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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 Abilities by using crowd control effects on enemy Heroes.
Deathwing's Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Outstanding burst damage - Immune to any form of crowd control
- Global re-deployment thanks to
Dragonflight - Great at pushing and sieging enemy Structures
Weaknesses
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
Molten Flame Build
Recommended
Deathwing's Molten Flame Build empowers the damage you can deal from the distance
to enemy Heroes caught within 
Molten Flame for a few seconds.
The damage comes from the combination of multiple Talents that empower the same Basic Ability:
Infernus at Level 4, Wicked Inferno
at Level 13, and Conflagration at Level 16.
When playing this Build, you should heavily prefer World Breaker Form.
Basic Attacks Build
Situational
Deathwing's Basic Attacks Build makes you harder to kill and increases your damage at the same time, especially when you can fight at melee range.
The combination of 
Dragon Soul at Level 1
and Heat Wave at Level 4 boosts your damage and survivability
during the early game and after.
In the mid game,
Fire and Fury at Level 13
further empowers Deathwing's overall power when fighting at melee range.
While transitioning to the late game,
you gain access to 
Elementium Plating at Level 16
that increases your survivability even more.
When playing this Build, you should use Destroyer Form when you can play aggressively or World Breaker Form when you have to play defensively or poke.
Dragonflight Build
Situational
Deathwing's Dragonflight Build is a powerful choice for games where you can safely land on top of
enemy Heroes with 
Destroyer after your Tank engages.
The combination of Dragon Soul at Level 1
and Heat Wave at Level 4 boost your damage and survivability
during the early game and after.
In the mid game,
Fire and Fury at Level 13
further empowers Deathwing's overall power when fighting at melee range.
The key Talents of this Build, however, are 
Death Drop
at Level 7 increasing the damage dealt by allied Heroes and Gaze Onto Destruction
at Level 16 reducing the damage dealt by enemy Heroes while also Slowing them.
When playing this Build, you should heavily prefer Destroyer Form,
especially when landing from 
Dragonflight.
ARAM Build
ARAMDeathwing's ARAM Build empowers the damage you can deal from the distance
to enemy Heroes caught within Molten Flame for a few seconds.
The damage comes from the combination of multiple Talents that empower the same Basic Ability:
Infernus at Level 4, Wicked Inferno
at Level 13, and Conflagration at Level 16.
When playing this Build, you should heavily prefer World Breaker Form.
Deathwing's Synergies and Counters
Deathwing synergizes with
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 battlefield.
Deathwing is countered by
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 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 area of effect Abilities
to secure the 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 battlefield. Use these features wisely to make an impact where it is most needed.
Changelog
- 20 Sep. 2023 (talents page): ARAM Build added.
- 20 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
- 17 Jan. 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 17 Jan. 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
- 25 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 25 Jun. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
- 25 Feb. 2021 (talents page): New layout.
- 31 Oct. 2020 (talents page): Builds and Talents updated.
- 31 Oct. 2020 (this page): Builds updated.
- 08 Oct. 2020 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 08 Oct. 2020 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 08 Oct. 2020 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 05 Oct. 2020 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 05 Oct. 2020 (this page): Builds updated.
- 24 Aug. 2020 (talents page): Talent Build page updated.
- Builds modified to reflect the current metagame.
- Balance Update revision.
- Minor fixes.
- 24 Aug. 2020 (this page): Introduction page updated.
- Builds modified to reflect the current metagame.
- Balance Update revision.
- Minor fixes.
- 25 Jul. 2020 (talents page): Builds modified to reflect the current metagame.
- 25 Jul. 2020 (this page): Builds modified to reflect the current metagame.
- 08 May 2020 (talents page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Balance Update.
- 08 May 2020 (this page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Balance Update.
- 12 Apr. 2020 (talents page): Talent Build partially revised to match new standards.
- Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
- Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
- 12 Apr. 2020 (this page): Introduction partially revised to match new standards.
- Talent Build Cheatsheet updated to reflect the current metagame.
- Role in the Current Meta modified to remove the unnecessary part about the now fixed Experience Globes.
- 14 Feb. 2020 (talents page): Revised Deathwing's guide and found it is still up-to-date after the recent Balance Update.
- 23 Jan. 2020 (talents page): Updated Deathwing's Talent Builds.
- 19 Dec. 2019 (talents page): Revised the Deathwing Guide in accordance with the new Balance Update and found no changes were necessary.
- 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
Elitesparkle is a multiple times Master player in Europe who plays Heroes of the Storm since its release. He is an active member of the community who likes to teach new and veteran players all he knows about his favorite game. He also produces more teaching content on his Tips of the Storm page on Ko-fi.
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