Merlin 100-0 Build

Why not? You lose movement speed sure, but the passive lasts longer, you get 10% cdr and it has 10 extra power. The tier 1 ring is also being buffed to have 5 extra power which makes it slightly better for early clear, and similar to tier 1 spear which also has 25 power. With mage’s blessing, cdr boots, and shaman’s Ring you will have 30% CDR in your build early to mid game. Lategame you can sell cdr boots for Myrddin, and get the 10% missing from mage’s blessing from power pot.

I would probably consider it only as a boots replacement. The stats are just too mediocre for the price. It’s a very lategame luxury item.

I updated the start for the build.

I haven't found the pen to be necessary early on in most games. Merlin can typically do much better with the power and MS. The tanky characters aren't really that big of a focus for Merlin as early on. And, both items are relatively cheap so both get up fairly quick. By the time Merlin actually needs spear he should have it if you haven't got far behind.

I appreciate the feedback to this guide. I did some more testing and I do find the movement speed useful to poke more effectively against aggressive gods with a stronger early game against Merlin. As well, the early mana and cooldown from a completed shoes of focus is cheap and very good. Merlin struggles with mana early on and cooldowns are a little longer than preferred, so the early boots provide a better boost than rushing a Chronos' pendant. That being said, Lost Artifact could be a safer start for most players, especially versus gods who have weak early game lane clear. For PO I find the 100 power and movement enable Merlin to hit harder while playing safer. I would only do spear as item 3 if you desperately need to shred protection. As for situationals, I think the build is made of necessary items that I wouldn't outright trade unless you absolutely need to. Merlin does enough damage even without Obsidian shard and the only thing id replace would be rod if you have too much trouble with too many enemies being too tanky. As for divine ruin, it has to wait for the late game once you can sell shoes and get the elixir mentioned in the guide. In non-conquest modes, you could consider not building rod and building divine ruin instead but rod providses so much power that Merlin otherwise lacks.