Valla is a Demon Hunter.
Valla prefers to work alone. Unlike many Demon Hunters, her eyes do not glow, as, in her words, "I live for more than just vengeance."[3] She prefers action to waiting.[4]
Biography[]
Early Life[]
The daughter of a sawyer,[3] Valla and her family resided in Westmarch,[5] in a village[6] close to Tristram, located in a forest.[7]
Valla
The village was attacked and destroyed by demons. At first, she was trapped with her family in her home. After they escaped, they were attacked by demons and got separated from each other. Valla found her uncle who told her to find Halissa and escape from the village, while he looks for her parents. It was the last time she saw him.[6] A demon nearly killed her, but its claw only cut her jaw rather than her neck. Of the whole family, only Valla and her younger sister, Halissa survived. On a stormy night,[6] Halissa, traumatized by the events, drowned after waking up from a nightmare, running off and slipping into a river, with Valla failing to pull her out.[8] Left alone, traumatized, she was found by a Demon Hunter named Josen, who took Valla under his wing as a Demon Hunter in training. He taught her to harness her anger and pain and to use both as a weapon against demons.[9]
The Demon Hunters[]
During her time with the Demon Hunters, Valla saw many towns fall. She was able to save who she could.[10] At some point, she started to see Hell in her dreams.[11]
The Shassar Sea[]
The Chamber of Wisdom[]
- Valla after trapping the hero(src)
Valla inside the Chamber of Wisdom
In 1270,[12] Valla and Josen were in the Shassar Sea. They had caught word of a demon nest having formed there, and had come to slay the demons.[9] Valla entered the Chamber of Wisdom, where one of her traps caught a hero, which she realized was no demon. She explained to the hero(es) that there was a demon using illusion magic to sow chaos and feed upon the locals, and that she was going to kill it. She suggested that the hero(es) leave the chamber.
Stranger in the Sands[]
Sometime later, Valla and her mentor Josen were following a bounty on a demon called Aeshama in the Shassar Sea. Following the lead on Aeshama, she was lured away by a succubus (in disguise as his brother) and her thrall on a bridge. After a short battle, she threw the succubus off the bridge and tied up the thrall at the foot of the bridge. After that, she discovered that she'd been separated from Josen. She tracked him down to the Chamber of Sacrifice, filled with demonic taint and housing a Hell portal where she met the hero(es). After confirming their identity, the hero(es) informed her that they were helping Josen to find her but he was tricked into the portal by Aeshama, and that Valla was her real target.
Valla defeats Aeshama
With the hero(es) accompanying her they went into the Domain of Horror which had been transformed into an illusion of Valla's village during its attack by demons as an attempt by Aeshama to break her mind. After being forced to watch her family die again and kill illusions of both her family and Josen, it was only the comfort provided by the hero(es) that stopped her from breaking. They were able to arrive at Aeshama's lair were she was defeated after a battle. As a last ditch effort, Aeshama tried to devour Valla's soul, stating it was special but was overpowered and defeated by Valla. Aeshama's last words hinted at Valla's heritage as a nephalem.
Josen gives Valla his scarf
They reunited with Josen who was able to find them by the ruckus caused by their battle and left the Domain of Horror. Back in the Shassar Sea, Josen gave Valla his scarf, naming her a full-fledged Demon Hunter.[6]
The Dreadlands[]
In their hunt for the demon Draxiel, Valla and Delios travelled deep into the southern Dreadlands. While Valla preferred to work alone, Josen insisted that the two work together. They came across the ruins of an unknown civilization. As they explored them, Valla's head throbbed, and she realized that the demon was infiltrating her thoughts. In her mind's eye its presence was black tendrils, probing, coaxing, provoking. Valla dwelled on every irritating habit, every negative quality, Delios possessed. Her agitation soon turned to anger, which turned to rage. Her rage became so great that she considered killing Delios himself. She tried following him, but found that he had disappeared. Valla realized that the demon had tricked her; the Delios she'd been following hadn't been real. She could hear the demon laughing.
