Brightwing Talents

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Quick Reference
  • 2. Introduction
  • 3. Strengths
  • 4. Weaknesses
  • 5. Role In The Current Meta
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Phase Shift
  • 2. Arcane Flare
  • 3. Polymorph
  • 4. Pixie Dust
  • 5. Blink Heal
  • 6. Emerald Wind
  • 7. Soothing Mist
  • 8. ChangeLog
• ×Talent Build
  • 1. Talent Build
  • 2. Common Talent Paths
  • 3. Level 1 Talents
    • 3.1. Descriptions
    • 3.2. Recommended
    • 3.3. Situational
  • 4. Level 4 Talents
    • 4.1. Descriptions
    • 4.2. Recommended
    • 4.3. Situational
    • 4.4. Not Recommended
  • 5. Level 7 Talents
    • 5.1. Descriptions
    • 5.2. Recommended
    • 5.3. Situational
  • 6. Level 10 Talents
    • 6.1. Descriptions
    • 6.2. Recommended
    • 6.3. Situational
  • 7. Level 13 Talents
    • 7.1. Descriptions
    • 7.2. Recommended
    • 7.3. Situational
    • 7.4. Not Recommended
  • 8. Level 16 Talents
    • 8.1. Descriptions
    • 8.2. Recommended
    • 8.3. Situational
    • 8.4. Not Recommended
  • 9. Level 20 Talents
    • 9.1. Descriptions
    • 9.2. Recommended
    • 9.3. Situational
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Strategy, Tips, and Tricks
  • 1. General Brightwing Strategy
  • 2. When Not Team Fighting
  • 3. When Team Fighting
    • 3.1. Team Fights Started By Your Team
    • 3.2. Team Fights Started By The Enemy Team
    • 3.3. Skirmishes
  • 4. Summary of Tips and Tricks
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Synergies and Counters
  • 1. Heroes Brightwing Works Well With
    • 1.1. Kael'thas
    • 1.2. Jaina
    • 1.3. Tassadar
  • 2. Heroes Brightwing Is Countered By
    • 2.1. Murky
      • 2.1.1. How To Play Against Murky
    • 2.2. The Lost Vikings
      • 2.2.1. How To Play Against The Lost Vikings
    • 2.3. Uther
      • 2.3.1. How To Play Against Uther
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Map-specific Advice
  • 1. Battlefield of Eternity
  • 2. Blackheart's Bay
  • 3. Cursed Hollow
  • 4. Dragon Shire
  • 5. Garden of Terror
  • 6. Sky Temple
  • 7. Tomb of the Spider Queen
  • 8. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for playing Brightwing in a competitive environment in Heroes of the Storm. For each talent, we explain what they do and why they should or should not be taken.

The other pages of our Brightwing guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About the Author

KendricSwissh is a Grand Master in both Hero and Team League, playing most Warrior and Support. He has been playing Heroes of the Storm since the early stages of the Alpha version and has mastered a large number of Heroes. He is also creating Heroes of the Storm related content on YouTube, most notably his series called HGC Hightlights. He is also a streamer on Twitch where he will gladly answer all of your questions about the game.

1. Talent Build

Level	Choices
1	✔ ? ✔ ✔
4	✘ ? ✔ ✔
7	✔ ? ✔
10	✔ ?
13	? ✘ ✔ ✔
16	? ✔ ✘ ?
20	✔ ? ? ✔

2. Common Talent Paths

3. Level 1 Talents

3.1. Descriptions

Dream Shot reduces Arcane Flare's cooldown by 1 second for each enemy Hero hit by the outer radius, and 3 seconds for each enemy Hero hit by the inner radius.

Unfurling Spray increases Soothing Mist's range by 20%.

Hyper Shift reduces Phase Shift's cooldown by 2 seconds every time Brightwing heals an allied Hero (excluding herself) with Soothing Mist.

Pixie Charm causes Brightwing to gain 1 stack of Bribe every time she heals an allied Hero. 20 stacks of Bribe can be used to instantly defeat a neutral Mercenary. Does not work on Bosses. Brightwing can not accumulate more than 80 stacks of Bribe at the same time.

3.2. Recommended

Dream Shot is an interesting choice. Despite being a rather offensive talent, it possesses strong synergy with Mistified, which benefits from having low cooldowns on your Basic Abilities. This allows Brightwing to harm her enemies while at the same time healing and protecting her allies.

Hyper Shift allows Brightwing to teleport across the map a lot more frequently if she heals herself or her allies with Soothing Mist. This proves to be especially useful on larger maps like Cursed Hollow or Garden of Terror, as Brightwing is able to split-push more efficiently if she has her teleport available allowing her to assist her teammates if need be. This talent has great synergy with Mistified at Level 7, which will reduce Soothing Mist's cooldown every time Brightwing uses one of her Basic Abilities.

