Valkyrie Legend Review - Needs Buff(s)

Having main'd Valk for the season, a few observations on balance:

TL;DR: I love playing Valk and can't imagine maining a different legend. On the flip side, I'm always thrilled to play against Valks, as they tend to be easy kills. 😉

She seems fine in casual play, but her hitbox and transition animations become constant liabilities in higher-tier combat. While flying is fun, her primary abilities are strategically a net loss. Unlike every other Legend with movement skills, she's never quite fast enough to compensate for her beefy hitbox. This is compounded by full exposure to the first-shot disadvantage while mid-air, unreliable flight triggering on console, and weapon-stowing animations that decimate her reaction times during short boosts. To add insult to injury, Valk's tactical is hard to aim (on console), painfully situational, and often just damages her unless she's fully exposed to enemy fire.

Valk really falls apart in mid-range play or indoors. It's nigh impossible to tell when she's actually protected behind cover. When peeking, her extra bulk presents more of her to shoot at for longer. And her ult, tactical, and passive are substantially useless indoors where much of the gameplay actually happens.

Valk's flight currently comes at the cost of her being relatively unsuited to the core combat loop. Used effectively, it is generally equivalent to fast-climbing a ledge or rooftop, but with penalties the other vertically-mobile legends don't suffer. Having played her extensively for the length of the season, I can't recommend her to anyone who's seriously competitive. Valk's abilities are only situationally useful, and those situations are easy to read and counter.

Suggestions:

• Increase her boost speed a bit.
• Decrease her transition time from flight to combat-ready. Give Valk some time to shoot while airborne (falling), just like Horizon, Octane, and Rev.
• Trim her hitbox. You can hit the air around her legs, shoulders, head and jetpack. She's a liability in regular combat.
• OR, lean into the bloated hitbox, and give her an extra shield like Gibby's while she's in flight (and unarmed). She's already a damage sponge, this would make it less painful.
• Valk should fall faster, or automatically negate landing stun. Slow-fall + stun-landing is a death sentence.
• Decrease her on-empty regen delay, and provide a strong visual warning when she's almost out of fuel. It should be very, very clear when Valk is on or near empty in tense combat, as this necessitates a dramatic shift in playstyle.
• Protect her from her own tactical.
• Aim the tactical from the center (not the edge). Current aiming misses often (on console) and is un-intuitive.
• Fire her missiles faster, and/or with variable amounts of loft. It's important to telegraph her tactical, but the current sequence leaves her too exposed. Variable loft will allow her to deal with cover, and use her tactical indoors.

Your thoughts?

- Neb