Apex Legends Valkyrie - abilities, story and more

Apex Legends Valkyrie is a new character arriving with Apex Legends Season 9 and we're excited to welcome this new face, often shortened to Valk. As soon as Apex Legends Legacy goes live, we'll see this wingsuit pilot shooting her rockets and dominating the skies. But for those of you who wish to know more about what new Valkyrie abilities and backstory there is, we got you covered. There’s already quite a bit of information based on the Apex Legends Northstar cinematic, the Legacy launch trailer, and leaks from dataminers. Let’s take a look at everything we know about the Apex Legend Valkyrie character so far!

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Apex Legends Valkyrie release date

Apex Legends Valkyrie will be added to Apex Legends as part of the Legacy update, which will arrive on May 4th. Apart from this new legend, Legacy will also contain a new weapon, the Bocek Bow, and an Olympus map update.

Apex Legends Valkyrie backstory - who is Viper and more

Apex Legends has just launched its ‘Stories from the Outlands – Northstar’ cinematic video. It starts by showing us a grieving girl kneeling next to a pilot’s destroyed helmet. This girl is none other than Valkyrie, daughter of the infamous Titanfall pilot Viper.

Titanfall 2 fans may recognize that name right away, but for those of you who are less familiar with the lore: Viper was a member of a group of mercenary pilots called the Apex Predators. He was one of the main antagonists in Titanfall 2, next to Apex Predators commander Blisk. In short, Valk’s dad was hired by the megacorporation IMC to help destroy the home planet of the civilian Militia. He ultimately got defeated by Titanfall 2’s main protagonist, Jack Cooper.

The Northstar cinematic tells us that Valk’s childhood, back when she was still known as Kaira Imahara, was quite peaceful and happy. During the flashbacks, it becomes clear that Valkyrie inherited Viper’s love for flying, to the point of stealing her father’s Titan (a giant mech suit) and flying away. She soon gets into trouble, but Viper saves her and they both survive. After the incident (and probably some much-needed Titan repairs), Viper leaves with Blisk to join the fatal fight against the Militia.

After finding her dad’s broken helmet, we see a now grown-up Valkyrie talking to Blisk, Viper’s old boss. It becomes clear that Valkyrie intends to kill him as revenge for her father’s death, but she ultimately spares him and joins the Apex Games. At the end of the video, Valk retrieves Viper’s old Titan and looks on as it’s being repaired. In other words, Valkyrie is ready to continue Viper’s Legacy while also creating her own.

Apex Legend Valkyrie abilities

Good news for those who are dying to know more about Apex Legend Valkyrie abilities you'll have to play with. Thanks to the legacy launch trailer and several Apex Legends dataminers we've got some early info on Valkyrie’s passive, tactical, and ultimate skill. The descriptions from the dataminers seem to fit with the abilities displayed in the legacy trailer, but bear in mind that some of the details may still change before the launch:

• Valkyrie’s Passive: VTOL Jets. By holding jump, you can make Valkyrie hover above ground. 
• Valkyrie’s Tactical: Cluster Missile. This will fire a missile with multiple explosions. 
• Valkyrie’s Ultimate: Skyward. As the name suggests, this ability allows Valkyrie to launch into the air, and then redeploy. The first time pressing Valk’s ultimate will prepare her for launch, after which her allies can join her, and the second time will start the launch. 

Apex Legend Valkyrie gameplay

We got our first glimpse of Valkyrie in action from a recent video on Twitter celebrating Apex Legends’ 100 million players. However, the Legacy launch trailer (published on April 22nd) gives us an even better idea of what Valkyrie’s wingsuit and gameplay will look like. 

It’s clear that the wingsuit looks very different from the original Titan, but it still has its engines and missiles. In the first part of the video, we witness Valkyrie as she swiftly flies towards her enemy and uses her missile launchers while still in the air. Assuming she’s using Skyward, this scene promises a great range, speed, and high mobility in flight. It also confirms the possibility to use Cluster Missile while in the air.

It's unlikely that Valkyrie will be able to fly horizontally like that by using VTOL Jets, as that seems too overpowered for a passive skill. The VTOL Jets will probably allow her to hover only a short distance above ground, and only as a vertical movement. We might get a glimpse of this at the end of the Legacy trailer, when Valkyrie is hovering in the sky without moving sideways.

Is Apex Legends Valkyrie good?

Based on all this, Valkyrie looks like a force to be reckoned with. Increased mobility and a quick escape option from combat are definitely handy if you wish to rank high in Apex Legends. On top of that, both VTOL Jets and Skyward will provide the player with great lines of sight. This seems perfect in combination with Cluster Missile, but we’ll have to wait for more info on damage output and range to know for sure.

If there’s a potential drawback to this upcoming Apex Legends character, it might be her visibility and vulnerability. It’s probably hard flying through the air and launching missiles without being noticed by everyone around, so you can expect some action after landing. On top of that, the time between initiating Skyward and actually launching may leave Valkyrie vulnerable to enemy attacks. Then again, once you got your teammates on board and you select a great landing spot, you might be in a far better position to win a battle.

Stay tuned for more info on Valkyrie’s playstyle when Legacy arrives!