CyAnO_Xchrono's Go With The Flow: A Morphling Guide

I can see the effort that went into this guide, but as somebody who has played quite a bit of Morphling himself there are actually, a lot of flaws in my opinion:

Skill Build:
I absolutly do not see why you would not take Morph Strength/Agility earlier:
There is literally no scenario I can think of where you do not want that and waveform maxed out by level 10. Adaptive Strike scales, at the start its damage is pathetic, and even at level 4 it still does very little if Morphling does not have a lot of levels/items. All it is good for at this point is canceling Channeling Stuff.
And get Morph Strength/Agility, have it maxed by level 9. It makes morphing faster, cheaper manawise, it helps a lot in escaping and it is what makes the hero so good. At level 1, it gives you almost nothing since if you run away you will run out of mana pretty much instantly.

Onto the item build:
-I prefer Circlet of Slippers of Agility. It is slightly more expensive, but it gives +2 strength and +2 Agility (ignoring Int for now), while the Slippers give +3 Agility. Since you can simply morph 2 extra strength into Agility, the Circlet essentially gives you +4 Agility and +2 Int, making it the better item.

-I think you are right when you say that Ethereal Blade seems like it is made for Morphling. And if I pick Morphling, I pick him because I want to get the Eblade and be able to shotgun people. Instantly taking a support out of the fight and making it 4 vs 5, or very easy pickoffs is what makes Morphling so amazing as a carry. I don't agree with passing up this opportunity and making the Eblade "Post-Core Luxury". It is ok to get a defensive item like the Linken's before for the Spell Block and the Mana Regen (you said it is desperately needed for the Mana Regen, if you level up Morph earlier and don't spam (early on) useless Adaptive Strikes maybe you find yourself with a lot more Mana not so desperately needing the Linkens). Sometimes it can and should be skipped though for a straight Ethereal Blade so that Morphling comes online earlier. Of course it is risky, but it can be worth it.

-I have no idea why the Magic Wand and the Ring of Aquila show up under "Late Game".

-There is no need for an early HoD. If you get low health while farming, make a Replicate, TP to base, heal up, jump back to the Replicate. Much better than getting a HoD that does not give you any stats which you so desperately need.

-As said, you want a quick Ethereal Blade, probably after Linkens, only after that get a Manta. And get the Manta mainly if you want to splitpush. Then Skadi, Satanic and Butterfly are all fine, special mention to Skadi though since after you have it you can around fully morphed into Agility and still have enough health. And yes the Lifesteal stacks with the Skadi.

-Then I do not see a BKB anywhere in there, sometimes the Linkens doesn't cut it and you need one, just like on any other carry.

-Skadi is nowhere to be found in the suggested items, although it is easily one of the best items on Morphling.

-Last but not least, consider an early Hand of Midas as well, Morphling needs farm and levels and since he is not exactly a flash farmer a Hand of Midas can significantly improve his farm if the game allows it.

These are not just my opinions, I like watching pro games and what I said here applies to almost every Morphling player in the pro scene. They get a quick Ethereal Blade, they don't get an early HotD etc. They also play Morphling mid, if you do that consider a Bottle as well.

Then to your Foes section:
Doom counters everything, true, but Morphling is actually pretty good against him. He needs to leve Death to break the Linkens, just toggle Strength Morph on when that happens and the Doom will not stop the Morph Strength, so it negates the damage and you can just run aways.

Squishy Supports like Lion and Lina can be shotgunned immdiately if you care not to take their nukes while in Ethereal Form. Same goes for Bane.

Morphling is actually one of the best heroes against Void since he can Morph Strength in the Chrono, so Void can never solo kill him until he is very farmed. Since Void usually goes Glass Cannon you can shotgun him at any point in the game if he does not get lucky backtracks.

Morphling is also insanely good against Lifestealer. Fully morphed into agility you have an insane amount of armour, so he does very little, if you Morph strength while fighting him you will never have an amazing amount of HP making Feast very ineffective for him, plus if he Open Wounds you can just waveform as well.

Most other heroes on the list are also not really counters, just heroes that can be ennoying, but are ennoying to most heroes in the game. You make it sound like "Shadow Blade" is a counter to Morphling, but it is not.

If you play smart and always have a replicate up when going into dangerous areas it is almost impossible to kill you, no matter which enemy hero.

There lots of things said. I mean no offense to you personally, I just disagree with the stat and item builds. A general tip, put actual Late Game Items in "The Late Game" section and shorten your list of Foes to those are actually really good against Morphling and not just to those who can potentially be ennoying.

