Morphling

Morphling is a ranged agility hero that has many flexible abilities and item builds and is leveled as a very strong hard carry. He relies strongly on his attributes, and is an effective ganker. Unlike other agility carries who rely on physical attacks, he relies on his powerful abilities to initiate and shift into a state from which he can make a kill. Waveform lets him surge directly forward to a location, damaging enemies on his path, working both as a nuke or an escape. Adaptive Strike is an interesting scaling ability that blasts enemies with magical water while also stunning, knocking back, and dealing damage. Its power is based on either Agility or Strength. Morph allows him to edit his physical being, switching it from Agility or Strength, transforming him into a strong damage dealer or a tank. His ultimate, Replicate, creates a copy of either an ally or an enemy. At will, he can take on the place of that Replicate and instantly surprise enemies.

Tips

 * As Morph gives +3 to both Agility and Strength with one level, it's a very strong ability to get at level 1.
 * As Adaptive Strike scales with attributes, it shouldn't be leveled until after Waveform is maxed and should be the last ability maxed out.
 * Boots of Travel is a commonly built item on Morphling. By using Replicate, then teleporting back to base, you can then instantly return to where you were with Morph Replicate. This strategy can also be used with Town Portal Scrolls.
 * Ethereal Blade is the most common and recommended item for burst damage on Morphling. By Morphing points into agility, he can cause massive damage with Ether Blast, and then use the amplified magic damage to finish an enemy off with Waveform and Adaptive Strike. This is sometimes referred to as the "Shotgun combo". However, do not build ethereal blade if Morphling lacks farm, as this item is most effective midgame, building it too late would not be useful.
 * Sometimes deciding which hero to choose for Replicate can be difficult, however potential candidates for this spell include: a hero with high DPS, those with favorable passives (such as Axe's Counter Helix), squishy support heroes that can be used for bait, or even an enemy hero who has a Radiance or some other aura, which allows you to take advantage of receiving its effects for free.
 * It can be difficult to determine whether a Morphling illusion is real because it does not take any bonus damage unlike every other illusion in the game. You can use this to try and fool opponents into blowing long cooldowns.
 * Morphling's early game damage is relatively high with Waveform and decent right click through Morph Agility Gain. Consider laning with an aggressive support to grab some early game kills so you can accelerate your farm and reach your late game faster.
 * Morphling functions better as a carry in teams with a strong front line. This allows him to remain in the fight with a high amount of agility and hence right click or Adaptive Strike damage, without feeling the pressure of being focused. Although he is good at soaking damage through Morph Strength and items such as Linken's Sphere and Eye of Skadi, he is much more useful as your team's primary source of consistent damage.
 * Morphling is one of the most effective split pushers in the game once he has built a Manta Style. Maximize your Agility and create hard-hitting illusions to help you push towers while you Replicate to safety
 * If you've opted for the 'Shotgun build', Manta Style will remove the Ethereal effect off yourself so you can continue right clicking other targets afterwards. This is also extremely useful against heroes with magical burst damage who will exploit the extra damage you will take in Ethereal form
 * If you're low on life and being chased/targeted, use Morph Strength Gain to increase your health and health regeneration to increase the difficulty of killing you. Note the moderate mana cost with this ability on.

Trivia

 * In DotA, Morphling was the only hero without a hero name.
 * One of Morphling's responses while attacking (" mrph_attack_08.mp3 Wave of mutilation!") is a direct reference to a Pixies song of the same name.