This is my first guide, so please, feel free to criticize this guide so that future guides will be great, and comments, good or bad (perhaps worst) are gladly accepted. Now I'm going to introduce to you the world-known, Rampage sounder, Raigor the Earthshaker. He has been my favorite hero ever since I started playing DotA. I have been owning (perhaps not all games) every game I have played with him, so I would like to share my thoughts on how to unleash ES's full potential. Now for the basic statistics of the Earthshaker
As you can see, ES has a low STR but decent STR gain for a Strength hero, yet he's not the DPS kind of guy, because he relies on his spells. The AGI and AGI gain is horrible, but he's neither the tanky/DPS type, so you're safe on that, let the items do the AGI-upgrading for you. His INT and INT gain is quite decent for a Strength hero. He has mana-problems all throughtout the game, but items can cover that for you. Armor is not that low, not that high, but you won't be taking that much damage early game, because you'll usually cast fissures instead of getting in front of the enemy lines and whack 'em creeps to death. His damage and his attack animation is high/good enough for last hits, but you'll be focusing on denies, because you'll only chase after the level of you hero, not the amount of gold you'll be earning in the laning phase, let your carry do the gold-snatching. His movespeed is decent, so chasing will not be that much of a problem, because almost all heroes has the same MS as you, so don't worry about it.
Although the Earthshaker is a strength hero, his real power lies in his spells. With a well-placed Echo Slam, Raigor can single-handedly level an entire team of enemies if they are foolish enough to bunch together. His Fissure spell is very versatile. While it deals decent damage along with a stun, it also creates an impassible wall of rock for several seconds. A skilled Earthshaker can use this to his advantage, blocking enemy movement and trapping hapless foes between a rock and a hard place. Enchant Totem gives him a significant damage boost for one attack, and his passive Aftershock ability causes a minor stun and damage effect under him every time he casts one of his spells. Although he is one of the more difficult heroes to use to his full strength, he is also one of the most deadly heroes in skilled hands.
In the barren-lands, tales spoke of tauren sages reaping the essence of dirt. Their consciousness melds with the brown beneath them. The loam becomes the conduit of their mental thought and reality. These warriors were feared for they could summon massive ruptures at their mere whim. So tremendous was their power that their magic leaks out of the earth violently with every spell. Sadly these sages mysteriously faded from the land. When the World Tree was threatened, couriers searched for these mighty ones but found just one. A young adept, Raigor Stonehoof, seeks battle to weave new tales of these shamans.
Roles :
Ganker
Roamer
Disabler
AOE caster
Initiator
Semi-Carry
Pros :
Good early stats for much needed last hitting and survivability
Decent STR gain for needed HP late game
Decent INT gain for solved mana problems later on
Almost all skills are AOE (2nd skill with the help of Aftershock)
Perma-Stun ability
Decent Movespeed, can chase almost half of the heroes in DotA
Pretty much item independent after purchase of Blink Dagger
Cons :
Horrible AGI and AGI gain resulting in no tanking capabilities all throughout the game
Not that Average STR for a Strength hero
Squishy for a Strength hero
Useless when silenced
Mana problems early game but can be fixed through items
Skills :
Fissure
Slams the ground with the Raigor's mighty totem, causing the ground to crack open front of him, damaging opponents and leaving an impassable 1200-range crevasse which lasts 8 seconds in all levels. Has an AOE of 225. Cooldown of 15 seconds in all levels.
You're bread-n-butter skill. Not that much great of a damaging skill, we just go with the combination of its long range and stun, a very vital effect that can help you perma-stun the opposing team. This is the skill that usually scares the opposing team, due to the fact that you can trap them using this skill, having a semi-disable of 8 seconds. It has an awkward casting time though, and because of this, 35% of the time, casting a mistaken fissure could even separate you're allies from your enemies. Just note to self about the casting time, and always cast it on the ground, not on the desired unit. Could also be used to support allies by making them escape through blocking the opposing chaser.
Enchant Totem
Empowers the totem resting on Raigor's back, causing it to deal extra damage on the next attack. Costs 50 mana, lasts 14 seconds or 1 attack and has a 7 second cooldown in all levels.
Damage Increase : 75&/150&/225&/300&
Notes :
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.
Can automatically attack a unit with decreased attack animation right after the casting animation by right-clicking on the desired unit to attack.
You're semi-burst DPS damage. This what makes ES also a feared 1v1 hero, because the increased damage can be tremendous, paired with the right items. It also adds up to your perma-stun combo, and you can abuse the fact that it only has a 7 seconds cooldown, you can stun a single enemy unit every 7 seconds. Also has the same casting time with fissure.
Aftershock
The power of Raigor casting a spell causes the earth to shake below him, dealing additional damage and stunning. Has an AOE of 300 in all levels.
