Merlin Build Guides - Abilities, Items, Combos & More

Many know the legend of King Arthur, and yet the man who set that legend into motion remains shrouded in mystery. His origins, and the source of his power, are secrets known only to him. Even his very nature is questioned. Is he simply a man greatly adept in the magical arts? A demon? Or something in between? Whatever the answer, what is beyond doubt to all who encounter him is that Arthur's right hand, the great wizard Merlin, is a being of immense wisdom, and formidable strength.

In the ages of warring kings, where ruler vied against ruler and only the strongest rose to rule the land, Merlin pledged his skills in service to great sovereigns as both an advisor and a devastating battle mage. A collector of secrets and ancient lore, Merlin is a master of arcane wizardry, able to wield a myriad of elements and harness them to his will. He also devoted his mind to the art of prophesy, one day foreseeing the rise of a ruler destined to stand above all others, and unite the land beneath his banner.

When Uther Pendragon fell in battle against the barbarous hordes of the invading Saxons, Merlin swore an oath of fealty to his successor, Arthur. From that day, the mage never left the wielder of legendary Excalibur's side, a tireless advisor, fellow warrior, and friend. Together they brought about the rise of Camelot, and the unity of a once fractured land. The foul Saxons were driven back across the distant sea, and the people of the kingdom knew peace, justice and prosperity.

To any who think to cross Merlin, beware. Many have tested him, seeking his knowledge, his secrets, or the source of his power for themselves. And few, if any, have lived to tell their tale.

1. Overload (PASSIVE)

Using an ability provides 1 stack of Overload. Firing a basic attack consumes 1 stack of Overload and deals 20 [20% Intelligence] Magical Damage to enemies hit.

• NOTE 1: The damage from this ability can trigger ability item effects.

2. Eclipse (ABILITY 1)

Eclipse:

Conjure a celestial orb that grows in size as it travels, dealing 40 [55% Intelligence] Magical Damage repeatedly to enemies in an area and marking them. • Marked enemies take additional 5 [8% Intelligence] Magical Damage if they stay within the outer range of Eclipse

• NOTE 1: Marked enemies take damage every 0.4s while within the outer range of Eclipse

Radiate:

Channel a beam of intense fire for 2s that deals 8 [18% Intelligence] Magical Damage every 0.25s. • Each time Radiate hits an enemy, it also applies a Burn, dealing additional 4 [4% Intelligence] Magical Damage over time

• NOTE 1: Burn does damage every 0.5s for 2s.

Frostbolt:

Fire a Frostbolt that explodes when it hits an enemy, dealing 60 [55% Intelligence] Magical Damage in a small area. • This ability deals an additional 15% damage if the enemy hit is slowed

• NOTE 1: Projectile stops on walls.

3. Vortex (ABILITY 2)

Vortex:

Deploy a field of arcane energy. After a delay, the Vortex deals 50 [60% Intelligence] Magical Damage and Pulls enemies towards the center.

Dragonfire:

Summon forth two ethereal dragons deal 8 [15% Intelligence] Magical Damage to enemies every 0.25s. • If caught in the center of the area, enemies are affliced by the Radiate Burn and gods have their Protections reduced.

• NOTE 1: The dragons persist for 3s.

Blizzard:

Create a Blizzard, dealing 10 [15% Intelligence] Magical Damage repeatedly to enemies in an area. • Enemies hit are debuffed with a stacking Slow

• NOTE 1: This ability hits 8 times over 4s.

4. Flicker (ABILITY 3)

You quickly Teleport a short distance. Depending on your current Stance, you gain different effects when using this ability. • Arcane: Heal 30% of the damage taken within the last 4s • Fire: For 4s, your basic attacks apply the Radiate Burn to enemies hit • Ice: Ability Cooldowns are reduced 5s

• NOTE 1: Ice stance ability cooldown reduction does not apply to Flicker

5. Elemental Mastery (ABILITY 4)

Tap into your inner potential, exploding with energy in your current stance dealing 0 [15% Intelligence] Magical Damage to enemies hit. • After the explosion reaches its apex, it collapses in on itself dealing Magical Damage again • Enemies suffer different effects depending on which stance's energy they are being hit by

• NOTE 1: During the explosion time, you can choose which stance to enter into next
• NOTE 2: Flicker will always remain however the effect it provides will be tied to the new Stance entered
• NOTE 3: Arcane - Enemies hit are Knocked Up
• NOTE 4: Fire - Enemies hit are afflicted by the Radiate Burn
• NOTE 5: Ice - Enemies hit are Slowed

• Skill 1 > Skill 2 > Skill 3.

• Skill 1: 1-4-6-7-10

• Skill 2: 2-8-11-12-14

• Skill 3: 3-15-16-18-19

• Skill 4: 5-9-13-17-20

• Skill 1 + Skill 2 + Basic Attack+ Skill 3 + Basic Attack+ Skill 4 + Skill 1 + Skill 2.

1. Early Game:

Start at the Fire Giant side Speed/Red buff. When it spawns, hit it with an auto attack to leash/aggro the camp and pull it towards the intersection (towards mid lane) between the Speed and Red buff camps, at the same time your Jungler will have leashed the Red/Speed buff towards the intersection.