Pixie Charm is a very useful talent on larger maps, like Cursed Hollow or Garden of Terror, that offer several neutral Mercenary Camps. The ability to sneakily steal one of the enemy Siege Giant Camps, or to quickly capture one of your own will greatly increase lane pressure and also provide your team with a nice amount of additional experience. However, keep in mind that you should have 2 charges of Bribe if you are trying to steal a Camp without the help of one of your allies. Mercenaries are a powerful tool to force the enemy team's attention towards defending their lanes while your team attempts to take Map Objectives, or to support pushes against the enemy defense lines. Due to Brightwing's Phase Shift ability, she can bribe a Mercenary Camp on her own and then join her team very quickly by teleporting to one of her allies, which is why we recommend this talent, except if you happen to play on Tomb of the Spider Queen, since Mercenary Camps are quite insignificant on this particular map.

3.3. Situational

Unfurling Spray is a useful talent that enables Soothing Mist's healing effect to cover a larger radius around Brightwing. We found this talent to be particularly useful on maps that require teams to group up and act together. This includes maps like Towers of Doom or Tomb of the Spider Queens, where narrow lanes and choke points allow Brightwing to potentially sustain her entire team with Unfurling Spray.

4. Level 4 Talents

4.1. Descriptions

Arcane Barrage increases the casting range of Arcane Flare by 50%

Unstable Anomaly causes Polymorph to deal a medium amount of damage to its target and nearby enemies after its effect wears off.

Manic Pixie causes Soothing Mist to heal for an additional medium amount over time as long as allies have Pixie Dust on them.

Peekaboo! causes Phase Shift to grant vision and reveal cloaked Heroes in a large area around the targeted ally for 6 seconds.

4.2. Recommended

Peekaboo! works very well if you chose Hyper Shift at Level 1. Being able to reveal cloaked enemies like Nova or Zeratul in a large radius around your selected ally, can thwart the enemy team's plans of initiating a team fight and turn the momentum in your favour.

Manic Pixie is a somewhat unreliable yet powerful talent which works very well with Unfurling Spray at Level 1, as it increases Soothing Mist's range significantly. All in all, the potential of providing allies with an additional heal is something that can add a lot to Brightwing's overall power level (especially before reaching Level 10) which is why we recommend choosing this talent if you are an experienced Brightwing player.

4.3. Situational

Unstable Anomaly has the potential to secure kills on retreating enemies that would not have been possible otherwise. Additionally, the enemy Hero that got Polymorphed by Brightwing, is usually the priority target as well which is why Unstable Anomaly does a decent job at assisting your team's focused damage.

4.4. Not Recommended

Arcane Barrage is a questionable talent, since Arcane Flare's innate casting range is already fairly high.

5. Level 7 Talents

5.1. Descriptions

Mistified reduces Soothing Mist's cooldown by 0.5 seconds every time Brightwing uses one of her Basic Abilities.

Phase Shield causes Phase Shift to also shield the target for 10 seconds after Brightwing finished her teleport. The shield does not get cast if Brightwing gets interrupted while channeling Phase Shift.

Cleanse is an activatable talent that instantly renders the targeted allied Hero Unstoppable for 1 second. Cleanse has a 60-second cooldown and cannot be used on oneself.

5.2. Recommended

Mistified increases Brightwing's healing output significantly during team fights. Brightwing's lack of early game burst heal before Level 10 makes Mistified an essential talent, especially on maps like Battlefield of Eternity or Cursed Hollow, which force extensive skirmishes out of both teams in order to secure control of Map Objectives. Keep in mind that Mistified also has strong synergy with Hyper Shift, as both talents mutually benefit from each other.

Cleanse is a strong talent on Brightwing, although she loses a lot of her healing potential if she decides to neglect Mistified. However, cleansing allied Heroes who are impaired by enemy crowd control effects can sometimes prove to be more efficient than restoring parts of their health. If you notice that the enemy team composition relies heavily on stuns, roots, or slows, Cleanse can completely thwart their plans. Keep in mind that Cleanse can be used preemptively as well, in order to make allied targets temporarily immune to imminent crowd control effects. Simply use Cleanse shortly before abilities like Tyrael's Judgment or Malfurion's Entangling Roots are about to hit your teammates to negate the respective crowd control effect.

5.3. Situational

Phase Shield should only be chosen if you have several fragile Assassins or Specialists, such as Illidan, Jaina, or Sylvanas, in your team that need special protection. Also, this talent works well if you plan on doing a lot of split-pushing. In general, however, Phase Shield cannot keep up with the utility that Mistified or Cleanse provide you with. It is not a bad talent per se, but it requires a lot of map awareness for your Phase Shifts to be on point, as otherwise you would have pretty much wasted this talent.

