Vatu

← Tyra **◄ Champions ►** VII →
**Vatu** ▶️ is a Flank Champion in Paladins, added on May 26th, 2021.

## Lore

* Current Official Bio
* Unofficial Updated Bio

This is Vatu's official bio currently found in his champion page in-game.

Behind every door of the mind is the fear of the darkness in the corner of a dimly-lit room. It is the unknown — the terror without a form, but with a name: the Shadow.

Vatu's origins are shrouded in the same shadow he uses as a weapon. He is the knife in the night, ending an eternal conflict – he is the untimely death, never confirmed as accidental. He and the Thousand Hands Guild have an understanding: they provide him with work and money, and he takes care of their problems. The only thing clear in his actions are his desire to protect his Ska'drin people and his deadly capability to do so, especially now that the young Talus is under his purview.

Wielding sharp Kunai and mysterious shadow magic, Vatu takes care of business with a ruthless efficiency matched only by his strict code of ethics. His are not the eyes you want to see staring back at you from the darkness, for by that time it is already too late.

This is an unofficial version of Vatu's bio intended to more clearly present all currently known information regarding him. Sources can be found here.

A legendary figure shrouded in mystery that some don't even believe exists, while others believe he's responsible for deaths that seem accidental. Working with the Thousand Hands Guild, it is however clear, that Vatu has a strict ethical code, and a strong desire to protect his fellow Ska'drin.

At some point, he would be attacked by Vora, who was hunting down powerful individuals that may pose a threat to her and Yagorath's plans.

Following House Aico gaining leadership of the Magistrate, Vatu joined Zhin's New Resistance.

## Summary

Vatu earns his legendary assassin status in the lore as a high mobility, high burst-damage flank champion. His primary weapons are kunai knives, which he throws three at a time in a small angle fan, with significant damage falloff. His secondary attack, shadow bombs, shoots out three sticky bombs that attach to any target or surface, detonating for low to moderate damage shortly after, or upon reaching their max distance. Vatu is also capable of performing ambush, an ability that teleports him to up to two enemies, causing minor damage in the immediate vicinity each time it is cast. Vatu's primary mobility is his dash, a near instantaneous movement in any direction, and can be used three times in succession, with three separate cooldowns. His ultimate, Nightfall, charges to full power after a few seconds but can be activated at any time after it begins. Upon activation, Vatu will dash forward and stun all in his path, with damage output consistent but distance travelled scaling with the charge.

While most of his attacks put out relatively low damage, chaining them together into nonstop combos quickly eliminates all but the sturdiest of champions. His teleporting and omnidirectional movement allows him to dance across the battlefield unseen, often leaving enemies clueless as to where they're being attacked from. Vatu can close the distance towards enemies distracted, fleeing, or even staring straight at him, with little fear of the defeat once he's in close combat. His ult, Nightfall, is usually the last thing his targets hear before their death. If they survive the nightfall's damage, they're unlikely to survive the onslaught of knives and bombs that follow it.

## Skills

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Kunai

280 /0.9s

Description
Launch 3 Kunai in an arc from your hands, dealing 280 damage per Kunai.

Details

Detailed DescriptionLaunch 3 Kunai from your hands every 0.9s, dealing 280 damage per Kunai. Has a max Ammo count of 5 and is fully effective up to 90 units.
* This ability deals Direct Damage.
* Has a reload time of 1s and can be animation canceled after 0.9s.
* Has a maximum range of 320 units.
* Has damage falloff with a maximum reduction of 35%.
* Kunai are fired in an arc.
* The spread of the Kunai could be reduced by firing it up or down, or by moving your view quickly.
* Gains 2.33% ultimate charge per Kunai per enemy hit.

Ability Video

Cooldown 8

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Shadow Bombs

10
+ Additional 200 /0.3s

Description
Throw out 3 explosive projectiles that stick to their target and deal a small amount of damage on hit and an additional damage when they explode.

Details

Detailed DescriptionThrow out 3 explosive projectiles that stick to their target and explode after 0.3s. Each explosive deals 10 damage on hit and an additional 200 damage in a radius of 10 units on explosion. Has a range of 150 units before auto-exploding in the air.
* This ability deals Area Damage.
* Also sticks to walls.

Ability Video

Cooldown 11

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Ambush

200

Description
Teleport next to your target, dealing damage in an area on arrival. Can be refired on another enemy within 4s of teleporting.

