Valhein: Your First Attacker

Build and Guide Valhein: Your First Attacker

Cheat Sheet
Skill Build
Focus on maxing out both Bloody Hunt and Bullet Storm before investing fully into Curse of Death. Slot points into Bullet Storm whenever able, but always pick an upgraded Bloody Hunt over an upgraded Curse of Death.

Items

Claves Sancti

Sonic Boots / Gilded Greaves

Slikk’s Sting

The Beast

Fafnir’s Talon

Hyoga’s Edge / Ancestral Glory



Arcana

Fill red arcana slots with a rough 80/20 Attack Damage/Attack Speed mix. Purple slots can aid with survivability by holding Lifesteal and HP while Green slots should be used for Magic and Armor Pierce with tiny amounts of Armor for good measure.

Talents

Roar

Execute

Introduction
If you’ve come into Arena of Valor with experience of the MOBA genre already, you’re probably well aware of just how powerful ranged attackers can be - and Valhein really does feel like a top tier contender to this rule.

As the very first character you unlock and practice with in Arena of Valor, Valhein’s confidence as an attacker is clear through his voice lines alone. He knows what he needs to do and how to do it, but the common denominator is the player behind his skill.

Wielding both a common pistol and a gargantuan glaive, Valhein puts them both to good use on a very frequent basis. Able to chop down his opponents before they’re given a chance to break free of his crowd-control ability, the key to his power lies in auto-attacks. His abilities are merely enablers.



Skill descriptions
Just like any other, Valhein has three hotkey abilities available to him at any one time, but it’s his Passive move that’s going to be doing most of the work behind the scenes.

Every third auto-attack Valhein throws will hit with an randomised effect. Already a pleasing freebie, it also grants a stack of the ‘Hunter’ buff, increasing Valhein’s movement speed by 10% with each stack (up to 5) for 2 seconds. At the start of a match his attack speed won’t be enough to stack this boost, but all good things come in time.

Valhein’s first ability is Bloody Hunt, a standard long-range Glaive toss. A minor damage-dealing ability, it’s secondary use is to grant an instant stack of the Hunter buff, meaning it’s a great way to get started on earning the movement speed you’ll come to rely on when pursuing and/or pressuring the enemy. You can’t really go wrong with this as an opener against a single opponent, but it’s best to save it for a group fight if you feel there’s one coming soon as the glaive will ricochet between nearby enemies with just as much force.

Then there’s Curse of Death. The bane of anyone going up against Valhein, this is a glaive toss that stuns the target for a short while. Granting another stack of the Hunter buff, it serves many purposes; like as a way to close the gap between your target, an escape tool in a tricky situation, or to keep them still while you dish out the pain.

Curse of Death goes exceptionally well with Valhein’s ultimate ability - Bullet Storm. An arcing volley of shots from his pistol, Bullet Storm’s movement and attack speed buffs increase depending on how many of the shots hit a target. Easy to set up in a team battle, it can also make mincemeat of a single foe if fired at close-range. Initiate with Bloody Hunt for that quick burst of speed, stun with Curse of Death, and fire a point-blank Bullet Storm into your foe to deal massive amounts of damage and be ready to let out a series of auto-attacks thanks to the resulting attack speed buff. With the movement speed boost on top there’s plenty of room to chase or retreat if your opponent is somehow left standing.

Skill Order
Valhein’s attacks make for a classic 1-2-3 combo that can switched around to match any number of situations. I find it’s best to level up his initial Bloody Hunt skill before putting more than one point into Curse of Death. Max out Bullet Storm whenever possible, but using your first two levels to unlock his first two abilities should always be top priority.

Talents
Because of his obvious reliance on Attack Power and Attack Speed, taking Roar as your Talent of choice would seem like a no-brainer for aggressive Valhein plays. With a short 60 second cooldown, popping Roar would grant a 60% attack speed and 10% attack damage boost that could prove incredibly useful in the early game.

However, due to items picks, there’s a good chance the effectiveness of Roar would cap out relatively quickly in most matches. It’s a decent pick for those still learning the ropes, but a more experienced player may get more from the element of surprise that comes with Execute’s high-damage potential. Valhein’s fluctuating movement speed could see him stroll into a busy team fight, tear up his foes with a bouncing Bloody Hunt/Bullet Storm combo and finish them all off with the stylish spin of Execute.

Items
Despite Valhien’s abilities all scaling from magic damage, this isn’t something you’re going to be investing in. His bread and butter still lies within the bonus effect of his third auto-attack. For this reason, it’s best to build with a focus on Attack Damage and Attack Speed.