What followed was a series of flashes for Valla, but she beheld Josen and the real Delios battling Draxiel (she managed to fire few crossbow bolts of her own). The ruins had been a test, and Josen told Valla that she had failed it.[3]
Hatred and Discipline[]
In 1285, Valla, Josen, and two other Demon Hunters came to the ruins of Holbrook. It had been destroyed by a demon which, Valla deduced, had emerged from the town's well. One of their own, Delios, had managed to wound it, but clearly he had failed to save the village. Josen guided her to the villagers' bodies and informed her that Delios had been seen one day ago outside Bramwell, where he killed fifteen innocents inside an opium den. Clearly, he had fallen to the demon's corruption. Valla conceded the point, but noted that the destruction of Holbrook itself had to be at the hands of a demon. Furthermore, she noted that of all the corpses present, none of them were children.
Josen declared that he would seek out Delios, while Valla declared that she would hunt the demon that had corrupted him. Josen told her that she was not ready, and that he would sent another hunter after it. Valla thus suggested that she go after Delios, but Josen still refused, telling her to stay in the village and search for survivors. Valla bristled at the insinuation that she "wasn't ready" for either task, but held her tongue. When Josen left, she got atop her own horse, intent on pursuing the demon. She chose to head for Havenwood, as it was the closest village, and it would make sense for the demon to travel there in its search of new prey. Camped a few miles the village, she reflected on her encounter in the Dreadlands. How where she had failed there, Delios had failed at Holbrook.
She reached Havenwood itself at midnight. Entering the village's inn, the innkeeper, while uneasy with her presence, told her that there had been no signs of trouble in the village. She passed a note for him to give to the village healer, that if there was any trouble, send for her. She took lodging, and wondered if she'd made a mistake. She wrote a letter to her sister before turning in.
The following morning, she was brought to the healer, Bellik. In his study was the body of Durgen, the town's blacksmith. Bellik told her that he'd come to him earlier, whispering "my boy did this to me," before succumbing to his injuries. Moments later, she heard a scream from outside, and headed out to see. In the pre-dawn light, she saw a boy with a smith's hammer, standing over the body of a female merchant, her skull reduced to mush. Valla, remembering how there'd been no children's bodies at Holbrook, realized what had happened—the demon hadn't done the killing. It had got the children to do its killing for it. And now, the same thing was happening here, as more children armed with weapons emerged. Valla told the adults to get inside cover.
Valla was able to incapacitate the children through sedative darts. She and Bellik put the children inside the stables, as the town only had a single jail cell. Many of the townsfolk directed their ire towards Valla, but they trusted Bellik, and followed his counsel. Inside the stable, Valla studied one of the children, Sahmantha Halstaff, who reminded her of Halissa, and brought back memories of the night demons had destroyed her home. Nevertheless, she realized that it was in this girl that the demon resided, and goaded it into revealing itself. She let the demon walk out into the town (still using Sahmantha's body) before it collapsed on the grass.
Valla noticed that the grass had signs of demonic contamination. A farmer told her that the town was located above the River Bohsum, and that there was a sinkhole half a day's journey away. Valla told Bellik to gather the villagers and stay together. To bind and lock away any children under sixteen years of age, and to fetch her horse so that she could kill the demon.
Valla descended into the sinkhole, and confronted the demon, which was revealed to be Valdraxxis, a lesser demon of terror. It tried to use the memories of her childhood against her, even taking the appearance of Halissa, and later, Valla herself. Overcoming its deceptions, she confronted Valdraxxis himself and destroyed him.
Awhile later, Valla was at the graves of her parents. Josen told her that the children were themselves again, without memory of their actions, though many were now orphans (having killed their parents while under Valdraxxis's influence). However, they would be offered homes. As for Delios, he simply replied that he'd been "taken care of."
