I am the Life-Binder! by Prinz

I am the Life-Binder!

By: Prinz
Last Updated: Mar 31, 2018
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Alexstrasza

Build: Life-Binder all out!

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Level 20

Threats to Alexstrasza with this build

Threat
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Threat Hero Notes
1
   No Threat
2
   No Threat
3
   No Threat
4
 Stitches As a general rule of the thumb. Not only Alexstrasza but any hero should be cautious of Stitches' Hook. Which can result in your death.
4
 Sonya Sonya does a lot of damage. Not directly a threat to Alexstraza, however if she catch up to you and start to Ancient Spear at you. Alexstrazsa will most likely die, so avoid 1 on 1 situation with her.
4
 Diablo As a general rule of the thumb. Not only Alexstrasza but any hero should be cautious of Diablo loves to charge around randomly, which cause displacement and brief stun. Diablo loves to use Overpower when in your reach, which cause displacement and a stun, which can result in your death.
4
 Artanis As a general rule of the thumb. Not only Alexstrasza but any hero should be cautious of Artanis' Phase Prism, which cause displacement and may isolate, keep an eye on his position.
5
 E.T.C. ETC is not a big threat in general. However when facing him, it would be wise to keep your Dragonqueen's ability for his ultimate in case he try to catch your teammate while gathering under Abundance.
5
 Dehaka Like any Support hero, do not let Dehakha sneak up on you out of a bush. Double caution if he picks Isolation as Ultimate.
5
 Malfurion Simply due to the Roots. Abundance may make an ideal target for it.
6
 Greymane Greymane is not directly a big threat. But don't try to harass him in 1 on 1 situations, be cautious of how you spend your Gift of Life around this hero. The less health you have the more he becomes a threat.
6
 Thrall Thrall is not directly a big threat. But do avoid leaving him near of you, be cautious of how you spend your Gift of Life around this hero. Be cautious of his Feral Spirit (Stun) ability.
6
 Kerrigan Kerrigan is not directly a big threat. But do avoid leaving her near of you, be cautious of how you spend your Gift of Life around this hero. Be wary of her Impaling Blades (Stun AoE) in general. And more likely, her Primal Grasp (Displacement) and Impaling Blades (Stun AoE) combo.
7
 Lunara Lunara excel at being the impredictable aggressor. Be cautious of her positioning, and pay attention to your positioning when facing her. Her poison can be a pain if you do not fill your Tier 1 quest. Avoid in 1 on 1 situations.
7
 Garrosh As a general rule of the thumb. Not only Alexstrasza but any hero should be cautious of Garrosh's Wrecking Ball, which cause displacement and may isolate you. However if her goes with Warlord's Challenge for ultimate, it may be your death as it may prevent silence you and force into battle long enough to be weeded out.
7
 Anub'arak Anu'barak's ability kit is scary. Impale may stun / silence you. Burrow Charge may stun / silence you as well. And his ultimate of choice is general Cocoon, which may put you out of the fight. In any team fight situation, you wish to keep Anu'barak away from you or trying to not get trapped into his Cocoon, positioning is key.
7
 Varian Varian's is quite a front liner. But also able to charge through your teammates. His Taunt silence and also forces you in combat long enough to cause you be weeded out of the combat.
8
 Chromie Chromie can be annoying to deal with. Her sniping position may often be a big aiming target whenever you land Abundance.
8
 Kael'thas Not quite as trouble some, still can be a threat. If he out level your team, the living bomb me cause problems to your general AoE healing, this is where the Overprotective talents shine however making the impact generally minimum. Keal's has a nice tool ability kit to be dangerous to team fight in general. Positioning is key, and he may be tempted to target at your abundance as well.
8
 Samuro As a general rule of the thumb, stealth heroes are always a worry to support heroes. Samuro is generally more easy to handle then the other ones however. Avoid in 1 on 1 situations.
8
 Kel'Thuzad Kel'Thuzad damage spike is insane. Which can be a pain to Abundance healing type to make himself a victim.
8
 Jaina Jaina is all about AoE damage. She may make Alexstraza's life pretty miserable in team fights. Especially those Ring of Frosts, giving the edge to her team. I wanted to place Jaina in the Red, but she is very squishy and will not be a huge deal in 1 on 1 situation as much as the others. Her impact will highly depends on how your teammates handles her.
9
 Nova In her current form, nova is very good at pressing on, while most people assume stealth heroes to be "Not good." Be wary of Nova, both her ultimate may be a nuisance to your positioning and Abundance ability.
9
 Illidan Illidan is just overall annoying to healers in general. However I find that Alexstrasza perform well against that aggressor. In team fight, make yourself a favor, and try to keep him under flame buffet effect. If you can Dragonqueen's prior his ult as you it coming, this will make things a lot easier for you.
9
 Tracer Tracer excels at poking people in general. Especially supports in general. Avoid 1 on 1 situations with her.
9
 Genji Genji excels at poking people in general. Especially supports in general. Avoid 1 on 1 situations with him.
10
 The Butcher Butcher is probably Alexstrasza biggest nemesis. He has a nice tool kit to make your life miserable in most build, play your juke cautiously, never take a chance in 1 on 1 situations against that hero, Alexstrasza best survival against this one your ultimate, Cleansing Flame.
10
 Valeera Overall Valeera is often underestimated. But a good Valeera will go out on your in team fight, and probably vanish away or Smoke bomb before your team takes a hard turn on her to take care of her. In 1 on 1 situation, she may combo you to death faster then anyone else. She may go Garrote Opener as well, causing you to be silenced, this hero can decimate Alexstrasza quickly.
10
 Zeratul Zeratul can decimate Alexstrasza rather quickly. His Void prison may be a big threat as well considering the focus of Abundance, allowing his team to perform skill chains or to withdraw. Avoid in 1 on 1 situations.

