Earthshaker/Guide

Initiator/Support

 * Earthshaker is mostly played as an initiator. In early game, he can set up gank with allies and initiate with Fissure. With the help of, his role is to jump into enemy clusters and chain stun opponents with Echo Slam, Enchant Totem, and Fissure in order. A fully executed sequence will deal 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.
 * This build is good for games where it is highly possible that you will have a better hand in early game fights due to your team's draft. It works well when Earthshaker earns money by taking part in a lot of early kills, earning assists and not dying too often.

Brawler

 * Earthshaker can sometimes be played as a brawler, building items like to make the tripled damage from Enchant Totem 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.
 * This build is for core farming Earthshaker. It is based on high damage bonus from Enchant Totem combined with damage bonus from fast . First, such Earthshaker chooses his target, then activates Enchant Totem, then goes invisible and attacks his victim. If the victim didn't die after that, Earthshaker finishes it off with his other abilities and the second Enchant Totem because its duration is longer that its cooldown. Two ' will be a good choice for this build.

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.


 * At range, Fissure is one of the longest ranged stuns in the game.
 * Use Fissure to block off enemy retreat or reinforcements.
 * Earthshaker is exceptional at ganking the mid lane, because at a good angle, Fissure 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 is effective in splitting the battlefield during a teamfight. However, improper use of Fissure can prevent melee carries 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 Aftershock. 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 Aftershock radius.
 * With Aghanim's Scepter, Enchant Totem provides greater mobility options, and can be used to traverse around the map and bypass terrain obstacles, such as cliffs, entirely.
 * Blink Dagger could be discarded to free up a slot for another item when obtaining Aghanim's Scepter, though the leap has a noticeably longer initiation time compared to Blink Dagger, and quick and perceptive players can dodge it easily.
 * Take note that while it allows Earthshaker to leap into the air and circumvent certain mobility-inhibiting situations, it does not prevent enemies from targeting and attacking him, nor does it disjoint projectiles.
 * Enchant Totem has a very low cooldown, allowing Earthshaker to repeatedly return to the fight during long engagements.
 * The Enchant Totem buff lasts seconds, meaning that it should be pre-cast before a fight to maximize Earthshaker's damage.
 * 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 them.


 * For maximum damage, use Echo Slam around as many enemy units as possible.
 * Use the Aftershock 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.

Items
Starting items:
 * provides health regeneration in lane.
 * gives basic stats and can be built into, also allows more regeneration from Tango.
 * potions allow him to cast Fissure more often, since its mana cost is relatively high and Earthshaker's mana pool is small.
 * should be purchased if there are no other supports on the team. However, he may need to sacrifice a few items, such as Gauntlets of Strength, or two Clarities, reducing his lane presence by a big deal.
 * provides extra health regen, also an extra mana source in a pinch for an extra Fissure.

Early game:
 * can be a good source of health and mana restoration if the enemies use their abilities often, and can even be used in a pinch to get enough mana for his Fissure.
 * are important to compensate for Earthshaker's low mana.
 * is an alternative source of mana in the early game, allows for liberal use of Fissure.
 * effectively regenerates the HP loss from.

Mid game:
 * is an indispensable item for Earthshaker to initiate with Echo Slam. It can also be used to chase fleeing enemies to take them down with his Enchant Totem.
 * act as a supplement to Earthshaker's mobility, as you can initiate from even further. It can also be used to escape rough situations, especially.

Late game:
 * allows Earthshaker to jump into fights with Enchant Totem, giving him even greater mobility. It also provides a good boost to his stats.

Situational items:
 * provides excellent protection against magical harassment, against which Earthshaker normally has no defense.
 * increases mana pool and mana regeneration. The active adds an additional disable on enemy, also dispels silence for a spellcaster as Earthshaker.
 * can kite enemies and buy yourself time if being constantly focused by physical attackers.
 * increases Earthshaker's magical resistance. The active can help himself or ally to escape when enemy has no detection.
 * can give more damage to his own abilities, and any of the allies' abilities that are affected by magic resistance.
 * allows Earthshaker to use his skill one more time in teamfight, providing a theoretical 9 second chain stun in late game than can even bring down the entire team. Note that the first Echo Slam usually clear up the creep wave and summons so the second one won't be as effective if used immediately.
 * gives you additional armor and regen. The active can dispel debuff (especially silence) from you or your ally, also reflect all targeted spells.
 * offers a hard disable which is useful in late game.
 * increases damage output from Enchant Totem with raw damage and critical chance. It is an unorthodox build and favored by more combat-oriented Earthshaker builds.

Earthshaker/Guia Earthshaker/Руководство 撼地者/攻略