Valeera brings WoW Rogue gameplay to Heroes of the Storm

While we got a quick preview video of Valeera yesterday, today’s Heroes of the Storm patch notes have given us a full rundown of her skillset… and it’s terrifying. As my co-worker Matticus says, “Forget the Ragnaros ban, time to Valeera ban.”

Her skills will be familiar to anyone who’s played a Rogue in World of Warcraft, as pretty much her entire skillset is lifted from the WoW. This includes combo points, which some abilities generate and other abilities spend. But what makes her a true terror is her Vanish trait. Valeera can Vanish into stealth at any time, and while she’s there she has a completely different skillset. Did we mention that it’s terrifying yet?

Check out her full set of abilities below — or hop on the PTR to try her out yourself.

Trait

• Vanish (D)
  • 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.

Basic Abilities

• Sinister Strike (Q)
  • 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.
• Blade Flurry (W)
  • Deal damage in an area around Valeera.
  • Awards 1 Combo Point per enemy Hero hit.
• Eviscerate (E)
  • 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.

Vanish Abilities

• Ambush (Q)
  • Ambush a target, instantly dealing damage to them.
  • Awards 1 Combo Point.
• Cheap Shot (W)
  • Deal a small amount of damage to an enemy and stun them for 1.5 seconds.
  • Awards 1 Combo Point.
• Garrote (E)
  • 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.

Heroic Abilities

• Smoke Bomb (R)
  • 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.
• Cloak of Shadows (R)
  • 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.