Morphling

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Morphling 22 + 3 24 + 3.9 19 + 1.8
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 200 640 1480 2320 2660 +0.25 +2.45 +6.65 +10.85 +12.55 Mana 75 303 603 963 1095 +0 +0.95 +2.21 +3.71 +4.26 Armor -2 2 11.1 19.6 23.18 Damage Block - Magic Resistance 25% Status Resistance 0% Damage 9‒18 33‒42 87‒96 138‒147 160‒169 Attack Rate 0.67/s 0.83/s 1.19/s 1.53/s 1.67/s Attack Range 350 (800) Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.5s BAT) Attack Animation 0.5+0.5 Projectile Speed 1300 Movement Speed ▶️ 285 Turn Rate 0.7 Collision Size 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 • 800 Legs 0 Gib Type Ethereal Ability Upgrades Morph Adaptive Strike

Rides the waves to flank enemies.
After eons of travel in the darkness of space, the icy comet plunged to earth, and from there rose an elemental being of sentient liquid. Unbound by any permanent shape, the Morphling Alter Attributes to match his needs. Shifting between potent attacker, and resilient survivor, Morphling can be as elusive as he is deadly. Whether riding a Wave to flank an enemy, or boosting his health before escaping into his deceptive Replication. Confounding enemies before destroying them with their ally's abilities, and with his Adaptive Strikes of water that sting or stun depending on his composition, few can hope to corner him.
Roles:	Carry Escape Durable Nuker Disabler
Complexity:	★★★

Bio

Morphling

▶️ "You only miss the water when the well runs dry."

Lore:

For dark eons the comet circled. Held in thrall to a distant sun, bound by gravity’s inexorable pull, the massive ball of ice careened through the blackness between worlds, made strange by its dark journey. On the eve of the ancient war of the Vloy, it punched down through the sky and lit a glowing trail across the night, a sign both armies took for an omen. The frozen ball melted in a flash of boiling heat, as below two forces enjoined in battle across the border of a narrow river. Thus freed from its icy stasis, the Morphling was born into conflict, an elemental power at one with the tides of the ocean, capricious and unconstrained. He entered the fight, instinctively taking the form of the first general who dared set foot across the water, and then struck him dead. As the motley warriors clashed, he shifted from form to form throughout the battle, instantly absorbing the ways of these strange creatures--now a footsoldier, now an archer, now the cavalryman--until, by the time the last soldier fell, Morphling had played every part. The battle's end was his beginning.

Voice:

David Scully (Responses)

Abilities

Waveform

▶️QW

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies / Self

Damage
Magical
( Instant Attack)

Morphling dissolves into liquid and surges forward, damaging enemy units in his path. Morphling is invulnerable during Waveform.

Cast Animation: 0.25+0

Cast Range: 700/800/900/1000 ( 950/1050/1150/1250)

Max Travel Distance: 700/800/900/1000 ( 950/1050/1150/1250)

Damage Radius: 200

Damage: 75/150/225/300

 Number of Charges: 2

 Charge Replenish Time: 20/17/14/11

20/17/14/11 ( 0)

130

Spell Immunity Notes:

Instant attacks fully pierce spell immunity.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_morphling_waveform

Death

A torrential flood takes enemies by force.

Notes:

• Surges with a speed of 1250 and disjoints projectiles upon cast.

• Morphling is invulnerable, and his model cannot be directly selected with during Waveform.
  • However, Morphling can be still be selected through the hero icon.

• With the travel distance and radius, Waveform can hit units up to 900/1000/1100/1200 ( 1150/1250/1350/1450) distance away.

• Morphling can turn, attack, cast abilities, and use items during Waveform.

• Does not travel the full distance, when targeting closer than the max distance.

• The Waveform attack targets talent causes Morphling to perform instant attacks on every enemy hit by Waveform.
  • These instant attacks can proc any attack modifiers and on-hit effects normally. They do not have True Strike, but completely ignore disarms.

• Acquiring the Waveform charges talent instantly grants 1 extra charge.

Adaptive Strike (Agility)

▶️▶️WE

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Launches a surge of water toward an enemy unit, dealing base damage plus additional damage based on Morphling's agility times a multiplier. If Morphling's agility is 50% higher than strength, the maximum agility multiplier is used.

Also puts Adaptive Strike (Strength) on a 3 second cooldown.

