Earthshaker/Guide

Gameplay
is a powerful spellcaster designed to repeatedly stun enemies. However, his naturally low mana requires careful management and selective use, especially during the early game. His allows him to wipe out large groups of enemies, making him an ideal pick against heroes like, , , or. Compared to intelligence supports, Earthshaker has a sizeable health pool. But compared to most strength heroes, Earthshaker is fairly vulnerable and can be easily killed if caught out of position.

Initiator/Support
Earthshaker is mostly played as an initiator. In early game, he can set up gank with allies and initiate with. With the help of, his role is to jump into enemy clusters and chain stun opponents with >  >. A fully executed sequence will deal very significant damage, even if no allies are around to follow up. New players may find it hard to farm a quick, and should thus play conservatively to avoid early game deaths (and therefore gold loss). Once a Blink Dagger has been obtained, Earthshaker is no longer heavily item-dependent, and can transition into buying support items if needed.

Brawler
Earthshaker can sometimes be played as a brawler, building items like to make the tripled damage from  more effective. Players who go this route require significant farm, and therefore often start in the Mid Lane. A is also recommended for this build. Keep in mind that a brawler Earthshaker must rely on abilities to deal damage in bursts, and should avoid damage in between cooldowns. He will not be able to stand toe-to-toe against a real carry. Players should discuss with their team prior to choosing this build, as most teams expect Earthshaker to be played as an initiator/support.

General

 * Due to his costly abilities, Earthshaker needs good timing and game sense to be effective.
 * In the early game, Earthshaker is very easy to harass in lane. Players should play conservatively except when setting up a gank with his allies.


 * Fissure can stun enemy up to 1500 range away so that his teammates could cast other disable skills right away, making him one of the best early game initiators.
 * Use Fissure to block off enemy retreat or reinforcements.
 * Earthshaker is exceptional at ganking the mid lane, because at a good angle, can completely block the enemy midlaner from running back to their tower.
 * Keep your finger on the Stop hotkey (S by default) to immediately cancel the cast animation if it looks like you're going to miss.
 * Fissure creates an impassable ridge and splits two adjacent heroes between the ridge.
 * Fissure is useful for separating a fleeing ally from a pursuing enemy. This requires practice, as it is quite common to misclick and wall off both heroes on the same side.
 * The impassable terrain effect is effective to separate the battlefield in teamfight. However improper use of Fissure can prevent your carry, especially those melee ones, from inflicting damage on or chasing the enemy.
 * Fissure's long range can be used to snipe off retreating enemies.
 * Fissure has a long cast animation and may be interrupted in a hectic fight.


 * Enchant Totem has a very long cast animation and can be interrupted,
 * One of Enchant Totem's main roles is to stun enemy with . It can be used as a mini-initiation ability with  or its  upgrade.
 * Beware of its long cast animation: Enemy may simply walk out of the radius.
 * Enchant Totem has a very low cooldown, allowing Earthshaker to repeatedly return to the fight during long engagements.
 * The Enchant Totem buff lasts 14 seconds, so it is possible to double the damage by pre-cast the ability before initiation.
 * Enchant Totem is useful for last hitting buildings. However, if the team's carry is around, Earthshaker should yield the last hit (and therefore extra gold) to him or her.


 * For maximum damage, use Echo Slam around as many enemy units as possible.
 * Use the stun duration from Echo Slam to follow up with other abilities.
 * It is not always best to use Echo Slam to initiate. Experienced players often stay back during fights, waiting until enemies are grouped up before jumping in.
 * That said, some team compositions are very dependent on Earthshaker to initiate. Use sensible judgment.
 * A well placed Echo Slam is one of the few abilities that can turn around a badly losing game.
 * There are certain positions that enemies will natually group up. This includes Roshan pit, the high ground around Tier 3 Towers, narrow paths such as river, places without vision such as uphills, or even at times when they are ganging up on a teammate.