Valla Build Guide “Be vewy, vewy quiet...”

Last updated on Sep 27, 2021 at 20:00 by Derenash 24 comments
General Information

Welcome to our guide for Valla, a Ranged Assassin in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.

1.

Valla's Overview

Valla is a highly versatile and flexible ranged damage dealer. Her strong points are her exceptional single-target damage and on-demand area of effect burst damage. However, her relative fragility makes her a high priority target for the enemy.

2.

Valla's Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Very high single-target and area of effect damage
  • +Good waveclear
  • +Good poke
  • +Strong in all phases of the game
  • +Flexible Talents that allow her to adapt to many different situations
X Weaknesses
  • -Dependent on good positioning
  • -Low base Health
  • -Vulnerable to crowd control
3.

Valla's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Standard Build

Recommended
Level 1 Fire At Will Icon
Level 4 Arsenal Icon
Level 7 Hot Pursuit Icon Frost Shot Icon ?
Level 10 Rain of Vengeance Icon Strafe Icon ?
Level 13 Gloom Icon
Level 16 Manticore Icon Punishment Icon ?
Level 20 Farflight Quiver Icon Death Siphon Icon ?

Valla's Standard Build provides superior area of effect damage and ease of use at the cost of single-target damage. As key Talents, Fire At Will Icon Fire At Will and Arsenal Icon Arsenal allow you to quickly achieve max Hatred Icon Hatred, while also damaging multiple enemies at once with Multishot Icon Multishot.

This build has 2 variations based on your Heroic Ability. With Strafe Icon Strafe it is better to get Death Siphon Icon Death Siphon at Level 20, along with Punishment Icon Punishment at Level 16. However, since Rain of Vengeance Icon Rain of Vengeance does not have access to Death Siphon, it is better to get Talents to enhance your Basic Attacks at 16 and 20, such as Manticore Icon Manticore and Farflight Quiver Icon Farflight Quiver with it.

Attack Build

Situational
Level 1 Creed of the Hunter Icon
Level 4 Death Dealer Icon
Level 7 Hot Pursuit Icon
Level 10 Rain of Vengeance Icon
Level 13 Tempered by Discipline Icon Gloom Icon ?
Level 16 Manticore Icon
Level 20 Farflight Quiver Icon Acrobat Icon ? Storm of Vengeance Icon ?

Valla's Basic Attack Build provides superior sustain single-target damage at the cost of personal safety. Key Basic Attack-related Talents allow you to become a very threatening damage source, provided your teammates can protect you well.

Burst Build

Situational
Level 1 Puncturing Arrow Icon
Level 4 Repeating Arrow Icon
Level 7 Frost Shot Icon Monster Hunter Icon ?
Level 10 Rain of Vengeance Icon Strafe Icon ?
Level 13 Siphoning Arrows Icon Gloom Icon ?
Level 16 Manticore Icon Seething Hatred Icon ?
Level 20 Acrobat Icon Death Siphon Icon ? Farflight Quiver Icon ?

Valla's Burst Build provides superior single-target burst damage at the cost of sustain damage and being weaker against mobile Heroes. Key Hungering Arrow Icon Hungering Arrow-related Talents allow you to frontload your damage to threaten isolated enemies.

This Build is excellent if you have a burst composition, as it does not require any Hatred Icon Hatred to start dealing damage, being the most consistent build for following up quick engages.

4.

Valla's Synergies and Counters

V Valla synergizes with

Valla is at her best when something stands between her and her enemies. Large, Healthy Tanks are particularly desirable as they draw attention away from Valla, and often provide their own form of crowd control for potential follow-ups. Otherwise, anything that can protect Valla is also desirable. Shielding effects are particularly impactful due to her limited Health pool.

X Valla is countered by

As a frail Ranged Assassin, Valla tends to naturally struggle against other high-damage Assassins who have the ability to effectively gap close past her Vault Icon Vault's range or otherwise sneak up on her (such has Zeratul). With little in the way of self-peeling, make sure to stay near your Healer when possible against such Heroes, and make no bold attempts at outplaying your opponents.

