Elder Titan

The Elder Titan is a melee strength hero who plays the role of initiator and durable. He is a progenitor of this world, capable of knocking entire teams unconscious with his Ancestral Spirit and indeed himself, dealing composite damage to units. Mere proximity to his enemies restores the Natural Order of their elements, reducing their defenses against both magic and physical attacks. His ultimate Earth Splitter sends forth a jagged crack in the targeted direction, imploding after three seconds. Pulling all enemies caught within its reach together and dealing composite damage to them based on the maximum life of the units caught, Elder Titan can turn any teamfight in his favour. Elder Titan is dependent upon positioning and timing, so is recommended for Intermediate players.

Tips

 * Ancestral Spirit spawns at a target location up to a distance of 1200 away from Elder Titan. Elder Titan can use this to initiate by casting Ancestral Spirit in the middle of an enemy team followed immediately by Echo Stomp; if the enemy team was unaware of Elder Titan's location beforehand they usually won't have time to react before Echo Stomp's cast time is finished. If Echo Stomp's level is high enough the enemies should be stunned for the entire 3 seconds it takes for Earth Splitter to form and activate, assuming they don't take any damage that breaks the stun.
 * Ancestral Spirit is an effective harassing and pushing tool throughout the early game that can be used without putting Elder Titan in danger.
 * Although unmentioned, a Refresher Orb is a fairly good choice for the Elder Titan; two casts of Earthsplitter will both severely damage the enemy and slow them for an extended duration, if both hit. Be aware that you need items to augment your mana pool, though.
 * Elder Titan can excel even with one or two core items. Eul's Scepter of Divinity, for example, solves his mana problems while giving a reliable disable to set up an Echo Stomp or Earth Splitter.
 * Due to his tankiness, Elder Titan can carry auras effectively. Items like Ring of Basilius, Drum of Endurance, Mekansm, Pipe of Insight, Vladmir's Offering and Assault Cuirass can help the whole team, as long as Elder Titan stays alive and close to his allies.
 * Phase Boots pair well with the movement speed bonus granted by the Ancestral Spirit.

Trivia

 * Elder Titan was known as Tauren Chieftain in DotA. The name change was likely done to avoid copyright issues with Blizzard, since the Tauren is an existing race in the Warcraft universe.
 * Elder Titan is voiced by Jim French, a prominent voice actor and radio personality; he is best known for voice-acting Bill in the Left 4 Dead series and Father Grigori in Half Life 2, two titles also made by Valve. This is the first voice work he has done for Dota 2.