Cast Animation: 0.25+0.67

Cast Range: 600/700/800/900

Number of Targets: 1 ( 2)

Base Damage: 40/50/60/70

Min Bonus Damage Agility Multiplier: 0.5

Max Bonus Damage Agility Multiplier: 1/1.5/2/2.5

Adaptive Strike (Strength) Downtime: 3

 Secondary Target Range Buffer: 300

10

50/60/70/80

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Causes Adaptive Strike to have +1 Multishot. Multishot prioritizes heroes.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon impact.

Ability Draft Notes:

Both Adaptive Strike abilities are separate, stand-alone abilities that can be drafted and leveled up independently.

Both Adaptive Strike (Agility) and Adaptive Strike (Strength) are linked abilities.

The Morphling calls upon his elements to crush his opponents with waves.

Notes:

• Casting this puts the other Adaptive Strike (Strength) on a fixed 3 second cooldown.
  • This cooldown can be reset with cooldown resetting abilities, but it is not affected by percentage-based cooldown reductions.

• The projectile travels at a speed of 1150.

• The damage multiplier values are not fixed. They adapt linearly in smooth intervals depending on the difference between Morphling's agility and strength.
  • The values change with each percent difference between agility and strength, even when it is just a minimal change.
  • The multiplier counts both base and bonus attributes.

• When the current agility is 50% higher than the strength, the damage multiplier is at its maximum at 1/1.5/2/2.5.

• When the current strength is 50% higher than the agility, the damage multiplier is at its minimum at 0.5.

• Checks Morphling's attributes upon projectile impact.

• With Aghanim's Shard, Adaptive Strike launches 1 additional projectile towards random visible valid targets within the range.
  • With the cast range and the range buffer, the ability has a search range of 900/1000/1100/1200.
  • Cannot target the primary target with the additional projectile, so when no other targets are nearby, nothing happens.
  • The secondary target is chosen randomly within the area, with heroes being prioritized. Treats creep-heroes as heroes.
  • Since the additional projectile uses the ability's cast range, cast range increasing effects increase its range as well.

Adaptive Strike (Strength)

▶️▶️ET

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Launches a surge of water toward an enemy unit, stunning and knocking back the target based on Morphling's strength. If his strength is 50% higher than his agility, the maximum stun/knockback is dealt.

Also puts Adaptive Strike (Agility) on a 3 second cooldown.

Cast Animation: 0.25+0.67

Cast Range: 600/700/800/900

Number of Targets: 1 ( 2)

Min Knockback Distance: 100

Max Knockback Distance: 500

Min Stun Duration: 0.5 ( 1.5)

Max Stun Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3 ( 2.5/3/3.5/4)

Adaptive Strike (Agility) Downtime: 3

 Secondary Target Range Buffer: 300

10

50/60/70/80

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Causes Adaptive Strike to have +1 Multishot and increases the stun duration by 1 second. Multishot prioritizes heroes.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon impact.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_morphling_adaptive_strike

Strong

Ability Draft Notes:

Both Adaptive Strike abilities are separate, stand-alone abilities that can be drafted and leveled up independently.

Both Adaptive Strike (Strength) and Adaptive Strike (Agility) are linked abilities.

The Morphling calls upon his elements to crush his opponents with waves.

Notes:

• Casting this puts the other Adaptive Strike (Agility) on a fixed 3 second cooldown.
  • This cooldown can be reset with cooldown resetting abilities, but it is not affected by percentage-based cooldown reductions.

• The projectile travels at a speed of 1150.

• The knockback and stun values are not fixed. They adapt linearly in smooth intervals depending on the difference between Morphling's strength and agility.
  • The values change with each percent difference between strength and agility, even when it is just a minimal change.
  • The knockback and stun values count both base and bonus attributes.

• When the current strength is 50% higher than the agility, the knockback distance and stun duration are at their maximum at 500 and 1.5/2/2.5/3 ( 2.5/3/3.5/4) seconds respectively.

• When the current agility is 50% higher than the strength, the knockback distance and stun duration are at their minimum at 100 and 0.5 ( 1.5) seconds respectively.

• Knocks the target back at a speed of 1000, resulting in a knockback duration of 0.1‒0.5 seconds.

• Checks Morphling's attributes upon projectile impact.

• With Aghanim's Shard, Adaptive Strike launches 1 additional projectile towards random visible valid targets within the range.
  • With the cast range and the range buffer, the ability has a search range of 900/1000/1100/1200.
  • Cannot target the primary target with the additional projectile, so when no other targets are nearby, nothing happens.
  • The secondary target is chosen randomly within the area, with heroes being prioritized. Treats creep-heroes as heroes.
  • Since the additional projectile uses the ability's cast range, cast range increasing effects increase its range as well.

