Despite being labelled as the BOSS FIGHT character, Deathwing rarely manages to pose a real threat, and is mostly used as a backline mage, which completely contradicts his concept.
The goal of this rework is to make the Destroyer fit his primary role and feel truly dangerous in both forms.
(Last Update: 24/01/2026)
Stats
Health increased from 2750 to 2784
Health Regen increased from 5.7292 to 5.8
Health and Health Regen now properly scale by 4% per level, reaching 6100 Health and 12.71 Health Regen at level 20
Combat Trait
1
Aspect of Death (Trait)
Deathwing now heals 6% of his Health per second while in the Hall of Storms
Primary Abilities
1
Molten Flame (Q)
Cast cost removed
Damage decreased from 21 to 19
2
Incinerate (W1)
Energy reduced from 20 to 15
3
Lava Burst (W2)
Explosion damage increased from 30 to 48
Pool damage increased from 24 to 32
Pool duration decreased from 6 to 4 seconds
4
Onslaught (E1)
Energy increased from 20 to 30
Cooldown reduced from 5 to 4 seconds
Bite damage increased from 72 to 76
5
Earth Shatter (E2)
Energy increased from 25 to 30
Stun duration increased from 0.75 to 1 second
Secondary Abilities
1
Form Switch (1)
After 2 seconds, Deathwing switches his current form.
Deathwing switches between Destroyer and World Breaker forms, each granting access to two unique Basic Abilities. Destroyer: Incinerate damages nearby enemies and Onslaught allows to lunge at enemies. World Breaker: Lava Burst creates a Slowing area and Earth Shatter Stuns enemies in two lines.
Tooltip updated
Cooldown reduced from 20 to 5 seconds
Total cast time reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds
Heroic Abilities
1
Cataclysm (R)
Cooldown reduced from 90 to 60 seconds
Starting Cooldown increased from 270 to 300 seconds
Special Mount
1
Dragonflight (Z)
Healing increased from 2.5% to 3%
Cooldown when interrupted reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
2
Destroyer (QZ)
Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds
Delay reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds
Damage increased from 52 to 72
3
World Breaker (WZ)
Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds
Delay reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds
Damage increased from 52 to 72
4
Meteor Drop (New EZ)
Charge Cooldown: 12 seconds
Deathwing drops a meteor on any visible location that lands after 0.75 seconds, dealing 72 damage to enemies in the area.
Stores up to 3 charges, with a 1 second cooldown between charges.
Radius: 2
LEVEL 1
Dragon Soul (Reworked)
Incinerate, Lava Burst's explosion, and pool of magma heal Deathwing for 50% of the damage dealt to Heroes.
Losing an Armor Plate increases this bonus to 100% for 3 seconds. Subsequent activations refresh the duration.
Molten Blood (Reworked)
Deathwing restores 0.3% of his maximum Health per second for each missing Armor Plate. Passive: Increase Deathwing's maximum Health by 10%.
Fire and Fury (Moved from Level 13)(Reworked)
Basic Attacks heal Deathwing for 25% of the damage dealt and deal 50% more damage to Heroes.
LEVEL 4
Infernus (Reworked)
Increase Molten Flame's damage by an additional 25% against Heroes and by 50% against Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.
Heat Wave (Reworked)
Afrer damaging a Hero with Incinerate or Lava Burst's explosion, Deathwing deals 18 damage per second to nearby enemies.
This effect lasts for 6 seconds and can stack up to 54 damage.
Radius: 4
Dragon's Ire (Reworked)
Deathwing deals 10% additional damage for each missing Armor Plate. Passive: While Deathwing has exactly 1 Armor Plate, he gains 25% Attack Speed.
LEVEL 7
Firestorm (Reworked)
When Deathwing lands, he spends all remaining Meteor Drop charges to drop triple the amount of meteors near the landing area.
Deathwing drops the meteors on nearby enemy Heroes, otherwise they are dropped randomly near the landing area. Passive: Hitting Heroes with meteors reduces the cooldown of Dragonflight by 5 seconds per Hero.
Death Drop (Reworked)
Deathwing can now begin to cast Abilities 2 seconds after landing.
Deathwing's landing damage reduces the Armor of Heroes by 25 for 4 seconds.
Skyfall (Reworked)
Meteors have 25% increased impact radius and heal Deathwing for 100% of the damage dealt.
LEVEL 10
Burn Beneath My Shadow
Damage bonus increased from 80% to 100%.
Bellowing Roar
Damage increased from 25 to 60.
Now takes over Deathwing's Trait button.
Now also affects Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.
LEVEL 13
Conflagration (Moved from Level 16)
Burn damage decreased from 100 to 80.
