Mid-lane mage who pulls a whole team into one AoE detonation
Vale is a mid-lane mage who controls space with a three-part wind kit: Wind Blade pokes from range, Windblow knocks enemies airborne into a lingering damage zone, and Windstorm drags anyone nearby into its center for 1.6 seconds before detonating for enormous magic burst. Windtalk's permanent move-speed stacks reward him for staying aggressive after every kill or assist.
Windstorm's 1.6-second pull-then-detonate window rewards precise prediction of enemy movement, but Vale has no dash to bail out if the read is wrong.
Level Windblow first for the crowd control and its shorter cooldown, max Wind Blade second for poke damage, and take Windstorm at levels 4, 8 and 12.
Vale gains 1 stack of Windtalk each time he gets a kill or an assist that increases his Movement Speed by 8. This effect can stack up to 10 times.
Always active — no cooldown
Vale unleashes two wind blades toward the left and right of a target area. each dealing 250–450 (+80% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage.
Vale sends a whirlwind in the target direction, dealing 300–400 (+80% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to enemies hit and knocking them airborne for 1 second (each enemy can only be knocked airborne 1 time). When the whirlwind reaches its destination, t will remain for 1.6 seconds while continuously dealing a total of 200–400 (+80% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to enemies in range.
Vale summons a windstorm at the target location, dealing a total of 150–300 (+30% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to enemies in the area and slowing them by 20% while continuously pulling them into its center. After 1.6 seconds, the windstorm will explode, dealing 1000–1400 (+200% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage. The remaining whirlwinds will also be pulled into the center.
Signature combo
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
7,970g total
Default pick for a standard mid-lane matchup where you can farm safely and poke before committing to a combo.
Battle spell
Flicker120s CDThe 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Ice Queen Wand — Stacking slow denies dash-heavy assassins like Lancelot or Ling the speed they need to close on you before Windstorm goes off.
Divine Glaive — Scaling penetration keeps Windstorm's burst relevant once the enemy stacks magic defense.
Winter Crown — Negates a burst combo aimed at you during Windstorm's exposed 1.6-second cast.
7,070g total
When you're ahead and want to use Windtalk's move-speed stacks to roam and secure kills across the map.
Battle spell
Sprint100s CDUnlike Purify, Sprint does nothing against stuns or roots already applied — it only prevents future slows and outruns melee threats, so it's best on heroes who aren't the primary CC target.
Swap in when needed
Starlium Scythe — Magic Power and 10% Cooldown Reduction, plus Crisis adding True Damage and a 40% slow to the Basic Attack after every Windstorm.
Divine Glaive — Penetration once the enemy backline starts building magic defense to survive your roams.
Winter Crown — Insurance against a counter-gank while you're out of position roaming.
8,010g total
Against an enemy jungler or assassin who is diving mid lane repeatedly before your items come online.
Battle spell
Purify90s CDPurify does not clear suppression (e.g. Franco's Bloody Hunt or Khufra's ultimate) — a common mistake is trusting it to escape a hook combo it can't actually cleanse.
Swap in when needed
Winter Crown — Negates the exact burst window assassins look for while Windstorm is charging.
Athena's Shield — Flat magic damage reduction blunts a single burst combo aimed at you.
Guardian Helmet — 1820 flat HP and Defender's heal-back on a burst opener when the enemy jungler is snowballing kills on you.
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
GlooTankHardGrab, Grab attaches Gloo to Vale and rides along wherever he goes, so Windblow's knockup and Windstorm's pull never create the distance he needs, while 80% of the damage Gloo takes gets dumped straight onto him.
LingAssassinHardFinch Poise lets him leap onto any wall and reposition instantly, so he can simply exit Windstorm's radius mid-charge and then dive Vale from an angle the pull never covered.
ValentinaMageHardI Am You lets her copy an enemy ultimate, including mirroring Windstorm itself or another engage, to burst Vale down before he can land his own combo.
TerizlaFighter · TankHardBody of Smith turns every chunk of missing HP into damage reduction, blunting how much of his health bar Windstorm's nuke actually removes, and Penalty Zone's knockup plus Scaffold's hooks lock Vale down first.
NataliaAssassinHardHer stealth passive lets her approach completely undetected, denying Vale the reaction time his telegraphed Windblow-into-Windstorm combo needs before she bursts him down.
LancelotAssassinHardHis multi-dash combo, including Thorned Rose's invincibility frames, lets him weave in, burst, and escape before Windstorm's 1.6-second detonation ever resolves, dodging the CC meant to punish his all-in.
