Wittlling down a high health tank, or two-shotting an enemy carry, this hero does it all. Her godly sustained damage and huge burst make her a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, throw a two second AOE stun that deals 1,000 damage a second into the mix and it’s easy to see why she’s very high on everyone’s priority list for competitive play.

The Dark should fear me

Her strength comes from her versatility, Valla has the ability to be played in a number of ways due to her talent setup. “The Giant Slayer” as coined by Force, focuses on an attack speed, auto attacking build, taking points in attack speed on Max Hatred, cool down reduction on hit and increased damage every third attack.

The main talent of this build “Giant Slayer” allows you to deal 1.5% of the enemy's MAX HP as bonus damage on every auto attack, allowing you to slowly destroy even the tankiest of heroes. Your two second stun allows you to keep people rooted in place while you continue to fill them with more holes than a second hand dart board.

I Bring Swift Death

“Swift Death”, as the name suggests, is based around bursting down your target as fast as possible (and let me tell you, I have yet to find a champion I can’t take down in less than two seconds). The build revolves around Vault resetting your Hungering Arrow, and Blood for Blood dealing 15% Max HP Damage in a single cast spell (Think of DFG from League) which allows you to Chain your ultimate -> into BFB -> into two Hungering Arrows, dealing IMMENSE burst damage.

This combo is especially effective against stealth assassins who like to pop out and try and two shot you. Nova is never a problem for me with this build, as the moment she engages, I simply lay down my ult for the damage and stun, and proceed to destroy her before she’s even started her combo.

To siege, or not to siege?

As Valla you want to continually keep pressure on your opponents. Spam Multishot and Hungering Arrow as needed. Valla is able to do a lot of hero damage and quickly kill lane minions with Multishot too. As an assassin Valla can be on the weak side, so use your range to your advantage and be ready to Vault out as needed. Don’t get ganged up on. Watch your surroundings.

How to hunt the hunter

The Demon Hunter is an archer with the ability to move and move fast. Her arrows can be menacing, but once you can get your hands on her, she can be killed quickly. When possible, using powers that can push her deeper into your teammates' attack range will be the best way to pile on the damage. She is fast, so you have to take advantage of your opportunities when you have them. Heroes like Diablo can charge on her, while other assassins like Raynor can shoot her back. She doesn't take much to kill, so these moves require good coordination.

Also, if you find you have a melee hero in range of the Demon Hunter, sneak a ranged attacker into her escape path so you can put that final damage on her as she tries to run away.

Synergy

Valla works extremely well with Arthas. His Singdragosa ultimate along with her Rain of vengence can do some immense damage to any hero locked into their path. Infact any Double Warrior combo works fairly well with Valla, it gives a strong front line and some decent peel while she lays down damage.

Try to avoid playing with Tyrande as they essentially play the same, and do not synergize well together at all.

Works Well Against

Some heroes just can't take the raw numbers that Valla can dish out. Nazeebo, Tychus, Illidan and Li Li fall to pieces pretty quickly against a focused attack.

Final Thoughts

Valla is your bread and butter Ranged Assassin. She is my favourite hero so far. Deadly with her abilities and she has good mana regeneration/health regeneration. Your enemies will despise you as Valla, she does a lot of damage and can be pretty evasive. If you want to lead the scoreboard in kills and are looking for a hero that can solo carry a game this is most definitely the hero for you.

Next article we get down and dirty with HOTS's newest hero - The Archmage, Jaina Proudmoore