Take to the skies, and soar to victory.
Valkyrie was once almost a 100% pick amongst the pro players in ALGS. She revolutionised the game when introduced, so much so that the only way to nerf her was to introduce a whole new item into the game.
Now, Valkyrie sits as a solid legend to play. She has a bit of everything. A movement ability, a damage dealing ability and a rotation ability.
Take to the skies and soar to victory with our Apex Legends Valkyrie guide.
Apex Legends Valkyrie guide: What makes Valkyrie a good legend?
Valkyrie is a very versatile legend, with a bit of everything in her locker. She can move, damage and escape her way around almost any situation.
Strengths:
- Valkyrie's Skyward Dive is a great rotational tool that can help you get around the map easily.
- VTOL Jets are a nice movement ability, that doesn't have a timed tactical cooldown.
- Missile Swarm is a great way to win a 1v1 and get the upper hand in a fight.
Weaknesses:
- Skyward Dive needs you to be safe to get it off.
- EVAC Tower is almost as good as her Ultimate, and usable on every legend.
- Fuel can run out and leave you high and dry with no movement ability.
Valkyrie Tactical:
- Fire a swarm of mini-rockets that damage and disorient the enemy.
- Launches 12 missiles in a 4x3 array, dealing damage and slowing enemies' movement for 2 seconds.
- If a Legend gets hit, the first missile deals 25 damage and every subsequent missile deals 3.
- Missiles explode in 1.25m radius.
- Needs ample vertical clearance to use, meaning the player cannot use it on interior spaces with low ceilings.
- Minimum target distance (same elevation) is 12 meters; Maximum target distance is 100 meters horizontally, regardless of elevation difference between target and Valkyrie.
Missile Swarm is a damage dealing ability that can stun your opponent. It can also damage things like doors, and can be used inside as well as out as long as there is enough clearance.
Tips for Missile Swarm:
Tip #1:
This ability can be really powerful in a 1v1. Players love to sit on doors to heal or delay a fight. Using your Missile Swarm can destroy the door, letting you continue the fight and push your opponent.
Tip #2:
If you want to try and hit a target perhaps hiding behind some cover, flying into the air using your VTOL Lets will give you a clear shot and let you be as efficient as possible with your placement of the missiles.
Tip #3:
The stun this ability inflicts is significant. This can be a great ability to use as an opener, to capitalise on the element of surprise. Stun the enemy, swing them and kill them while they are still recovering.
Valkyrie Passive:
- This ability is split into two, the VTOL Jets and then a Jet-Fighter HUD.
- While in the air, press Jump again to engage VTOL Jets.
- Using the Jets consumes fuel. The Fuel gauge is on the right side of the screen.
- Activating the VTOL Jets will consume about 14.25% of total fuel.
- Maximum duration is 5.3 secondsTemplate:Needs verification.
- Fuel will begin to refill 8 seconds after the last Jets' usage.
- Fully refueling from empty takes 10 seconds. (1 second will refill 10% of total fuel)
- While using the Jets, Valkyrie cannot use any weapons except for her Missile Swarm.
- Once the Jets are released, there is a 1-second delay (a hand animation will be played) before she can use her weapons.
- Normal flight direction is upwards in the direction Valkyrie is facing.
- Hold ADS to conduct level flight.
- Aerial boosting & strafing take a 20% debuff when hit by slowing effects.
Jet Fighter HUD:
- Activates while skydiving or using her ultimate, Skyward Dive (in both launch and skydive).
- Marks any enemies within 250 meters with a direct and uninterrupted line of sight to Valkyrie. The champion will be marked with "CH" and the kill leader will be marked with "KL".
- Enemies are not notified by this scan, unlike Bloodhound and Crypto.
- Squadmates attached to Valkyrie also benefit from these target callouts.