Attribute Shift (Agility Gain)

▶️DD

Ability
Toggle

Affects
Self

Morphling shifts its form, pulling points from Strength and pouring them into Agility. The process is reversible. Additional points in Attribute Shift increase the rate of stat change. Passively grants bonus Agility.

Cast Animation: 0+0

Shift Interval: 0.333/0.166/0.083/0.0416

Mana Cost per Second: 10

Points per Shift: 1

Bonus Agility: 3/5/7/9

0

0

Illusion Notes:

Illusions spawn with Morphling's current attributes, not his original stats.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_morphling_morph

Undispellable

modifier_morphling_morph_agi

Death

Ability Draft Notes:

This ability is not available in Ability Draft.

Both Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) and Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) are linked abilities.

Shifting water makes it difficult to discern the nature of Morphling.

Notes:

• Attribute Shift does not interrupt Morphling's channeling abilities upon toggling.

• Costs 3.33/1.66/0.83/0.416 mana per shift interval, resulting in 10 mana per second.
  • The mana cost is fixed and it is not affected by mana loss manipulation.

• Converts 3/6.02/12.05/24.04 attribute points per second, resulting in the following changes per second:
  • Agility: Gains/loses 0.5/1/2.01/4.01 armor, 3/6.02/12.05/24.04 attack speed, and 3/6.02/12.05/24.04 main attack damage.
  • Strength: Gains/loses 60.06/120.48/240.96/480.77 maximum health, and 0.3/0.6/1.2/2.4 health regeneration.
  • The strength bonus/loss does not keep the current health percentage, but instead adds/removes 20 health per strength to/from the current health pool.
  • This health bonus does not bypass Ice Blast or False Promise, and it does not count as heal for the latter.
  • However, for other amplifications and reductions, only the part that exceeds the current health percentage is affected.

• Attribute Shift continues to convert attributes even if Morphling is disabled, but cannot be toggled while disabled.
  • This restriction is removed with the Attribute Shift while stunned talent, allowing Morphling to toggle Attribute Shift even while disabled.
    • With the talent, it can be toggled while stunned, cycloned, slept, taunted, hidden, or during forced movement, but not while silenced, hexed or prevented from acting.
    • Morphling becomes unable to ⇧ Shift-queue this ability upon acquiring the talent.

• Toggling one Attribute Shift ability On automatically toggles the other Off.
  • If Attribute Shift cannot convert anymore due to lack of attribute points or mana, it stays toggled, but the process is paused until it can continue.

• Can only convert Morphling's base agility and strength. Bonus attributes cannot be converted.
  • The passively added strength and agility are not added to the base attributes, and can therefore not be converted either.

• Shifted attributes are permanent and not reverted on death.

• The passive agility bonus effectively grants Morphling 0.5/0.83/1.17/1.5 armor, and 3/5/7/9 attack speed and attack damage.

The custom HUD element for Attribute Shift, showing the current agility-strength ratio.

Attribute Shift (Strength Gain)

▶️FF

Ability
Toggle

Affects
Self

Morphling shifts its form, pulling points from Agility and pouring them into Strength. The process is reversible. Additional points in Attribute Shift increase the rate of stat change. Passively grants bonus Strength.

Cast Animation: 0+0

Shift Interval: 0.333/0.166/0.083/0.0416

Mana Cost per Second: 10

Points per Shift: 1

Bonus Strength: 3/5/7/9

0

0

Illusion Notes:

Illusions spawn with Morphling's current attributes, not his original stats.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_morphling_morph

Undispellable

modifier_morphling_morph_str

Death

Ability Draft Notes:

This ability is not available in Ability Draft.

Both Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) and Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) are linked abilities.

Shifting water makes it difficult to discern the nature of Morphling.

Notes:

• Same notes as for Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) apply.

• The passive strength bonus effectively grants Morphling 60/100/140/180 health and 0.3/0.5/0.7/0.9 health regen.

Morph

▶️RR

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Self
( Enemies)

Morphling changes his form to match the targeted enemy, gaining their basic abilities. Can be toggled for the duration of the ability.

