heroes Everything We Know About Deathwing

[Stan 5,242]

Design-wise, Deathwing is probably the craziest Hero added to the game since the introduction of Cho'gall, and in this post, we're going through the main highlights of the reveal stream.

Deathwing Reveal Highlights

• Deathwing is going to be in his dragon form the whole game and has no human form. He's even bigger than Alexstrasza.
• All of his abilities have delays.
• Although he has a lot of Health, Deathwing is classified as a Bruiser.
• The Hero will be playable at BlizzCon and go live in December.
• His trait is called The Aspect of Death and comes with four perks.
  • Deathwing deals 100% bonus damage to enemy Heroes (similar to Alarak).
  • He is permanently Unstoppable.
  • Deathwing is completely unaffected by Allied abilities. You can't do anything to interact with him (no healing, Abathur hatting, NOTHING). He's going to play his own game.
  • He has adamantium plates and starts the game with 40 Armor. Every 25% Health he will lose a plate which takes away 10 Armor. It's the direct opposite of Garrosh who gets tankier as he's close to dying.
• Deathwing has a custom mount. He leaves the map completely and restores Health over time, which is his primary way of getting back health that he lost while he was on the ground. This is also the only way for him to regain armor plates, as picking up globes will not restore his armor plates. After you land, your abilities will have a short cooldown.
• He can land anywhere on the map that he has vision and when he lands pick one of two different forms: The Destroyer form / The Worldbreaker form which change his base kit.
  • He can swap between his forms by activating his trait (Thanks @Valhalen
  • The Destroyer form focuses on melee while the Worldbreaker form revolves around ranged attacks.

Destroyer Form Abilities

[Q] Molten Flame is the highest damage-dealing ability in the game. Deathwing shoots a giant flame breath in front of him as you'd expect from a dragon.

[W] Incinierate is a close-range (circle AoE) ability. After a short delay, he releases a pulse of flame with a flap of his wings.

[E] Onslaught allows Deathwing to lunge forward a small distance. Any Heroes hit will be Slowed and at the end of the charge, he's going to bite the enemy for extra damage.

Worldbreaker Form Abilities

This is the Deathwing from the Cataclysm cinematic.

[Q] Molten Flame is the same as in his other form and makes him shoot a giant flame breath.

[W] Lava Burst: Deathwing makes slaps his paw into the ground which creates a small circular lava pool in an area around him. It has a significant Slow attached which allows him to set up his [Q] Flame Breath.

[E] Earthshatter: Deathwing rears up and slams his paws into the ground and these little V-shaped skillshots go out that Stun all enemies hit as the ground rumbles. 

Heroic Ability

Deathwing just has one Heroic ability, but it's available from the start of the game.

[R] Cataclysm: Deathwing flies in the sky, flies over the whole area burning everyone underneath his wings, scorching the ground for several seconds. He lands at the end of the path. It's a flying Lava Wave. The Level 10 upgrade makes it deal more damage and Cataclysm's cooldown is reset when an Enemy Fort/Keep is destroyed.

Talents

At Level 10, he can alternatively pick an ability called [1] Bellowing Roar which Fears everyone around him.

At Level 20, he gets another [R] Cataclysm upgrade which further reduces its cooldown. His other talent is called Rival of a God which allows him to Stun when he lands from the sky. It also gives him access to all Level 7 talents which affect his mount ability, like meteors while landing. 

Deathwing Reveal & Gameplay VoD

Check out Deathwing's kit and see him in action.

[Valhalen 1,484]

It is worth noting that he can also swap between forms by activating his trait with D.

[Kurosu 58]

  On 10/22/2019 at 10:09 PM, Valhalen said:

It is worth noting that he can also swap between forms by activating his trait with D.

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It is mentioned

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 10/22/2019 at 10:31 PM, Kurosu said:

It is mentioned

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It says that he can switch forms with his "Mount", but doesn't mention that he can also swap by pressing D.

[Stan 5,242]

  On 10/22/2019 at 10:09 PM, Valhalen said:

It is worth noting that he can also swap between forms by activating his trait with D.

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  On 10/22/2019 at 10:31 PM, Kurosu said:

It is mentioned

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Added to OP. Thanks!