Alexstrasza

Build: All out! With Bullies in...

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Alexstrasza

Build: All out! With Nemesis in...

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Alexstrasza

Build: All out! On the wrong map...

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Table of Contents! Top

Introduction: About Alexstrasza: Talents by tier: Final:

About Prinz! Top

Hey Heroes, I am Prinz!

I would like to share my personal guide on Alexstrazsa. Through multiple games and through a world of constantly evolving heroes. I would like to share with you my acquired knowledge for this Hero, and explaining my choice of talents build to make this guide worth it's time.

Alexstrasza has become hands down one of my favorite hero to play as, and my favorite support. As a general of the thumb I try to master a few heroes of each class since I do enjoy ranked and sadly cards do not always to turn to play what you wish to play. Learning their pros and cons, what to be cautious of and what may be tickled, harassed or avoided.

As a World of Warcraft player, it pleases me that Alexstrasza came to Horoes of the Storm with a rich ability kit, and that "Thicc" lovely shape. Regardless, whenever it comes to having free time, I can't help it but to jump into the Storm with my friends and offering the best possible performances. Mastering Alexstrasza was a relation of love and hate, since there is foes and victims of all kinds into the storm! And love has won, healing numbers are there and so are victories.

Love for the Dragon Queen!

Alexstrasza's Abilities! Top

The ability kit of Alexstrasza is rich and extended. Unlike most support hero, it can affect a lot on how you will play her out and how your opponents will attempt to deal with Alexstrasza(you). While the options are there, keyword is "support". As a support hero a lot of your actions will require your teammates to comply and acknowledging your abilities. Ultimately I believe what is offered here, makes of Mama Dragon, the best support in game.
Main Abilities

Ultimate Abilities

Dragonqueen's Abilities

Talent's Abilities

  • [Q] Gift of Life, changes to Breath of Life upon the activation of Dragonqueen. Instant healing at the coast 15% of Alexstrasza's health. Make judicious use of this spell.

  • [W] Abundance, changes to Preservation upon the activation of Dragonqueen. A party AoE, powerful and supported by great talents. When well played and built, become end's game changer. Using Abundance before the use of Dragonqueen will reset the cooldown as it changes to Preservation.

  • [E] Flame Buffet, changes to Wing Buffet upon the activation of Dragonqueen. A frontal missile with a medium range. Double tapping enemies is where this ability becomes useful. Doing good use of this ability during team fight while being on cooldown may prove to give a edge.

