Valeera Sanguinar - Melee Assassin - Warcraft Hero

[Kjalar]

Maybe I worded this poorly, I didn't mean playing her like an actual bruiser. What I'm trying to say is that Valeera can vary her playstyle depending on what the opponents do to counter her and it works in GM HL. Also, even when the opponent team has Reveal, it's usually not up all the time, so there's still room for sneaky plays.

[Nerraw]

If I pick either poison and proc it with Blade Flurry, is the effect applied to all heroes taking damage?

[Nerraw]

Yes, everyone.

Well, that makes the build you(?) linked way more sensible.

[tanksin the enhance shamy]

just need a raynor with drones and its gg

[Nerraw]

just need a raynor with drones and its gg

An intelligent Raynor. Which most of them usually aren't.

[Ryme]

Yes, everyone.

Holy crap, that's really strong.

[Tenjen]

so she has a her strengths and weaknesses which can be overcome either way with skill and experience, sounds like a good hero to me

[Kjalar]

just need a raynor with drones and its gg

An intelligent Raynor. Which most of them usually aren't.

TBH, picking Drones over Seasoned Marksman as Raynor is very questionable, to say the least. I mean, if we're talking about a QM vs stealth and your Raynor is the only possible source of Reveal, then sure. But in all other situations, supports should take their Reveal and let Raynor focus on the only thing he's good at = autoattacks.

[tanksin the enhance shamy]

depends if you have multiple people with drones then that forces her to either fight in the lane you want her to fight against or fight in lanes with them and pretty much never fight from stealth which is where a lot of her strength lies. marksmen is got on ray sure but if your gonna get smacked from a stealthy id rather pick the drones over some of the later talents which also help protect you from her

[Kjalar]

depends if you have multiple people with drones then that forces her to either fight in the lane you want her to fight against or fight in lanes with them and pretty much never fight from stealth which is where a lot of her strength lies. marksmen is got on ray sure but if your gonna get smacked from a stealthy id rather pick the drones over some of the later talents which also help protect you from her

If the only problem you're trying to solve this way is early game ganks, then there's much simpler solution. Just play solo lane and soak XP safely near the wall. This way the outcome will be exactly the same as you described (2 lanes ungankable, 1 lane can fight back), but without sacrificing a big part of your your late game potential as a Raynor.

Also, if your team is responsive, you can ask your support to rotate to your lane sometimes to place 1 drone near your wall to make things even better.

[Kjalar]

It's funny how this hero is literally designed to be MVP in QMs - she rarely dies, does lots of kills, and sometimes can be the 1st on hero damage. And it's really weird that she only has 49% winrate in QMs according to HotsLogs, considering that her kit is like pure poison for QMs.

[Nikkaszal]

It's funny how this hero is literally designed to be MVP in QMs - she rarely dies, does lots of kills, and sometimes can be the 1st on hero damage. And it's really weird that she only has 49% winrate in QMs according to HotsLogs, considering that her kit is like pure poison for QMs.

Remember that in the first week with a hero who is not very straightforward (in the way that, say, Varian was straightforward - charge in, hit people, repeat until you or target are dead), there are gonna be tons of people in QM playing her inadequately and without much experience. You see lots of people in QM go after the wrong target, or at the wrong time, or try and go 1v1 with someone they have no chance of killing.

She's effective in her niche, but that niche is VERY narrow. Against a squishy team without much CC, she'll have an absolute field day, just like Nova/Zera. Against a tanky team with peel for days, she might as well not be there.

[Kjalar]

Remember that in the first week with a hero who is not very straightforward (in the way that, say, Varian was straightforward - charge in, hit people, repeat until you or target are dead), there are gonna be tons of people in QM playing her inadequately and without much experience. You see lots of people in QM go after the wrong target, or at the wrong time, or try and go 1v1 with someone they have no chance of killing.

Sounds about right. At least that's what I usually see when playing vs Valeera.

She's effective in her niche, but that niche is VERY narrow. Against a squishy team without much CC, she'll have an absolute field day, just like Nova/Zera. Against a tanky team with peel for days, she might as well not be there.