Cast Animation: 0.25+0.1

Cast Range: 700/850/1000

Duration: 20 ( 36)

 All Attributes Steal: 20%

 Strength Status Resistance Steal: 35%

 Agility Attack Speed Steal: 50

 Intelligence Spell Damage Amplification Steal: 20%

140/100/60 ( 120/80/40)

50

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Morphling steals stats from the replicated hero. If the replicated hero's primary attribute is Strength it will also steal Status Resistance, if it's Agility, it will steal Attack Speed and if it's Intelligence, it will steal Spell Amplification. Additionally reduces Morph Cooldown by 20 seconds.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_morphling_replicate_manager

Death

modifier_morphling_replicate

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_strength_buff

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_agility_buff

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_intelligence_buff

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_strength_debuff

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_agility_debuff

Death

modifier_morphling_scepter_stats_drain_intelligence_debuff

Death

Ability Draft Notes:

This ability is not available in Ability Draft.

Staring into Morphling produces a reflection that mimics the beholder.

Notes:

• Does not replace Morphling with a clone of the target. Morph only copies the target's model (including equipped cosmetic items).
  • This means he is still registered as Morphling, so that innate passive abilities of the target are not gained.
  • For example, when morphing into Faceless Void, Morphling still gets frozen by Chronosphere.
  • This also means that Morphling can still be killed normally in the morphed form, since it is still him and not a separate clone or illusion.
  • Morphling is visually distinguishable from the original hero while morphed.
  • Buffs and debuffs Morphling receives whiled morphed stay on him upon unmorphing.
  • Most channeling abilities are interrupted upon unmorphing, except for Phase Shift, Upheaval, and item abilities.

• Morphling keeps his current health and mana percentages upon morphing. He does not copy the target's current health or mana.

• Also copies the target's attribute values, primary attribute, movement speed, attack range and range type.
  • This means when targeting a melee strength hero, Morphling becomes a melee strength hero for the duration.
  • This causes items that use different values for melee and ranged heroes (e.g. Manta Style) to now adapt to Morphling accordingly.
  • Attack range bonuses are not overridden and still work normally.
  • Only copies the target's base attributes. Bonus attributes from abilities and items are not copied.
  • All other base stats (e.g. attack values, armor, magic resistance, etc.) are not copied either.

• Morphling keeps his own items during Morph, he does not copy the target's items.

• Removes Morphling's abilities and replaces them with the target's non-ultimate abilities, including their passive abilities and sub-abilities.
  • This includes Invoked abilities or any non-ultimate ability acquired via Spell Steal upon morphing into them.
  • Non-ultimate abilities granted by Aghanim's Scepter and Aghanim's Shard are only copied if Morphling has the respective item as well.
  • Talents are not copied, any talent the target has which upgrades their abilities is not applied to Morphling's copied abilities.

• Can only be cast on enemy heroes, including illusions and clones. Cannot be cast on creep-heroes.
  • When cast on illusions, it copies the hero who owns the illusion, and not the hero the illusion is based on.
  • For example, when targeting Disruption illusions, Morphling turns into Shadow Demon, and not the hero Disruption was cast on.
  • However, it cannot target Morphling itself or illusions under Morphling's control.
  • An Enchanted Morphling illusion is still treated as an own illusion and can still not be targeted.

• With Aghanim's Scepter, Morph places a buff on Morphling and a debuff on the target, based on the target's primary attribute.
  • Targeted strength heroes lose 35% status resistance while Morphling gains it.
    • Stacks multiplicatively with other sources of status resistance.
  • Targeted agility heroes lose 50 attack speed while Morphling gains it.
  • Targeted intelligence heroes lose 20% spell damage amplification while Morphling gains it.
    • Applies generic outgoing damage manipulation. Stacks additively with other sources of generic outgoing damage manipulation.
    • The manipulation affects only spell damage the target deals that is not flagged as HP removal. Attack damage is not amplified.
  • All targets lose 20% of all their attributes, while Morphling gains based on how much the target lost.
    • The attributes are removed and granted as bonus attributes. Does not change Morphlings or the target's base attributes.
  • All values are set upon cast and do not adapt to any changes. They persist even when losing Aghanim's Scepter.
  • The modifiers are independent from each other, when one loses their modifier, the other still keeps it.

Morph Replicate

▶️R?

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Toggles Morphling's form between his own and the replicated enemy.

Cast Animation: 0+0

1

0

Sub-ability of Morph.

Notes:

• Morph Replicate replaces Morph until it expires.
  • The legacy Hotkey for Morph Replicate is also the legacy key of the target's ultimate ability.

• Morph Replicate interrupts Morphling's channeling abilities upon cast.

• Casting this does not end Morph. Instead, it shifts Morphling back to his original form. When used again, it shifts Morphling back into the target.
  • Goes on cooldown whenever forms get shifted.

• Whenever Morphling shifts back into the target, he re-copies all their abilities.
  • This means if the target leveled up their abilities, Morphling now copies the new level as well.
  • This also means if the target learned or acquired new abilities (e.g. Invoker invoked new abilities), Morphling copies the new abilities.