Details

Detailed DescriptionTeleport next to your target, dealing 200 damage. This ability can be re-fired a second time within 4s on a different target. Damage hits in a 20-unit radius and is fully effective up to 10 units. Teleport has a range of 85 units.
* This ability deals Direct Damage.
* Your target is marked with an indicator. No indicator will be shown if your target is out of reach.
* Ability needs line of sight to a nearby target to be activated.
* Has wind up time of 0.3s.

Ability Video

Cooldown 5

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Dash

Description
Quickly dash in the direction of your movement input.

Details

Detailed DescriptionQuickly dash 40 units in the direction you are moving, reducing the damage you take by 25% during the dash. Has 3 charges.
* Dashes in the direction of your movement input depending on the viewing direction.

Ability Video

Ultimate ▶️

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Nightfall

800

Description
Activate to start charging up and fire to dash forward through enemies dealing 800 damage and stunning them for 1.25s.

Details

Detailed DescriptionActivate to start charging up. Reactivate to dash forward extremely quickly through enemies, dealing 800 damage and stunning enemies hit for 1.25s. Distance increases with charge duration. You are immune to Crowd Control while charging. Minimum charge is 0.5s, maximum charge is 2s, and will automatically fire after 3s. Cannot be canceled.▶️ “Your light flickers!” (Self/Enemy)

▶️ “Witness true mastery...” (Ally)

* This ability deals Area Damage.
* Has a maximum range of 130 units.
* Charge duration does not effect the damage dealt.

Ability Video

## Talents

OmnipresenceDefault Talent

Your Ambush gains an additional charge and can now be used on allies.

UnerringUnlocks at Mastery Level 2

Increase the explosion radius of Shadow Bombs by 5 units and they now home to enemies.

 3Enveloping ShadowsUnlocks at Mastery Level 8

Reduce the Cooldown of your basic abilities by 10% after hitting an enemy with at least one Kunai. This can activate only once per throw and once every 3s.

## Cards

This is a list with all cards available to Vatu:

## Pre-Built Loadouts

All of the following cards are in Vatu's pre-built loadouts:

* Omnipresence
* Unerring
* Enveloping Shadows

Omnipresence

Shadow's Perch

Increase the range of Ambush by 30%.
3

Retribution

Increase the Radius and Effective Radius of the damage from Ambush by 45%.
3

Final Sight

Reset the Cooldown of Ambush after falling to or below 30% Health.
3
15

Gathering Shadow

Reduce the damage you take by 25% for 2s after Ambush ends. This applies to each Ambush in the chain.
5

Memento Vivere

Increase your maximum Health by 40.
1

Unerring

Shattered Worlds

Reduce the Cooldown of Shadow Bombs by 40 after earning a Killing Blow or Elimination.
5

Shadow's Perch

Increase the range of Ambush by 20%.
2

Memento Vivere

Increase your maximum Health by 120.
3

Shadow's Gaze

Heal for 160 for after activating Shadow Bombs.
4

Outnumbered

Generate 1 Ammo after hitting at least one enemy with Shadow Bombs.
1

Enveloping Shadows

Infiltration

Heal for 210 after activating Ambush. This applies to each Ambush in the chain.
3

Shattered Worlds

Reduce the Cooldown of Shadow Bombs by 32 after earning a Killing Blow or Elimination.
4

Nightwatcher

Reduce the Cooldown of Dash by 2s after hitting at least one enemy with Shadow Bombs.
4

Shadow's Perch

Increase the range of Ambush by 20%.
2

Contemplation

Heal for 92.5 every 0.5s for 1s after activating Dash. This effect stacks.
2

## Cosmetic Items

These are the Cosmetic Items currently available for Vatu:

