🧬 Who is Murky?
Murky is the most unique and polarizing hero in Heroes of the Storm. This baby murloc from the Warcraft universe breaks every conventional rule of the game with his revolutionary respawn mechanic. Instead of being a traditional hero, Murky operates as a persistent threat who can die repeatedly without major consequences, thanks to his Egg respawn system. He’s designed to be annoying, disruptive, and surprisingly effective at controlling the battlefield through sheer persistence and map presence.
Main Roles:
🌊 Specialist | 🔄 Pusher | 😈 Nuisance
🛠️ Abilities (Quick Look)
- Spawn Egg (Trait – D): Places a respawn egg; death only gives 0.25 XP to enemies
- Slime (Q): Slows and damages enemies, stacks for bonus damage
- Pufferfish (W): Deploys explosive fish that zones enemies
- Safety Bubble (E): Temporary invulnerability and cleanse
- March of the Murlocs (R1): Summons murloc army that pushes lanes
- Octo-Grab (R2): Stuns single target for 3 seconds
🎮 Gameplay Guide
Murky is all about psychological warfare and map control. You’re not trying to get traditional kills or play like a normal hero. Instead, you’re creating chaos, soaking XP, pushing lanes, and being where the enemy doesn’t want you to be. Your low death timer and minimal XP reward mean you can take risks that would be suicidal for other heroes.
✅ Early Game
- Place your egg in safe but accessible locations near lanes you want to control
- Focus on soaking XP and clearing minion waves efficiently
- Use Pufferfish to zone enemies away from objectives or farm camps
- Don’t be afraid to trade your life for valuable objectives or to waste enemy time
✅ Teamfights
- Stay on the periphery and look for opportunities to disrupt with Slime
- Use Safety Bubble to avoid burst damage and cleanse debuffs
- Target priority threats with Octo-Grab or use March for area control
- Remember you’re expendable – sometimes dying to distract enemies is worth it
✅ Objective Control
- Use your respawn advantage to constantly pressure objectives
- Place eggs strategically near contested areas
- Pufferfish provides excellent zone control for channeled objectives
- Your persistent presence forces enemies to always account for you
🛡️ Builds & Gameplay Focus
⚔️ Split Push Nightmare
Level 1: Bribe
Level 4: Living the
Dream
Level 7: Slime Time
Level 10: March of the
Murlocs
Level 13: Rejuvenating Bubble
Level 16:
Wrath of Cod
Level 20: Never-Ending Murlocs
Focus: Lane control, mercenary camps, endless pressure
The Lowdown: This build transforms Murky into an unstoppable split-pushing machine that can single-handedly control multiple lanes while constantly threatening the enemy team’s infrastructure. The core philosophy revolves around maximizing your unique respawn advantage to maintain persistent map pressure that forces enemies into impossible decisions. Bribe allows you to quickly capture mercenary camps, turning them into additional pushing power that compounds your natural lane presence. Living the Dream provides scaling damage that makes you increasingly dangerous as the game progresses, while Slime Time ensures your poke damage becomes genuinely threatening rather than just annoying. March of the Murlocs serves as both a teamfight tool and a devastating split-push amplifier, creating waves of murlocs that can overwhelm structures when combined with your own pushing power. The beauty of this build lies in its relentless nature – even when enemies come to stop you, your minimal death penalty means they’re often trading more resources than they’re gaining, while your egg placement ensures you’re back in action almost immediately.
The Core Loop & Synergy:
- Bribe enables rapid mercenary camp control, creating multiple pressure points across the map
- Living the Dream scales your damage output, making you increasingly threatening in extended fights
- Slime Time turns your basic ability into a powerful waveclear and poke tool
- March of the Murlocs amplifies your pushing power and provides teamfight utility
- Rejuvenating Bubble ensures sustainability during extended split-push sequences
- Wrath of Cod makes your Pufferfish a genuine threat to structures and grouped enemies
- Never-Ending Murlocs transforms March into a game-ending ability for final pushes
Key Tactics & Pro Tips:
- Rotate your egg placement to support your current split-push target
- Use Bribe on camps that will push opposite lanes from where you’re pressuring
- Time March of the Murlocs with your team’s major engagements for maximum distraction
- Always have an escape route planned when deep split-pushing
In short: You’re the unstoppable tide that slowly drowns the enemy team in endless pressure. They can kill you, but they can’t stop you.
⚔️ Teamfight Disruptor
Level 1: Fish Eye
Level 4:
Tufferfish
Level 7: Bubble Breeze
Level 10:
Octo-Grab
Level 13: Slimy Pufferfish
Level 16:
Rejuvenating Bubble
Level 20: Big Tuna Kahuna
Focus: Crowd control, sustain, backline disruption
The Lowdown: This build reimagines Murky as a teamfight specialist who uses his unique survivability to create chaos in enemy formations while providing surprisingly effective crowd control and damage. Rather than avoiding fights, you become the annoying gnat that buzzes around the enemy team, making their lives miserable with constant slows, well-timed stuns, and area denial. Fish Eye provides the vision control that helps your team make better tactical decisions, while Tufferfish makes your Pufferfish a genuine threat that enemies must respect rather than ignore. Bubble Breeze transforms your escape tool into a mobility option that keeps you in the fight longer and provides repositioning opportunities. Octo-Grab becomes your primary teamfight contribution, allowing you to remove key threats from fights for crucial seconds while your team capitalizes on the advantage. The synergy between Slimy Pufferfish and your slime application creates devastating area control, while the enhanced sustain from Rejuvenating Bubble means you can stay in fights much longer than enemies expect. This build succeeds because it leverages Murky’s fundamental advantage – his ability to take risks and make aggressive plays that would be impossible for heroes with normal death timers.
The Core Loop & Synergy:
- Fish Eye provides team utility through enhanced vision and scouting capability
- Tufferfish makes Pufferfish a genuine threat that demands enemy attention and positioning respect
- Bubble Breeze transforms Safety Bubble into a repositioning and engagement tool
- Octo-Grab provides hard crowd control for picking off priority targets
- Slimy Pufferfish creates devastating area denial when combined with slime application
- Rejuvenating Bubble ensures you can sustain through extended teamfight sequences
- Big Tuna Kahuna makes Octo-Grab a team-wiping ultimate in late-game scenarios
Key Tactics & Pro Tips:
- Use Fish Eye to provide vision for your team’s rotations and objective control
- Save Octo-Grab for high-value targets or to peel for your backline
- Position aggressively in teamfights – your low death penalty makes it worthwhile
- Combine Slime with Pufferfish for maximum area control and damage output
In short: You’re the chaotic wildcard that turns every teamfight into a madhouse. Your enemies never know where you’ll pop up next, and that uncertainty is your greatest weapon.
📊 Final Thoughts
Murky represents Heroes of the Storm at its most creative and unconventional. He’s not just a character – he’s a completely different way of thinking about the game. Success with Murky requires patience, creativity, and a willingness to embrace chaos over conventional strategies. He punishes enemies who don’t respect his unique mechanics while rewarding players who fully commit to his unorthodox playstyle.
The tide rises for no one, and neither do you stop. Ever. 🐟⚡