To refrain from imitation is the best revenge. -Marcus Aurelius
Let the revenge begin
Murky has always been something of a controversial hero, but the Lucio patch brings some significant buffs to Murky, making him a force to contend with.
Pros have been expressing concern over Murky’s power. Regardless of if you love him or hate him, Murky is sure to be making a splash for the next couple weeks.
Talent overview
When looking at a hero, it’s best to start with a solid build until you get comfortable with the hero’s abilities. Special thanks to B-Steps McIntyre for his in-depth look at Murky’s new talents and Gameplay footage.
How to choose Murky talents.
Once you've mastered the basic builds, advanced Murky players should take advantage of his flexible new re-work. At each talent tier, each talent is viable for a multitude of different reasons.
These critical questions can help you decide what enhancement might best drive your team to victory:
Early Game Decisions
Level 1
Fish Eye - 100% Bonus egg Health, egg Sight Radius bonus increased to 200%, your egg Reveals Stealthed enemies, and it increases Murky's mounted movement speed to 45% for 5 seconds after spawning.
Critical questions: Do we need vision and does the enemy team have stealth? Are we concerned with heavy rotations? Great for two-lane maps and critical vision situations.
"I think the fake eggs are a really clever talent. To me, fake eggs is one of the best designed talents Blizzard has made in a long time…it’s a tool you have to get value out of." -Dunktrain
Egg Hunt - Along with your normal egg, Egg Hunt allows you to place up to three fake eggs on a 6-second cooldown that cast an untalented Slime when they die. Upon spawning from your Egg, Murky is Stealthed for 5 seconds.
Critical Questions: Am I playing against a lot of melee heroes? Will my team benefit from more distractions on the battlefield? Can I drag the enemy team away from their objective?. Can I disrupt Egg hunt would be roamers with extra vision and waste their time?
A Fishy Deal - Killing an enemy Minion with Pufferfish grants 1 stack of Bribe, with 5 Bribe stacks able to capture a single Mercenary, and Murky able to hold a maximum of 20 stacks.
Note: You have to LAST HIT minions with the Puffer for this to work. In order to get maximum stacks per wave during the early game you must Slime first, then Slime again, and then Puffer. Alternatively, you can Slime, then attack each backline minion three times, and then Puffer.
Critical Questions: Will I be left alone in-lane during objectives? Would stealing enemy camps help our team over body presence? Can I time my early Merc caps with crucial team fight objectives?
“If you manage to somehow get it perfect, you could potentially get a bruiser camp on cursed hollow when the first tribute spawns.” –Yuujers
Level 4
Slime Time - Quest: Slime enemy Heroes that are already Slimed and after Sliming 15 heroes increase Slime's bonus damage by 125. After Sliming 30 Slimed Heroes, increase Slime's slow amount to 35%
Critical Questions: Does my team need poke damage? Does the enemy have more ranged targets I can harass?
Tufferfish - Now causes Pufferfish to deal 35% more damage to Slimed targets, and it gains 50 Spell Armor
Critical Questions: Am I using Pufferfish to zone out heroes? Are their mages on the enemy team that can easily destroy Pufferfish?
Living the Dream - Grants 5% Ability Power every 15 seconds. Max 15% bonus Ability Power.
Critical Questions: Am I up against tanky heroes? Am I building to hit harder and stay alive longer? Does my team need more damage?
Level 7
Black Lagoon (Q) - Increase Slime’s radius by 30%
Note: Great for Control point situations where you can punish enemy heroes for sticking around.
Critical Questions: Am I mainly playing a slime and run strategy? Have I picked other Slime talents?
Slippery When Wet (E) - Bubble Breeze gains the Increased Movement Speed bonus from 20% to 35% and now allows Murky to pass through enemies while Safety Bubble is active
Note: Good for hit and run tactics where you might not be able to survive or where the enemy team wants to chase you hard. A vital talent in the tanky initiating Murky strategy.
Critical Questions: Am I split-pushing where I can be caught out? Am I trying to survive as long as possible in a team fight?
Time to Krill - Basic Attacks against Heroes deal an additional 8 damage per second and slow the target’s movement speed by 10% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack up to 5 times.
Critical Questions: Do I need to isolate or zone a single target in a team fight? Do I need to enable my other damage dealing allies with increased slows?