AliceTank · MageSoftCrimson Gleam's Scarlet Shadow recast blinks her out of Windstorm's pull zone during the 1.6-second charge, and Blood Banquet's healing lets her outlast Vale's poke in an extended trade.
KhaleedFighterSoftRaging Sandstorm charges Khaleed across the gap control-immune, reaching Vale before Windstorm finishes its detonation timer.
Lapu-LapuFighterSoftBravest Fighter leaps onto Vale for a 60% slow and drops Lapu-Lapu into Heavy Sword Stance, where Storm Sword's whirl finishes the all-in before the 1.6-second Windstorm detonation ever lands.
HildaFighter · TankSoftBlessing of Wilderness's bush regen and shield plus Combat Ritual's 60% speed burst let her close the gap and simply outlast Vale's burst in a prolonged 1v1 trade.
Tough BootsCuts the duration of Windblow's knockup and Windstorm's pull/slow, making it far easier to walk out of the detonation ring in time.Winter CrownIts damage-negation window can be timed to void Windstorm's detonation, the single biggest chunk of Vale's burst.Athena's ShieldFlat magic damage reduction blunts the one-time nuke at the end of Windstorm before it can finish a low-HP target.
ImmortalityGuarantees a second chance after eating a full Windblow-into-Windstorm combo, which is usually enough burst to kill a squishy hero outright.Heroes whose own counter list names Vale — the same matchup, read from the other side.
Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
HarleyAssassin · MageHarley's blink can land him directly on a target Vale has just knocked airborne with Windblow or drawn into Windstorm's pull, guaranteeing his own burst combo connects on someone with no way to escape.
AulusFighterWindblow's knockup and Windstorm's pull hold a target in place long enough for Aulus's charge-empowered attack to land in full on someone who can't dodge sideways.HildaFighter · TankArt of Hunting locks onto a target the instant Windblow knocks them airborne, and a target frozen mid-air has no way to break the three-hit chain.
AldousFighterWindblow's airborne lock keeps a target from dodging sideways, letting Aldous land his stacked Contract: Soul Steal punch instead of watching it get walked out of.
RogerFighter · MarksmanWindstorm's pull clusters enemies and drags them toward its center long enough for Roger to close in wolf form and land his bonus damage on someone who can't kite away.
ChouFighterChou's kick can send a target Windblow just knocked airborne flying straight into Vale's follow-up Windstorm zone, chaining two separate hard-CC effects onto the same victim with no gap between them.AliceTank · MageAlice's Throne of Ruin immobilizes everyone Windstorm has already dragged into its center, so nobody caught by both gets a window to walk out before the detonation.
JawheadFighterEjector can fling an isolated target straight into the center of an active Windstorm, guaranteeing the full detonation lands on someone who was previously out of range.
KajaSupport · FighterDivine Judgement suppresses a priority target and drags them wherever Kaja walks, and dropping them into Windstorm's pull radius guarantees Vale's full burst combo connects.
ChipSupport · TankChip's shield and support CC keep Vale alive through Windstorm's exposed 1.6-second cast, buying the time his immobile kit needs to land the detonation safely.Cast Windblow into brush or fog of war to knock back divers before they ever reach melee range on you
Land Wind Blade first to confirm a hit, then chain into Windblow's knockup so Windstorm's pull has a guaranteed anchor point
Center Windstorm on ground allies have already slowed or stunned so the target physically cannot walk out during the 1.6-second charge
Use Windtalk's stacking speed to roam and pick off isolated enemies once you're ahead rather than staying parked in mid lane
Save Windstorm for when at least two enemies are grouped — its 40-second cooldown is too long to spend on a single target
He's a moderate-difficulty mage — landing Windblow and Windstorm on moving targets takes practice, but his combo order is straightforward compared to dash-chain mages, so newer players can get reasonable value fairly quickly.
Arcane Boots into Lightning Truncheon, Holy Crystal and Genius Wand covers cooldown, raw burst, and penetration for most games; swap in Ice Queen Wand or Winter Crown depending on whether the enemy has dash-heavy assassins or a burst dive threat.
Gloo is the hardest counter since Grab, Grab attaches him to Vale and transfers the damage he takes onto him, and no knockup or pull shakes him off; Natalia and Lancelot also punish him hard by closing the gap before his telegraphed combo can land.
Cast it on a spot enemies have already been slowed or stunned in — since it deals its main damage only after a 1.6-second pull, targets with no way to walk out during that window are the only guaranteed hits.
