Valhein — Patch 1.63 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: A | Web: B | Web: A | Web: C | Web: B | Web: B] Pro play (RPL 2026): 50 picks, 42.0% WR, 32.6% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked. Ranked B on zathong.com. Ranked A on metatierlist.com. Ranked C on pillarofgaming.com. Ranked B on commonsensegamer.com. Ranked B on 1v9.gg.
Valhein — Marksman Guide
Key Insights
- Passive cycles three Glaive colors: blue deals flat magic damage, yellow stuns for 1s, red deals AoE magic damage.
- W (Curse of Death) forces a yellow Glaive proc on hit, giving you a guaranteed 1s stun independent of your passive cycle.
- Q (Bloody Hunt) counts as a red-type proc without consuming your next passive color, so it adds AoE damage without breaking your cycle.
- Bullet Storm fires 6 pellets in a cone; each pellet that lands grants 10% movement speed and 8% attack speed for 3s, stacking up to 6 hits.
- All 6 Bullet Storm pellets only reliably land at near-melee range; at max scatter distance expect 1 to 2 hits and a much weaker steroid stack.
Strengths
Pocket Glaive's yellow proc gives Valhein a 1-sec stun most marksmen lack.- All-magic damage punishes teams that stack physical defense.
- Q, W, and
Bullet Storm pellets stack movement speed for real skirmish mobility. - Red Glaive AoE and
Bloody Hunt let him out-clear and out-last-hit single-target carries.
Weaknesses
- No escape; assassins can first-blood him before Frost Cape is finished.
- CC interrupts his auto cycle and tanks his DPS below simpler marksmen.
- Bullet Storm's spread is useless at range; Tel'Annas and Elsu simply outrange him.
- Claves Sancti + Frost Cape delay crit, shrinking his mid-game spike window.
Matchups
Abilities
PPocket Glaive
Every 3rd auto attack throws a special glaive and increases movement speed by 10% for 2 seconds. Blue = Magic damage. Yellow = Stun enemy for 1 second. Red = Area damage.
1Bloody Hunt
Throw a red glaive dealing area magic damage and gain 1 movement speed buff.
2Curse of Death
Throw a yellow glaive dealing magic damage, stun enemy for 1 second, and gain 1 movement speed buff.
RBullet Storm
Fire 6 scattered bullets in a chosen direction. Each bullet deals magic damage to enemies and increases movement speed by 10% and attack speed by 8% per bullet hit for 3 seconds.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Bloody Hunt | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
| 2Curse of Death | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
| RBullet Storm | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Awake
Spirit
StainStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard Stun Lock
2P1Open with W to guarantee the yellow Glaive stun lands first, then weave two autos into the stunned target, let the passive cycle fire the colored proc, then Q for the AoE and movement-speed exit. Use this in every 1v1 dragon lane trade.
Shotgun Finisher
2PRAfter the W stun lands and you cycle into the passive proc, step into close range and fire all six Bullet Storm pellets at point-blank on a stunned target. This is your kill-confirm pattern against squishy mid-laners who collapse on you.
Flicker All-In
2RPCast W to stun at medium range, Flicker into point-blank distance during the stun, immediately unload Bullet Storm for maximum pellet hits, then continue the auto cycle for follow-up. Save this for priority kills on the enemy carry in team fights.
Poke-and-Disengage
12Use this lighter combo when you want to chip health without committing: Q for the red AoE harass and movement buff, two autos to cycle the passive, then W for a quick stun and immediate retreat while the movement-speed buff is still active.
Expert Video Guide
ROV : Valhein สอนเล่นแวน สายคริตีเร็ว 200% โคตรป่วนสตั้นคริรัวๆ — Jayop
Gameplan
Valhein's first spike is Blitz Blades: the attack speed tightens the cycle so yellow Glaive procs land noticeably faster in a trade. His strongest window runs between Claves Sancti and Frost Cape, roughly minutes 12 to 18, when crit, the Frost Cape slow, and the stun cycle make him near-impossible to duel in a skirmish. Before Blitz Blades he is fragile and cycle-slow, so play conservatively and skip extended trades. After Muramasa he enters sustained late-game carry mode, but dive bruisers have scaled too by that point, so his real dominance is mid-game. Force objectives and fights between those two items.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Prioritize farming and passive-cycle awareness over aggression. Count your autos and save yellow Glaive procs for moments the enemy support steps up to zone you, not for minions.