### Champion Skin Collections

* Default
* Sorrow
* Duty
* Mayhem
* Abyss Cultist
* Golden

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### Emotes

* Default
* Meditation

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### MVP Poses

* Default
* Poised

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## Trivia

* General
* Champion Skins

* Lore
* Cameos
* References
* Promotion
* Concepts
* Other

**Lore**

* While Vatu works with the Thousand Hands Guild, he's not an actual member of the group, but rather has a mutual personal understanding with Zhin. Zhin won't command Vatu to do anything, but if Vatu has goals that can help the guild and ultimately result in him being paid, which he can use to help the Ska'drin, Vatu will take up the job for Zhin.
* It's been implied Vatu had something to do with how Zhin (and possibly others of the Thousand Hands) learned some of his abilities, though he wasn't explicitly the teacher.
* Vatu and his deeds are legendary, with many not even knowing that Vatu is real.
* Vatu is either a title passed down between different individuals, or an ancient being who has lived for a long time, though it hasn't been confirmed one way or the other.
* While not explicitly stated originally, Vatu is indeed a ninja.
* The mark that appears when Vatu uses his Ambush ability appears to be a combination of the marks that appear when Talus uses Rune of Travel, as well as his ultimate True Power.
* A unique mark appears when Vatu uses his Dash ability, and as part of his ultimate that somewhat resembles the mark that appears when Talus uses Rune of Travel.
	+ This mark also used to appear when Vatu used his default emote, but this was seemingly removed.
* Based on a dev statement revealing Viktor to be around 5'9 or 175cm tall and comparing it to model sizes in-game and out of game, it was discovered that Vatu would be around 6'1 or 185cm tall.

**Cameos**

Vatu appears in the following content:

* **Cinematics and Trailers**
	+ *A Conflict Reignited* - Cinematic
	+ *Emergence* - Cinematic

* **Avatars**
	+ *Hallowed Vatu*\*

* **Other**
	+ *Vatu Emblem* - Merchandise Design

Notable Characters that appear in Vatu's own content includes:

* **Cinematics and Trailers**
	+ Vora - *Vatu's Teaser Trailer*

**References**

* The line "\*grunt\* *Hesitation is... defeat...*" (▶️) is a reference to the death message that appears in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
* The line "I was born in shadow, molded by it; you merely stumble around like a blind child." (▶️) is a reference to lines spoken by Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
* The line "No, hands behind my back do not make me more... aerodynamic." (▶️) is a reference to Naruto running, a type of run that originates from... well, Naruto, which has since become associated with anime fans mimicking the run in real life.
* The line "Cowabunga." (▶️) is likely a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
* The line "This is not a matter of personal vendetta, child." (▶️) is a reference to the Nothing personal, kid meme.

**Promotion**

* As with previous champions, in order to promote Vatu, Paladins artist Thunderbrush would change his Twitter profile picture and banner. On April 1st, 2021, his profile picture would be changed to this image, which would later be revealed to be an edited version of Vatu's splash art. His banner meanwhile, would be changed to this image.
* Another part of Vatu's promotion was influencer packages. From April 24th, 2021 to April 28th, 2021, packages were sent to various Paladins influencers. Each contained a satchel, inside of which was part of a puzzle (later revealed to be of Vatu's splash art), as well as a message. The message was the same for each influencer and read: “
Behind every door of the mind is the fear of the darkness
in the corner of a dimly-lit room.
 It is the unknown terror without a form,
 but with a name-
 the Shadow.
#DoNotFearTheShadow

”

	+ Aqui's package can be viewed here.
	+ SterileTick's package can be viewed here.
	+ Bitey's package can be viewed here.
	+ Nada Llama's package can be viewed here.
* Vatu's standard teasers can be found here.
	+ (Teaser 1) "There are tales told throughout the Realm. Whispers of a figure cloaked in shadow, sensed but rarely seen."
	+ (Teaser 2) "Every hamlet has its own version of the legend. But every village has the same warning: Do not harm the Ska'Drin, lest the shadow strike."
	+ (Teaser 3) "Children tell ghost stories tell of seeing his eyes, staring at you from the darkness. They say if you see him, it is already too late."
	+ (Teaser 4) "For this shadow is no mere story. Only his deeds have marked him legendary."
	+ (Teaser 5) "Whisper the name of Vatu. And fear that he will come for you."

**Concepts**

* One early concept design for Vatu featured some notable differences, such as Vatu originally wearing an oni mask that covered his entire face and blended in with his horns.
* Vatu originally had a slash ability that would knock enemies towards him. It was meant to be used in combination with other abilities at close range, but was ultimately dropped due to difficulty finding an identity for the ability. This ability can be seen in datamined versions of Vatu prior to his release.
	+ According to AoC member SterileTick, this ability originally existed in place of Shadow Bombs, and Vatu originally wielded a katana for this ability.
	+ This was later mostly officially confirmed by a developer, though it was mentioned that the ability was difficult for the art team to conceptualize.

**Other**

* A mark similar to the one that appears when Vatu uses his ultimate ability also appears when Ska'drin and Scorned Ash have Kinetic Burst active.
* Alternate art for the card Contemplation was used for one of Vatu's teasers, featuring Vatu edited out.
* Alternate art for the card Shadow Garrote was used for one of Vatu's teasers, featuring Vatu covered in shadows.
* Unique artwork of Vatu was used during his release on the Steam and Epic launchers.
	+ Concept art for this artwork is also available.
* A face reminiscent of Vatu appears in the Bue Asssassin and Red Assassin sprays. It is unknown if these were early versions of Vatu, if he took inspiration from the faces, or is merely a coincidence.

