Dota 2 Earthshaker Guide

Learn in-depth about one of the most iconic Dota Hero of all time with this Earthshaker Guide

“Let's shake things up!” – If you play or follow Dota 2, there's a big chance that you have heard this sentence before. It's a quote by Earthshaker (ES), an iconic figure in the Dota 2 universe. Earthshaker is a powerful melee strength Hero famous for his crowd control abilities and stuns. He often acts as a tide-turning force in battles, making him one of the most popular heroes of all time.

Credit: dotafire

Though many players play him as Mid and Offlane, Earthshaker is mainly played as Soft Support. He supports his team and controls the tempo of the game through good positioning and placing stuns timely. According to many players, Earthshaker is considered one of the best support heroes.

Earthshaker is a strength Hero that starts with a decent 604 HP and 291 Mana. His movement speed is 315, making him quite fast in the early game. As for damage per hit, Earthshaker’s base damage is 49-59, which can be described as average.

In the most recent patch, 7.33d Earthshaker didn't receive a lot of changes. It still is mostly played as Soft Support (Position 4). Without any further ado, here’s our Earthshaker guide.

Abilities

Let's start by looking at Earthshaker’s abilities. He has four powerful abilities.

Fissure: Earthshaker’s first ability is Fissure, where he creates a shallow but impassable chasm along the ground, dealing damage, stunning and creating a barrier for enemies. The range of the fissure is 1600, and it does 110 damage at level 1 to all enemies affected by it. This increases as you level up the ability, maxing out at 260 at Level 4. Meanwhile, the stun duration goes up to 1.4 seconds at Level 4. Both of these variables can be increased by putting points in Aftershock.

Enchant Totem: This spell empowers Earthshaker’s totem, causing it to inflict more damage and have a bonus attack range the next time he attacks. The cooldown of the enchant totem is 5 seconds and costs 35 mana at level 1.

Aftershock: Triggers an earthquake every time he casts a spell adding additional damage and stuns nearby enemy units. It has a radius of 300 and deals 70 damage at Level 1, growing up to 160 damage at the max level.

Echo Slam: Earthshakers final and most powerful ability is his ultimate, Echo Slam. When he casts the ability, shockwaves travel through the ground damaging enemy units. Each enemy hit generates an echo, which damages neighboring units. Real heroes cause two echoes. The ability has a radius of 700 and is one of the most powerful abilities in the game.Shard Ability Upgrade (Fissure): After Earthshaker consumes an Aghanim’s Shard, his Fissure ability improves. Its cooldown is reduced, and ES gains the ability to walk on it. Furthermore, when he uses any of his abilities, an Aftershock is released along its path that stuns for a short while and then disappears.

Scepter Ability Upgrade (Enchant Totem): After Earthshaker acquires an Aghanim’s Scepter, his Enchant Totem becomes a ground target ability. He can jump into the air and land at the target location, casting enchant totem there. Self-casting the ability causes it to behave normally without jumping. Enchant Totem also gains a cleaving attack.

Talents

Level 10 – +90 Fissure Damage or +40 Base Damage
Level 15 – +50 Aftershock Damage or +50% Enchant Totem Damage
Level 20 – +300 Fissure Range or +50 Echo Damage
Level 25 – -2s Enchant Totem Cooldown or +200 Aftershock Range

Dota 2 Earthshaker Guide – Tips

Earthshaker may seem easy and simple to play, but mastering him can be quite tough due to his heavy reliance on positioning. If you mess up your position, you will most likely die.

Though Earthshaker has four strong abilities, in the early game he mainly relies on his Fissure and good positioning. A support Earthshaker rotates from lane to lane and tries to set up ganks on enemy heroes. His Fissure is one of the best abilities in the early game for ganking.

Earthshaker's main power spike is when he buys the item Blink dagger. With a Blink Dagger, setting up a gank, escaping from enemies, or using ultimate becomes much easier.

Unlike other strength heroes, Earthshaker doesn't buy aura items. Blink dagger, Euls Scepter of Divinity, Aghanim’s Shard, Ghost Scepter and Lotus Orb are his main items. On a few occasions, it's okay to buy Aghanim’s Scepter and Shadow Blade. The main idea of Earthshaker is to set up fights and escape, so you have to buy items that help to do that.

Dota 2 Earthshaker– Pros and Cons

Now let’s talk about the pros and cons of Earthshaker so that you can get a better idea about the Hero.