Level 10
March of the Murlocs (R) -After .75 seconds, Murky commands a legion of Murlocs to march in a target direction, each one leaping onto the first enemy Hero or Structure they find. Each Murloc deals 274 damage and slows its target by 15% for 5 seconds. Murlocs deal 50% damage to structures. Cooldown 80 seconds.
Note: The 30% movement speed buff to the tiny murlocs has made this heroic much deadly and team fight friendly.
Critical Questions: Is my goal in a team fight to disrupt and enable more potent damage dealers? Can I expect big team fights to happen often?
Octo-Grab (R) - Summon an octopus to stun target enemy Hero for 3.063 seconds while you hit them for 1 damage a second.
Note: No changes to this ability. Highly vulnerable to getting canceled by enemy focusing you down.
Critical Questions: Am I traveling in a Gank-squad? Is the enemy team split up where I cannot be focused down? Does the enemy team have cleanse? Am I fighting on a skirmish heavy battleground?
Late Game
Level 13
Rejuvenating Bubble - Safety Bubble rejuvenates 50% of Murky's maximum health.
Critical Questions: Do I need more survival to successfully harass the back line? Do I need to take camps solo? Do I plan on taking Big Tuna Kahuna at level 20?
Fish Tank (Passive) - Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes grant Murky 75 Basic Attack Armor for 2 seconds.
Critical Questions: Do I notice the enemy attacking me often? Do I have enough melee targets to reliably get off auto attacks throughout an entire team fight?
Egg Shell - Respawning from an Egg grants Murky a Shield equal to 100% of his maximum Health. This Shield lasts indefinitely
Critical Questions: Do I need survival against Burst damage? Am I getting killed immediately before I make an impact in a team fight?
Level 16
Toxic Buildup - Every time you hit an enemy Hero 3 times a Slime will cast from their position.
Critical Questions: Did choose previous slime talents? Are we fighting on a control point map where AOE damage is valuable? Am I up against melee Heroes?
Fish Oil - Pufferfish casts slime where it lands.
Note: Pufferfish can now be thrown to cast an AOE slow, allowing for you and your team to chase and follow up .
Critical Questions: Are we fighting against more ranged heroes? Do I need to chase?
Wrath of Cod - Pufferfish deals bonus damage to Heroes equal to 10% of their maximum Health over 5 seconds.
Critical Questions: Does the enemy team have high health heroes like Diablo and Stitches? Will our team be fighting under chaos where my pufferfish won't be easily targeted down?
Level 20
Never-Ending Murlocs -March of the Murlocs can now be channeled indefinitely.
Critical Questions: Am I a meme lord? Will the last team fight of the game take place in one central location that won't change?
…and a Shark Too - Increases the damage of Octo-Grab by 13,700%.
Critical Questions: Do I need to pick off one hero or provide cc and followup damage?
Big Tuna Kahuna - Murky's maximum Health and Egg respawn times are doubled.
Critical Questions: Does the enemy team already have a hard time killing me? Have I turned into the teams tank?
Making Inky (Q) - Continuous Slime (Q) Cooldown reduction increased from 1 to 2 seconds
Critical Question: Have I been successful in my backline disruption? Do I have solo kill potential? Has my team been relying on my slows and chase potential? Have I chosen previous Slime talents?
The Builds
Slime Focused
1 - - (Choice)
4 - Slime Time
7 - Black Lagoon
10 - (Choice)
13 - (Choice)
16 - Toxic Buildup
20 - Making Inky
Tanky Murky
4 - Living the Dream or Slime Time
7 - Time to Krill
13 - Fish Tank
16 - Toxic Buildup
20 - Big Tuna Kahuna
“If murky goes live the way he is right now, is he a competitively viable tank? Because, once you get level 13 and you get Fish Tank it gives you 75 physical armor when you auto attack. So you basically, don’t take damage from heroes’ right-clicks; it’s extremely powerful.” -Dunktrain
Thief Split/Push Murky
1 - A Fishy Deal
4 - Tufferfish
7 - (Choice)
10 - (Any Choice)
13 - (Choice)
16 - Fish Oil or Wrath of Cod
20 - (Choice)
A slimy new meta?
Almost every Pro player has expressed some opinion about Murky. The question now is how much of an impact will Murky have and how long will it last?
“It’s a big rework though and I think the general consensus it that he’s insane.” -Solid Jake