As the 2 camps position together use Dragonfire (Swap to Ice stance after) to clear the camps. Make sure to pickup the Red buff once it has dropped. After these camps are cleared you will be level 2.

Now quickly make your way to the Gold Fury side Speed buff, if your jungler has not reached it yet (they should be) then leash the camp yourself towards the mid lane while you use Blizzard to clear the camp. Avoid pulling the camp into tower range if possible. After this you will immediately head to lane while your jungler will typically clear the xp camp to the side of the green buff.

From here you will usually meet the enemy mid in lane on the first wave. Depending on yours and their early pressure/clear and positioning you will decide whether you'll be able to fight or not and whether you'll be able to use Blizzard and Frostbolt on the whole wave or just be able to hit the front melee minions.

How it goes from here will determine: if it's just a stalemate, you or your jungler has kill potential, if you will have mid camp pressure or if you'll have to back towards your tower line and safe clear.

From here you'll mainly be looking to clear waves, contest mid camps, clear the damage buff, assist support with health buff clear (once they rotate over from duo), and being aware of rotation opportunities.

In some cases you may be able to steal enemy side jungle farm but it is risky and not that generally beneficial for direct farm compared to your own side's farm and controlling neutral farm, but can be useful to put the enemy further behind.

2. Mid Game:

As the match goes towards the mid game, other than the usual farm opportunities you'll be looking to control the Stygian Beacon for your team and try attempt, contest and steal (if the enemy is attempting to kill them) the Gold Fury and Pyromancer objectives.

When the Beacon spawns often both teams will try rotate over to control it, especially the mid, support and jungle. In 1vs1 cases you'll have to decide whether you or the other enemy has more kill potential and who is more likely to have their teammates to rotate over first to impact your decision if contesting the beacon will be worth it.

As for Gold Fury and Pyromancer opportunities they will vary on factors such as: your team's overall objective shred, your ADC's current objective shred / build, your team's map pressure, how strong each team's teamfight is, where on the map everyone is (i.e. if one team is doing Gold, the other may decide to do Pyro as a smaller trade), if any members of the enemy team are on a respawn timer, etc...

3. Late Game:

At this stage you'll mainly be looking at wave pushing, contesting Fire Giant, and Phoenix sieging / Phoenix defense, though Pyromancer and Gold Fury (especially Oni variant) will still be somewhat relevant but less important.

As for late game teamfights, most often you will be positioned in the "backline" (behind your team's solo and support - who generally are the "frontline") and will play around your ADC to deal with the enemy frontline and jungler, while making sure to put out as much damage as possible to the highest threats on the enemy team.

When it comes to Fire Giant opportunities, often there can be stalemates where both teams will try to force a teamfight or look for lone picks in order to gain an advantage, sometimes involving one team going for a non fully committing attempt at doing the objective to bait the other team to step up.

1. Mid Warding:

Here are your regular warding spots for mid, to help your team be aware of the enemy team's general rotations especially when you're not in mid lane. Generally with good map awareness you shouldn't need to rely on wards much yourself for safety.

Green: Placing wards at these locations on both sides of the lane give you good general vision of the nearby jungle, giving vision of the entrances to your lane so you can see incoming ganks.

Purple: You can place a ward directly in front of the enemy tower (but not within its range), which can give you a lot of information if you keep an eye on the mini-map. If they are sitting on the ward in mid, you know where they are. If their icons push further into the lane, you can assume they are pushing. If they go towards the right or left jungles you can make early calls on "Be Carefuls" or "Enemy Incoming" or you can assume they are doing their buff camps. If their icons move backwards towards their tower you can generally assume that they are going to one of the back pathways into the jungle, likely to clear camps.

2. Late-Game Warding:

Over here is shown the ideal lategame warding spots around Fire Giant, though often you will be sharing the responsibility for this rather than handling it alone, especially when it's not safe for you to step up to place deeper wards. Any wards placed closer to the objective within the Fire Giant pit tend to get destroyed by Sentries more often than not, so they tend to not be reliable.

Remember, minions act as moving wards in the lanes, and are able to spot nearby gods. If your towers are down, keep your minions pushed up as much as possible to provide an extra set of eyes.

White Circles: These are all offensive locations that allow you to spot enemies near to or approaching objectives, and are helpful in covering multiple approaches. The closer you get to the Fire Giant, the more contested those spots will be and the more likely enemies will try to counter-ward.

The ones closest to the enemy base can give you very early notice.

Red Circles: Fairly obvious, but it's always good to have vision on the main jungle objectives, especially the Fire Giant. Sentry Wards are key here, as they allow you to spot and remove enemy wards. You can place wards directly on top of the objectives, or put them slightly to one side to try to spot enemy wards or protect yours from being detected.

Counter-Warding: Enemies may drop wards on your defensive side in similar (opposite) spots to where you would place yours. If the Fire Giant is already covered and you have a spare Sentry Ward, place them in these spots to limit the enemy's vision on your team.

Defensive Warding: If you're pushed back to your phoenixes or inside your base, locate your wards in the nearby jungle and general approaches.