5.

Valla's Maps

Valla's stronger maps
Battlefield of Eternity Infernal Shrines Tomb of the Spider Queen Volskaya Foundry
Valla's average maps
Alterac Pass Blackheart's Bay Braxis Holdout Cursed Hollow Dragon Shire Garden of Terror Hanamura Temple Sky Temple Towers of Doom Warhead Junction
Valla's weaker maps
None

As a well-rounded Ranged Assassin, Valla is not particularly weak on any Maps. In general, it is better for her to remain accompanied while laning due to her relative frailty, something that should not be an issue for most Maps. Since she is good in long teamfights, she is excellent in maps that feature those, like Infernal Shrines, or Volskaya Foundry. A special mention should be made for Battlefield of Eternity, where her Hungering Arrow Icon Hungering Arrow build really shines.

6.

Valla's Tips and Tricks

  • Hatred Icon Hatred empowers Valla's Basic Attacks and increases her Movement Speed; try and attack something at least once every 5 seconds so that your stacks do not fall off.
  • Hungering Arrow Icon Hungering Arrow has a high Mana cost and will home unto undesirable targets, such as Minions and Summons; avoid using the Ability unless it is going to deal useful damage.
  • Multishot Icon Multishot is your main waveclearing tool. Its wide area of effect also makes it excellent for checking hidden areas, revealing Stealthed Heroes, and dismounting opponents.
  • Vault Icon Vault can be used offensively, as a gap-closer, and defensively, to create space between yourself and opponents and dodge Abilities. Limit your offensive use of the Ability, as it leaves you vulnerable.
  • Strafe Icon Strafe's reliability goes up as opponents use up their crowd control Abilities; keep track of their Cooldowns, and remain on the move so as to minimise the chance you will be interrupted.
  • Rain of Vengeance Icon Rain of Vengeance is better used as a follow-up or as a self-peeling tool than merely for dealing damage.
  • With Fire At Will Icon Fire At Will, in teamfights Gloom Icon Gloom can be always used before using Multishot Icon Multishot, as it will instantly restack most of the consumed Hatred Icon Hatred.
7.

Valla's Role in the Current Meta

Valla's outstanding single-target sustain damage allows her to put an extreme amount of pressure on anything within her Basic Attack range. Her on-demand area of effect damage and poke allow her to reliably deal damage in all situations. A high baseline Movement Speed, Vault Icon Vault, and Frost Shot Icon Frost Shot grant her respectable options for self-peeling, though they do not help her against crowd control.

Valla is extremely strong against Healer-heavy metas, as such Heroes do not typically have the tools to force her to play defensively to reduce her effectiveness. Picking her early during drafts may incite opposing players to choose dive-oriented Heroes, which must rely on playing aggressively and on very good coordination to succeed against her. Picking her later in a draft may leave her completely uncountered and able to freely deal her damage.

8.

Changelog

  • 27 Sep. 2021 (talents page): Talent Section reviewed and only description changes have been made.
  • 27 Sep. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed and only description changes have been made.
  • 25 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Updated Recommended Talents for Level 16 and Level 20.
  • 25 Jun. 2021 (this page): Updated Talent recommendations for Standard Build.
  • 04 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Talents and builds updated to better reflect current meta.
  • 04 Jun. 2021 (this page): Guide updated to better reflect current meta.
  • 18 May 2021 (talents page): Talents and builds updated after recent rework.
  • 18 May 2021 (this page): Guide updated after recent rework.
  • 27 Oct. 2020 (talents page): Talents and builds reviewed and updated.
  • 30 Aug. 2020 (this page): Role in Current Meta section updated.
  • 05 Apr. 2020 (talents page): Description for Strafe and Rain of Vengeance updated.
  • 13 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added a note about current Anomaly.
  • 11 Oct. 2019 (talents page): Talent section updated.
  • 11 Oct. 2019 (abilities page): Abilities section reviewed.
  • 11 Oct. 2019 (this page): Guide updated.
  • 30 Apr. 2017 (this page): Guide updated and moved to new format.
Show more
Show less