Blizzard updated
Heroes of the Storm today and released Valeera as their newest hero.
"Valeera Sanguinar, Shadow of the Uncrowned, is a melee
assassin hero from the
Warcraft universe. For a time, the gladiator Valeera Sanguinar served dutifully as
one of Varian Wrynn's personal bodyguards. Now, her shadowy skills find
her a natural fit within the secretive rogue order, the Uncrowned, in
their fight against the Legion. She is a tricky assassin who can gain
access to different abilities while stealthed, and builds combo points
to eviscerate her opponents." (
heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com)
"Valeera Sanguinar, along with
Broll Bearmantle, was a companion of
Varian Wrynn. She eventually became an enforcer for the
New Council of Tirisfal, and accepted the position of an advisor and bodyguard to Varian in
Stormwind, with the caveat that she retain her independence. She culturally identifies as a blood elf, taking pride in her
people's traditions and defending their tribulations and loyalties.
However, she herself acts independently of the Thalassian government,
and has formally joined neither the
Horde nor the
Alliance since her introduction but is fiercely loyal to Varian and his
son. Valeera herself maintains that her loyalties are personal, to her friends and her ideals." (
heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com)
Ok, so now you know a lot about her. Now let's get to the nitty gritty-the skills and abilities. To keep this post short and sweet I'm only going to talk about the main skills rather than the additional talents you get as you level up.
Vanish
Cooldown: 8 seconds
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.
Using Vanish grants Valeera an alternate set of Abilities that she can use while Stealthed.
This is her passive that allows her to be very powerful. Once she goes stealth she stays invisible unless she's hit or revealed. Not only that but using vanish gives you an alternate set of abilities that you can only use while invisible. It's awesome that they added another stealth character like Nova, Zeratul, and Samuro but Valeera has a much cooler stealth than all of those characters because it gives her great abilities.
Q
Sinister Strike
30 Mana Cooldown: 5 seconds
Dash forward, dealing damage to all
enemies in a line. If Sinister Strike hits an enemy Hero, she stops
dashing immediately and the cooldown is reduced to 1 second.
Awards 1 Combo Point.
Stealth: Ambush
Heavily damage an enemy.
This is her bread and butter attack that you're going to be using a lot. The dash can go a pretty decent distance and you can also use it to run away. It is also good for general attacking, killing, and gaining combo points.
Q
Ambush
20 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds
Ambush a target, instantly dealing damage to them.
Awards 1 Combo Point.
This is her stealth Q ability. It's a great general attacking skill used for killing and gaining combo points. It does more damage than sinister strike but it doesn't do a dash attack, instead its just a close range assault.
W
Blade Flurry
40 Mana Cooldown: 4 seconds
Deal damage in an area around Valeera.
Awards 1 Combo Point per enemy Hero hit.
Stealth: Cheap Shot
Stun and damage an enemy.
This is her small aoe attack. It will hit enemies around you but it doesn't have much range so they will have to be close to you to be effective. Its great for clearing lanes but if you're playing Valeera most likely you don't want to be clearing lanes that much. I find the stealth version of her W ability to be much more useful.
W
Cheap Shot
30 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds
Deal a small amount of damage to an enemy and stun them for 1.5 seconds.
Awards 1 Combo Point.
This is my favorite ability for Valeera because it stuns an enemy and does damage. With the stun you can follow up with more rogue attacks and if your team is with you you'll instantly kill them. If you use this at the right time you'll always be able to secure kills. Very useful ability.
E
Eviscerate
25 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds
Consume all stored Combo Points to
Eviscerate an enemy, dealing increased damage per Combo Point spent.
Valeera can store a maximum of 3 Combo Points.
Stealth: Garrote
Silence and damage an enemy over time.
This is a great all around attack when you have a lot of combo points stored up. Like cheap shot it will help you secure a lot of kills. I have to use it more and learn its uses better.
E
Garrote
30 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds
Garrote an enemy, instantly dealing a
small amount of damage to the target, as well as a larger amount of
bonus damage over 7 seconds, and Silencing them for 2 seconds.
Awards 1 Combo Point.
This one I have to mess around with more because usually when I'm in stealth mode I go for cheap shot and ambush more so than garrote. But I do see that it is very powerful, mostly because of the silence for 2 seconds. I have to use this ability more.
Ultimates
R
Smoke Bomb
Cooldown: 60 seconds
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.
This is my favorite ulti for Valeera, at least for now. I like the fact that it has a short cooldown and that damage is reduced, armor is gained, and you can keep attacking and using abilities without being revealed. It's also great when you're super low on health. You can pop smoke bomb, run out, and use your passive stealth to run away. So good.
R
Cloak of Shadows
Cooldown: 25 seconds
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.
This ulti seems great too. I've used it during my first couple games and I love the short cool down. But so far I prefer smoke bomb for most games. However, if I'm getting targeted hard and don't have a healer this does seem like a much better option. The fact that it only lasts 1 second makes me not like it as much but the fact that its on a 25 second cool down is just insanely good.
All in all Valeera has turned out to be one of the coolest and most fun characters to play in heroes of the storm. I probably won't get bored of her until I reach level 10 on her. Then I'll go back to my usual roster of heroes. Playing her reminds me of playing my Undead Rogue in World of Warcraft (oh, those were the days), albeit a much simpler and easier play style. She's super fun!
Now you're thinking like a rogue.
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