by JR Cook - 7 years ago     show comments

It was announced at Blizzcon that Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder, would soon be entering the Nexus and she was available for play on the show floor.

While most players were crushing enemies beneath their dragon claws or forcing them to scatter under a barrage of arrows, I was busy jotting down notes about Alexstrasza’s kit while losing to the AI. Keep in mind that much of the information you are about to read is based on the build that was playable at Blizzcon and is subject to changes before Alexstrasza goes live.

Alexstrasza is a Support Hero who heals her allies by giving them her life. The more life she has, the more she is able to heal her team. While she begins the game in human form, she has a trait that allows her to transform into her dragon form throughout the game.

According to John DeShazer, Lead Battleground Designer, “she definitely has the capabilities to be a solo healer and she brings a lot of power to the game”. He also said that “she might be one of those characters that will help shake up the Meta a little bit in the fact that you don’t need another to have a double Support. When that big, important team fight happens you get to transform into that massive dragon and bring a lot of healing to that moment”.

Abilities

Gift of Life (Q): Sacrifice 15% of Alexstrasza’s current Health, healing an ally for 150% of that amount. Gift of Life has a 7-second cooldown.

Abundance (W): Plant a seed of healing that blooms after 3 seconds, healing nearby allied Heroes for 20% of their maximum Health. Abundance has a 16-second cooldown.

Flame Buffet (E): Launch a fireball, Burning enemies hit for damage over 5.5 seconds. Hitting enemies that are already Burning adds bonus damage upon impact, Slows them by 40% decaying over 2 seconds, and refunds the Mana cost. Flame Buffet has a 2-second cooldown.

Dragonqueen (D): After 1.25 seconds, transform into a dragon and gain 500 health. While Dragonqueen is active, Alexstrasza’s Abilities are empowered, and her Basic Attacks deal damage and heal allied Heroes in an arc in front of her. Additionally, the duration of incoming Stuns, Roots, Slows, and Blinds is reduced by 50%. Dragonqueen lasts for 15 seconds and has a 150-second cooldown. Like Ragnaros, Alexstrasza begins the game with her Trait on cooldown.

While her Trait, Dragonqueen, is active, Alextrasza has enhanced abilities, which are similar to her base abilities with the following buffs:

Breath of Life (Q): Cooldown greatly reduced and does not cost Health.

Preservation (W)

: Heal area and amount healed are greatly increased.

Wing Buffet (E): Damage and Knockback enemies in an arc.

Talents

Level 1

• Live and Let Live: While Alexstrasza is above 75% health, Gift of Life (Q) recharges 100% faster.
• Circle of Life: Quest: Collect Regeneration Globes. Reward: After collecting 15 Regeneration Globes, Abundance (W) heals for an additional 5% of the target’s maximum Health. Reward: After collecting 25 Regeneration Globes, Abundance (W) healing burst creates a Regeneration Globe.
• Flames of Fury: Quest: Hit 20 Burning enemy Heroes with Flame Buffet (E). Reward: Hitting an enemy Hero with Flame Buffet (E) reduces the cooldown of Dragonqueen (D) by 5 seconds.

Level 4

• Surge of Vitality: Abundance (W) also grants allied Heroes 30% Movement Speed for 3 seconds.
• Heat Exhaustion: Increase Flame Buffet’s (E) initial slow from 40% to 60%
• Exuberance: While Alexstrasza is above 75% Health, gain 15% Movement Speed.

Level 7

• Lifeblossom: While Alexstrasza is above 75% Health, Gift of Life (Q) creates a Lifeblossom at the target’s location. Alexstrasza can collect the Lifeblossom to make her next Gift of Life (Q) cost no Health.
• Verdant Flourish: Alexstrasza receives 30% more healing from Abundance (W) and 100% more healing from Regeneration Globes.
• Fire Within: Hitting Burning Heroes with Flame Buffet (E) heals Alexstrasza for 10% of her maximum Health.

Level 10

• Life-Binder (R1): Bind Alexstrasza’s life force with an allied Hero. After 2 seconds, the Hero with a lower percentage of Health is set to the same Health percentage as the other Hero. Life-Binder has a 75-second cooldown.
• Cleansing Flame (R2): After 1.25 seconds, take to the sky and drop 5 fireballs over 6 seconds at the position of the mouse cursor. Fireballs deal damage to enemies and heal allied Heroes. 2 seconds after dropping all fireballs, Alexstrasza lands at the position of the mouse cursor. Cleansing Flame has a 90-second cooldown.

Level 13

• Pacify: Activate to slow and reduce an enemy Hero’s damage by 50% for 3 seconds. Healing a Stunned, Silenced, or Rooted ally reduces Pacify’s cooldown by 30 seconds.
• Life Unbound: Activate to heal an allied Hero for 15% of their maximum Health and deal damage to nearby enemies. Healing a Stunned, Silenced, or Rooted ally reduces Life Unbound’s cooldown by 30 seconds.
• Dragon Scales: Gain 30 Armor while Stunned, Silenced, or Rooted and for two seconds after.

Level 16

• Tough Love: While Alexstrasza is above 75% Health, Gift of Life (W) grants it’s target 20 Armor for 2 seconds.
• Overprotective: Heroes healed by Gift of Life (W) gain a Shield for 3 seconds equal to 60% of the amount healed.
• Draconic Discipline: Increase Dragonqueen’s (D) duration by 9 seconds.

Level 20

• Ritual of Life: Life-Binder (R1) activates 3 times over 6 seconds.
• On Ruby Wings: Healing or damaging Heroes 8 or more times with Cleansing Flame (R2) activates Dragonqueen (D) for 15 seconds upon landing.
• Ancient Flame: While Dragonqueen (D) is active, Alexstrasza’s basic abilities apply Flame Buffet (E) but her Attack Speed is reduced by 25%.
• Blessing of the Red: Activate to grant an allied Hero 500 bonus maximum Health until they die. Cannot be used on Alexstrasza or Heroes who are already under the effects of Blessing of the Red.

If you would like to learn more about Alexstrasza, Hanzo, and all of the other news out of Blizzcon then check out the interview below where I talk with John DeShazer, Lead Battleground Designer, and Tony Tsu, Senior Producer.