Valeera strikes from the shadows in Heroes of the Storm

Do we have too many “Warcraft” characters in Blizzard’s epic battle royale? Probably. But that means little when Valeera Sanguinar – at first glance another generic “Heroes of the Storm” Assassin – is one of the most interesting Heroes to come to the Nexus.

A death dealer of the Uncrowned order, Valeera is your consummate rogue, employing fast attack strings to whittle opponents down to bloody stumps. She actually has two “forms” – one normal, and one Stealthed. The latter comes with its own batch of “Vanish Abilities,” which she can use to strike enemies from the shadows.

Valeera is a Melee Assassin with one Trait, three Primary Abilities, three Vanish Abilities, and two Heroics. She’s described as “hard” to play.

Special mechanics:

One of Valeera’s core mechanics revolves around Combo Points, which she generates every time she successfully uses a Primary or Vanish Ability to damage an enemy Hero. She can store up to a maximum of 3 Combo Points. She can then spend those Combo Points to empower Eviscerate (E).

Combo Points can’t be stored indefinitely, however; outside combat, Combo Points disappear after a number of seconds. Therefore, the best way to keep those Combo Points charged is by constantly using combos on enemy Heroes.

Valeera doesn’t rely on Mana, but on a swiftly and constantly recharging resource called Energy. Coupled with her short Ability cooldowns, she can chain fast attacks together to create devastating combos.


Vanish (Trait, D):

“Valeera vanishes from sight, becoming Stealthed and increasing her Movement Speed by 10%. For the first second, she is Unrevealable and can pass through other units.”

When activated, Vanish is an excellent escape and scouting tool. As mentioned previously, it also grants her Vanish Abilities, which are perfect for lethal ambushes. Upon use, each Vanish Ability cancels the active Vanish effect.

We shall discuss her Primary Abilities first, followed by her Vanish Abilities.

Sinister Strike (Q):

“Dash forward, hitting all enemies in a line for 110 damage. If Sinister Strike hits an enemy Hero, Valeera stops dashing immediately and the cooldown is reduced to 1 second.”

This short forward dash enhances Valeera’s mobility, making it useful as an offensive, evasive, or pursuit tool. It also helps when you want to close the distance between her and a target Hero as rapidly as possible.


Blade Flurry (W):

“Deal 130 damage in an area around Valeera.”

This is best used on closely grouped enemy Heroes. As each Hero struck by Blade Flurry awards Valeera a Combo Point, performing this move when she’s near at least three enemy Heroes fully charges her Combo Points.


Eviscerate (E):

“Consume all Combo Points to eviscerate an enemy, dealing increased damage per Combo Point spent.”

Eviscerate is an extremely quick melee attack that can only be performed if Valeera has any Combo Points to expend. She deals 100 damage per Combo Point consumed by Eviscerate, so it’s always a good idea to have fully charged Combo Points before attacking.

Eviscerate is also the ideal combo finisher. A good technique is to work your way up to three Combo Points by assaulting your enemy with a series of Ability strikes, before ending the combo with Eviscerate.

Vanish Ability 1 – Ambush (Q):

“Ambush the target, instantly dealing 187 damage to them.”

A quick short-range stab, Ambush deals heavy damage and is a great combo and combat opener.


Vanish Ability 2 – Cheap Shot (W):

“Deal 31 damage to an enemy and Stun them for 1.5 seconds.”

Cheap Shot is another excellent combo/combat opener. While its damage output is pathetic, its ability to Stun enemies makes it a wonderful crowd control tool. A Stunned enemy is a helpless enemy, so choose your target wisely, then unleash the full potential of Valeera’s kit on them. It’s even more deadly when you’ve got allies close by to help out.


Vanish Ability 3 – Garrote (E):

“Garrote an enemy, dealing 78 damage instantly, an additional 182 damage over 7 seconds, and Silencing them for 2 seconds.”