Talents

Hero Talents
Attribute Shift While Stunned	25	2 Waveform Charges
Waveform Attacks Targets	20	+20 Strength
+15 Agility	15	+16s Morph Duration
+250 Waveform Range	10	+15% Magic Resistance

Notes:

• The magic resistance talent stacks multiplicatively with other sources of magic resistance.
  • Increases Morphling's magic resistance to 36.25%.

• The agility talent effectively grants Morphling 2.5 armor, 15 attack speed, and 15 main attack damage.

• The strength talent effectively grants Morphling 400 health and 2 health regeneration.

Recent Changes

Main Article: Morphling/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.31b

• Increased movement speed from 280 to 285.
• Increased turn rate from 0.6 to 0.7.

7.31

• [U] Morph no longer grants 50% mana cost/loss reduction while active.
• Reworked Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
  • Old: Allows Morph to be cast on allied heroes and makes it grant 300 increased cast range on abilities while active.
  • New: Reduces Morph cooldown by 20 seconds and makes it steal 20% of all of the target's attributes. Additionally steals 35% status resistance from strength strength heroes, 50 attack speed from agility heroes, and 20% spell damage amplification from intelligence heroes.

7.30e

• Reduced agility gain from 4.1 to 3.9.
• Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
  • No longer reduces Morph cooldown by 20.

Recommended Items

Starting items:

• Tango gives sustain in lane with health regeneration.

• Iron Branch gives cost efficient attributes, and can builds into Magic Wand or combines with Tango for more health regeneration.

• Healing Salve heals up Morphling in a short amount of time.

• Enchanted Mango provides mana so Morphling can keep using Adaptive Strike (Agility) to get last hits.

Early game:

• Wraith Band gives attributes and attack speed for a decent price.

• Boots of Speed are necessary on Morphling to improve his slow base movement speed.

• Magic Wand provides burst health and mana for sustain.

Mid game:

• Power Treads provide an affordable source of attributes. The cost of his abilities can be mitigated by casting on intelligence, and they can also provide agility or strength for more offensive or defensive power without needing to use Attribute Shift.

• Linken's Sphere provides a modest amount of attributes and regeneration, as well as giving protection against single-target abilities, making it even harder for him to be ganked.

Late game:

• Black King Bar is a vital item for late-game teamfights, providing Morphling with time to deal his damage without being disabled.

• Eye of Skadi is the largest source of total attributes available in one item, providing a large amount of HP even when fully shifted to agility.

Situational items:

• Morbid Mask provides lifesteal to sustain Morphling while he farm up better items. It can build into Satanic later on.

• Dragon Lance is a cheap source of attributes, and gives valuable attack range to improve Morphling's early fights. Later, it may be upgraded to Hurricane Pike for additional mobility, mana, and health regeneration, or it can be disassembled to make Black King Bar and/or Yasha.

• Butterfly gives a very large amount of attack damage and evasion, and so is most effective for a build focused on attacks instead of Adaptive Strike.

• Satanic allows Morphling to use his high DPS to rapidly heal himself full, via the active. However, if you get stunned while trying to lifesteal, you can still be very easily killed, so it should be paired with Black King Bar or used against teams with little lockdown potential.

• Manta Style gives ability to dispel silences and debuffs, and synergies well with his escape mechanisms.

• Diffusal Blade provides modest attributes, and allows his attacks to burn mana. Сan be effective if facing mana-related heroes (Medusa, Storm Spirit etc).

Gameplay

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio

Responses

Sounds

History

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment

Morphling Equipment (expand sets) Sets Ancient Armor Set Bindings of Frost Set Birot's Bindings Set Darktrench Stalker Direstone Bindings Set Gift of the Sea Set Luminary of the Dreadful Abyss Set Radiant Crystal Bindings Set Shard of the Lost Star Shards of Polymorphia Set Shards of the Falling Comet Set Splendor of the Protean Emperor Stellar Jade The Roiling Surge Head Crown of Tears Crown of the Comet's Tail Shoulder Shoulders of the Comet's Tail Arms Blade of Tears Taunt Taunt: Sawed-off Watergun

Trivia

• In DotA, Morphling was the only hero without a hero name, being named "Morphling the Morphling".
• The attack response ▶️ "Wave of mutilation!" is a direct reference to a Pixies song of the same name.

Gallery

• 

  Morphling's original artwork

• 

  Ability icon progress

• 

  Hero icon progress