6. Level 10 Talents

6.1. Descriptions

Blink Heal allows Brightwing to teleport herself to a nearby friendly target, healing it for a medium amount. This Heroic ability has 2 stacks and 10-second recharge time.

Emerald Wind causes Brightwing to create a gust of wind that damages all enemies caught in its path, while pushing them away at the same time. It also passively increases Soothing Mist's healing by 8%.

6.2. Recommended

Blink Heal enables Brightwing to teleport to allies over short distances, which allows her to manoeuvre both defensively and offensively during team fights. Dodging enemy Basic Attacks or skill-shot abilities like Muradin's Storm Bolt or Stitches' Hook with the help of Blink Heal allows your team to turn on the enemy without worrying about the respective crowd control effects. By the same token, Brightwing is able to use Blink Heal as a gap-closing ability by using it on an allied unit to get in range of an enemy and cast an unexpected Polymorph on them.

Blink Heal turns Brightwing into an unpredictable Hero, who is able to pull off surprising moves and play with her opponents' minds. In order to use Blink Heal efficiently during team fights, we advise you to never stay in one place for too long. Instead, try to capitalise on your enemies' inability to keep up with your speed. Drawing the attention of your opponents to you, only to blink out of harm's way, can significantly affect the enemy team's ability to focus the right targets, and thus significantly increase the performance of your own Assassins during longer engagements.

6.3. Situational

Brightwing's second Heroic Ability, Emerald Wind, is a very effective, yet situational choice that needs to be used with great caution. There are several requirements that need to be met before you should decide to pick Emerald Wind instead of Blink Heal. Firstly, you should consider if you need a strong disengage ability to counter enemy initiators like Tyrael or Anub'arak. If the opposing team consists of at least two or more aggressive Warriors, Emerald Wind may indeed become a useful tool to keep them at bay. Secondly, you need to double-check whether your team has another Supporter in its lineup. Heroes like Tassadar or Tyrande can greatly assist Brightwing in keeping her teammates alive, which makes Emerald Wind a valid alternative to Blink Heal if there is an additional healer at your team's disposal. We are going to talk more about how and when to use Emerald Wind efficiently on the Strategy, Tips & Tricks page.

Keep in mind that Emerald Wind's passive effect increases Soothing Mist's healing by 8%, which is why you should always make sure to stay as close in order to heal as many of them as possible.

7. Level 13 Talents

7.1. Descriptions

Sticky Flare causes Arcane Flare to also slow the movement speed of enemies hit by 30% for 3 seconds.

Pixie Boost causes Pixie Dust to also increase your target's movement speed by 50%. This buff decays to 20% over the next 1.5 seconds.

Shield Dust causes Pixie Dust to also reduce incoming Ability damage by 40%.

Ice Block is an activatable talent that instantly puts you into stasis for up to 3 seconds, preventing all damage and effects and pausing damage-over-time effects, but preventing you from taking any action for the duration. If you are affected by any damage over time effect, like Envenom, the effect is paused until you come out of stasis. Ice Block can be reactivated to end its effects early, and has a 60-second cooldown.

7.2. Recommended

Ice Block provides great protection if Brightwing becomes the main focus of the enemy team. Brightwing can activate Ice Block to become untargetable and invulnerable for 3 seconds, while Soothing Mist still continues to heal nearby teammates. This talent works exceptionally well if combined with Blink Heal. Use the latter to teleport yourself to an injured target and use Ice Block to prevent the enemy from attacking you. If the usage of Ice Block leaves you exposed to enemy focus fire, using Blink Heal again on a nearby allied minion or Hero can save your life.

Shield Dust is a strong talent against enemy team compositions that rely on Heroes such as Jaina or Kael'thas. However, Shield Dust requires Brightwing to use Pixie Dust a lot more carefully, as she will also have to observe enemy spellcasters thoroughly in order to protect targeted allies from ability damage.

7.3. Situational

Sticky Flare should mainly be considered if your team is lacking crowd control in general. Unlike other talents related to Pixie Dust, Sticky Flare's slow effect is a useful tool that allows you to slow several enemies at the same time, which can aid you in many different situations.

7.4. Not Recommended

Pixie Boost provides an additional movement speed buff to the target of Brightwing's Pixie Dust ability. This does look tempting at first, however, Pixie Dust's relatively long cooldown and its small casting range prevent Pixie Boost from reaching the same level of utility as the other talents available at Level 13.

8. Level 16 Talents

8.1. Descriptions

Greater Polymorph increases the duration of Polymorph by 0.75 seconds.

Critterize causes Polymorph to increase all damage dealt to the target by 25% for 2 seconds.

Bouncy Dust causes Pixie Dust to bounce on one additional nearby allied Hero.

