Murad Comprehensive Guide by JT Aydan

Today I’d like to share my experience playing Murad with all of you. Murad is categorized as an assassin/warrior, specializing in harvesting kills. He was once a hero that must be picked or banned, but after a few nerfs, he is gradually substituted by other jungling heroes. However, he is still frequently used in ranked and normal games.

Below I’ll talk a bit about my experience with Murad and some tips on how to master him:

POSITION

Murad should only be used as jungler in a team. Similar to Zill, both of these heroes require a larger amount of gold to assemble their items before they can start pulling their weight in the game. In addition, Murad has to unlock his ultimate by dealing 4 consecutive normal attacks, so it’s best if he can activate his passive in the jungle on monsters before entering the battle fray.

Talents: I recommend Punish as the only choice for junglers.

SKILLS

Upgrade your second ability at Lv.1 and max that out first. Upgrade your ult whenever possible.

JUNGLING TECHNIQUES

Early Game: Murad clears the first wave of monsters slower than other junglers and is also very weak during the process. Therefore the protection of his teammates is very crucial to his survival in the early game. If the enemy is smart, then they will attempt to disrupt Murad’s development in the beginning, because Murad is very weak before reaching Lv.4.

Pay attention to the timing of your second skill when jungling, as it will make monsters lose their target for a short period of time. Make sure you use it only after the monster has started to attack, otherwise it will ramble back to its original spot and return all HP, seriously delaying your agenda.

Tips:

Basically, Murad only has his normal attack to cause damage to beasts in the early game, so his jungling speed is much slower compared to other junglers. You should, however, be able to finish your first round at around 01:37 and reach Lv.4, I’ll upload a demo video in the comments for your perusal.

Into the mid/late game, it’s vital to learn how to activate your passive with monsters. Use you first skill to enter the battle, then use your second skill to lower enemy defense, next, unleash your ultimate to harvest the kills and then return to your shadow, safe and sound. This is the most basic of all Murad skill chains.

A more advanced technique is to unlock your ultimate first, then get close to the enemy with your first skill and directly use your ult. After that, use your second skill to avoid any control skills and return to your shadow. This can prevent you from being controlled after using your ult. Although this will deal less damage, but it will greatly increase your chances of survival.

Murad is most vulnerable when he’s used up all his skills and has just returned to his shadow. So it is extremely important to hide your shadow somewhere safe, or make sure your teammates help protect you when you return. Otherwise, a hero with such low HP as Murad can easily be taken out if caught returning to his shadow.

Your second and ultimate both have temporary invincibility. Learning how to use them at the right time can save your life.

Murad’s skill upgrade order should be adjusted based on the hero lineup of the enemy. If you choose to max out your first skill, you earn more mobility by lowering your cooldown time. Maxing your second skill, on the other hand, lowers the defense of your enemies. So if there are a lot of tanks on the other side, then maxing out your second skill can help pierce through their defense easier. You should also note that any hero’s physical defense can’t be lower than 0, so to prevent defense pierce overflow, I would choose to max out my first skill before the second if there are a lot of low HP heroes who don’t have defense items.

ARCANAS

Murad as jungler is best complemented with attack speed, physical damage and armor pierce boosting arcanas, therefore I would choose the following arcana set:

Red: Blitz 3 – Attack Speed: 1.6%, Critical Chance: 0.5%

Purple: Reave 3 x 5, Geurrilla 3 x 5 – Life Steal: 1.6% / Attack Speed: 1%, Movement Speed: 1%

Green: Skewer 3 – Attack Damage: 0.9, Armor Pierce: 6.4

You can also use Onslaught, Indomitable or Assassinate.

ITEM BUILD

I recommend the following item build for Murad to maximize his armor reduction skill and CD reduction:

• Soulreaver
• War Boots / Sonic Boots / Gilded Greaves
• Rankbreaker
• Spear of Longinus
• Muramasa
• Fenrir’s Tooth

Murad gets a 30% CD reduction after getting the Soulreaver and acquiring the blue buff, so he can deal a lot of damage if he uses the Rankbreaker. He can reach up to 40% CD reduction after getting the Spear and Muramasa. After that, the blue buff can be given to other teammates who need mana or cd reduction too. Lastly, buy Fenrir’s Tooth to upgrade your damage to top notch.

You can also choose to exchange 1 armor pierce item (I would suggest Rankbreaker) for Omni Arms, Blitz Blade, Medallion of Troy or Ancestral Glory.

Aydan is the Arena of Valor pro league coach for the J Team in the Garena Challenger Series pro league in Taiwan. You can discuss with him about Murad guide on his Facebook page.