Valhein: Bang-Bang, He Shot You Down

Build and Guide Valhein: Bang-Bang, He Shot You Down

Cheat Sheet
Skill Build

Bloody Hunt > Curse of Death > Bullet Storm

Recommended Talents

Sprint, Execute, Roar, Heal, Daze, Flicker

Items

The Beast, War Boots, Slikk’s Sting, Muramasa, Omni Arms, Fenrir’s Tooth

Arcana

Leech, Gale, Stab

Introduction
Valhein will be the first hero you play as in Arena of Valor, and for some he may be the one they stick with. An incredibly powerful marksman, Valhein can decimate most heroes from afar. Unless you get overzealous or someone gets the drop on you, it’s not uncommon to see Valhein lead the charts in Kills and damage at the end of a match. Excellent single target damage, paired with a passive that increases movement speed means Valhein can be deadly and hard to catch when played well.

Skill Build
Blood Hunt > Curse of Death > Bullet Storm

Building up the Ultimate is recommended during the early phases. Bullet Storm is insanely powerful up close as its damage piles on the target, but Curse of Death comes in a close second due to its stun capabilities. Bloody Hunt comes in handy too, due to its low cost, and the speed increase it gives.

Recommended Talents
Sprint, Execute, Roar, Heal, Daze, Flicker

I feel like most Talents can help Valhein in many situations. Sprint is key because it can help you get away when you need to, as can Flicker. Daze is good for similar reasons, because it can stun heroes that get too close. But I also like Execute and Roar, as well as Heal, for they’re more offensive nature. Healing is key because it helps you stay in fights and not retreat, while Execute and Roar let you go into overdrive with Val’s high damage output.

Items
The Beast, War Boots, Slikk’s Sting, Muramasa, Omni Arms, Fenrir’s Tooth

Fenrir’s Tooth is great for the aggressive Valhein. Due to its unique passive that increases all damage dealth by 30% when you’re below 50% health, it’s super deadly – like putting Valhein into Dwarven Berserker Rage mode.

Slikk’s Sting is super important too, as it increases all critical damage by 50%, and adds 30% attack speed, a 20% crit chance, and 5% movement speed. All things a mobile marksman needs. War Boots are recommended for their basic boost to attack and movement speeds.

Muramasa is an easy one too. Stacking Attack Damage, Armor Pierce are certain to help you kill heroes fast. It comes in super handy in the late game. The Beast is good to get for its Attack Damage, but also for its 25% life steal. I’d recommend getting this one as early as you can. Its gold cost is high, but not as high as Muramasa.

Last but not least, Omni’s Arms. These cost 2400 gold, but the huge range of buffs (including a very welcome 500 HP) and the passive of doing 100% damage on the next normal attack after an ability make them super crucial in late game play.

Arcana
Leech, Gale, Stab

Leech! Life steal! Make Valhein the vampire his name makes him seem! Stab is obvious because it increases the armor piece, and Gale comes in handy because of its Attack Speed boost. Basically, anything that helps Val kill things before those things kill him.

Early Game
Like any Marksman or Assassin, Val can be pretty easily killed in the early game. These first stages of any match should start off playing safe, feeding on minions, and sticking with a friend in any of the three lanes. Build up on gold, get those items, and power up those skills. If the opposing team sheepishly lets you kill them, all the better as you’ll be fed and topped up sooner.

Middle Game
Val isn’t the best escape artist, but his speed and general massive damage capacity mean mid and late game are when he starts to get super dangerous. I’d still suggest you don’t go into the jungle, but rather stick with a partner (preferable support or tank) and let them be your buffer between you and the enemy. Your attacks are becoming more potent by this point, so netting some kills and pressing towers is much easier here.

Late Game
This is when the rushing happens. Focus fire on enemy heroes, don’t go into the base alone, and be ready to run away if the tide turns. In short, you’re now at your most powerful if you’ve followed the the item buys, and you’ll be incredibly hard to defend against. You can still die easily though, so your best bet is to be the long-ranged killer like always.

FAQ/Tips
Always be attacking. Val’s passive gives him stacks of the Hunter buff, increasing his speed and stacking up to 5 times. You always want to be killing something.

Don’t get cocky. Valhein is a murderer, sure – but he’s also very very squishy. If you don’t know when to attack and when to run, you’ll be dead more often than not.

Basically, STAY AT RANGE.

Matchups
(Ormarr, Easy)

With super short range, Ormarr is easy to take on, unless he gets the drop on you or Flickers. Basically, keep away from him, and you can burn him down fast.

(Mina, Easy)

Keep Mina at range, and you’re safe. Let her in close, and you’re dead. The theme with Valhein is always simple – STAY AWAY.

(Grakk, Hard)

Grakk is to be feared. His chain can pull you in range, and when that happens, you better have a talent or get lucky.

(Krixi, Hard)

With good CC, and decent range, Krixi can keep you still long enough to kill you. Attack her with help or catch her off guard via ganking.

(Diao Chan, Hard)

Diao Chan can be a hard counter. Her range is greater than ours, and unless we can get the drop on her, she’ll overpower us.