Garrote is Valeera’s most dangerous Vanish Ability, thanks to the Silence debuff it slaps enemy Heroes with. A well-timed Garrote can effectively shut down the enemy team’s most powerful damage dealer and therefore throw a wrench into their entire strategy.

Smoke Bomb (R1)

“Create a cloud of smoke. While in the smoke, Valeera is Unrevealable, can pass through other units, and gains 25 Armor, reducing damage taken by 25%. Valeera can continue to attack and use abilities without being revealed. Lasts 5 seconds. Using this Ability does not break Vanish.”

Staying within the circle of smoke basically puts Valeera in Stealth mode – one that can’t be broken by her Ability usage or enemy Reveal spells.

Additionally, staying within the smoke enhances her survivability. This isn’t only due to the Armor bonus, but also because her Unrevealable status prevents enemies – including enemy structures – from targeting her. She can still be hurt by area-of-effect Abilities, though.

Because activating this Heroic doesn’t cancel Vanish, you can perform Smoke Bomb while in Stealth mode, allowing you to set enemies up for a nasty surprise. There is, however, a catch. Once Smoke Bomb has been triggered, performing a Vanish Ability still deactivates the Vanish Trait. Valeera remains Stealthed thanks to the smoke, but her Abilities are reverted to Primary. This prevents her from immediately following up, say, Cheap Shot with Garrote. And, once the smoke clears, you still have to worry about what’s left of Vanish’s 8-second cooldown – so there will likely be a short duration after the conclusion of Smoke Bomb when she can’t Vanish. While it pays to have an escape strategy in mind before dropping that Smoke Bomb, in most cases Sinister Strike does a good enough job of allowing Valeera to disengage from combat.

Also, smart enemies will leave the smoke as soon as they can. So it’s practical to Stun a target first to prevent them from fleeing, then doing as much damage as possible. It also helps to have allies who can hamper enemy mobility.


Cloak of Shadows (R2)

“Valeera is enveloped in a Cloak of Shadows, which immediately removes all damage over time effects from her. For 1 second, she becomes Unstoppable and gains 75 Spell Armor, reducing Ability Damage taken by 75%. Using this Ability does not break Vanish.”

Cloak of Shadows also boosts Valeera’s survivability. It almost negates spell damage and prevents her from being locked down by crowd control effects such as Stun and Root.

It’s more situational and reactive than her first Heroic. Under the right circumstances, though, it can turn her into a nigh-irrepressible killing machine.

While its effects only last a second, Cloak of Shadows has a considerably shorter cooldown (18 seconds) than Smoke Bomb, allowing you to use it more often.





Going rogue

Valeera is an extremely combo-centric Hero; to have any success with her, you’ll need quick fingers and a quick mind. Linking Primary Abilities is easy, but transitioning from Vanish Ability to Primary Ability might prove a little more daunting for beginners.

While Valeera excels at ambushes, having her Vanish mid-combo can throw opponents off. Her ability to Vanish at will makes her difficult to read. Remember: unpredictability is a deadly weapon when honed.

Valeera is on the squishy side; thankfully, her mobility and Vanish Trait make her elusive and, in the right hands, difficult to kill.

Despite her dash and area-of-effect attacks, Valeera isn’t great at clearing minion waves. She’s also weak against structures. Her forte simply isn’t lane pushing.

Valeera’s Talents don’t result in drastically different builds, but they do let you augment specific strengths and make it easier for her to avoid death.


Daggers in the dark

I’ve had a lot of fun with Valeera. Stringing together combos is a delight, as is seeking out enemies and striking them when they least expect opposition.

A versatile Hero, Valeera possesses Abilities suitable for a variety of situations, and for initiating combat on your own terms. When executed properly, they allow for a barrage of follow-up attacks that can render even the most powerful foes ineffective – or dead. A truly deadly combatant, and one that’s a joy to use.

Valeera can now be purchased in “Heroes of the Storm.” — TJD, GMA News