Ruination (Reworked) Destroyer: Increase Onslaught's Slow to 50%. World Breaker: Reduce Earth Shatter's cooldown by 6 seconds.
Dragonic Might (Moved from Level 1)(Reworked)
Deathwing recharges Basic Abilities 25% faster for each missing Armor Plate. Passive: Upon losing an Armor Plate, Deathwing becomes Protected for 1 second.
LEVEL 16
Wicked Inferno
Moved from Level 13.
Gaze Onto Destruction (Reworked)
Deathwing's landing damage Slows Heroes by 50% for 4 seconds. Passive: Deathwing gains the benefits of all his level 7 talents.
Elementium Plating (Adjusted) Cooldown: 60 seconds Active: Deathwing gains a Shield equal to 25% of his missing Health for 5 seconds.
While this Shield is active, Deathwing heals 5% of his maximum Health per second.
When this Shield is destroyed or expires, Deathwing regains Armor Plates appropriate for his new Health.
Using Dragonflight removes this Shield and its effects.
LEVEL 20
Stood in the Fire
Slow increased from 40% to 50%.
Arrival of a God (Reworked)
Deathwing's landing damage is increased by 300% and reduces the damage and healing of Heroes by 75% for 4 seconds.
Destroyer's Rampage (Reworked)
After landing in Destroyer form, Deathwing's damage is increased by 50%, and he gains 5 more Energy per second.
This effect lasts 6 seconds, is refreshed by damaging Heroes, and is removed upon switching forms or dying.
World Breaker's Madness (New)
After landing in World Breaker form, Deathwing's next Lava Burst and Earth Shatter have 100% increased range and radius.
This effect is removed upon switching forms or dying. Passive: Takedowns cause Dragonflight to recharge 200% faster for 10 seconds.
I normally take a lot of issue with Deathwing rework suggestions, but somehow you have hit the nail on the head with at least 75% of your suggestions. I just wanna go over some of these ideas real quick.
The baseline changes seem a touch haphazard, but I do like the increased emphasis on energy management with shorter cooldowns. I do think that maybe the stun duration buff might be a bit much, but otherwise I like these changes, letting deathwing SOMETIMES rampage, but not ALL THE TIMES rampage, it comes down to his energy.
60 second Cataclysms seem a bit much. I know he needs his engage, but I think that's too much. I'd consider maybe 80 seconds?
Meteor Drop baseline makes... enough sense? But I do think the 'make channeling objectives really unfair' aspect to its design needs to be accounted for, as I don't know if the cooldown increase is quite enough.
I rather like the level 1 talents, and that's saying something because I really like the original level 1s.
Dragon Soul was always my least favourite talent, but the improvements to its relationship with the magma pool would make me actually want to use it. It feels more nuanced now, and lets Deathwing actually get his way back into the fight by poking until he's healthy again.
I love the original Molten Blood, and never thought I'd hear a rework I'd like more... but this is it. I love this idea, as well as the entire 'low armor' archetype you've built. There would absolutely be Deathwing players who try to shed their armor, heal back up, then make use of every relevant talent to try and become a damage juggernaut.
I see what you've done with the rework to the Protect talent. The protect talent always seemed like a way to help Deathwing counter Tychus and the rest, but with Worldbreaker already doing that job some, I think it's fair to try and bring the true power of Melee Deathwing in a lot sooner, fulfilling that fantasy.
I don't much care for Infernus, as I've never liked talents that emphasize being 'the guy whose job is to wait for their allies to do something'.
Bellowing Roar affecting other things is just very flavorful for Deathwing.
I like bringing Conflagration in a bit earlier at the cost of damage, makes the payoff for landing critical fire breaths more than just an endgame thing.
Moving the protected to 13 is also pretty interesting, especially since you're now pairing it with all those other synergizing talents, all without being TOO synergistic, since the cooldown reductions would work with pretty much anything.
World Breaker's Madness is a hella cool alternative to Destroyer's Rampage, I love it. Mostly.
I would actually change the reward for Takedowns to "causes Dragonflight's cooldown to recharge 200% faster for 10 seconds". This stops it from having too much redundancy when paired with Firestorm, but the main thing is that Deathwing can actually fly away more consistently now. Enemies have to keep him constantly pressured to stop him from escaping, now that hitting Deathwing effectively only puts flight on a 1 second cooldown.
I do not know if you will see this, but thank you for making this comment.
I updated some (most) things up, and I agree with your change to Cataclysm and WMB.
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Heroes of the Storm Build Guides
Dragon Soul (Reworked)
Fire and Fury (Moved from Level 13)(Reworked)
Firestorm (Reworked)
Death Drop (Reworked)
Bellowing Roar
Ruination (Reworked)
Elementium Plating (Adjusted)
I updated some (most) things up, and I agree with your change to Cataclysm and WMB.