Brother even though I already have a Morphling guide I will try to not stick to my builds
But why skill stats when your morph ability already gives you stats and significantly upgrades your survivability with less manacost ?
and also I can understand it is acceptable to have 1 level early adaptive strike for stopping tps but maxing it sounds a bit clowny.
About the shotgun,the earlier you participate in game with morphling the better you ll probably do and you enlrage the game of carrying.
Which is why make the shotgun part of your core.
Also something else FYI .Lifesteal without damage is pointless,and I dont see anywhere a bkb.

Very nice guide. I'm far from a morphling pro... played him sometimes and sucked. I think I'll give him a few more trys with your guidelines.

+1

@Peppo_oPaccio Hey thanks mate, for the comment! I feel that your insight is all accurate and skillfully well thought out. I might intend on adding more to this guide, such as newer different builds and also changing some parts. I might also consider adding cooler synergies. But thanks again for the insight!

-CyAnO_Xchrono

+1 Rep!

This guide makes me think you play Morphling well but don't use all his hidden potential. While the item build is pretty standard, the skill build is a bit odd: maxing out Waveform first is fine, but leaving only one point in Morph Agility Gain until level 13 wastes one of the most reliable escape mechanisms ever! Since you'll be afk farming for about 15-20 minutes, having a skill that gives you a bunch of stats (so, better early last-hitting capabilities) and the ability to gain 1000HP in a matter of seconds is way more useful than a ministun that deals some damage. Talking about Replicate, I usually get it at level 10-11 unless I'm having troubles in lane (so I can replicate-jump to the lane right after TPing to base), but it's personal preference I guess.

While I like the item build, I see many players going for an Ethereal Blade right after Linken's Sphere: by the time you get both the items you'll be level 15 or more, so levelling Adaptive Strike last shouldn't be a problem (since you should just use it for the ministun or to last-hit enemies unless you have the EB); I still like Manta Style a lot though, very useful if you're behind in farm or you need to remove some silences or DoT. Also, the Eye of Skadi is a pretty good extension as you don't list any orbs that conflict with it (lifesteal doesn't) and you can morph all your agility while still having 1500+HP.

I dislike the guide, no offense to you personally. The effort is apparent, but the finished product has a lot of holes in it, and a lot of excess that you could trim.

I just brushed through this, and here's what I found. Take it with a grain of salt. I don't hate you, just trying to help:

1. Your "allies" list is not very helpful, in that it's just general information. EVERY hero has useful contributions to a team, and allies. The point is to pick out heros that specifically synergize with Morphling.

On the same note, your "enemies" list is flawed in the same way. You have listed basically anyone that is annoying, not the people that specifically counter Morphling.

P.s. The squishies you listed, for the most part, have many escapes or disables, and would be difficult to kill given that you don't have any skadi/slows.

2. The order is awkward. If you're trying to make a full guide, there should be a coherent flow to the guide. You should definitely put your skill description and build before your item build. People want to know WHY you're choosing the items you are, and how they work with the skills described. If they don't know what skills the character has, the item information is lost on them.

3. A bit too much color, but maybe that's just my preference. You're giving the "rainbow" effect, which makes the guide seem overdone. Bigger skill/item icons and proper section breaks would make this seem less like a tedious wall-of-text, and more like a guide that you can tackle in one sitting.

4. So many videos. They would be better placed at the end of the guide, as a final note. If you put the video smack dab in the middle, you're disrupting the reader's flow. Let the reader understand the hero, items and skills before showcasing the advanced techniques. That's why they belong at the end, i.e. "Here's what you can do once you have some experience under your belt!"

5. I'm sorry, no one will "like and comment" for effort without success. When they don't "like and comment" it's because something is missing. Rather than take it to heart, consider it a silent nudge in another direction. That's your hint to look forr what's wrong, and try to fix it. When it's good, it'll get reviewed and liked.

Can more people comment and like this guide so I can get more insight. If you happen to not like this guide, could you please explain why not, in the comments, Thank You!

And I hope that it's not because it's too lengthy, because it's supposed to be a full, complete guide.

ya, but that would be very expensive, but if u can afford it go for it! but i think that the other items are more viable imo

Lifesteal works with skadi slow if you are ranged.

You write well and kept me entertained with your wording. I recommend a section of what items not to get as well as other alternative ways to play him. We all know there are many successful ways to play a hero. I know I usually max waveform first as well, but I also max attribute bonus before maxing strike and play him more of a tank with heart, satanic, AC etc. And what if you are on a team of noobs and won't let you get solo mid or the last hits in the side lane. Can there be a cheaper, more supportive way to play morphling if you know one of your allies can be the ultimate carry?