User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Viper Tobi-Kadachi/@comment-4969421-20200124165036

I think one of the best aspects of Iceborne is how much it improved upon Subspecies. Just like going from 1st gen to 3rd gen, Subs made a huge jump on quality going from previous games to 5th gen. Now, subs not only get a bunch of unique moves, they also require new strategies to fight compared to the standard species. For the most part, it actually feels like you're hunting an entirely separate monster.

Unfortunately for Shah Tobi, this new standard for quality is not something you get to see right away as you begin your hunting career in Iceborne. I don't know if it's because of its role as an early game monster, but as far as 5th gen subs go, the status-loving squirrel snake is one of the more mediocre ones. It's actually not that awful. Sure, new players might feel a bit overwhelmed by the deadly poison and its ability to glide at will, but it's still perfectly manageable even at the rank it's introduced in. However, Viper Tobi suffers from the same fate as its electric brother: It's just... forgettable. Once you're done with its assignment, there's little reason to revisit this monster: its equipment doesn't bring anything to the table that's isn't already done by better other early MR armor or weapons, and while passable, its fight is not really fun enough to justify just going ahead and hunt it for the sake of it or to kill time. Coupled with its extremely restricted habitat, only being found in the cave system of Hoarfrost Reach, chances of seeing this monster again mast MR2 are slim to none. Perhaps broadening its habitat a bit would palliate this problem a bit. I don't think Viper Tobi would feel out of place in the Rotten Vale, given how the Hoarfrost caves are very similar in design and even reuse some assets between the two.

At the end of the day however, Viper just a mediocre monster. Any game is bound to have those. Better just being mediocre than being straight up awful.