**Champion Skins**

* **Sorrow**
	+ Sorrow. A feeling of deep sadness. Come on, you already knew that, I don't know what you were expecting.

* **Duty**
	+ And Duty. It's a responsibility or task, but you already knew that too. I've got nothing for you this time.

* **Mayhem**
	+ The line "Mmm... Today I woke up, and chose... violence." (▶️) references the Wake up and choose violence meme.
	+ The line "If Peter Piper plucked a perfect pair of eyeballs, how many perfect eyes did Peter Piper pluck?" (▶️) references the nursery rhyme Peter Piper.
	+ The line "A perfect little... accident." (▶️) may be a reference to a line spoken by Bob Ross.
	+ This skin had several unused splash art concepts prior to the final composition being settled on.
	+ This skin appears on a mousepad design.
	+ This skin shares its theme with Pandemonium VII.

* **Abyss Cultist**
	+ This skin is based on the abyssal cultists that appeared in Caspian's teaser trailer.
	+ This skin fittingly appears in the avatar of the same name.
	+ The Target Practice spray is also themed around the skin.

## Changelog

➤ 6.7
Paladins Release Version 6.6.5488.18
* Talents
	+ **Enveloping Shadows**
		- Now has an internal cooldown of 3s

➤ May 17th, 2023
Paladins Release Version 6.3.5218.1
* Abilities
	+ **Dash**
		- Reduced damage reduction during Dash from 50% ➞ 25%

➤ August 17th, 2022
Paladins Release Version 5.5.4747.1
* Abilities
	+ **Shadow Bombs**
		- Cooldown sped up from 10s ➞ 8s

➤ June 29th, 2022
Paladins Release Version 5.4.4675.4
* Abilities
	+ **Dash**
		- Reduced effectiveness of the Damage Reduction during dash 60% ➞ 50%

➤ May 11th, 2022
Paladins Release Version 5.3.4597.1
* Abilities
	+ **Kunai**
		- Increased effective range 75 ➞ 90
		- Increased the minimum damage done at maximum range 50% ➞ 65%

➤ March 23rd, 2022
Paladins Release Version 5.2.4520.0
* **Bug Fixes**
	+ Fixed an issue where Vatu’s Ambush ability could allow him to teleport into enemy Spawn Rooms.
	+ Fixed an issue where Vatu’s Sorrow skin was not purchasable for Gold or Crystals.

➤ November 10th, 2021
Paladins Release Version 4.7.4327.0
* Talents
	+ **Enveloping Shadows**
		- Reduced scaling 12% ➞ 10%
* Abilities
	+ **Kunai**
		- Reduced damage 300 per Kunai ➞ 280 per Kunai

➤ September 15th, 2021
Paladins Release Version 4.6.4252.6‎
* Talents
	+ **Enveloping Shadows**
		- Reduced effectiveness 15% ➞ 12%

➤ July 21st, 2021
Paladins Release Version 4.5.4175.5
* Abilities
	+ **Ambush**
		- Current: Teleport next to your target, dealing damage in an area on arrival. Can be refired on another enemy within 4s of teleporting.
			* Decreased the amount of time before Teleporting 0.4s ➞ 0.3s
* **Bug Fixes**
	+ Fixed an issue where Vatu’s Shadow Gaze card activated twice when he used his Shadow Bombs ability.

➤ May 26th, 2021
Paladins Release Version 4.4.4098.0
* Vatu was added to the game.

## Removed Content

* Vatu/Removed Content

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/YongYea/status/1387460067495014407
2. ↑ Shadows Update Show, YouTube
3. ↑ File:Vatu and Zhin.png
4. ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
5. ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
6. ↑ Evil Mojo Podcast: Exploring the Lore (Hi-Rez Showcase 2022), YouTube
7. ↑ Evil Mojo Podcast: Exploring the Lore (Hi-Rez Showcase 2022), YouTube
8. ↑ File:Vatu Title or Ancient.png
9. ↑ Evil Mojo Podcast: Exploring the Lore (Hi-Rez Showcase 2022), YouTube
10. ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
11. ↑ File:Vatu Replaced Ability.png
12. ↑ File:Vatu Cut Ability.png
13. ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
14. ↑ Arif Restu on ArtStation