Raigor Stonehoof

Raigor Stonehoof The Earth Shaker
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 these mighty ones but found just one. A young adept, Raigor Stonehoof, seeks battle to weave new tales of these shamans.

Raigor, the Earthshaker

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Basic Info

Stats
Pros and Cons
Skills

2. Primary Build

Walkthrough and Item Build
Alternative Builds and Strategy
Other Items

3. Miscellaneous

Guide to Fissure
Best Allies
Worst Enemies
Replays
Credits

FOREWORD

Do you want to go beyond godlike every game? Do you want to hear your opponents cry about imbalance as your kill count skyrockets? Great, go back a few pages and find another hero.

The first thing you have to accept when playing Earthshaker is that he is not a carry hero. He will not go 20-0 every game and he will not become ridiculously powerful late into the game. Earthshaker is a support hero. He is a pusher, a disabler and an initiator. His role is to stop enemy pushes, win team battles and help his team win the game. If this isn’t what you’re looking for in a hero, I strongly suggest that you hit the back button and go find another guide.

Still here? Great. Welcome to my Earthshaker guide.

STATS


Strength: 22 + 2.5 per level
Agility: 12 + 1.4 per level
Intelligence: 16 + 1.8 per level
Base HP: 568
Base Mana: 208

Base stats: 50
Stat gain: 5.7

Move speed: 290
Base damage: 46-56
Base armor: 2.7

PROS AND CONS

Pros

Three potential disables
Great pusher
Not overly item dependant

Cons

Below-average stats
Very reliant on teamwork
Fissure is difficult to use well

SKILLS


FISSURE [F]

Slams the ground with Raigor’s mighty totem, causing the ground to crack open in front of him, damaging opponents and leaving an impassable crevasse for a period of time.

Level 1 - 125 damage, 1 second stun
Level 2 – 175 damage, 1.25 second stun
Level 3 – 225 damage, 1.5 second stun
Level 4 – 275 damage, 1.75 second stun

Cooldown: 15 seconds
Mana: 125/140/155/170

Fissure seems pretty straightforward at first, but it is a deceptively powerful spell and rivals Pudge’s Hook in difficulty of proper usage. Used as a nuke and a stun, it is just an average spell with some extra range, but if used properly Fissure is a ridiculously versatile and powerful spell. See the “Guide to Fissure” section later in the guide for detailed explanations of how to use Fissure and how it works.

ENCHANT TOTEM [E]

Empowers the totem on Raigor’s back, causing it to deal extra damage on the next attack.

Level 1 – 50% increased damage
Level 2 – 100% increased damage
Level 3 – 150% increased damage
Level 4 – 200% increased damage

Cooldown: 7 seconds
Mana: 50

Although this skill is capable of adding quite a bit of damage to a single attack, its primary use is as an AoE stun with Aftershock. It has a short cooldown and very low mana cost, so it is easily spamable. Also good for getting the last hit on towers.

Enchant Totem Mechanics:

• Enchant Totem stuns in a 250 AoE radius with Aftershock.
• The percent damage that Enchant Totem adds is based on Raigor’s stats, so items that add pure damage like Broadsword or Sacred Relic will not amplify the damage done by Enchant Totem. However, items that add damage through increasing Raigor’s stats, like Bracers, do amplify the damage done.
• The damage increase from Enchant Totem is rounded up, so with your 51 average damage at level one, Enchant Totem will add 26 damage instead of 25.

AFTERSHOCK [A]

The power of Raigor casting a spell causes the earth to shake below him, dealing additional damage and stunning.

Level 1 - 25 damage, .3 second stun
Level 2 - 45 damage, .7 second stun
Level 3 - 75 damage, 1.2 second stun
Level 4 - 115 damage, 1.5 second stun

Cooldown: –
Mana: –

Aftershock is a very useful passive skill that stuns in a 250 AoE radius whenever Raigor casts a spell. This is mostly useful with Enchant Totem and Echo Slam, but it does boost Fissure’s damage if you’re within 250 range of your target. Aftershock does not trigger when using items, not even Dagon.

ECHO SLAM [C]

Raigor sends shockwaves shooting through the ground, dealing damage ricocheting to nearby targets for additional damage.

