Rain of Vengeance gives you AoE damage that stuns (also stores 2 charges, lower cooldown than Strafe), while Strafe is an ability that can be interrupted, as well as doesn’t allow you to auto-attack or use any damage dealing abilities while you channel it. Sure it hits 4 people, but I almost never see that happen because the moment she walks up to my team I use Hammer of Justice+Divine Storm and that’s a dead Valla (then again she shouldn’t be walking up to my team in the first place lol). Is there any good reason to pick Strafe? It just seems inferior in comparison.
Yes, when you need extra AoE damage when you are running a double support comp/uther tank comp and you have enough interrupts for things if that is needed.
Strafe does good damage, Rain is just safer and easier to get value.
I’m someone who think Strafe is almost never a better pick, but… hear me out:
Strafe is a long ranged dmg Heroic which let’s you move during it plus it gives heals at lvl 20.
So it’s good against Heroes such as Tracer. It’s good in QM thanks to the heals.
And if your team has enough CC (there is never such thing) but(!) lacks dmg, it’s a better choice. (I guess.)
1 Like
you can use caltrops. it damages heroes and slows them.
like everything it just depends on more than a black and white ‘thats not good’ thing. there is your team comp, the enemy team, the map because you may well be on BoE arrow and such for boss race vs a map you need multishot and stuff for killing minions more…
and then its even worse when you start thinking about solo queue vs duos vs 3+ as far as how the cooperation in your team can be affected for someone like valla.
dont forget she can use her E while ulting and her ult range is to big i dont know why would she go in melee range to damage\ uther
1 Like
I see some REALLY dumb players in HotS that use strafe and walk up to melee characters with cc.
1 Like
I pick valla if we need AOE and concistent dmg.
If we just need concistent dmg ill take grey fenix or jimmy
Ill pick strafe if we have plenty of CC and we need a bit more aoe
It’s pretty simple - Strafe works as a solid finisher in coordinated groups. It’s attack range is actually quite long (Range of 9). Valla can easily get 1 target down into finishing range, but often has a hard time finishing them off without risking herself, so Strafe comes into play there.
As far as I see it, Rain of Vengeance against dive heavy, Strafe otherwise.
3 Likes
Strafe is my usual go-to pick on Valla, for the following reasons:
-Long range, usable from safer distance than Rain.
-Huge AoE, allows you to melt the entire enemy team at once.
-Really hard for enemies to get away from, excellent for finishing low targets that try to retreat.
Rain is also strong, but I view it as more of an emergency defense option against teams that want to get in close. Strafe is more for mid- to long-range combat.
The ‘no damage abilities while Strafing’ should never matter, as you can just use them beforehand so they’re on cd during strafe anywar. Or use them afterwards.
It has been nerfed pretty hard. Its good when you can hit at least 2 people with it. Aa does more damage the it does. Also some games you cant get close enough to raiin with out dieing
The thing you have to remember about Rain is that it is nearly useless against any hero with any degree of mobility. Landing Rain on one such hero requires enemy movement prediction beyond what the vast majority of players (even prop players) are capable of. So against those sorts of enemies, Strafe is almost always going to be a safer bet when it comes to getting heavy mobility characters to back off. Rain is still usually only good for part of a wombo-combo, when it the enemy is usually standing still or moving in a predictable manner due to some other heroic ability.