Deathwing Build Guide “All will burn beneath the shadow of my wings!”

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.

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

Basic Attacks Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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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. Later in the game, Fire and Fury at Level 13 further empowers Deathwing's overall power when fighting at melee range and Elementium Plating at Level 16 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.

Molten Flame Build

Situational

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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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.

To get the most value out of this Build, you should only cast Molten Flame when having 75 Energy or higher. This means that, even if you are full Energy, you can only afford to cast one different Basic Ability before it: either Lava Burst or Earth Shatter.

When playing this Build, you should heavily prefer World Breaker Form.

Dragonflight Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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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 boosts your damage and survivability. Later in the 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 indirectly 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 use Destroyer Form when you can play aggressively or World Breaker Form when you have to play defensively.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Deathwing'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.

To get the most value out of this Build, you should only cast Molten Flame when having 75 Energy or higher. This means that, even if you are full Energy, you can only afford to cast one different Basic Ability before it: either Lava Burst or Earth Shatter.

When playing this Build, you should heavily prefer World Breaker Form.

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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 stronger maps

Deathwing's average maps

Deathwing's weaker maps

Deathwing excels on Maps where the Objective gives vision and needs to be channeled (so Cursed Hollow and Garden of Terror) because he can use Skyfall at Level 7 to interrupt enemy Heroes without exposing himself.

While he is fine being in lane on his own, we do not recommend playing him on big Maps where teams tend to split a lot because Deathwing works best when accompanied by other Heroes who can setup for Molten Flame.

Contrary to other global Heroes, he does not provide much value on big Maps because the time it takes for Deathwing to use Dragonflight for going from a lane to another is too slow.

• Most of your damaging Abilities have a significant casting delay until they hit. Take this into consideration and aim accordingly.
• Deathwing can switch Form, heal up, and restore lost Armor Plates by using Dragonflight.
• When fighting melee Heroes, Destroyer Form is recommended. Against ranged Heroes, World Breaker's long distance Abilities have an edge.
• Molten Flame should ideally be used on enemy Heroes under crowd control effects.
• Incinerate can be used on cooldown to hit enemy Heroes who get too close to Deathwing while in Destroyer Form.
• Onslaught deals more damage at the edge, so make sure to aim it properly when fighting against enemy Heroes while in World Breaker Form.
• Lava Burst can be used to poke and zone enemy Heroes while in Destroyer Form.
• Earth Shatter can be used as interrupt for channeled Abilities while in World Breaker Form.
• Cataclysm is your best escape tool but also your best engage tool. Use it carefully.
• Bellowing Roar is a powerful Heroic Ability which can be used to break the enemy formation and isolate a target to kill.
• Deathwing does not get any healing in the Hall of Storms. When you need to heal up, use Dragonflight instead of Hearthstone.
• Skyfall at Level 7 can be used to stall a channeled Objective multiple times during Dragonflight.
• Elementium Plating at Level 16 can be activated to protect Deathwing from incoming burst damage.

Deathwing is mainly being played because of the fact he is Unstoppable, which is great when playing against enemy Heroes who rely on crowd control to engage, when playing on Maps where the Boss Camp is a win condition. He is also very useful on Maps where he can stall the Objective with either Lava Burst baseline or Skyfall at Level 7.

Deathwing can change Form depending on the Build and/or the situation: Destroyer Form is best for playing melee, World Breaker Form is best for playing ranged but can also be used in melee when an interrupt is needed. When the game starts or whenever you need to change Form during the game, use Dragonflight to select the Form that suits your Build: land with [Q] for Destroyer Form or with [W] for World Breaker Form.

Dragonflight turns Deathwing into a global, however, it is quite slow to use: first you have to wait 4 seconds to be able to cast Dragonflight, then you have to channel it for 3 seconds, and then you need to wait 8 seconds before landing. This is useful for switching side lane on big Maps or to quickly reach the middle of the battlefield when leaving the Hall of Storms, but not really for quickly joining a team fight unless you pre-emptively cast Dragonflight.