- →Trade only when you have the yellow Glaive ready or W is off cooldown. Going into a trade without the stun puts you at a straight disadvantage against most dragon-lane duos.
- →If the enemy jungler is known to invade the dragon-side early, hug the tower until Blitz Blades is complete. Dying before your first item spike pushes your entire mid-game window back by two minutes.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →Rotate to contest dragon the moment Claves Sancti is finished. Your AoE from Q and red Glaive clears the objective-fight minion wave fast enough to create a numbers advantage before the enemy can match.
- →In skirmishes around mid-lane, position so the enemy carry is your stun target for the yellow Glaive. Spending your stun on a bruiser in the frontline wastes its carry-killing potential.
- →Use the Frost Cape slow in conjunction with the Bullet Storm attack-speed buff to kite bruisers who chase you. The combined slow and mobility stack makes extended kiting fights heavily favorable.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →Stand at the edge of your frontline in team fights and let the tank absorb the initial burst before you step in. You are not tanky enough to eat the first wave of ultimates and stay functional.
- →Target the enemy carry exclusively in late-game fights. Your stun is too valuable to spend on anyone who will not die within the stun window.
- →If Blade of Eternity is active as a second-chance passive, play slightly more aggressively in the final base siege. The revive gives you a free re-entry into the fight to finish with Bullet Storm.
Pro Tips
- →Intentionally use Q or W on a minion before a trade to pre-inject a colored Glaive and push the passive cycle to the color you want for the third hit against the enemy hero. This is the single mechanic that separates polished Valhein play from average play.
- →When Frost Cape is in your build, activate it by auto-attacking a target right before you fire Bullet Storm. The slow field cuts the scatter distance enemies can cover during the pellet spread, effectively pushing your average pellets-per-R from three to five.
- →Track the blue Glaive timer instead of ignoring it. The blue proc deals the highest flat magic damage and is best saved for trades where the enemy is already below 40% health, not burned on full-health poke.
- →Against assassins who dive you under tower, walk into tower range on their first dash so it aggros onto them, then fire W immediately. Tower damage plus the one-second stun usually burns their escape tool before your support can even react.
Valhein belongs with a disciplined dragon-lane player who has dropped the mindless auto-attack habit and treats every third hit as a decision. His B-tier standing is honest. He is not broken and the meta does not favor him, but a player who masters the Pocket Glaive cycle and engineers the W-into-R shotgun finisher punches above the win rate. The key idea: yellow Glaive procs are finite and expire on contact with any target, not free damage to dump on minions. Treat every stun like a spell on its own cooldown and you play him at a level most Diamond opponents are not prepared for.
Valhein — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Valhein good in the current ROV patch?+
Valhein is B tier at a 42% win rate this patch, so functional but not optimal. The dive-heavy, mobile meta punishes his immobility. His 15.2% ban rate says he is still respected, but the win rate says people picking him through or after bans struggle to convert. He pays off for players who learn the Pocket Glaive cycle and falls short for anyone treating him casually.
What is the best build for Valhein?+
Thai-server consensus core is War Boots, Blitz Blades, Claves Sancti, Frost Cape, Muramasa, Blade of Eternity. Blitz Blades tightens the cycle immediately, Claves Sancti adds crit and crit-magic scaling that amplifies his magic Glaives, and Frost Cape turns his close-range auto pattern into a slow field that holds enemies in Bullet Storm range. Blade of Eternity in slot six is non-negotiable in this assassin-heavy meta; the revive directly offsets his biggest weakness.
How do you counter Valhein?+
Mobile assassins who close faster than his yellow Glaive resets counter him hardest, especially Murad, Quillen, and Butterfly. At the item level, stacking physical defense does nothing since his damage is magic, so build Medallion of Troy or Soulreaver instead. In lane, CC supports that interrupt his auto rhythm wreck his DPS, and any comp that dives him from two directions shuts down his linear kite.
Is Valhein hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium, which undersells the load of tracking his color cycle in real time alongside positioning and cooldowns. He is not blink-hard, but he punishes mindless auto-attacking more than almost any marksman: ignore the Glaive cycle and your damage tanks. New players are better off on Tel'Annas or Violet. Valhein pays off once your fundamentals are solid.