[Nathex 8]

Ok Blizzard. You win. Take my money plz.

[Morcalivan 86]

They finally added a D button form switch. The one that should have been on Fenix.

No Abathur hat is a huge fkup imo. Not such a good idea in a team game.

The unstoppable-ness should be the biggest game changer.

Though I want to test Abathur as a counter. Interrupting those abilities, using network shields to counter all his area damage and global positioning. Putting his failing health bar against Abathur's lack of respawn needs.

Gul'Dan sounds like a really effective counter though. Who needs CC when you have rediculous damage?

Azmo'dan also should fall into that category. Deathwing's body size and speed should make it easy to stack with too. And getting those beams to channel to their maximum power should also work well, and keep abilities from being used. The minions summoned will also add damage over time.

Maybe Rexxar with burning talent? Keep the bear on the dragon between stuns of other enemies? And Lunara of course.

[Monlyth 75]

It definitely sounds like Deathwing has a lot of potential to shake up the meta. The enemy's CC is useless against him, but you can't stack buffs on him either. He seems like an amazing counterpick to certain types of team compositions, but his inability to receive support seems to limit his potential to break the game.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Monlyth

[Monlyth 75]

  On 10/22/2019 at 11:32 PM, Morcalivan said:

They finally added a D button form switch. The one that should have been on Fenix.

No Abathur hat is a huge fkup imo. Not such a good idea in a team game.

The unstoppable-ness should be the biggest game changer.

Though I want to test Abathur as a counter. Interrupting those abilities, using network shields to counter all his area damage and global positioning. Putting his failing health bar against Abathur's lack of respawn needs.

Gul'Dan sounds like a really effective counter though. Who needs CC when you have rediculous damage?

Azmo'dan also should fall into that category. Deathwing's body size and speed should make it easy to stack with too. And getting those beams to channel to their maximum power should also work well, and keep abilities from being used. The minions summoned will also add damage over time.

Maybe Rexxar with burning talent? Keep the bear on the dragon between stuns of other enemies? And Lunara of course.

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I view it as a good thing that Deathwing can't receive an Abathur hat or other forms of support. With so many powerful abilities, such a huge health bar and his permanent immunity to CC, Deathwing would be insanely OP if his teammates could buff him.

I remember a lot of team compositions used to revolve around picking Illidan and just basing the rest of your composition around enabling him with buffs and healing, before Blinds and CC became more commonplace. Deathwing would be like an Illidan on crack if he could receive buffs.

[Arcling 898]

  On 10/22/2019 at 11:32 PM, Morcalivan said:

No Abathur hat is a huge fkup imo. Not such a good idea in a team game.

The unstoppable-ness should be the biggest game changer.

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Imagine how strong Deathwing would be if he had hat from Abathur. Having immunity to cc paired with additional speed, shields with some healing and his own ability to take off, it would make him unkillable in many situations. I think it's a good idea to have some disadvantages and advantages for his unique trait. It also puts him in that "weird" category of heroes like Abathur, Murky and Cho'Gall, there is no other hero like him in the game. That's also what some people have been requesting.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Arcling

[Monlyth 75]

  On 10/23/2019 at 1:18 AM, Arcling said:

Imagine how strong Deathwing would be if he had hat from Abathur. Having immunity to cc paired with additional speed, shields with some healing and his own ability to take off, he would have been unkillable in many situations. I think it's a good idea to have some disadvantages and advantages for his unique trait. It also puts him in that "weird" category of heroes like Abathur, Murky and Cho'Gall, there is no other hero like him in the game and that's also what some people have been requesting.

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Yeah, I've really been hoping Blizzard will release something truly unlike any other character, for a good while now.

Deathwing is unique, not only compared to other HotS characters, but compared to MoBA characters in general. I can't think of any other MoBA character that's permanently immune to CC in all of its forms, and can't be healed or supported at all by their teammates.

League of Legends might be a lot more popular, but in my opinion, they've really run out of new ideas when it comes to character design. They actually released a champion that's almost a 1:1 copy of Abathur, and that's the most unique design they've created in ages.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Monlyth

[Morcalivan 86]

He can't be healed or speed buffed. He doesn't get affected by team abilities. The issue is that he only has 3 hero bodies to choose from when Deathwing is in game now. It would be fine if Abathur could shoot from him like a building but be unable to heal. But this is just a direct debuff to Abathur's mobility and damage. Which is already an early game challenge. So Quick Matches will become a pain in the *filtered*.

