Elite Dangerous: Viper

Manufacturer	Faulcon DeLacy
Cost	142,931 CR
Insurance	7,146 CR
Top Speed	320 m/s
Boost Speed	400 m/s
Manoeuvrability	6
Shields	105
Armour	70
Hull Mass	60 T
Cargo Capacity	4 T
Fuel Capacity	4 T
Unladen Jump Range	6.92 LY
Landing Pad Size	Small
Utility Mounts	2x Utility Mounts
Hardpoints	2x Small Hardpoints 2x Medium Hardpoints
Internals	1x Size 1 Compartment 1x Size 2 Compartment 2x Size 3 Compartments

Same as Eagle Viper is best used for combat because maximum cargo of 22 tonnes and maximum jump range of 22 LY are not enough for most activities.

Keep in mind that stock Viper is very bad, maybe the worst stock ship in the game so if you want to enjoy flying viper you should save much more than initial 143k credits before buying one. I loved viper in standard beta when cannons were introduced and all players were flying Vipers with cannons at Eranin conflict zones with top speed of 500 m/s, but then it got nerfed and max speed is "only" 400 m/s now, which still is impressive. Viper is older brother of Eagle but not the Big brother (that would be Vulture for now with big daddy being Anaconda at least until Corvette and Cuter will see day light) - 2 Small and 2 Medium hard points can puck a punch, it has around 1,7x stronger shields than an Eagle (also much stronger shields than Cobra) and base armor is much higher as well.

If you are a fighter then Viper is an intermediate ship between Eagle and Vulture - it's small and hard to hit and same time has enough fire power to make NPCs suffer, but in PvP you would rarely use Viper now - i guess most combat oriented players now can afford Vulture, Clipper, Fer-de-lance, Python or even Anaconda, but Viper is fun to fly and learn combat and as with any combat ship remember never to fly in straight line - always use vertical thrusters and even considering that rebuy cost will not be high choose your enemies wisely.

And as with all combat ships there are some power issues - you will not be able to have enough to power all you need so figure out the best module and weapon setup that works best for you.

General weapon load out would be Beam laser and multi-cannon combo.

Best used at Extraction sites, Nav Beacons, Unidentified Signal Sources to hunt wanted NPCs, interdict wanted ships in super-cruise or do some low intensity conflict zones.

Advanced players might complete Assassination missions (killing Elite Anacondas) but Extraction Sites would be my top choice because there are police ships and you can just "steal" their kills or at least have some backup and earn nice money in process.