I haven't played her in HL, but for QMs she's definitely not a niche pick. From my experience, even though it's tougher to play her vs a tanky team, she can still be a huge threat and bring a lot of value.

Her job is not just to kill wounded squishies as many people seem to think. She can and should poke people as well. And the thing about her poke is that 1) it can't be dodged; 2) it HURTS.

You poke somebody once, bringing them to about 50-60%, gtfo, restealth, watch what comes out of it. They will have to either tap (which is good, since it denies tapping during the next teamfight) or hearthstone to their well (which is also good, since they miss soak and can be late to the next fight). They can also try to keep running around with 50-60% HP, which means you can reopen and go for the kill.

People seem to underestimate that, which is why she's widely considered as a pick vs squishies only.

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Also, tanks tend to die just as fast as anyone else, when stunned, vulnerable and focus-fired. And Valeera has all the tools for that.

[Kjalar]

This is probably the first time in this game that it feels like a hero is designed for me personally. 68% winrate and 52% MVP in 38 QMs, upped like 400+ MMR by spamming her (according to HotsLogs). Funny thing is that I really want to play some other heroes as well, like try the reworked Tassadar, but Valeera is just way too much fun to stop playing her.

[Rothg]

This is probably the first time in this game that it feels like a hero is designed for me personally. 68% winrate and 52% MVP in 38 QMs, upped like 400+ MMR by spamming her (according to HotsLogs). Funny thing is that I really want to play some other heroes as well, like try the reworked Tassadar, but Valeera is just way too much fun to stop playing her.

Do you usually play piano build?

[Kjalar]

Do you usually play piano build?

I usually play with this build - https://tempostorm.com/heroes-of-the...r/valeera#D8P4. The only thing that varies sometimes is Elusiveness -> Blind at lvl 13 vs Thrall, Raynor, Lunara. But then again, I only play her in QM and my MMR is only 2300. Not sure if this build works in high MMR HL, probably not, piano should be much better there.

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http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/...6-2017#Valeera
It's funny that they actually want to buff her now that her winrate is steadily going up and is already above 50% in QM.

On a side note, these patch notes gave me an idea for this build and using Garrote as the main opener (instead of Cheap Shot). It's much less reliable than a CS combo, but does a shit ton of damage and with Cold Blood it has a potential to burst a squishy down in just one combo.

[Nikkaszal]

I usually play with this build - https://tempostorm.com/heroes-of-the...r/valeera#D8P4. The only thing that varies sometimes is Elusiveness -> Blind at lvl 13 vs Thrall, Raynor, Lunara. But then again, I only play her in QM and my MMR is only 2300. Not sure if this build works in high MMR HL, probably not, piano should be much better there.

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http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/...6-2017#Valeera
It's funny that they actually want to buff her now that her winrate is steadily going up and is already above 50% in QM.

On a side note, these patch notes gave me an idea for this build and using Garrote as the main opener (instead of Cheap Shot). It's much less reliable than a CS combo, but does a shit ton of damage and with Cold Blood it has a potential to burst a squishy down in just one combo.

That build is better for both PvE damage (Immortals etc) as well as against teams with Ability Armor. Basically it just shifts your damage burst from the Q hits into the SnD proc, meaning one of your damage sources will be Physical instead of Ability.

There's one issue with that build though... if your target doesn't have Garotte on them, you do fuck-all damage. Meaning (a) target-switching is almost impossible after your opener without losing a ton of damage and (b) you're basically forced to always open with Garotte for the same reason.

The Q and Piano builds are more flexible as the damage potential isn't tied to a debuff that must be present on your target

[Kjalar]

That build is better for both PvE damage (Immortals etc)

Good point. I didn't figure out the PvE potential, since usually I'm 100% focused on hunting down heroes.

There's one issue with that build though... if your target doesn't have Garotte on them, you do fuck-all damage. Meaning (a) target-switching is almost impossible after your opener without losing a ton of damage and (b) you're basically forced to always open with Garotte for the same reason.

Yep, my thoughts exactly - too many constraints to use this build all the time. But when it works out, it's actually insane.