The two moved on to whisperings they had heard, that in seven days time, a star would fall on Tristram in seven days time. The Demon Hunters intended to send their best to investigate. Valla took out the letter she'd written earlier and laid it atop one of the graves, reflecting that if Josen was correct in saying that everything in life was a test, that while she'd failed at the ruins, she'd succeeded against Valdraxxis. She declared her intention to go to Tristram (she was, after all, the "best" Demon Hunter in her mind) and that if Josen intended to stop her, he do so now. Josen made no move, and Valla disappeared from his sight.[8]
The End of Days[]
Valla participated in the Siege of Bastion's Keep, backed up by a Wizard.[13]
After slaying Diablo, Valla returned to the Demon Hunters and received the mantle of Ordermaster. She shared her knowledge and experience with neophyte Demon Hunters.[14]
Valla became one of the deadliest Demon Hunters in history but mysteriously disappeared one night, although her body has never been found. Some claim that she continues her fighting in another world. Her weapon, however, was left behind.[15]
In-game[]
Diablo Immortal[]
Valla in Diablo Immortal
Valla appears as an NPC in Diablo Immortal. She is a Demon Hunter in training at this point.[12] She and Josen are encountered in the Shassar Sea zone,[16] with Valla first encountered in the Chamber of Wisdom in the quest "Wisdom's Fragment." She later appears in the elite quest "Stranger in the Sands."
Diablo III[]
Valla is the canonical portrayal of the Demon Hunter class, though name and gender are still at the player's discretion.
Valla's Bequest is a legendary Hand Crossbow named after her.
The Fortress Ballista was famously used by Valla during the Siege of Bastion's Keep.
Heroes of the Storm[]
- For detailed information, see the respective article on Heroes of the Storm Wikia
Valla as portrayed in Heroes of the Storm
Valla is the assigned name of the Demon Hunter in Heroes of the Storm.[1] Players who pre-ordered Reaper of Souls are granted automatic access to her in the game.[17]
In-game, she retains Rain of Vengeance, Strafe, Hungering Arrow, Multishot and Vault skills. She also has Hatred as her passive trait. Unlike Diablo III heroes, she can use Vault while channelling Strafe.
Her armor seems very similar to the Leather Hood and respective armour tier, but considerably more complete, reinforced, and with custom red paint.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2014-04-19
- ↑ 2014-03-10, Unique Hero Kill Voiceovers. Heroes Nexus, accessed on 2014-05-02
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hatred and Discipline
- ↑ Diablo III, Act I, Trailing the Coven
- ↑ Book of Tyrael
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Diablo Immortal, Stranger in the Sands
- ↑ Diablo III, Act I, The Fallen Star
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hatred and Discipline (short story)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 2018-11-17, BlizzCon 2018 Diablo Immortal World and Q&A Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2018-11-20
- ↑ Diablo III, Act II, A Royal Audience
- ↑ Diablo III, Act III, Heart of Sin
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 2018-11-03, BlizzCon 2018: Diablo Immortal. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2018-11-04
- ↑ Diablo III, Fortress Ballista
- ↑ Heroes of the Storm
- ↑ Diablo III, Valla's Bequest
- ↑ Diablo Immortal, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2018-11-05
- ↑ Sanctuary Beckons, EB Games. Accessed on 2014-03-11
Diablo I — Aidan (Warrior) • Jazreth (Sorcerer) • Moreina (Rogue)
Diablo II — Carthas (Paladin) • Cassia (Amazon) • Isendra (Sorceress) • Xul (Necromancer)
Diablo Immortal — The Shard-seeker
Diablo III — The Nephalem: Johanna* (Crusader) • Kharazim* (Monk) • Li-Ming* (Wizard) • Nazeebo* (Witch Doctor) • Sonya* (Barbarian) • "The Chosen" * (Necromancer) • Valla (Demon Hunter)
Diablo IV — The Wanderer
* denotes possible but unconfirmed canonical identity.