Hero Discussion of the Day: Earthshaker (February 24, 2012)

Earthshaker was last discussed on November 5.

Raigor Stonehoof, the Earthshaker

Earthshaker is a disabler melee hero commonly played as a ganker/initiator. Early game, Earthshaker's main spell is Fissure. Fissure makes him a powerful ganker as it can be used to block enemies for several seconds almost ensuring a kill. It has a lot more practicality than most disables; not only can it be utilized offensively as a stun, it can block off an enemy's retreat or save an ally from their pursuers. Enchant Totem is used mainly to trigger Aftershock's stun, allowing Earthshaker to keep his target disabled longer. Aftershock is Earthshaker's passive ability, adding aditional damage and an area of effect stun to his other spells. Late game, Earthshaker is more of an initiator using Blink Dagger and his ultimate to start fights. Echo Slam is Earthshaker's ultimate; blinking into the centre of a battle can disable an entire enemy team and do major damage. If chained successfully, an enemy can be stunned up to 4.75 seconds, making him a great disabler and overall contributes to team fights very well. Earthshaker's easy to hit area of effect spells despite tricky placement and timing is recommended for beginner to intermediate players.

Lore:

Like a golem or gargoyle, Earthshaker was one with the earth but now walks freely upon it. Unlike those other entities, he created himself through an act of will, and serves no other master. In restless slumbers, encased in a deep seam of stone, he became aware of the life drifting freely above him. He grew curious. During a season of tremors, the peaks of Nishai shook themselves loose of avalanches, shifting the course of rivers and turning shallow valleys into bottomless chasms. When the land finally ceased quaking, Earthshaker stepped from the settling dust, tossing aside massive boulders as if throwing off a light blanket. He had shaped himself in the image of a mortal beast, and named himself Raigor Stonehoof. He bleeds now, and breathes, and therefore he can die. But his spirit is still that of the earth; he carries its power in the magical totem that never leaves him. And on the day he returns to dust, the earth will greet him as a prodigal son.

"Stronger by an order of magnitude!"

Strength	Agility	Intelligence
22 + 2.5	12 + 1.4	16 + 1.8
Damage	Armor	Movespeed
46 - 56	2.68	300
Attack Range	Base Attack Time	Missile Speed
128	1.7	N/A
Soundset	Icon	Fan Art

Fissure

Slams the ground with a mighty totem, fissuring the earth while stunning and damaging enemy units in a line. Creates an impassable ridge of stone.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	125	15	1200	225	1.00 second* / 8 seconds**	125 damage and stuns
2	140	15	1200	225	1.25 second* / 8 seconds**	175 Damage and stuns
3	155	15	1200	225	1.50 second* / 8 seconds**	225 damage and stuns
4	170	15	1200	225	1.75 second* / 8 seconds**	275 damage and stuns

• Damage type: magic
• (*) Duration of the stun
• (**) Duration of the crevasse

Enchant Totem

Empowers Earthshaker's totem, causing it to deal extra damage on the next attack.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	50	7	N/A	N/A	14 seconds or 1 attack	Increases Damage by 75%
2	50	7	N/A	N/A	14 seconds or 1 attack	Increases Damage by 150%
3	50	7	N/A	N/A	14 seconds or 1 attack	Increases Damage by 225%
4	50	7	N/A	N/A	14 seconds or 1 attack	Increases Damage by 300%

• Only increases base damage and that given by the primary attribute. Raw bonus damage is not increased.
• Bonus damage from this skill does not stack with the Double Damage rune.

Aftershock

Causes the earth to shake underfoot, adding additional damage and stuns to nearby enemy units when Earthshaker casts his abilities.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.3 seconds	25 damage and stun
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.7 seconds	45 damage and stun
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.2 seconds	75 damage and stun
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.5 seconds	115 damage and stun

• Damage type: magic
• Using items does not trigger Aftershock.

Echo Slam

Shockwaves travel through the ground, damaging enemy units. Each enemy hit causes an echo to damage nearby units.

SCEPTER UPGRADABLE: Causes each initial hero hit to echo twice.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	145	150	N/A	500	N/A	160 Initial Damage and 40 Echo Damage
2	205	130	N/A	500	N/A	210 Initial Damage and 55 Echo Damage
3	265	110	N/A	500	N/A	270 Initial Damage and 70 Echo Damage

• Damage type: magic
• Will not damage ethereal units.
• The initial damage will go through magic immunity, the additional damage will not.
• The initial damage is dealt in an AoE of 500 around Earthshaker.
• Each unit within 550 radius of the initial blast will produce an echo wave, dealing damage to units around it (including itself).
• Can be upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.

TheGizmoh has created text tones for every Earthshaker sound. Check out those text tones here. And take a look at his complete archives as well right here.

Wilco- has posted one of his daily tl;dr discussions on ES.

Be sure to take a look at Kit10z's quick overview of Earthshaker. And check out the reddit thread as well.

As always, check out yesterday's discussion of Anti-Mage or the complete HDotD archives.