Final Fantasy XIV has many appealing characters that have come and gone throughout its life. Along with the main narrative, the game also has plenty of side content that offers rich stories filled with well-written villains and heroes. With so many different people in the game, it can sometimes be difficult to keep everyone in line. During the Shadowbringers side quest saga, Sorrow of Werlyt, players are reintroduced with a familiar face, Gaius van Baelsar, who becomes an ally rather than an enemy. The Warrior of Light is forced to help him settle down with a Garlean military leader named Valens. Here’s everything you need to know about this evil villain.
Valens van Varro in Final Fantasy XIV
Valens van Varro was originally replaced by Gaius van Baelsar to lead the XIV Imperial Legion in Garlean’s army. Not one to take it easy, Valen managed to get a job as an assistant to engineer Nero tol Scaeva. After Gaius’ defeat, Valens succeeded in seizing power as leader of the Imperial Eighth Army. It was there that he was commissioned into the weapons project.
The Weapons Project was a top-secret military operation by the Garleans to create superior mechanical constructs capable of destroying anything in their path. Valens, being the utterly horrible person he was, allowed his soldiers to kidnap orphans to use as test subjects in his experiments for weapons. Some of these orphans have actually been brainwashed into believing in their cause, though their ultimate goal is to become the Emperor of Garlemald through their research.
Valens in the Sorrow of Werlyt side quest in Final Fantasy XIV
During the Sorrow of Werlyt storyline, the Warrior of Light discovers that Gaius’ adoptive orphan children have been brainwashed and used as suicide pilots in his weapons. After defeating several of the weapons, it is revealed that Alfonse, one of Gaius’ orphans, attempted to sabotage the experiments and free Werlyt from within, though he met a dark end in the process. supply of the diamond weapon.
Another of the orphans, Allie, is convinced to pilot the Diamond Weapon, only to access Alfonse’s mind during the battle. He saves her as the Diamond Weapon is defeated and Valens decides to challenge Gaius to a fight rather than surrender. While fighting a fierce fight, backed by an unfair tactical advantage, Alfonse manages to reactivate the Diamond Weapon and overpower Valens. The defeated villain is haunted by visions of the many orphans who died under his watch, then crushed in the palm of his own experience, ending his story.