Murdock Power/Crit/Attack speed

The build in this guide is something a have been using and have found to be quite effective. You by no means have to follow it to the letter but it is how i play murdock.

Summary (TLDR)

This build allows murdock to be somewhat more aggresive early game(though don't get cocky). Although he shines more in the late game, you can still harass an opponent fairly well.

Abilities Overview

This is your main waveclear early to mid game. Use it to get the last hits on minons and damage others. (Early game the damage from this ability is low so make sure you do it at the right time to get the last hits).

This ability can also be quite effective againts enemy heroes.

Static trap slows your enemies that walk in it for 2 seconds and deals a litte bit of damage.

This ability is not that valuable to murdock in terms of damage. it does however provide some utility in warding of the lane. If placed well, enemy heroes will have to get caught in the trap which will alert you that you are being ganked. When they do, its best to retreat as fast as possible, this could make the difference in whether or not you survive the gank.

Move Along pushes enemies that are in range away and deals damage to them.

This ability is the ability that makes heroes like feng mao and khaimera cry. When an enemy hero jumps on you, you can just push them away and start auto attacking them. Most melee heroes don't have a way of getting to you after they used their jump to initiate. This allows you to shoot at them without them being able to hit you.

There are some heroes that still have ways of getting to you however(will be covered in a lower section).

Also this ability can cancel ultimates(if you are fast enough) like gideon's ulti.

Devastating Blast is simple. You aim, You shoot, they die. This ability ignores energy armor and deals a buttload of damage.

Anyone who dreams of being snipeking sweglord 9000 is going to love this ability. Its a global ability meaning you can hit someone from anywhere on the map.

a good tactic for this ability is to hide behind a wall while firing. The enemy might not be expecting you ult then and will be too late to dodge.

Abilities upgrade priority

Basicly always level Buckshot when you can(except when you don't have static trap yet). Move Along is your second priority, followed by Static Trap. Ofcourse you should always level your ult whenever you can.

Abilities Combos

Mutrdock doesn't really have that amazing combo's since he is mostly an auto attack hero. Use your abilities as mentioned in the abilities overview section.

Early Game

Early Murdock is not that strong. Focus on farming and harassing the enemy when you have finished the minion wave. Don't get to greedy or to aggressive when you don't know the position of the other enemy heroes.

Always keep an eye on the whereabouts of the enemy before engaging.

Mid Game

This is when you start to get towers. Usually you want to split push. This means that your team will be keeping the enemy busy while you push towers. This gives you the benefit of getting alot of farm going but gives you the risk of getting ganked.

As mentioned before always keep an eye on the whereabouts of the enemy heroes.

While you are split pushing you sometimes might see a good snipe target in a other lane. Go for it.
But please don't be the guy who ults to get a kill, only use it when your team can't get the kill anymore or to scare of engaging enemies.

Late Game

This becomes an extension of mid game in the sense that you now shred towers easily. This is where you find enemy heroes that are alone and destroy them. Also participate in team fights more as you have asserted your dominance.

Card Build

I usually start with micro nuke to get the early damage boost. This downside of this is that you don't have any sustain which could cause you to have to back early. If you don't like the early aggressiveness of the micro nuke i'd suggest getting the standard health and mana potions first. getting a harvester's key at that point depends on having a support or not.

If you can guarantee to get blue buff at the start of the game, micro nuke is definitly the better option.

The second item is more a personal flavor. if you prefer to get attack speed to crit chance get Whirling Wand before the crit items.

Brand of the ironeater is basicly just for boxing enemy heroes. this performs extremely well against heroes that counter you(see section below)

Laning

Farm. Nothing more to it.

FAQ

Frequent questions that may appear while playing this build and your answers

1. Q: Hold on, this build doesn't fill all cards?!
   A: Yes this is because at the late game the extra feature you get from the item are insignificant. You already do enough damage and so getting some penetration or extra attackspeed is nice to have but no longer necessary at that point. You can always downgrade other upgrade cards if you feel like it is required.

Counters

Hero's that counter Murdock:

- Sevarog: Sevarog can root you in place and dash towards you. meaning you can't escape him if he uses his abilities right. This is where brand of the iron eater comes in. When sevarog has you stuck in place and basic attacking you, you can survive with the lifesteal you get from this card.

- Grux: Same case as sevarog, he can dash towards you but instead of rooting you, he can pull you towards him. Brand of the iron eater also comes in handy here.

-Riktor: If he manages to pull you you could be in a dangerous spot. Either be quick enough to push him away with Move Along or wait until after he ulted(if he ults). However if he manages to pull off the ult and he is not alone, you are most likely dead.

- Iggy & Scorch: Early game this guy can deal alot of damage to you if he manages to stay in range to damage you with his turrets and such. Late game this guy can't do anything to you.

Hero's murdock counters:

- Greystone, khaimera, Rampage, Feng Mao

These hero's only have one way of getting to you. this means that when they do dash towards you, simply push them away with Move Along.

Usefull tips

- Don't get cocky, just because you have alot of damage doens't mean you can 1 v 3 people. When swarmed you will still get killed if you stay.

- Push a tower and leave immediatly. Don't get greedy and try to get a few waves. LEAVE. 9 out of 10 times you will get ganked. Usually you'll get ganked even before you finish the tower so place a Static Trap at the most likely gank point and keep an eye on the mini map. Retreat a little when the enemy team suddenly dissapears from the map.

- If you can get an inhibitor but have to die for it, Do it. Losing an inhibitor means it doesn't come back (Honestly i don't know who came up with that idea but it's retarded). In other words, if a team loses an inhibitors they need at least one hero to be constantly defending that lane causing constant 4v5 fights. Its a downward spiral with no way back from that point.