15 Hero Wishlist for Heroes Of The Storm
By Matt Becker
Deathwing
Deathwing is one of the most well-known villains from World of Warcraft after his spotlight appearance as the end boss of the Cataclysm expansion. Also known as The Destroyer and The Aspect of Death, Deathwing is one of the five Dragon Aspects and leader of the black dragonflight. He wrecked absolute destruction to the world of Azeroth during The Sundering, permanently changing the landscape of the world with his attacks of fire and lava.
Deathwing as a potential hero has been discussed by the Heroes development team many times since the game’s release, such as at their 2014 PAX East panel. Their biggest concern seems to be with how to handle the size of such a massive dragon and scale him down to work as a hero but still make sense from a lore standpoint. They have already shown they can take characters who are historically large, such as Diablo and Azmodan, and shrink them down so that they make sense as a playable hero. But the sheer size and power of Deathwing is unparalleled.
I think Deathwing would make the most sense as either a warrior or melee assassin or some hybrid combination of the two. Typical dragon attacks involving fire breathing and tail swiping are obvious abilities. Making use of his ability to fly, either as a character trait or as a separate ability could provide interesting mobility mechanics. He could have an ultimate ability that causes destruction on the game map, either permanently or for a relatively long amount of time. Another possible ability is a scouting ability in which he flies out of sight of other heroes to gain map vision while summoning corrupted amalgamations in different lanes to fight for him.
I think that if they can figure out an elegant solution to how to balance his physical scale and his abilities, Deathwing would be an amazing hero to play with. A potential workaround could be to include a human form for Deathwing, and his ultimate ability allows the player to transform him into his dragon form. Some have suggested that a different dragon character like Wrathion might be better suited since his human form is more commonly seen in World of Warcraft. Others think that Deathwing is better suited as a boss for a special map instead of a playable hero. Regardless of what Blizzard ends up doing with Deathwing (if anything), I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of the Dragon Aspects make appearances into the Nexus.
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