Start by picking up a Short Sword and build into Claves Sancti as soon as possible. You can throw some boots in there before or after the pre-requisite Cleaving Claymore, but Valhein’s various movement speed boons should keep you chasing your opponents for a while yet. When you do start to feel the need for them, it’s best to pick something with armour or magic resist depending on the opposing team composition. You’re somewhat of a glass cannon, and you’ll be getting up-close and personal in later team fights; and being vaporised in an instant isn’t going to help anyone.

Next up is Slikk’s String; a great item that supplements your growing Attack Damage with +30% Attack Speed, 20% extra Critical Chance, and even adds +50% to Critical Hits - something your passive auto-attacks will start dishing out more and more. Must-haves would be Fafnir’s Talon for its core stats, minor Lifesteal and 8% extra damage on our Auto-attacks for each bit of health missing from our target. Another solid reason to embrace our rapidly scaling Attack Speed.

 Then we look to enjoy the shredding ability of Spear of Longinus - which not only offers up +80 Attack Damage, but decreases the armor of our foe with each hit. It grants a lot of bonus armor, though, so feel free to swap this out for The Beast if you’re looking to pack more of a punch and live off the 25% Life Steal.

Just like any other class, the weapons and items you choose for Valhein are open to interpretation and should always be decided upon based on the data available to you in any given match. While our primary focus is on Attack Speed and Attack Damage to compliment our gap-closing abilities with raw power, throwing a little Armor or Lifesteal in there for good measure could prove useful if you’re against bulkier enemies - though it’s best to avoid such matchups. Lifesteal enables you to steal a distracted team’s jungle, recover lost HP, and then rejoin a lane fight for a surprise rear flank.

If tanks are causing a problem, look into picking up Armor penetration tools instead - like Speak on Loginus or Rankbreaker.

If you had a bit of a rough start and need to play catch-up, pick up Blitz Blade to help farm creep during quieter periods as your increasing Attack Speed will frequently proc its Chain Lightning passive.



Arcana
With most of your item picks giving you plenty of raw stats to work with, Arcana slots can help add smaller amounts of less essential - but still useable - stats on the side. Whether you’ve unlocked every slot or not, the idea remains the same. Throw a rough 80/20 mix of Attack Damage and Attack Speed arcana into Red slots to boost your chances of trouncing an over-extending mid-lane Solo hero. As for Green slots, Lifesteal makes for extra survivability. A little bit of HP could help against aggressive attackers in the Early Game phase, too.

Slotting Magic Defense into Green slots wouldn’t be a bad choice as we’re running under the assumption that Melee attackers won’t get too much time to wail on us. If you know how to pick your battles, you can dabble in a little Armor or Magic Pierce to surprise your foes in the mid-game. We’ll be getting plenty of Crit Chance and Crit Damage from the rest of our setup, so these shouldn’t be necessary. If you’re confident in your flanking skills, Pierce damage could help whittle down Tank/Warrior types in group fights, but your focus should usually be heroes with less bulk.

Early Game
Due to his already impressive Attack Speed and using Passive ability, Valhein has an incredible knack for snowballing almost as soon as the match begins if he happens go head-to-head with a single Hero in Mid.

With either Execute or Rage available to him, First Blood can be secured by getting a few quick hits on a player focusing on early minion kills - especially if they’re melee. While not recommended for newer players, those comfortable with the skillset can strafe around creep to get a few quick shots on their opponent. If they hesitate to back off, it’s possible to toss Bloody Hunt at them for bonus damage and use the resulting movement speed to batter them with auto-attacks.

If you’re rolling Rage, pop it when you know there’s a good amount of time to sneak in those rapid-fire auto-attacks. If you settled for Execute in the end, close the gap even more while continuing to shoot down your opponent. They’re usually so surprised to see Valhein up-close they stick around thinking they can take advantage of his slow cooldowns. Drop them to around 20-25% and pop Execute for massive damage. If you secure the kill, there’s a good chance your opponent has just lost their lane in the first 30 seconds. Pick up a Dagger to make the most of your time on the tower (you’ll need it for Slikk’s Sting anyway) or save your bounty for Cleaving Claymore. More kills come to those who wait.

If that plan is too scary or simply didn’t work out, know when to call it quits. Back up and use Bloody Hunt’s free movement speed buff to extend the distance between you and your enemy. Play it safe and just focus on creep for now - the cash is what makes you strong, after all. If your opponent isn’t harassing you, take advantage of their clear insecurities and poke them from time to time.