Valkyrie has a really strong passive, that is essentially a two in one ability. A jet pack, letting you maneuver around the map and a scan ability for when you are in the air (either Skyward Dive, initial drop ship or any form of jump/EVAC Tower reployment).
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Tips for VTOL Jets:
Tip #1:
Taking height and off angles is really powerful in Apex Legends fights. The VTOL Jets lets you do this with ease, without a traditional timed cooldown. Never pass up the opportunity to dash across open space by spamming the jeet pack button, or quickly fly to a roof.
Tip #2:
Fall stun can be detrimental in Apex Legends. The VTOL jets can be activated quickly right before landing to eliminate jump stun. This obviously does make a noise, and you will fall sort of gently/slowly which could make you a little bit of a vulnerable target, so mileage may vary on when to use this one.
Tip #3:
Because Valkyrie gets scan's whenever she is in the air, she can help combat the issue of landing on a team you didn't really see when you took a EVAC or Jump Tower in Apex Legends. Valkyrie should always be first to take the tower, only by a second or so, to enable everyone to benefit from those scans as you work out where to go.
Valkyrie Ultimate:
- Launch you and your teammates into the air.
- Upon usage, Valkyrie enters a setup animation that charges up over 2 seconds, after which she can press Fire to launch ~135m into the air in about 6.5 seconds (1.5 seconds slow climbing and 5.0 seconds fast climbing) and enter a skydive, similar to using a Jump Tower. Squadmates can press Interact near Valkyrie to launch with her.
- Skyward Dive can be canceled during setup either by taking damage or manually by pressing the Ultimate button again. 75% of its charge is refunded when canceled.
- While in pre-launch, using ping will mark Valkyrie for her squad and display a "Let's fly!" notification in the kill feed.
- Vertical clearance is required for flight.
The Skyward Dive was a huge revelation when Valkyrie first released. This ability completely changed the game, especially in ALGS. Developers found this ability hard to truly nerf, so they introduced an alternative, the EVAC Tower. The Skyward Dive is still a really good way to rotate around the map with your team.
Tips for Skyward Dive:
Tip #1:
The Skyward Dive, combined with Valkyrie's passive, doesn't just have to act as a rotation tool. You can essentially turn Valkyrie into a UAV. Fly around the area, scan any enemies nearby, then land with your team! This can also be really handy in pubs matches, where you are bored and need to find the final squad.
Tip #2:
While you do launch up at quite the speed, you can still easily be taken down as you take to the skies. This is not an ability you should be launching in the face of your enemies. A decent player with a Nemesis, 30-30 or a Hemlock can make light work of sending your squad tumbling right back down to the ground.
Tip #3:
If you are trying to make a risky late game rotation, it is always advisable to stay as high as possible for as long as possible. This will allow you to gather all the information that her passive provides, and then dive bomb the position or fight you want to land at.
Apex Legends Valkyrie guide: What legends work well with Valkyrie?
Valkyrie is a very flexible legend. Skyward Dive for instance can help you make risky rotations to a god spot in zone, or play super aggressive and chase enemies down landing to kill or third party them.
Aggressive Playstyles:
Bangalore smokes can help you get some extra cover in order to get your Skyward Dive off. Same for Horizon's Gravity Lift allowing you to reach higher ground, to get an extra bit of height for take off. Revenant is simply a really strong aggressive fighting legend.
Passive Playstyles:
At one point, the Caustic, Gibraltar and Valkyrie combination was the core meta in the ALGS. Those legends provide great defensive kit, but struggle to move around the map thanks to their large size. That is where Valkyrie comes in. Additionally, Gibraltar's Dome of Protection can give you that extra protection in order to get a Skyward Dive off in the heat of battle.
Valkyrie might not be as critical to the game as she used to be, due to nerfs and the introduction of EVAC Towers. However, she is still a very strong legend and well worth a go in your next match. Especially if you sometimes have issues with rotations or being gatekept.
Thanks for reading our Apex Legends Valkyrie guide.
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