Valla is an extremely fast and agile assassin, however she is extremely squishy (one of the more squishy heroes in the game). She can dive in and dish out a lot of damage quickly and run away after securing the kill, however do not expect her to survive if she gets stunned and ganked by a multitude of enemy heroes. Valla is meant to stay behind her more tanky allies in team fights and let them soak up the damage while she does a chalk load of damage herself. The longer she is in combat the more efficient Valla becomes as her Hatred stacks increase her abilities tremendously. Valla truly lives up to the assassin name and is an amazing hero to play in game. When the enemy team sees her, she truly strikes fear into their hearts.

Valla has a multitude of abilities and each one does a different job, however each one is essential to the effectiveness of Valla in game.

(Q) Hungering Arrow is Valla's main damage dealing ability, as it chases down a target, constantly tracking it and dealing damage to the primary target as well as enemies around it. This is one of your bread and butter abilities as it can do a hell lot of damage if used on one target alone. This ability is best used when you are trying to chase down an enemy hero and get the last hit off.

(W) Multishot is Valla's AoE damage ability. Considering Valla is an assassin and some assassins don't have AoE abilities (such as Raynor and Nova) she is lucky to have Multishot. Multishot is extremely useful in clearing lanes quickly, of minions and Mercs, if you want to save a fort or a keep. Multishot also helps a lot in team fights as it can hit multiple enemies in front of Valla causing significant damage.

(E) Vault is Valla's main escape ability. Vault acts a lot like Blink and Bolt of the Storm however it is effected by pathing and can be interrupted. This means that if you want to Vault to a safe location make sure there are no obstacles in between.

(R) Strafe or Rain of Vengeance are Valla's ultimate abilities. They both have their different uses as Strafe can be used to clear lanes quickly as well as be utilized in team fights when the enemy team is low in health. Rain of Vengeance is better if Valla is taking on an enemy hero 1v1 as Rain of Vengeance will hit in a straight line having less of an AoE effect, but will stun the enemy in the process. However, Rain of Vengeance is significantly harder to use then Strafe because it requires to user to land the perfect line, which means it requires a lot of practice to master.

Hatred is an extremely good trait as it stacks to provide a speed boost as well as a damage boost. Since Valla is an extremely high DPS hero you can see why this trait is especially good with Valla. In this guide the first couple abilities is meant to complement the Hatred trait and make it even more effective than it already is.

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Rancor is generally the most used and widely accepted first ability for Valla. The reason for this is simple Rancor is an extremely good ability that buffs your trait Hatred by making Valla attack faster by 1.5% per hatred stack on top of the bonus already provided by Hatred. This is extremely valuable since Valla is a DPS reliant champion and any means to increase DPS is always welcome. For this guide I do not recommend using another first ability.

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Manticore is a great ability for pushing on that extra damage. I consider Manticore to be a better version of Focused Attack because after 3 hits the extra damage is activated whereas using Focused Attack you have a 10 sec cooldown. As I said in my Raynor guide extra damage is always welcome in a sniper or DPS build so Manticore becomes a very ideal choice. Not to mention Valla has extremely high DPS so getting 3 hits on an opponent is not that tricky.

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When it comes down to this ability many people would choose Caltrops, however I only find Caltrops useful when you are trying to get away. The measly damage that Caltrops does to your opponent is negligent, however the slows can be useful. So, instead of Caltrops I use Searing Attacks. I find Searing Attacks to be one of the best abilities in the game because of the extra damage it gives to your attacks. The amount of damage that Searing Attacks can dish out is unbelievable and is totally worth the 15 mana cost per shot. This can be the difference between a guaranteed kill or your opponent escaping or you dying in a 1v1. Since Valla has a fast attack rate, this ability is all the more useful.

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Rain of Vengeance is an extremely good Heroic ability as it adds a significant amount of damage when chasing down an enemy hero to get the finishing blow. Rain of Vengeance not only stuns the enemy but also does a heck load of damage which is awesome for the finishing blow. Strafe can be used if you are more focused on team oriented battles or just clearing lanes quickly, however in 1v1's Rain of Vengeance would be the heroic ability to go for. Strafe can also be stopped if Valla is stunned. I would not recommend using Rain of Vengeance to start a battle however, because the enemy can easily avoid the second wave and the ability would be wasted.

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Giant Killer is the ideal choice here as this is mainly a sniper guide (meaning prioritizing hero kills) as opposed to a laning guide (prioritizing farming). Giant Killer is an extremely good ability as I have said in my Raynor guide as 1.5% extra damage to a hero is significant, and since Valla is such a high DPS hero having this ability makes killing enemy heros a whole lot easier and may be the difference between life or death if facing a high HP hero (such as warriors).

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In this build I prefer using Blood for Blood. Blood for Blood also comes with a lot of versatility as it can be used on the offensive and defensive. On offensive side you can use Blood for Blood to lower the enemies health and slow them down so you can get the finishing blow. On the defensive side you can use it to slow the enemy down so they cannot catch up with you and use it to regain health.

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Finally, for the last ability I would choose Nexus Frenzy as it adds a whole lot of extra damage especially with Searing Attacks active. The increased range also helps Valla take down an enemy hero that otherwise would have gotten away. Bolt of the Storm is still useful but since you already have Vault you don't really need another escape.