by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Valla is the demon hunter representative from Diablo that has some of the best assassin damage in Heroes of the Storm. This week I’ve got a build that was written and submitted to me by one of the Heroes Power Hour Patreaon’s. His name is Zexerous and I liked the build so much I had to do it this week. I really enjoy the build because it focuses on meaningful damage that the Multishot build does not offer but it’s not as hard to use as the full auto attack build. Some of this guide is in his words and some of it is in my own but the build concept was something that he brought to my attention. For the basics on Valla check out the BlizzPro hero page here.

Basic Abilities

Hatred – (Passive Trait) A great passive that can really up Valla’s damage output if you make use of the stutter step and shoot strategy. Never stand still while attacking to get this up. Be fluid in your movements and shots to keep the hatred going.

Hungering Arrow – (Q) The build will be based around this skill shot skill so practice hitting it and know when you can use it at max range. If an enemy is approaching you then its much easier to hit but if the enemy is fleeing then you may need to close the gap a bit to avoid whiffing it.

Multishot – (W) A great ability for wave clear that allows you to put some extra damage on the enemies. Overuse of this ability for wave clear can cause mana problems so make sure you get the most out of it every time.

Vault – (E) An amazing escape tool that should be kept off of cooldown unless you’re absolutely sure that using it offensively will secure a kill or favorable trades.

Heroic Abilities

Strafe – (R) You can really get the damage flowing with this amazing heroic. In this build it’s the heroic of choice but if the enemy has a lot of hard CC such as stuns or Polymorph you may want to skip this one because good players will shut this down.

Rain of Vengeance – (R) A strong ultimate that has good synergy with wombo combo teams or abilities that hold people in place such as Void Prison or Hungering Maw. This one takes a bit more timing and skill but the stuns it provides can lead to some favorable situations.

The Build

Level 1

Cost Effective Materials – This is going to be your most effective skill overall. The reduced mana cost for hungering arrows will ensure that you will be able to fire off all Valla’s skills in the mid to late game.

Level 4

Puncturing Arrow – This skill will give Valla extra range an an extra bounce on the primary ability of the build. This talent scales great with the ability and gives you that extra boost you need sometimes to secure those ever important kills on fleeing heroes.

Level 7

Repeating Arrow – This is where this build really starts to putting out the damage, in a lot of maps where people will clump up without creeps or neutrals, such as Cursed Hollow, Dragon Shire, and Tomb of the Spider Queen. Having 2 hungering arrows out really ups Valla’s damage a monumental amount. Waiting 4 seconds for both vault and hungering arrow to cool down to get 2 more hungering arrows on the enemy team is something really fantastic.

Level 10

Strafe – see heroic abilities section.

Level 13

Giant Killer – This talent can be great if you’re finding yourself in a lot of team fights in which Valla can unload auto attacks from the back. Frost shot is also a great option to catch fleeing heroes or out of position heroes. Spell shield can give you that little bit of extra survivability if you the other team decides to focus Valla in team fights.

Level 16

Tumble – This talent is the final piece of this particular build. Two charges of tumble means Valla can have up to 3 hungering arrows on the enemy team. If they’re still standing at that point, then they’re probably running at this point. Sometimes hold that last charge to vault towards an enemy who took too much damage and hit them with that last arrow to secure a kill.

Level 20

Bolt of the Storm – Bolt is and still will be a great idea to either chase fleeing heroes or teleporting to safety and absolutely opens up Valla’s options for what she can do in the final stretch of the game. Nexus Frenzy is great if Valla is still being left alone in team fights, which probably isn’t happening at this point due to the sheer amount of damage she is putting out with her Hungering Arrows.

The Strategy