  • [D] Dragonqueen, Alexstrazsa's will take the time to transform shape shift into her true form. Amplifying her health, armor, damage. Her [Q] should be used as often becoming needed. Her [W] becomes much more wider, making it's use more easily and noticeable by her teammates. The [E] becomes AoE in a frontal arc, and will apply slow alongside knock backing enemies affect by it. In this form, Alexstrazsa becomes viable for fighting while keeping up support, and most likely brings in a considerable edge. Make judicious use of this long cooldown.

  • [R] is Alexstrasza's ultimate pick. The two choices are Cleansing Flame & Life-Binder. Cleansing Flame is the big jack of all trade that requires you to be clever with may support, damage, and literally makes Alexstrazsa untouchable. Life-Binder is good as long Alexstrasza sits on a high percentage of health, generally the less desired choice, more beginer's friendly.

  • [1] Pacify and Life Unbound. Upon reaching level 13 (Tier 5). One of your choice will become one. If you pick Dragon Scales you will not have a [1] button. Both Pacify and Life Unbound are judicious choices but that does not make Dragon Scales entirely bad. Refer to tier 5 table for in depths analyze.

  • [2] Blessing of the Red will end up being Alexstrazsa's [1] is neither Pacify and Life Unbound were not picks at level 13. For a level 20 ability that cannot be self cast, for a tier 7 talent, Blessing of the Red offer a mediocre boost of 500 HP. Which is most likely not enough bring in any impact by that point of the game. tier 7 table for in depths analyze.

Playing Alexstrazsa! Top

When playing Alexstrazsa, or Mama dragon like I love to call her. The player becomes the backbone of their team. Initially, you play the traditional support, staying back, paying attention to your positioning, and observing the enemies. The player should remain behind at any case, keeping their back to a save exit. Keen eye is key, keeping eye on every one, and yourself. If you do not see everyone, beware of the bushes and more of the silences or interrupt. As they can ruin your use of Dragonqueen and Cleansing Flame!

Alexstrasza love to roll with her teammates in general. The player should go where action is and supporting a contested lanes. With this build especially, you rather wish not missing on healing globe since they definitely will end up paying up. Globes & Circle of Life are the perfect marriage.

Laning as Alexstrasza is fine, as long you're not facing a high threat hero. The Flame Buffet is ideal at minion clearing, and also harassing. Do not overly push however, keep in mind that Alexstrazsa is still weak by her own. Still, it is preffered to roll with a teammate around or most of them since they will anyway need your support. Using Dragonqueen for a lane push is generally a waste, do not do that, unless you have a team push mixed with a team brawl, which is the only time Alexstrasza should not be afraid to go out and walk in the brawl.

Alexstrasza playstyle is suitable for natural leader player type. Her abilities being easy to play, and her macros not as intensive as Lt. Morales. And the fact she has a wide and varied kit. Should leave time to the player to ping and trying to rally teammates. Assisting in camps and being present where the action is at is key with this build.

Mastering Cleansing Flame may be tough, but once the player does, it is gold. Especially with teammates who will collaborate and acknowledge this ability, and the sheer contesting potential it can brings in if supported by On Ruby Wings!

Last, this build is generally good. However does perform poorly due to the lack of globes on the following maps:
Haunted Mines
Blackheart's Bay
Tomb of the Spider Queen

Tier 1! Top

Alright, game's up. Countdown is on going, pick a talent!

Choices:
Live and Let Live
Circle of Life
Flames of Fury

Guide's pick:
Circle of Life


Circle of Life, affecting Alexstrasza's [W], proves to just be a great quest. Collecting globes may sound like a trouble. But 15 globes gives an additional 5% to her Abundance and Preservation which becomes in use during Dragonqueen. My personal rule of the thumb in solo support hero, do what you can to outperform healing of your opponent. This proves to be exactly the case here, any amount of healing is the road to to greater healing output. At 25 globes, the health support becomes greater but so doe the mana support as it creates a globe of regenaration, supporting even more, and reducing the impact of "DoT's" types of attacks, such as Lunara's Noxious Blossom for example.

