His mind honed by years of military training and war, Valtiere has become a master strategist and processor of information. Where others see a mass of ongoing variables, Valtiere can pick out a pattern and integrate it into a larger plan. It makes him one of the unparalleled strategists of Arcona, but his non-linear reasoning causes confusion within subordinates, only seeing a fraction of an overarching battle-plan that involves many moving parts.

A student of the Savric flight academy, Nikola Valtiere has pushed himself to become one of the Brotherhood's elite pilots. To him, a starfighter is an extension of his body, and there is nowhere he feels more confident and comfortable than operating one. By devoting himself so fully to piloting, spending so much time on ships and his formative years in low gravity environments, his muscles have developed in a different way to be more reflexive than powerful. This shows in regular combat by his focus on smaller, lighter weapons, finding it difficult to control the heavier tools of combat.

While other Dark Jedi pursued their own power, or researched the dark mysteries of the Force, Valtiere has spent his time on the ships of the Arconan navy. Drawing on a wealth of experience and training, he has become gifted in operating and commanding the capital vessels of the fleet, and developed a camaraderie with the crew. This skill and bond comes at a cost to the relationships with other Dark Jedi, however. His hatred for the arrogance that surrounds Dark Jedi causes a rift between himself and those he deems unworthy of his time.

Once loosed, Valtiere is an unerring hunter, seeking his prey down to the end, thrilling in the hunt. However, like the hawk, Valtiere may simply disappear, working on the fringe, out of sight. Teams led by Valtiere seem to be impossible to contact, logistics assigned to them becoming a mess of contradictory orders and plans, with their leader nowhere to be seen. This aspect is found in all facets of his life. Nigh impossible to find, Valtiere will be working on the edges of his House, unseen by others, quiet and short in responses, dour and serious. However, a loosed hawk will return to the glove. It may take time, but the world will catch up with Valtiere, the job done, with few to no details and only snatches of rumours. As such, there is a distance between the Equite and his subordinates. Few know him enough to go to him, they will go to the loud ones, the grand characters, leaving Valtiere to his hunt.

Valtiere is fast and agile, relying on speed to hit his foe and move away with his deadly tulwar, a weapon made to be wielded while mounted and on foot, both with deadly efficiency in the hands of Valtiere at the hands of his former foster-parent. This speed is used in combination with his savagery, creating an erratic warrior that seeks to unfoot his foes before destroying them. He will always push, keep up the attack. It may be in the form of lighting hit-and-run strikes, but the pressure will be kept. He will rush forward, seeking the head of the formation. This can cause Valtiere to overextend himself, tiring himself against the defences of a more durable foe resistant to such attacks. The fight has to be over quickly, on Valtiere's terms, or he will be smashed quickly.

Though his mind is honed into a strategic engine, Valtiere knows that simple knowledge will not win a fight. An intellectual could hardly break a bone. A well of rage and savagery, a by-product of his past, is tapped when Valtiere begins to fight. He will not simply kill his foe with a blow, but dismember them, smash their limbs to powder, and walk over their cold corpses. Such savagery can cause Valtiere to overextend himself, momentarily losing himself to the fury.