damage over time is not spell damage, nor attack damage, so modifiers specific to those types will not apply. Non-specific "increased damage" modifiers will apply to damage over time. Type-specific modifiers will apply as well. For example, "increased fire damage" modifiers will apply to fire damage over time. Viper Strike can be supported by Melee Splash SupportMelee Splash SupportSupport, Melee, Attack, Strike, AoE Icon: S Level: (1-20) Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130% Radius: 14Requires Level 8Supports melee strike skills, causing their melee strike to deal splash damage around each target hit.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Area of EffectSupported Skills deal 1% increased Melee DamageSupported Skills deal -2% less Damage to surrounding targetsSupported Skills deal (50-41)% less Damage to surrounding targets Supported Skills deal Splash Damage to surrounding targets Supported Skills have (0-57)% more Melee Splash Area of EffectThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket., now that the damage penalty also applies.
0.9.13	Viper Strike is now 38% better at level 1 and 3% better at level 15.
0.9.12qq	From 0.35% attack speed per quality point to 0.5%.
0.9.12d	Fixed a server crash that could occur with Viper Strike.
0.9.5	Fixed Viper Strike so that damage from the degeneration is scaled properly for PvP.
0.9.4	Increased the damage.
0.9.2	Viper Strike does more damage at higher levels than before. Reduced maximum number of charges to 4.
0.9.1	Reduced Viper Strike duration at lower levels.
0.8.7	Viper Strike added to the game.