Murky
Written By Nicklas 'Scorp' Hansen
1 Hero Introduction
Murky is a unique and tiny Murloc with a just as tiny health pool, making him a niche, but extremely fun and valuable hero pick. Murky is a strong hero in lane due to no ability costs, low cooldowns, fast health regeneration, a 5 second death timer, and granting only 25% experience upon death. He also features a self-invulnerability bubble, which is a great tool to stay alive when getting targeted by enemies, partially making up for his low health pool.
Murky’s trait gives him the ability to place an Egg, that automatically respawns him at that location when he is killed. This mechanic is what makes Murky so unique: dying is far less catastrophal than for other heroes, which gives him the ability to gain his team a great advantage in fights simply by trading lives with an enemy hero.
When team fighting, Murky can utilize his ultimate ability Octo-Grab to trap enemies inside his heavy area-of-effect burst damage for three whole seconds, securing kills on almost any lone and squishy target.
Murky’s trait gives him the ability to place an Egg, that automatically respawns him at that location when he is killed. This mechanic is what makes Murky so unique: dying is far less catastrophal than for other heroes, which gives him the ability to gain his team a great advantage in fights simply by trading lives with an enemy hero.
When team fighting, Murky can utilize his ultimate ability Octo-Grab to trap enemies inside his heavy area-of-effect burst damage for three whole seconds, securing kills on almost any lone and squishy target.
2 Talents
Murky’s talent builds can be broken down to two categories: you will either focus on maximizing burst damage in order to easily delete a target enemy, or you will prioritize survivability and sustain over damage. Both builds are effective at what they do, but largely depend on the situation. When playing against heroes like Zeratul, Thrall and Li-Ming, Murky is very easily taken out, and survivability from the Bubble build may be preferred.
On the other hand, heavy burst damage from the damage build is great against squishy targets with no real means of defense against you, and is thus the go-to build of Murky. However, watch out for heroes with fast attacks - they can very easily kill your Pufferfish to deny the damage on their stunned ally. In the case of facing one or more of such heroes, you will have to consider if the damage build actually will be able to do its damage.
You should always pick the Octo-Grab ultimate - it is simply too great to pass on, and is super valuable with either build. March of the Murlocs offers a good ability to siege enemy structures, but the great wave clear and lane sustain from Murky’s basic abilities already do a great job on this, and the cooldown is very long.
Whether you get the level 20 upgrade of Octo-Grab or not depends on your needs. The upgrade helps burst down your target, but that damage is easily nullified if the target is supported by their team. Rewind, however, allows you to put down two Pufferfish for additional zoning, and/or two bubbles for survivability.
3 Playstyle
When playing as Murky in the early game, use your Pufferfish to clear minion waves quickly. Enemy heroes may try to kill your Pufferfish before it explodes, so do your best at zoning and/or harassing them. If you are getting targeted by heavy damage or crowd-control, don’t hesitate to use your Safety Bubble to escape - it has no cost, after all.
Dying as Murky may seem like it does not matter, but it does. You should always try to stay alive like when playing any other hero - especially in the early game, when a small lead in experience means a lot. Utilize your lesser death to quickly burst down a target with no real consequences, or sacrifice your own life for an ally.
Throughout the game, you should try to split push as much as possible. Murky can solo mercenary camps very easily in the mid- and late game, which needs to be capitalized on. When you feel a fight is emerging or an objective spawns, you should help your team. At early objectives, it sometimes is better to push than join your team, but that may do more harm than good when done in an unorganized team, if playing Hero League give your teammates advanced warning. At objectives, you can use your Pufferfish as a mean of zoning, or use it in conjunction with Octo-Grab to burst down an enemy.
Dying as Murky may seem like it does not matter, but it does. You should always try to stay alive like when playing any other hero - especially in the early game, when a small lead in experience means a lot. Utilize your lesser death to quickly burst down a target with no real consequences, or sacrifice your own life for an ally.
Throughout the game, you should try to split push as much as possible. Murky can solo mercenary camps very easily in the mid- and late game, which needs to be capitalized on. When you feel a fight is emerging or an objective spawns, you should help your team. At early objectives, it sometimes is better to push than join your team, but that may do more harm than good when done in an unorganized team, if playing Hero League give your teammates advanced warning. At objectives, you can use your Pufferfish as a mean of zoning, or use it in conjunction with Octo-Grab to burst down an enemy.
4 Tips and tricks
Past level 10, Murky excels in 1v1 fights against squishy targets. Try to catch enemies out of position to deal heavy damage and possibly get a kill. Even if you happen to have Pufferfish on cooldown, Octo-Grabbing an enemy can sometimes secure a kill if you have an allied damage dealer nearby.
Watch out when playing Murky on maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen or Blackheart's Bay. You are likely to die a few times and lose any carried Coins or Gems, so it is prefered to have your allies carry them instead. If you play Murky on Gardens of Terror or Dragon Shire, always take control of the Garden Terror or Dragon Knight, respectively.
When placing your Egg, make sure to place it in a (somewhat) safe spot. In the early game, this is usually at one of your Forts. More aggressive egg placements can let you get back into action more quickly, but expose you to greater risk. If your Egg gets killed or spotted, back out of any offensive position you may be in (unless you’re absolutely sure nothing can kill you). This also includes trying to defend your Egg or being anywhere near it. Risking a full death timer is simply never worth it.
Watch out when playing Murky on maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen or Blackheart's Bay. You are likely to die a few times and lose any carried Coins or Gems, so it is prefered to have your allies carry them instead. If you play Murky on Gardens of Terror or Dragon Shire, always take control of the Garden Terror or Dragon Knight, respectively.
When placing your Egg, make sure to place it in a (somewhat) safe spot. In the early game, this is usually at one of your Forts. More aggressive egg placements can let you get back into action more quickly, but expose you to greater risk. If your Egg gets killed or spotted, back out of any offensive position you may be in (unless you’re absolutely sure nothing can kill you). This also includes trying to defend your Egg or being anywhere near it. Risking a full death timer is simply never worth it.