If you’re up against more than one opponent, just focus on clearing waves. Let bulkier allies pull the punches and join in only when you know Curse of Death stun will make a real difference. If you can throw the occasional double-hitting Bloody Hunt without the risk, go for it.

Mid Game
If you managed to send your opponent back to the respawn early on, you’re in a good position to snowball into a true brute. Speed is everything, and if your opponent is falling behind in levels and money, there’s little chance they’ll be able to contend with your stuns and follow-ups. Just keep picking off those who dare get too close to push them back even further.

If you’re playing the long game, make sure to help in team fights. Single out more daring heroes with a stuns to allow your allies to jump at the opportunity of what could be a free kill. Time your Bloody Hunts well to maximise the damage across multiple targets and be sure to retain Bullet Storm for larger team fights when you have plenty of backup and distractions. You’re abilities retain their power for most of the game, but they won’t feel quite so effective against a single opponent later on. Make the most of them for now.

It’s around now that you’ll start to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. Make informed choices over which item stats to go for, but remember that Attack Speed and Attack Damage will be your go-to once your abilities start to show cracks. They’re there to compliment your raw auto-attack power, after all. Focus on staying alive, pitching in with team fights and clearing creep while you have a chance.

If you’re way ahead in kills, there’s a good chance you can turn the tide of a team battle, so make sure you do. Otherwise, use your mobility and speed to burst lane towers neglected by short-sighted enemies. If your team can hold their own out there, be the one to sneak through the back door.

Late Game
Valhien’s late game antics seem to go one of two ways; you’re either a killing machine similar heroes won’t approach, or too weak and squishy to pose much of a threat without backup.

If you’re the former, make the most of it. Sneak through the enemy jungle to steal their minions and starve them off cash while bolstering your own firepower with its buffs, or simply hunt down anything and anyone. If you’re looking at a stalemate situation, leave your buddies to hold the fort while you open up more Super Minion lanes by clearing the rest of their towers with your rapid-fire strikes. This will force your opponents to split up, making them easy targets for your 1-2-3 combo. Heck, you might not even need Bullet Storm at this point.

If things didn’t go so well for you, carry on with your catch-up efforts around the battlefield. It might be too late to bank on Blitz Blade’s creep-killing prowess, but you’re hopefully still fast enough to dish out some decent AOE damage from a distance in team fights. Just stand your ground, toss out your Bloody Hunt from time to time, and just generally be a nuisance for the opposing team.

Your movement speed buffs should keep you relatively safe enough to toss out a stun to single out any eager threats. Your abilities haven’t been affected by your items, so they’re as viable now as they ever were.

FAQ/Tips
Valhein is a bit of a glass cannon type. While he’s incredibly potent in most situations, getting stunned before dishing out your own could spell disaster.

Like any other hero, know when to disengage. Using any ability will award a slight speed boost. Run.

Bullet Storm arcs outward, but you can ensure all 6 bullets hit a target if you’re at point-blank range. This guarantees max stacks of its buffs.

Stunning the enemy is a perfect opportunity to get close enough to let Bulletstorm reach maximum efficiency.

With attacks as fast as his, a little lifesteal can go a long way

Alternating targets with your third auto-attack can chip away your opponent while still farming creep

Stunning your opponent can be both a defensive and offensive ability - but rarely both

Matchups
Due to all the reasons mentioned throughout this guide, Valhein has his strengths and weaknesses. For a long-range marksman, he doesn’t rely too much on his third core abilities - whereas other similar range attackers rely on these for their burst.

This is both a boon and a hinderance to Valhein when it comes down to business. Not being bound to his abilities mean he isn’t always down for the count when they’re used up; but it does mean most people know what to expect when they’re getting into a fight with him. There’s little room for surprise if you’re charging straight up the lane.

Despite speccing into high attack power and speed, Valhein isn’t the best when it comes to taking on tankier opponents. He enjoys closing the gap to make the most of his rapid strikes, but he isn’t able to stay alive in a close-quarters situation, meaning tankier opponents can then use the lack of distance to their advantage and inflict some serious hurt after brushing off his projectiles.

To quickly sum up here, Valhein is best used in 1v1 situations where he can outrange and outpace his opponent. With tanks and Control heroes typically having gap-closers and stuns up their sleeves, it’s best to avoid going toe-to-toe with the likes of Thane, Ormarr and Toro. If you haven’t snowballed ahead of the game, it’s best to ask as a slight support character in team fights.

If you have managed to push ahead of the opposing team but struggle with tankier enemies, focus your attention on avoiding a conflict with them and aim to flank their more susceptible damage dealers/support on the back row.