A unique passive only ES possess. This partly defines ES, the skill which grants him the perma-stun ability. Not much to say, just use a skill, and it triggers, a 1.5 second stun, 115 damage shock is produced
Echo Slam
Raigor sends shockwaves shooting through the ground, dealing damage and ricocheting to nearby targets for additional damage. Has an AOE of 500 in all levels.
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 AoE of the initial blast will produce an echo wave, dealing damage to units around it (including itself).
Can be upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter, causes each hero hit by the initial shockwave to echo the wave twice.
Ah yes, the infamous Echo Slam, the enemy team raping skill, the Rampage sound alarmer. Well how can I describe this, the higher the number struck by this skill, the bigger the damage produced. The only downside to this skill is that it's only an AOE around you, but Blink Dagger can fix that. Use it as much as possible in every clash/gank, never let the uncooldowned skill go to waste. When it's able to be used, go gank 2 or above heroes. Never, I mean NEVER, use this on a single hero, because the bonus 200 hero kill gold and 200 creep kill gold is not worth the hundred second cooldown of this skill. Use it in every clash, it's a must. Never go in the middle of the clash without this skill. If it's on cooldown, just use fissure outside of the battlefield, and look out for the key-hero, usually the mass-disabler of the enemy team and cast totem and whack him to death.
Justifications : Fissure is gotten at level 1, for obvious purposes. With this, you can do first blood attempts, or escape first blood attempts. A level of Aftershock can be useful because all your spells can rely on its passive effect. Level one Enchant Totem to enhance your mediocre stun combo early game. Max Fissure ASAP because it's your primary damage and stun source. It may be mana-intensive, but it's worth it when kills can be achieved. Level Echo Slam as mush as possible for obvious reasons, to gradually lower it's cooldown for faster usage, and increase of damage output. We then max Aftershock to assure your perma-stun combo. We then max Enchant Totem over Stats, why? Because the increase of DPS from Enchant Totem is much more important than the increase of survivability in Stats. And since the mana cost of Enchant Totem is constant, it's better to level this than puny Stats.
Justifications : Changes are Fissure and Aftershock are maxed ASAP. We sacrifice Enchant Totem for later levels, since this skill build focuses on AOE damage and stun output than a longer AOE stun duration. A level of Stats is gotten at level 10 for little bit of mana and health pool.
Justification : Courier for delivery of Bottle and Items for your carry. And since you'll be roaming around alot when you hit level 6-7, a bottle is vital for you and your role. 3 GG Branches for cheap stats and a later upgrade of Magic Wand. 1 set of tangoes and 2 clarities to satisfy your health and mana pool nicely, because you'll be rushing bottle. It's daring, but it works for me all the time
Core Items :
Can satisfy you mana problems very nicely, since you'll be ganking around alot
What hero would not want these fancy boots? It grants you to move around the map, ganking.
With only this item, you can own the game (well, almost) It's the perfect initiating item for almost all heroes in the game, and ES is no exception. Blink in, hit the letter combos C, E, and F, and then you can make the speaker sound "Double Kill, Triple Kill, Ultra Kill, and Even, RAMPAGE"
It may be costly, even for you, but with the right ganking strategy, and tower-pushing, you can even get this item under the 20 minute mark. It gives you a little bit of stats, HP and mana pool, and increases your damage output tremendously. A must on ES, even if people say that Aghanim's is just another item on ES, but I say it can work wonders.
Never go out the base without these. Vital for counter-ganking, defending and counter-pushing.
Boots of Choice :
The perfect pair of boots for ES. It satisfies you hunger for mana, an increase of 250 mana is no joke, and the burst 135 mana heal is helpful, especially when you transfer from one part of the map to the other.
No, no, no, and NO!!! This is useless on you. The burst in movement speed can be helpful, but you have Blink Dagger, a much better item than these boots. The damage is also wasted, because it does not count on the damage increase of Enchant Totem.
Yet again, NO. It may be wise to turn it to INT treads, but most of it's effects are useless. Attack speed is wasted, movement speed increase is mediocre, and it doesn't give you burst mana heal, right? Try clicking it, it gives wonderful colors, but not the same as clicking Arcane Boots, it gives of sparkles
Well, it's not neccesary, yet not rejected. It's just costly for ES, and can delay your core. Get it in the late game if everyone only focuses on pushing. It can also be bought if you want to be present in every clash. Perfect boots for all DotA heroes, remember that.
Alternative Items :
/
Gives cheap early game stats, but can usually delay your core. Buy it if only you have a hard time farming.
Provides cheap stats, and burst heal. But can be risky since it holds up an item slot, but every gank is a must on this, right?