Level 1 - 200 initial damage, 35 echo damage
Level 2 - 275 initial damage, 45 echo damage
Level 3 - 350 initial damage, 65 echo damage

Cooldown: 150/130/110 seconds
Mana: 145/205/265

Echo Slam is a difficult spell to understand at first, but it’s pretty straightforward once you know how it works. Basically, it deals 200/275/350 damage – depending on level – and then 35/45/65 more damage for each additional target in the area. So if you use it at level one with only one unit nearby, it will deal 200 damage. If there are two units, it will deal 235 damage to each of them. If there are three, it will deal 270 to each, and so on.

Echo Slam is what makes Earthshaker what he is – a pusher, anti-pusher and an initiator. It is one of the strongest AoE spells in the game and continues to become stronger as the game progresses and pushes get bigger. With the addition of extra creeps in recent patches, Echo Slam is now even more dangerous late game. To give you an idea of how much damage this skill can do, if Earthshaker blinks into a group of 20 creeps and five heroes and casts a level three Echo Slam, he will deal 1910 damage to everything near him and another 115 to everything in Aftershock’s range. Can you say triple kill?

Echo Slam Mechanics:

• The initial wave of Echo Slam damages everything within 500 range of Raigor. The area of effect is calculated right when Echo Slam is cast so if a hero runs out of the AoE after Raigor casts it, the waves will follow the hero out of the area.
• The echoing waves affect everything within 500 range of each unit that the initial wave ricocheted off of, so the echo waves can potentially hit a unit that is nearly 1000 range away from Raigor but units have to be within 250 range of Raigor to get hit by both the initial wave and all of the echo waves.
• Although it does not affect them, Echo Slam bounces off of invisible units, magic-immune units, corpses, and units that are in the process of dying. The fact that it works with corpses is extremely helpful for using Echo Slam with Refresher Orb because you can effectively get the full damage twice even if almost everything died during the first cast.
• The initial wave actually deals 165/235/285 but each unit is hit by its own echo wave, so it evens out to 200/275/350 damage to a single unit like the spell says.
• The initial wave (165/235/285) damages magic-immune units but the echo waves do not.
• Echo Slam works by creating a dummy unit in place of each unit in the AoE. This is why it bounces off of units that it can’t actually target.

SKILL BUILD

1. Fissure
2. Stats
3. Fissure
4. Stats
5. Fissure
6. Echo Slam
7. Fissure
8. Stats
9. Stats
10. Aftershock
11. Echo Slam
12. Aftershock
13. Aftershock
14. Enchant Totem
15. Aftershock
16. Echo Slam
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Enchant Totem
24. Enchant Totem
25. Enchant Totem

Why take stats early?

Stats provide Earthshaker with extra mana to use Fissure early on, enough HP to handle a difficult lane or survive a gank, and give a slight boost to base damage for last hitting. They are taken over Aftershock early on because you shouldn't be getting close to your opponents until you have Dagger of Escape. Early game for Earthshaker is about Fissure traps, farming and surviving. Stats let you do this as effectively as possible.

It isn't essential, however, that you take stats early. You can play without getting stats if you feel the need to have Aftershock and Enchant Totem early on, and you don’t mind having less mana and HP. Try both ways and see what works for you.

Why take Enchant Totem after three levels of Aftershock

Enchant Totem levels in such a way that the stun jumps 0.5 seconds between level two and level three, and only 0.3 seconds from level three to level four. The skill build takes advantage of this jump. You can take Enchant Totem after two levels of Aftershock, but 0.7 seconds is a pretty short stun. It's better to level it up to level three first because Aftershock benefits Echo Slam and Fissure as well.

Why not max Enchant Totem?

Enchant Totem is useful becaues of Aftershock's stun, not because of the added damage. Each point will add less than 50 damage to a single hit during mid game, which is almost nothing considering how much damage your other spells do. The likelyhood that you actually hit the intended target is somewhat low as well because your view will often be blocked by Echo Slam's animation and all of the other AoE spells flying around in team battles. Extra HP, mana and other small bonuses from stats are much more beneficial.

ITEM BUILD

OR
OR
AND

1. Arcane Ring or Bottle

These are the two best sources of mana regeneration for Earthshaker. Arcane Ring costs 1000 gold more, but provides significantly more mana early game, and gives you enough many to use Refresher Orb later. Arcane Ring also helps you allies out quite a bit by replenishing their mana, but you won't be able to finish your Dagger as quickly as you would with Bottle. A Bottle will help you more early game, since you can get it while you're still in your lane, and it lets you abuse runes more easily.