Flames of Fury, affecting Alexstrasza's [E], is not a bad talent choice per say. In synchronizes well with Dragonqueen as well. I personally find that the Flame Buffet spamming was fine as it was on default. But for someone wishing to be more aggressive, the option is interesting. In maps were Alexstrasza happens to not having much of a chance at Circle of Life, this is probably the best option, since her dagonqueen can come into play more often.

Live and Let Live affecting Alexstrasza's [Q], is probably the weakest from experiences. Since Gift of Life coast 15% Alexstrazsa's health, I find that spending life faster puts Alexstrasza too much at risk. It can be awesome for clutch heals, especially while under the effect Dragonqueen. Tier 7 Lifeblossom may helps with the sacrificed health, however this often ends up placing Alexstrasza's very own positioning at risk, which is a big con to me. The best situation for Live and Let Live is in low melee compositions, but again, Flames of Fury may be a more interesting choice in such situation.

Tier 2! Top

Level 4! Choose a talent!

Choices:
Surge of Vitality
Heat Exhaustion
Exuberance

Guide's pick:
Surge of Vitality


Surge of Vitality affecting Alexstrasza's [W], is too good in my opinion to not take in any situation. Giving AoE speed boost can buy your teammates and Alexstrasza's the time to escape and cutting the chasing. While being also enough to allow your teammates to do a clean chase down of you enemies. Speed is often a edge of survival or victory, even if for a very short duration.

Heat Exhaustion affecting Alexstrasza's [E], does not bring much based of the experience. The default 40% of Flame Buffet is more then enough in nearly every situations.

Exuberance passive, is a poor choice. It may help to perform a clutch a heal, but a single Gift of Life and the effect is gone. It does not make up for the AoE speed boost of Surge of Vitality.

Tier 3! Top

Level 7! Choose a talent!

Choices:
Lifeblossom
Verdant Flourish
Fire Within

Guide's pick:
Verdant Flourish

Verdant Flourish affecting Alexstrasza's [W], is by far the best option in this build. As self healing from Abundance is increased, and so is Preservation which makes Dragonqueen's momentum at brawling better. As this build also includes Circle of Life. The boost to the globe's regeneration becomes much more viable as it covers your self healing downside.

Lifeblossom affecting Alexstrasza's [Q], may be useful as it allows Alexstrasza to recover health spent with Gift of Life reduce to 0. It works well particulary well with Live and Let Live from tier 1. The downside to this choice, it forces Alexstrasza to reposition to make use of this effect. Which sometimes need to be forgotten since positioning is key. It may be a viable choice.

Fire Within affecting Alexstrasza's [E] If you feel like you struggle to survive, or are learning Alexstrazsa, this option will shine out. It can be chained as well to keep you up while kitting with ease due to it's slow effect. It may be a viable choice.

Tier 4! Top

Level 10! Time to become ultimate!

Choices:
Life-Binder
Cleansing Flame

Guide's pick:
Cleansing Flame

Life-Binder or Cleansing Flame will become the [R]

Cleansing Flame is a short delayed casting animation that may be interrupted by silences and stuns, causing it to be delayed for use again. It is also the hardest one to master but also the most powerful one. Using Cleansing Flame brings both support at healing, raining damage on the enemies while in the comfort of the skies. Upon landing, the location will be chosen by the player. Another thing, this can also be used for efficient travel like Falstad's Flight and Lt. Morales's Medivac Dropship. Upgrading this ultimate with Tier 7 On Ruby Wings can extend the power of this ultimate upon landing.


Life-Binder is not entirely bad, but does not make up for power play Cleansing Flame is. It does not make your allies death proof like Kharazim's Divine Palm would. It is a much more weaker version of Rehgar 's Ancestral Healing as well. The pro however, is it can be use on a high health ally to give Alexstrasza high health in return, so self healing is optional to this ability. This will use the higher current health percentage between Alexstrasza an ally after 2 seconds. Precast need to be planned, this ability is easier to use compared Cleansing Flame.

Tier 5! Top

Alright we played with with the ultimate, level 13, choose a talent!