Hardened Focus causes your Basic Abilities to cooldown 50% faster while your current Health is above 80% of its maximum total.

8.2. Recommended

Critterize enables Brightwing's Polymorph ability to increase all damage done to a single enemy Hero by 25%, which will allow your team to burst it down very quickly. If timed correctly on a high priority target like Illidan or Zeratul, Critterize can help your team to get rid of a big threat within a couple of seconds, which is likely going to result in you winning a team fight. Do not hesitate to make use of Critterize against engaging Warriors like Tyrael or E.T.C., as well, in order to stop them from causing confusion within your own ranks and to bring them down more quickly.

8.3. Situational

Greater Polymorph could be considered if the enemy team composition runs dangerous melee Assassins like Illidan or The Butcher that need to be shut down for as long as possible. Extending Polymorph's duration by 1 second will greatly help negating their damage potential.

Hardened Focus should only be picked if you took Mistified at Level 7 and plan on taking Revitalizing Mist at Level 20. The increased cooldown reduction coming from Hardened Focus will significantly cause Brightwing to trigger Soothing Mist more often, which results in exceptionally strong passive healing during the late game.

8.4. Not Recommended

Bouncy Dust is an underwhelming talent mostly because Brightwing cannot influence the additional target of Pixie Dust which makes this talent very unreliable. We do not recommend neglecting a potential game-changing talent like Critterize in favour of Bouncy Dust.

9. Level 20 Talents

9.1. Descriptions

Double Wyrmhole allows Brightwing to cast another instance of Blink Heal on a different target within 2 seconds. Doing so does not consume a charge of Blink Heal.

Continuous Winds causes Emerald Wind to release two additional gusts of wind that deal 25% damage. Furthermore, it increases Emerald Wind's passive healing bonus to 15%.

Revitalizing Mist increases a friendly Hero's healing received from Soothing Mist by 25% seconds for 6 seconds after healing them with Soothing Mist. This effect stacks up to 3 times.

Storm Shield is an activatable talent that provides all nearby allied Heroes, including oneself, with a Shield equal to 20% each respective target's maximum Health for 3 seconds. Storm Shield has a 45-second cooldown.

9.2. Recommended

Double Wyrmhole makes Brightwing one of the most mobile Heroes in the game. Being able to quickly cast another instance of Blink Heal on a different target enables her to effectively heal up to 4 different targets with only 2 charges of Blink Heal. It also makes her incredibly hard to catch for the enemy team, as she is constantly switching positions during a skirmish or team fight. Double Wyrmhole allows experienced Brightwing players to pull off flashy manoeuvres by juking enemy abilities and attacks, while keeping mutiple allies alive at the same time.

Storm Shield is on of the most powerful defensive talents in the game. It can be put to great use on Brightwing as well, as Blink Heal enables her to quickly reposition herself next to allies needing additional protection. Storm Shield allows you to sustain ongoing pushes and sieges, and is a great tool to stop enemy AoE burst damage, especially from spell-dependant Assassins like Jaina or Kael'thas.

9.3. Situational

Continuous Winds should be taken if you decided to go for Emerald Wind at Level 10. This upgrade on your Heroic ability will cause Brightwing to be one of the most formidable disengaging Heroes in the game, who is capable of keeping enemy Heroes far away from your backline. Furthermore, the damage done by each gust of wind is surprisingly high, which is why Continuous Wind can catch the enemy team by surprise and provide your team with a lot of momentum during a team fight.

Revitalizing Mist greatly increases the power of Soothing Mist if Brightwing manages to continously heal the same allies withing 6 seconds. However, this short time frame is also a big disadvantage, especially if she uses Blink Heal to quickly reposition herself in order to assist allies in need. Revitalizing Mist has great synergy with Unfurling Spray at Level 1, which helps Brightwing to stay in range of her previously healed targets more easily.

10. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 13 Sep. 2016: Removed Bribe and updated Relentless Leader's description following the Machines of War update.
• 27 Jul. 2016: Changed some of Brightwing's talents in accordance with the latest balance update.
• 12 Jul. 2016: Updated Brightwing's talent descriptions and recommendations for Level 1, 7, and 20, following the changes in Gul'dan's patch.
• 17 May 2016: Updated Greater Polymorph's description following Chromie's patch changes.
• 14 Apr. 2016: Added Emerald Wind's passive effect in accordance with the latest Balance Update.
• 20 Jan. 2016: Removed Arcane Precision in accordance with the latest update.
• 30 Nov. 2015: Added the Phase Shift Build.
• 21 Aug. 2015: Changed the description of Cleanse in accordance with the latest update.
• 02 Jul. 2015: Rewrote most of the page, following the massive changes to Brightwing talents in the Butcher patch.