[Huntatsukage 4]

I wonder how Tychus would fair against Deathwing...as Deathwing is speculated to have a humongous health pool (bigger than Diablo 100 souls pool?). Have a build revolving around his "Bigger they are..." talent? Or perhaps Extended Minigun duration? So long as you watch any CC shouldn't Tychus in theory absolutely shred Deathwings health?

[mada7 29]

  On 10/23/2019 at 1:39 AM, Huntatsukage said:

I wonder how Tychus would fair against Deathwing...as Deathwing is speculated to have a humongous health pool (bigger than Diablo 100 souls pool?). Have a build revolving around his "Bigger they are..." talent? Or perhaps Extended Minigun duration? So long as you watch any CC shouldn't Tychus in theory absolutely shred Deathwings health?

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They said on the stream his health pool is similar to stitches so it's pretty big

[Kurosu 58]

  On 10/22/2019 at 10:41 PM, Valhalen said:

It says that he can switch forms with his "Mount", but doesn't mention that he can also swap by pressing D.

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It was saying trait (which yeah obviously is D).I dont know how you got confused with mount. His mount is a whole other story.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Kurosu

[Misuteri 26]

Well, they came out with a character I would buy for 15,000g instead of waiting for the 10,000g price drop.

[Koxsos 38]

Welcome to half a year of overtuned deathwing. Have deathwing on your team or lose! 
but with hp pool counters in the game, I suppose it will be better than Qhira.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Koxsos

[SirSlapzAlot 28]

Aaww now im even more sad I cant play HotS anymore... 

His design and mechanics seems awesome but be prepared because that overtuning is gonna hit harder than a sunday morning hangover for atleast a month when they got there moneys worth out if it ?

[bambina 7]

Well they are a bit too late, most people quit this game a long time ago. 

[lChronosl 182]

I am really happy to get a different hero gameplay-wise again. I hope we can get to play him around November 4th, at least on PTR.

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 10/23/2019 at 2:25 AM, Kurosu said:

It was saying trait (which yeah obviously is D).I dont know how you got confused with mount. His mount is a whole other story.

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You can switch forms when you use his mount.

[CaperfinWoW 21]

The staying in dragon form 24/7 is actually really cool. Has any other Moba ever have a toon do this?

Edited October 25, 2019 by CaperfinWoW

[CyberDVonaven 82]

  On 10/23/2019 at 1:37 AM, Morcalivan said:

The issue is that he only has 3 hero bodies to choose from when Deathwing is in game now.

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yeah, I'd say it makes it easier on an Abby player. One less teammate they have to worry about.

[CyberDVonaven 82]

I like that he's the exact opposite of Cho'Gall. Cho'gall's all about teamwork. Deathwing is all about working alone :p.

'Incompetent Fools!!! Must I do everything myself?!?'

(Of course don't actually ignore everyone else, you should still work with your team, but you get the idea for the joke ? )

[Morcalivan 86]

  On 10/26/2019 at 10:34 PM, CyberDVonaven said:

yeah, I'd say it makes it easier on an Abby player. One less teammate they have to worry about.

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That's not an Abby player. Abathur is designed to have as much up time to impact the game as possible. The less bodies means the fewer shots he can take at least somewhat reliably. Someone who wants less bodies is looking to play less and just coast. It means they can stay on someone who isn't in a position to impact the game and allows them to take a break. Abby players don't take breaks during matches. One less body means increased downtime and more reliance on minions and mercs on rails. So it has a big impact on what an Abathur can do. While the no healing or shielding makes sense. The lack of using Deathwing for taking shots doesn't. Deathwing is slow and fat. Without a working shield to speed boost, opponents can still run away easily. It would still be more effective to use other characters. So it makes little sense. Just makes Quick Match games more annoying.

Also a little paranoid with all of those 3x Healer teams that get matched together. But that's more of an ongoing bs situation from the devs' matching system. It's just going to be even worse with Deathwing now. If they are going to add a character which ignores team healers then they need to get that fixed first. Just common sense there.