Well a little fun won't hurt. A very diversed and fun item to use, can be used to push opponents inside fissure traps or push yourself to do your combo. Can be an alternative to Blink Dagger, but blink is much more powerful than push.
Can be bought, but let your other supports get that for you, it's much of a risk to sacrifice one item slot.
Can be very useful on ES since he really needs than burst mana. But health management is required since ES has squishy HP, even for a Strength hero.
It may be silly to get this item on ES, but it can be more of a Luxury than Alternative, but I'll just put it in here since it's not required at all. The 1k HP is nothing to laugh upon, and the bonus STR is useful for your Enchant Totem, because it can turn you from an AOE caster, to a Tanky, Semi-Carry role (well, almost?)
Luxury Items :
Increases your AOE damage output, your mana pool, and you armor to the roof. Everything ES needs is right in this item. The active effect can be a semi-disable, and the passive effect minorly decreases the enemy's damage output.
The powerful, INT type hero weapon, and ES can be a wielder of it. The mass mana regen and mana pool increase is never wasted, and the ability to disable an enemy unit is what we're aiming for here. What hero would not want this? Just get it!
OMG, WTF? Refresher? Never heard of the nerfs on Echo Slam? Well I know those are the things you're gonna say, but the fact this item is great is that it can be used to counter-clash the enemy team if ever they would buy back their heroes. This maybe useless since nerfs affected ES on not producing echoes on corpses, but it never hurts to try this on, right? The mana regen is not wasted, and the refresh skill is great. And since the cooldown of this item dropped down to 160 secs, it can be used nearly in every clash, due to the 50 sec gap of your Echo Slam and this item. The total mana cost done in using the whole combo - refresh - combo can still be used since you'd be getting alot of mana pool items, so it's no problem.
A must on every hero late game. The pushing is on with this item.
Rejected Items :
Orb Effects are rejected, period. You're not a DPS monster, and you're is not even that great, so just don't waste you gold on this.
Again, you're not a DPS monster from another dimension.
You're not even a tank.
You won't be farming your ass of with this item, it's completely wasted. The regen can be compensated with other items. Other items can unleash ES's full potential, not this item.
Sparklies can be good to watch, but your enemies won't even last 4 seconds in your combo (mostly?), so it's wasted.
Game strategy :
Early Game :
Leave the base with the said starting items above. It's a must for this guide. If you disagree, well you could try out other guides, right? Choose the side lanes for easy access to the side shops (bottom lane for Sentinel, top lane for Scourge). Focus on last hits and denies as much as possible. But don't be greedy, try splitting the last hits with you lanemate. The purpose of this is to rush bottle and crow. After that, focus on denies, not last hits, because you'll be earning gold through ganking. And also, try to pull creeps as much as possible). You're only main goal here is to earn as much experience than the opposing lane. Never go outside the EXP range, which is usually 1000 range from the dead creeps. Do this process until you hit level 6-7 (most likely you have purchased a boots by now, better if it's arcane). Now go gank your ass off. But first, try to eliminate the opposing lane first before going to other lanes. Tell your allies to assist on the kill on your said lane. Just do a gank after another, don't stay on one lane and farm. If a chance to push is present, go for it.
Mid Game :
By now you must have purchased you core items by now through all the gold you have earned from ganking. Just do the same process, gank every enemy hero on the map. And when Echo Slam is not on cooldown, use it, but do it on 2 or more heroes. Rush Aghanim's Scepter in this stage before late game comes. Gank, gank, gank, and GANK!
Most clashes happen here. Be present on every clash, never go first even if you're the initiator. Wait for the whole enemy team to make their presence, and then unleash your combo. 79% of the time, you have already finished them all. After every clash, that is if you won, push the enemy base. With the perfect items, Enchant Totem should deal enough damage to deal 1/6 of the HP of the tower. If two or more heroes have revived, let your allies push and hide on the fog of war. By now, your Echo Slam should be ready, if not, Refresher should be in your build and get ready to cast all your skills and items, refresh, and cast again.
I will be adding some stuff to this guide in some time, by now, I'll just post it right away, to see if this looks right?
Bye
Raigor Stonehoof the Earthshaker Author: kev05nel Map Vers.: 6.72f
Competitive/Public Guide to ES
Raigor Stonehoof the Earthshaker
Date Posted: 11/19/11 Last Comment:23/12/2011 Total Votes: 0 Current Rating: 0.00 Views: 3619
22 + 2.5
12 + 1.4
16 + 1.8
) It's the perfect initiating item for almost all heroes in the game, and ES is no exception. Blink in, hit the letter combos C, E, and F, and then you can make the speaker sound "Double Kill, Triple Kill, Ultra Kill, and Even, RAMPAGE
/