Pros:

High area control with his Fissure and Aftershock abilities.
Potentially game-changing ultimate that can destroy grouped enemies.
It can be played as a core or a support.
Excellent initiator and crowd controller

Cons:

Very dependent on Blink Dagger for positioning.
A low mana pool early on restricts frequent ability use.
Requires a good understanding of the game to master the Hero.

How to play Earthshaker

Here’s a short beginner’s guide on how to play this fun but difficult Hero.

Starting Items

If you are playing Earthshaker as support, buying Boots of Speed at the start is best. This allows you to trade hits effectively and escape from enemies. You can also buy a Wind Lace for more movement speed. It's also advisable to buy a couple of Blood Grenades to deal some additional damage, as Earthshaker lacks in dealing damage early on. Tangoes are a must to buy, and having a Mango can also be quite useful.

As a core Earthshaker, you can buy Quelling Blade to last hit better. Along with it, you should focus on getting Tangoes, the components of a Bracer and a Faerie Fire.

Early Game

Rushing for Arcane Boots or Tranquil boots is the best thing to do as a support Earthshaker. You can also buy a magic wand along the way.

A core Earthshaker mainly buys Phase Boots for that extra bit of tankiness and damage. It's also okay to buy power Treads depending on the situation. A Bottle is very useful when playing mid.

Mid Game

Whether you are playing as core or support, the main target of Earthshaker is to buy Blink Dagger in the mid game. After buying the item, he becomes at least twice more effective in team fights. Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Force Staff can be the next item for a support ES. These items allow him to control the fight and escape more easily. Furthermore, Try to persuade your teammates to take down the Tormentor so that you might hopefully get an Aghanim’s Shard to help them.

Late Game

A late game support Earthshaker usually buys a Lotus Orb or Linken Sphere to protect his cores. If you have enough money, buying an Aghanim’s Scepter is a good idea. It’s also okay to buy Shiva's Guard for a bit more armor and tankiness. If the game is too long, buy a Refresher Orb.

You can also upgrade your Tranquil Boots to Boots of Bearing or even switch to Greaves, which your teammates will surely appreciate. You also have the option to upgrade your Eul's Scepter to Wind Waker which is a very strong item.

A core Earthshaker in late game packs a heavy punch. He can one shot enemy Supports with the right item. You can buy damage items like Silver Edge and Deadlus to do that. Having a refresher orb is always good. You can also buy Shiva's Guard and Assault Cuirass to gain more armor and tankiness. Finally, upgrading your Blink to Overwhelming Blink can be the last step to getting 6 slotted.

Dota 2 Earthshaker Counter

Even though Earthshaker is a powerful Hero, a few heroes get the upper hand while playing against him. Sometimes it’s almost unplayable against these heroes and you might get frustrated. Here are the top 5 heroes that counter Earthshaker:

Clockwerk – A complete nightmare for Earthshaker. If Clockwerk gets on top of him, Earthshaker will most likely stay trapped and possibly die unless he buys a force staff, as the cast points of his spells are longer than the intervals between each Battery Assault proc. Clockwerk’s long-ranged spells are also effective in canceling Blink Dagger.

Disruptor – Disruptor have some abilities which are deadly for Earthshaker. Earthshaker's Blink Dagger can be canceled with Thunder Strike. Static Storm, when placed properly during a fight, can prevent Earthshaker from performing his combo after blinking in.

Silencer – Silencer can effectively counter Earthshaker through his abilities. His Last Word and Global Silence abilities can interrupt Earthshaker's combo execution or initiation, crippling him in fights. Additionally, Arcane Curse punishes Earthshaker's frequent spellcasting by dealing damage over time. Lastly, Silencer's Intelligence Steal passively reduces Earthshaker's mana pool by stealing intelligence when nearby enemies die. This makes it increasingly challenging for ES to cast his spells effectively.

Zeus- Zeus’ Ultimate Wrath of the Thundergod disables Earthshaker’s Blink Dagger regardless of where he is, making initiation in the heat of battle challenging. Other spells of Zeus are also good against ES, be it in the Laning Phase or Team Fights.

Lifestealer – Lifestealer counters Earthshaker heavily. His rage ability prevents ES from dealing damage and stunning. Lifestealer’s other abilities are also good against Earthshaker.

Conclusion:

Even though Earthshaker has a few downsides, if played correctly, he can be the winning factor of a game.

If you found the guide helpful, we have many other Hero Guides like this one. Whether you are new to the game or want to improve your MMR, these guides can help you achieve your goal.