The choice between Bottle and Arcane Ring should depend on your personal preference and you're allies' item choices. If you have another ally getting Arcane Ring, you shouldn't need one yourself. If you have 3 or 4 allies getting Bottle, Arcane is probably a better choice since it's unlikely that you'll get many runes. Moreover, if you have a very mana-dependant team, you should almost always get Arcane Ring to support them.

2. Bracers or Nulls

As a simple rule of thumb, get Bracers if you got Arcane Ring earlier and Nulls if you got Bottle. You'll have no mana problems with Arcane Ring, so Nulls aren't needed, but with Bottle they help quite a bit. You can get Bracers or Nulls before or after Dagger of Escape, depending on how the game is going.

3. Dagger

Dagger is the single most important item on Earthshaker. The main reason you need it is to get into position to use Echo Slam, but it's also very useful for ganking, chasing and escaping. Dagger is a must on Raigor.

4. Boots of Travel

After getting your Dagger, there's really not much that Raigor needs. Travels are a strong choice at this point because they further your ability to gank, farm and be present in pushes. Also, if you got Bottle earlier, Travels solve your minor mana problem because you can take a fountain trip at any time.

ITEMS AFTERWARDS

Refresher Orb

Generally a good pick as soon as you can support the mana. Being able to use Echo Slam twice is helpful for obvious reasons, and two Fissures is a nice perk too. Remember that this refreshes Dagger too, so after letting your combo loose twice, you can get out alive, assuming everything near you isn't already dead. Echo Slam reflects off of corpses and currently dying units so Refresher really can allow you to do full damage twice.

The total amount of mana needed to use your combo twice, and use Dagger of Escape and Refresher is 1435. You end up actually needing around 1350 because of mana regeneration. It’s 90 more to blink out too, but unless you blink out immediately after casting your spells, your regeneration should handle it. Keep in mind that you can always leave out a second Fissure if you have less mana though.


Shiva's Guard

Shiva's is a very strong item on Raigor, especially if you got Bottle over Arcane Ring early game. If you didn't get Arcane early, you'll need the extra mana to use Refresher, and the extra AoE has great synergy with your spells. Furthermore, the 15 armor and attack-speed reduction aura makes you very hard to bring down, especially if you have Hood or Heart to handle spell damage.


Hood of Defiance

Strong choice after your core items. Raigor will have a lot of HP by time you finish your core build, so Hood is usually of better value than Heart, unless there are very few casters on the opposing team.



Heart of Tarrasque

Slightly less cost effective than Hood unless you aren't up against many casters. Heart gives you 35 strength however, which is amplified by Enchant Totem, giving you a nice chunk of extra damage. In the long run, Heart will usually be better than Hood, but it's significantly more expensive. You can always get both too.



Guinsoo’s Scythe of the Vyse

Good item for just about any caster; Raigor is no exception. Hex is extremely helpful and more mana to spam your spells never hurts.



Ring of Basillius

The regeneration it provides is pretty insignificant, but it's a great team item. If no one else is getting it, it's a good item to pick up. Basillius is more useful with Bottle than Arcane Ring, because you actually benefit from the regeneration in that case, rather than just having exess.

ITEMS TO AVOID

Mekansm

Extra survivability and team support seems like exactly what Raigor needs, but he simply doesn’t have the mana to support it. Mekanism still seems feasible on ES along with Arcane Ring, but getting it delays your core items too much.

Radiance

While this is a good item for almost all tanks and it seems to have good synergy with Raigor’s AoE spells, it doesn’t work well on Earthshaker. Raigor will often die quickly in battles because it is his role to blink into the fray and initiate fights. Have another high-HP hero on your team get this instead, like Syllabear or Beastmaster. Earthshaker doesn’t have the farming capabilities to get Radiance before super-late game anyway.

Battlefury

It bothers me that I actually have to give an explanation of why this item is bad on Raigor, but some players are still convinced that it’s good. Raigor is not a DPS hero in any way, shape, or form. He is a pure caster. Try Refresher instead; it adds about five times more damage.

