Storm Watch: Valla the Demon Hunter

by Taffer - 7 years ago

Greetings Stranger! Welcome to this weeks Storm Watch where we will be going over another quick assassin, Valla the Demon Hunter. Valla takes her core abilities from Diablo III that allow for mobility, range and quick deeps to lay down Hell onto of her Foes. There may be no Demons to slaughter, but there are certainly people in her way.

Back Story

Valla. Demon Hunter. Nephalem. Sister.

In the world of Sanctuary Demon Hunters are spoken of in whispers. They are as feared as the demons they hunt and for good measure. Valla, like all demon hunters, walks a fine line between the tides of corruption from the enemies she faces and giving in to the sea of writhing hatred that fuels her quest to rid her world of the forces of Hell. The only thing that saves her is her incredible discipline that tempers all of her actions since answering the call of her order.

Valla’s story starts many years ago when she was a young child. She lived a quiet life in a small town in the Eastern Kingdoms with her parents and younger sister Halissa. Her life changed when a demon horde descended upon her community and butchered everyone. Valla and her sister were the only two to survive the slaughter, her parents and everyone else she had ever known were killed merciless by the demons.

Valla and Halissa ran into the forests surrounding her home for safety. Eventually the stress of narrowly surviving a demon attack, living like an animal in the woods and the constant fear that they would be discovered became too much for Halissa to handle and she snapped in the middle of a violent rain storm.

Valla chased after her sister to try and protect her. In Halissa’s fractured state of mind she ran straight into the rapids of a nearby river. Valla tried desperately to save her, but the rain made her grip too slippery, the current was too strong. The last Valla ever saw of Halissa was her being taken by the river. Valla would soon be found by a band of Demon Hunters that were tracking the horde responsible for killing her village and thus began her life as one of their order.

It would take many years for her to temper her hatred with the discipline needed to face powerful demons. She would face a powerful demon called Valdraxxis who used her memories of her lost sister against her, but this only would server to strengthen her resolve and final realize her true potential as Demon Hunter. When Valla stared into the abyss that was Valdraxxis’ soul, it was the demon that blinked first.

Valla would later play an integral role in the saving of Sanctuary as she fought mercilessly against the Lords of Hell and she would eventually bring down the Prime Evil, Diablo, before he could destroy the High Heavens. Her duty is not yet over though as Death itself has now come to challenge her…

Backstory provided by Neinball (Twitter)

Abilities

(Q) Hungering Arrow



Valla fires an arrow that pierces her target enemy to hit 2 other targets. If her target is the only enemy in range, the arrow will hit her main target twice.

This ability could be really good if you use it against creeps to hit a Hero slightly farther away, or when a Hero is alone to get a free hit on him/her/it. It really depends on how the AI works for the 2nd arrow, it could be closest so it only hits a ton of creeps or it could be smart and head to the closet Hero. If there is only one or two creep left with a Hero close by, this will be a bit smarter to use than (W) Multishot simply because it has more damage potential. But of course, why not both?

Another good scenario for Hungering Arrow will be for team fights, you will be able to hit 3 total targets with this and while that is rolling you will also be using your other abilities on top of your auto attack.

(W) Multishot



Valla quickly fires arrows towards target direction dealing damage in a cone area.

This will be a simple deeps to everything in front of you cone skill. Great for clearing waves that are pushing towards your towers or simply laying down more deeps on a team fight. Not much to say about it other than you will be spamming this on top of everything else.

(E) Vault

Valla summersaults towards the target direction.

This will be a core abiliy for Valla as it will bring her in and out of the fray. She will be able to vault into bushes to get away or vault along side the chase to finish off her pray. The faster she can get into a battle, the faster things die and the faster the road to victory is paved. Of course, you have to be careful not to out run your team and vault into death. When and when not to do things will be quintessential for the Assassin breed of Heroes.

Heroic Abilities

(R) Strafe



Valla spins around, shooting arrows at targets around her. She can still move while spinning around.

This will be an ability you will want to pick up if you team has a lot of CC (Crowd Control). Depending on how much damage it does, you can lay down a lot of hurt on enemies who can’t move or are slowed. My only issues with this ability is that it looks like you can’t sure your other abilities while using this one, but if there is no CD (Cool Down) then you can unload and then use this as a followup until they refresh.

(R) Rain of Vengeance



Valla summons a shadow beast to fly down into the area, dealing damage and knocking enemies down.

This will be probably be my most picked Heroic Ability as it seems to be a semi skill shot and also knocks down the enemy. Once you launch this ability you should be able to unleash hell with your (Q) and auto attack while they are getting off their ass.

Conclusion

Sadly I was not able to find out what her Heroic Trait is as that would really help in determining how well her skills synchronize. If you happen to know please leave a comment. I have played Valla and our game didn’t reach the point of being able to even use her Heroic Abilities as the other team utilized the map quest and ultimately destroyed us.

Come back next week to learn more about Starcraft’s Siege Tank, Sgt. Hammer.