Deathwing Build Guide “All will burn beneath the shadow of my wings!”
Welcome to our guide for Deathwing, a Bruiser in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.
Deathwing's Overview
Deathwing is a melee Bruiser with various ranged abilities that also make him a threat to be reckoned with from larger distances. His massive dragon form renders him resistant to enemy crowd control, however, it also prevents any form of healing or shielding on him.
He excels at dealing dangerous burst damage onto his foes, however, most of his abilities have a rather slow casting animation, allowing most opponents to dodge them if they are not impaired in their movement. Thus, Deathwing is a heavy hitter that is somewhat reliant on his teammates to pave the way for his impactful damage spells.
Deathwing's Strengths and Weaknesses
Outstanding burst damage
Immune to any form of crowd control
Global re-deployment thanks to
Dragonflight
Great at pushing and sieging enemy Structures
Cannot be affected by allies' buffs or healing
Slow casting animations
Poor in-combat mobility
Weak against high mobility Heroes
Deathwing's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Aggressive Build
Talent calculator »The Aggressive Build focuses on maximizing Deathwing's raw damage output
by neglecting some of the more defensive aspects of his kit. Firstly, it encourages
the player to stay at 3 or fewer Armor Plates to benefit off the damage increase from
Dragon's Ire at Level 4. Secondly, it features talents
that encourage Deathwing to stay in relatively close range to his targets, such as
Fire and Fury at Level 13. Consequently, we recommend
Elementium Plating at Level 16 to keep Deathwing
in good shape during team fights. At Level 20, Deathwing will have reached a major
damage power spike thanks to
Destroyer's Rampage,
which further rewards an aggressive, short-ranged playstyle. For further insight on Deathwing's talents,
please feel free to
check out the dedicated Talents section
Molten Flame Build
Talent calculator »The Molten Flame Build maximizes Deathwing's AoE burst damage, which can be used in a variety of ways. The
most frequent and efficient way of using Molten Flame is during ongoing sieges and
pushes towards enemy Structures or while defending your own. We recommend syncing Deathwing's Molten Flame with
allied Stuns and Roots to achieve maximum damage value, especially after
Infernus has
been picked up at Level 4. Deathwing hits a major power spike at Level 13, when
Wicked Inferno comes online and greatly reduces Molten Breath's Energy costs. Since
Deathwing will fight enemies from a medium to larger distance with this Build, we recommend picking
Burn Beneath My Shadow at Level 10 to further boost his damage against Structures.
For further insight on Deathwing's talents, please feel free to
check out the dedicated Talents section.
Deathwing's Synergies and Counters
It is hard to find Heroes that naturally synergize with Deathwing, since he cannot be buffed or enhanced in any way. However, there are some Heroes, usually crowd control heavy Tanks, that can make it easier for Deathwing to land his devastating damage abilities. Consequently, we find Heroes like E.T.C., Johanna, or Arthas to be a fitting match, since their Stuns and Slows can buy enough time for Deathwing to wipe the opposing team off the map.
Because of Deathwing's health, size, and low mobility, there are two
types of Heroes that counter him very well. Firstly, percentage-based damage
abilities, such as Tychus'
Minigun or Greymane's
Cursed Bullet inflict a lot of damage on
Deathwing's high health pool. Secondly, nimble Assassins like
Zeratul, Valla,
or Tracer have an easy time dodging and thus diminishing
a lot of Deathwing's damage due to long casting animations on most of his abilities.
Deathwing's Maps















Deathwing excels on maps that feature a pushing Map Objective, such
as Alterac Pass, Braxis Holdout, or Infernal Shrine. Furthermore, he usually
performs better on larger maps that allow his Dragonflight
to have global impact.
Deathwing's Tips and Tricks
- 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.
Deathwing's Role in the Current Meta
Deathwing is considered to be a quite strong Hero in the current Anomaly. His sheer presence and damage output make him trade very favourably against most other Heroes, allowing him to zone them out and push them back, potentially preventing them from collecting Experience Globes.
Deathwing is a Hero that defies standard limitations and requirements. As an entity
that cannot be put to stop by crowd control on the one hand, but also does not get affected
by any allied buffs or heals on the other hand, he is best played on push-heavy maps like
Alterac Pass, Infernal Shrines, and other maps with a moving Objective. Here, Deathwing
can make best use of his devastating AoE abilities to secure the Map Objective and make sure
that the ensuing push will have a significant impact. Cataclysm,
by itself, can wreak absolute havoc in the enemy ranks next to a charging Cavalry Unit on Alterac Pass or
a pushing Punisher on Infernal Shrines.
As a Deathwing player, it is important to remember that you are the architect of your own fortune.
Being independent of your Healer, resistant to enemy crowd control, and having a global reposition
ability in Dragonflight provides you with unique
freedom on the battleground. Use these features wisely to make an impact where it is most needed.
Changelog
- 12 Dec. 2019 (talents page): Updated Stood in the Fire's description.
- 06 Dec. 2019 (talents page): Changed Deathwing's Aggressive Build and changed Draconic Might to Recommended.
- 03 Dec. 2019 (talents page): Added the Aggressive Build and updated Deathwing's talents in general.
- 03 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added the current Anomaly (Experience Globes) to the guide.
- 28 Nov. 2019 (talents page): Updatede Deathwing's talents according to the latest PTR version.
- 26 Nov. 2019 (talents page): Added Deathwing to the Heroes section.
- 26 Nov. 2019 (abilities page): Added Deathwing to the Heroes section.
- 26 Nov. 2019 (this page): Added Deathwing to the Heroes section.
More Bruiser Guides
KendricSwissh has achieved Grandmaster rank in multiple seasons while playing Heroes of the Storm since the early stages of the Alpha version. He is also creating game related content on Twitch where he will gladly answer all of your questions about the game or guides here on Icy Veins.
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