STRATEGY

START

Try to take bottom lane on the sentinel side or top lane for the scourge. These lanes are the best for Fissure traps because of some of the angles, and because the creeps will meet close to your allied tower. Top on the sentinel side and bottom on the scouge side can work too, but avoid the middle lane if possible. The terrain and various escape routes makes Fissure trapping very difficult in the middle lane. The only time you may want to go to the middle lane with ES is if you have a powerful ally like Kotl or Tinker and you want to make things difficult for their solo hero.

Don’t solo with Earthshaker. Ever.

Once you have your starting items, head off to your lane and wait a little ways outside of your base. When the creeps spawn, walk in their path and tap "S" (Stop) every few seconds to slow them down. This is called creep blocking. It is difficult to do at first, but it is a very helpful tactic and is essential for high level games. This tactic will cause the creeps to meet at a more favorable position between your last tower and the enemy tower which will make farming safe and ganking a bit easier.

EARLY GAME

When the creeps meet they should be unusually close to your tower because of your block. If you’re playing with competent players try to organize a level one gank with a Fissure trap and two stunners or nukers. Check out the replays for an examples of this. If this isn’t possible in the game you’re playing, save your mana until level three unless you see a good opportunity to trap an enemy hero near your tower. Last hit and deny as usual, being careful not to get harassed too much or get hit by a dangerous disable combo. Be especially careful if you’re against a triple lane with disablers because you can be killed extremely quickly if you get too close. Triple lanes are somewhat common in scourge lineups these days and are tough to deal with, but as long as you don’t get too close you should be okay. If one of your allies gets caught in a perma-disable combo from players in a triple lane or a gank, make sure to save him with Fissure. If you’re playing a pub or TDA then you don’t have to worry about triple lanes. How fortunate.

At level three you can start harassing a little with Fissure. It’s usually best not to use all your mana now because you may need it to save yourself from a gank or to pull of a Fissure trap kill if an opportunity presents itself. If you’re laning against two or more heroes, try to hit all of them with Fissure when you harass with it. Simply move back and forth like a Pudge player would when trying to get a Hook off and wait for them to line up, then cast Fissure. Better yet, just wait for them to move next to each other and hit them. Even though it may make hitting both heroes a little harder, click on one of the heroes directly when you use Fissure instead of on the ground. That way you won’t completely waste Fissure if you miss. If you can last hit a few creeps with Fissure when you harass with it, all the better.

If you’re laning with a disabler you may be able to get some early-game kills with good use of Fissure. Trapping with Fissure is often a spur-of-the-moment thing, but try to tell your allies before you trap if possible. You won't always be able to warn them since most opportunties for a trap will only be there for a second or two, but at least make sure they know you're looking for an opportunity. There's nothing worse than pulling off a perfect trap and then noticing your ally just went back to get something from a chicken or creep a neutral camp. See “Wall Trap” and “Basic Block” in the “Guide to Fissure” section for detailed explanations of how to trap early on. Also check out the two scrim replays to see some good examples.

If you don’t get a good trap off early, which is pretty common, you can try for a kill without a block at level six or seven if you’re laned with a disabler. Make sure you have 300-315 mana (depending on Fissure’s level) and initiate with one of your ally’s disables when there are at least several creeps near the enemy hero. Move towards your opponent and stun him with Fissure when your ally’s disable wears off. When you get close enough, cast Echo Slam while your ally runs alongside the fleeing enemy hero and hits him with another disable when the cooldown is up. If you have a third hero gank your lane, this becomes a lot easier.

When you complete Arcane, you’ll have enough mana for Echo Slam and two Fissures. Many heroes will underestimate how much damage you can actually do to them with full mana, so this is a good time to get kills. To kill with this combo, wait until a new enemy creep wave comes and walk up as close as possible to the enemy hero you’re trying to kill. Cast Fissure as soon as you get relatively close, then move a little closer and cast Echo Slam. Chase the hero while Fissure cools down and finish him off. If done correctly, this combo will deal about 700 damage after hero reduction. Just make sure you get Echo Slam off with four or more creeps next to the enemy hero to amplify the damage. If you have an ally with a disable, this is obviously a lot easier.

You can do a little ganking yourself at this point if you want to, but it’s not necessary unless another lane is being dominated by your opponents. You will level faster and gain more gold by staying in your lane, so don't feel obligated to go around ganking, but if your team needs you it is important that you help them out. Again, refer to the “Guide to Fissure” section for details on using Fissure effectively in ganks. Whether you gank or not, try to be near your allies as often as possible when you use Arcane Ring. Half the reason it's so effective is because it helps other mana-dependant heroes on your team. If you stay in your lane, you should always be next to your ally when you use it.

