Deathwing Abilities and Strategy

• Most of your damaging abilities have a significant casting delay until they hit. Take this into consideration and aim accordingly.
• Deathwing can only restore lost Armor Plates by using Dragonflight.
• On push-heavy maps such as Tomb of the Spider Queen or Towers of Doom, Burn Beneath My Shadow at Level 10 is a good choice. Use Cataclysm shortly before a Structure is about to fall to maximize value of the talent.
• When fighting melee Heroes, Destroyer Form is recommended. Against ranged Heroes, World Breaker's long distance abilities have an edge.
• Despite Deathwing being such a massive combatant, it is often wiser to avoid direct combat and reposition him globally via Dragonflight and push a lane away from the enemy team.

Molten Flame is a Basic Ability that deals a lot of damage to all foes standing in its area.

Deathwing cannot move or cast other Abilities while channeling it, so be sure to not be in a dangerous position before using it.

Keep in mind that Molten Flame consumes a lot of Energy, preventing Deathwing from using other Abilities for a few seconds if you channel it for 3 seconds.

We recommend using Molten Flame after enemies have been locked down in place by friendly crowd control to maximize its value.

Remember that you can use it while sieging as it deals damage to enemy Structures as well.

Incinerate is a Basic Ability available only when Deathwing is in Destroyer Form that, after a short delay, deals damage to everyone in a relatively big area around Deathwing.

While it does not deal a large amount of damage itself, both the cooldown and the Energy cost are relatively low and as such Incinerate can be use whenever available, especially if Deathwing is surrounded by multiple enemies.

Lava Burst is a Basic Ability available only when Deathwing is in the World Breaker Form that, after a short delay, spawns a small lava pool in a target area that damages and Slows enemies inside.

Thanks to its cooldown and duration being the same, you can easily use Lava Burst as a powerful zoning tool that will force enemy Heroes to choose between taking damage and changing path.

Onslaught is a Basic Ability available only when Deathwing is in Destroyer Form that, after a short delay, makes Deathwing lunge in the chosen direction.

While it does not make Deathwing faster at traveling from a point to another, Onslaught is the only reliable source of mobility that Deathwing has access to. Use it as a form of engage, to dodge enemy Abilities, or to quickly disengage.

Earth Shatter is a Basic Ability available only when Deathwing is in the World Breaker Form which creates two fissures on the ground that damage and Stun enemies hit.

You can use it to interrupt enemy Heroes who are trying to channel an Ability.

Cataclysm is a Heroic Ability that, after 2 seconds of delay, makes Deathwing fly over a wide and long area, dealing damage to enemies who touch that zone during the next 6 seconds.

To avoid that enemy Heroes will simply walk out from the fire, use Cataclysm in conjunction with crowd control provided by the rest of your team and/or when the enemy team is near a choke point.

As good as Cataclysm is when used offensively, sometimes using it defensively to escape an enemy assault can be the wisest approach. Not only will Deathwing fly a considerable distance away, but he can even fly over impassable terrain to completely deny the enemy team any chance to take him down. When using it this way, it is crucial to anticipate its cast time to compensate the huge delay it has before actually going off.

Deathwing can use this Heroic Ability from Level 1, but it will have almost 4 minutes of cooldown when the game starts.

Aspect of Death is a Trait that is a unique mechanic that provides Deathwing with a surprising amount of survivability on the battlefield. Every 25% health lost causes him to lose one Armor Plate, lowering Deathwing's innate Armor by 10. The lost Armor can only be rebuilt when Dragonflight is used and Deathwing restores health while up in the air.

Due to his massive dragon body, Aspect of Death also causes Deathwing to be immune to any form of enemy crowd control at the cost of also ignoring any form of allied buffs and healing.

Form Switch is a Basic Ability that, after 2 seconds of delay, makes Deathwing switch from Destroyer Form to World Breaker Form, or the other way around.

We strongly recommend avoiding to use Form Switch while surrounded by enemy Heroes as you will take unnecessary damage during its initial delay.

Dragonflight is a Mount replacement Ability that, after 3 seconds of delay, allows Deathwing to fly in the air for 8 seconds or more. During that time, Deathwing regenerates 2.5% maximum Health per second. Once that time is over, Deathwing will be able to land wherever he has vision by using either Destroyer or World Breaker. Deathing's Form after landing will be based on which Ability has been used to land.

Before landing, remember that you will not be able to use any Ability for 4 seconds after landing, and keep in mind that Destroyer Form is better when Deathwing is fighting at melee range and World Breaker Form is better when fighting from the distance, therefore you should avoid landing with World Breaker in the middle of the enemy team.