Heroes of the Storm: Brightwing Walkthrough [Guide]

Not all dragons are huge and scary. Brightwing from World of Warcraft is one such dragon as he is cute and cuddly, and so much unlike the usual notion of the mythical beasts. Don’t let appearances fool you, though, as Brightwing can deal tremendous damage – albeit not directly, but in the form of support abilities that will make her allies be more formidable than they already are. Here’s our guide on how to make the most of Brightwing and how she could be played to your full favor.

Introduction
Brightwing hails from the Warcraft universe, where she belonged to the race known as the Faerie Dragons of Ashenvale. Nothing is really known about the race or about Brightwing in particular, except for the fact that they are mischievous and playful in nature. Faerie Dragons are known to help their allies in nature while serving as a headache for their foes. Thus, it is recommended that you stay on Brightwing’s good side as anything to the contrary would certainly spell doom for you and your team.

Items
Brightwing does not have any weapons to speak of, but she does have the ability to fly which greatly improves her movement speed. She does have the ability to call upon arcane abilities which she can use to varying effects, among them healing her allies, damaging her foes, or slowing enemies down. She also has the ability to teleport, further increasing her movement speed as well as allowing her to quickly support allies with her other abilities.

Build Guide
Brightwing has the ability to slightly heal all those around her. This trait is called Soothing Mist and is triggered every four seconds. As for starting abilities, Brightwing has four, namely Arcane Flare, Polymorph, Pixie Dust, and Phase Shift, and most of these abilities can be enhanced while more can also be put to use as players level up and by choosing the appropriate talents.

Arcane Flare (50 mana cost, 8 seconds cooldown) allows Brightwing to throw a circle of energy which deals damage to a range of enemies, with those within the inner circle receiving more damage than those outside. Polymorph (60 mana cost, 15 seconds cooldown) deals slight damage to an area of enemies. However, those caught within the spell will be turned into small creatures which cannot attack or use abilities for 2 seconds. Pixie Dust (75 mana cost, 12 second cooldown) affects both allies and enemies as it speeds up a target’s movement speed by 25% as well as reduces 2 basic attacks from enemy heroes b 50%. This effect lasts for 4 seconds. Lastly, Phase Shift (30 seconds cooldown) is an alternate to other heroes’ mounting capability. This allows Brightwing to instantly teleport near an ally hero’s location.

For heroic abilities, players controlling Brightwing can choose between either Emerald Wind or Blink Heal. Emerald Wind (90 mana cost, 60 seconds cooldown) will create an expanding nova of wind which would deal damage to enemies as well as knock them back, while Blink Heal (80 mana cost, 90 seconds cooldown) will have Brightwing teleporting near allies, healing them for a small amount immediately and also healing them over time. Brightwing can hold two charges of this ability.

There’s really no build for Brightwing to become a huge damage dealer or a tank type warrior. Her low damage and health has made sure of that. However, with the right build and in the hands of a skilled player, you can turn Brightwing into an amazing support character depending on whether your team is more of an attacker or defender. This first build will make your team a better offensive unit for as long as Brightwing is in the middle of the action.

Path of the Wizard or Bribe – Path of the Wizard allows you to gain more mana and at a faster rate which in turn allows abilities to be called more often while Bribe allows Brightwing to instantly defeat mercenary camps by collecting stacks which are in turn earned by killing minions

Promote – provides Brightwing with 2 charges which allows her to strengthens and increases the health of a target minion

Gust of Healing or Regenerative Rains – Gust of Healing releases Soothing Mist every second for four seconds while Regenerative Rains allows Brightwing to release Soothing Mist each time she uses an ability

Emerald Wind – deals damage to a wide area of enemies and pushes them away

Sticky Flare or Ice Block – Sticky Flare adds a three second slowing effect when using Arcane Flare while Ice Block makes Brightwing invulnerable for three seconds

Critterize or Rewind – Critterize makes targets that have been Polymorphed absorb 25% more damage while Rewind lessens the cooldown time for basic abilities by 10 seconds

Continuous Shields – extends the ability of Emerald Wind by releasing two more novas that deal 25% the damage of the original vortex

This next build is designed if you would like to prolong the lives of your allies rather than give your team more opportunities to attack or deal damage. This is recommended if you are not that confident with your team’s survivability especially as you are controlling a low damage dealing character and if you feel that the enemy has more firepower than your unit.

Path of the Wizard or Shield Dust – Shield Dust increases the number of basic attack blocks by 1 if Pixie Dust is used

Protective Shield – shields a target ally, blocking damage for 5 seconds

Gust of Healing or Regenerative Rains – same reasons as above

Blink Heal – provides Brightwing with teleporting abilities that will also heal allies, can be used two times

Phase Shield or Sticky Flare – Phase Shield provides the target of Phase Shift with a shield for 3 seconds

Sticky Powder or Critterize – Sticky Powder slows down Polymorphed enemies by 50 percent

Storm Shield or Ysera’s Blessing – Storm Shield gives nearby allies with shields for 3 seconds while Ysera’s Blessing gives Brightwing an additional charge when using Blink Heal

The above build gives you a better chance to survive in attacks as it maximizes Brightwing’s healing ability and also provides protection in the form of shields. Skins

Strategy
Brightwing is a ranged hero, and since she is a support character, she should be located far away from enemies, but not far enough to not to be help out her allies in their time of need. Both of the builds mentioned above may be used depending on whether you or your team are offensive or defensive minded, but do make sure that you are able to use at least Brightwing’s Soothing Mist trait to heal up your teammates.

Players should also take advantage of Brightwing’s high movement speed and teleporting ability. This will allow Brightwing to move away from danger quickly, as well as to be able to quickly go to allies in need of healing, protection, or just general support.

Pros and Cons
Brightwing is a very powerful support character as she has a ton of healing and support abilities. She also has good crowding abilities such as the Emerald Wind heroic ability and with an enhanced Arcane Flare. Her Polymorph ability is also an amazing skill especially if there are ally heroes that are able to take advantage of the transformed enemies’ period of uselessness.

This character, however, is useless in a one on one fight. With little health and little damage, Brightwing will be decimated quickly with just a few attacks and spells from more powerful enemies. Also, Brightwing will be rendered essentially useless should she run out of mana or if she is silenced or otherwise made unable to use her abilities. Thus, players should protect Brightwing almost as much as she protects other members of her team.

Tips and Tricks
Being near your team is very important in order to be able to take advantage of your Soothing Mist ability. Make sure to choose Gust of Healing or Regenerative Rains whenever they become available. Also try and get talents that are able to provide you and your allies with shields in order to withstand even the most powerful of attacks.

There will also be times where in you would need to risk getting battered especially when using Arcane Flare or Polymorph. Out of the two, however, maximize the use of Polymorph especially if you have the necessary enhancements used. Have opponents target polymorphed targets above all else or, if you are dangerously low on health, use this ability to slow them down so that you can run away from danger.

Lastly, use Brightwing’s Phase Shift ability wisely as this can save you not only from danger, but can also aid those in danger of dying. Remember to keep an eye out for allies that are in danger and use Phase Shift to give them assistance. Otherwise, make sure to stick with at least one member of your team, although being with all teammates will be much more advantageous since the more your passive trait can affect, the better it would be for your team since everyone can last longer even in tougher battles.