Pick up Boots of Speed and some Bracers, and make sure to buy TP scrolls too. These can save you from ganks, help you gank, and stop pushes; not bad for 135 gold. If your opponents aren’t careful, you can deal a huge amount of damage in a push if you teleport to the tower they are focusing and unleash all of your spells. Make sure your allies are with you though, or you’ll just deal some damage and get killed. Once you have Dagger of Escape TP scrolls are less important because you can escape and gank without them, but always carry one around if you have room.

MID GAME

Pushes should be starting now which means that you now play a key role in your team’s success. The most important thing is that you blink in at a good time and deal damage with Echo Slam, but it is also important that you use anti-pushing tactics with Fissure. See the “Push Stall”, “Funnel”, and “Push Cut” methods in the “Guide to Fissure” section. When using Echo Slam, do your best to wait until your opponents and enemy creeps are relatively tightly bunched before you blink in and use your ultimate. If you go at the wrong time you won’t do that much damage and you’ll probably be disabled and killed. Always use Echo Slam first when blinking in since it is essential that you get it off before being silenced or disabled. Do not save it to try to get kills or because it has a relatively long cooldown. If you are trying to kill a single hero though, only use it when you’re sure you can get a kill.

Also, make sure to spam Fissure on enemy heroes as often as possible during pushes. A few Fissures on the same hero will weaken him enough that you'll be able to kill him pretty easily in battle. If the opposing team doesn't have Mekasm yet, you may even be able to stop the push completely without having to fight at all.

When facing Sand King and his Blink/Epicenter combo, remember that Fissure has 1000 range, so hit him while he’s channeling if you can see him. Interrupting Epicenter can completely turn the tides of a battle. The same goes for any other channeling spells that you can stop. Fissure's range is also extremely useful for sniping enemy heroes that barely get out of battle alive. If you're good at the "Blind Fissure" and "Fissure Sniping" tactics, you can get also any hero that tries to escape.

Remember that you have a huge amount of mana with Arcane Ring, so you can use your spells to farm quickly. Once you get Enchant Totem you can farm a creep wave very quickly by walking up next to the creeps (so Aftershock hits) and using Fissure, then Enchant Totem and then finishing each creep off with one hit. If you’re not in a hurry to get gold though, just last hit normally since it will keep the creeps from pushing into enemy territory.

Continue supporting your team and initiating in pushes, and do your best to work towards completing. Boots of Travel. If you successfully take down Roshan with your team you should usually take the Aegis charge unless you have a carry hero who needs it. One free death goes a long way.

LATE GAME

Late game is a lot like mid game for Raigor. Pushes get a lot bigger because of the increased number of creeps in recent patches, which helps Echo Slam deal more damage. You will, however, have to deal with late-game carry heroes that can drop you a lot more quickly than spell casters can. If you land a good Echo Slam though, you may be able to kill these heroes along with your allies before they do much damage to you. You have three stuns for a reason.

Push with your team and do your best to take down barracks’, even if you have to die to do so. . Just like mid game, always initiate with Echo Slam in case you get silenced or get hit with chain disables. Enchant Totem should come next because you want to save Fissure for any low-HP heroes that are getting away. If there are none, just try to hit as many different targets as you can with Fissure, or hit the most dangerous enemy hero. Although it really is your role to dish out damage and then take damage for your allies, it’s still important that you stay alive whenever you can. If you're dead when the opposing team pushes your barracks, it will be very difficult for your team to defend.

When the opposing team pushes, make sure to use the anti-pushing tactics in the “Guide to Fissure” section to keep from losing your own barracks’. Using these tactics is especially important if Echo Slam is cooling down and your team isn’t properly prepared to defend a push. If the opposing team tries to trade barracks’ with you, let your team push and use the “Push Stall” tactic at two different choke points to slow the enemy push. Good spots to use it are right behind your second tower in the top and bottom lanes, and right in front of your base tower.

If the game keeps going, farm up some of the luxury items listed in the “Other Items” section so you can compete with late-game heroes. Fortunately Raigor will not become useless during late game like some other casters.

thx to 1st post Chameleon12@dota-allstars.com