Choices:
Dragon Scales
Pacify
Life Unbound


Guide's pick:
Life Unbound

Life Unbound becomes [1] if picked. An extra heal ability is hard to not take when you fully invested into healing. This makes the general cut, as not it only support but toss in some damage. Ideally use it on a melee ally, but to not keep this cooldown only for melee, use it as it is available, healing is key of this build and support role. While preferred to this guide, this doesn't discredit Pacify as an option.

Pacify becomes [1] if picked. In games with The Butcher Thrall Tracer Genji Kerrigan Greymane Illidan it most likely will be favored. Unless you happen to have a in game advantage and aim for a victory. By level 13 you should know what is best, if there is any combination or pair of those heroes in your opponent team, be safe and go with it.

Dragon Scales passive, is the weakest option by experience in any situation. It can be an interesting option when facing opponents like Muradin, Diablo, E.T.C., D.Va, Xul. If they're not accompanied by the big bullies.

Tier 6! Top

Level 16, game should start to get hot!

Choices:
Tough Love
Overprotective
Draconic Discipline


Guide's pick:
Overprotective

Overprotective affecting Alexstrasza's [W], is in general a wise option since shield is always good to be put at use. I find this to be the strongest option in general when invested in full healing support mode. Combined with Circle of Life which should be done or nearly done by now. This will ensure a lot of healing coming in. Also making opponents heroes such as Chromie, Jaina, Kael'thas, Kel'Thuzad, Nova's Precision Strike, The Butcher's Furnace Blast less of an annoyance to deal with.

Draconic Discipline affecting Alexstrasza's [D], cane be quite useful as extending the use of Dragonqueen can be quite efficient. Due to the nature of the long cooldown of Dragonqueen, I still favor Overprotective. However in the context where Tier 1 choice was Flames of Fury, this is worth picking up over Overprotective.

Tough Love affecting Alexstrasza's [Q], is the weakest option by experience. It may seems interesting but giving a shield to many allies with Overprotective is simply better then +20 armor given by Tough Love. If Garrosh is in your team, this ability becomes a considerable option as it combine with his Armor Up and extending the armor's duration.

Tier 7! Top

Legendary! Level 20 pick!

Choices:
Ritual of Life
On Ruby Wings
Ancient Flame
Blessing of the Red


Guide's pick:
On Ruby Wings

On Ruby Wings affecting Alexstrasza's [R] if Cleansing Flame picked at level 10. On this guide, it should have been the case. Upon landing this will grant Alexstrasza Dragonqueen extending her support, push, battles, team brawls. Once a player becomes very good at the art of mastering Cleansing Flame this also can make of Alexstrasza a major contesting player on objectives and good communication with the player's team.

Ancient Flame affecting Alexstrasza's [D], is the second best option. Adding automatic slow effect with her arcing auto attacks while under the effect of Dragonqueen greatly increase the team fight / brawl potential.

Ritual of Life affecting Alexstrasza's [R] if Life-Binder picked at level 10. This will actually make Life-Binder more viable, making the effect happening three times instead of once, spread to nearby low health allies.

Blessing of the Red becomes [1] if picked, or [2] if either Pacify or Life Unbound was chosen on tier 5. It is the weakest option, at level 20 and up, 500 extra health given to a single target and not able to be self cast. Is a pretty low number and bring little compared the other abilities.

Conclusion! Top

As for the final word,

Upon playing Mama dragon, the journey will be rough as she may be hard to master. Her basic play style is rather straight forward but her full kit can be overwhelming to master. I believe Alexstrasza is a love and hate relation and not meant for everyone.

Cleansing Flame is quite a challenge to get the hang of, it may take some games and sometimes watching how other's does it. The most frustrating part is how your allies often reacts to it, moving out or not acknowledging you're support them.

I would recommend playing Alexstrasza with friends to ease up her learning curve and to be able to put to use her beautiful kit.

Once I've started to become decent with mama dragon, this is where confidence builds up and doing the best of her output will begin to shine, so do not give up hero, and give a chance to Alexstrasza to prove you her worth!

Thank you hero, hope this guide will bring you a blast being a supportive Mama dragon!

TL:DR Recap! Top

Quick recap:

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