Earthshaker
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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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.
Base STR
22 +3.7
Base AGI
12 +1.4
Base INT
18 +2.1
Move Speed
315
Attack Range
150
Base Armor
2
Attack DMG
27–37
Projectile
Instant
Innate Abilities
Slugger
Enemies killed with Enchant Totem or Earthshaker's other abilities are sent flying, dealing damage to enemies they hit.
SPEED:
1600
DISTANCE:
1200
DAMAGE (CREEPS):
27
DAMAGE (HEROES):
135
FLYING ENEMY'S MAX HEALTH AS DAMAGE:
7%
Abilities
Fissure
Cooldown
18 / 17 / 16 / 15s
Mana
115 / 120 / 125 / 130
Slams the ground with a mighty totem, creating an impassable ridge of stone while stunning and damaging enemy units along its line.
FISSURE DURATION:
6.5 / 7 / 7.5 / 8
STUN DURATION:
1 / 1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6
DAMAGE:
100 / 160 / 220 / 280
AFTERSHOCK STUN PCT:
0%
COOLDOWN:
18 / 17 / 16 / 15
- Creeps will wait for Fissure to disappear. They will not attempt to walk around it.
- Fissure is not blocked by Linken's Sphere.
The Nishian totem splits the world to its core with tectonic force.
Enchant Totem
Cooldown
5s
Mana
45 / 55 / 65 / 75
Empowers Earthshaker's totem, causing it to deal extra damage and have 100 bonus attack range on the next attack.
BONUS:
100 / 200 / 300 / 400%
JUMP DISTANCE:
0
CLEAVE DAMAGE:
0%
CLEAVE DISTANCE:
0
DURATION:
14
- Bonus damage is based on base damage and that given by primary attribute.
Raigor's gorilla strength can destroy mountains.
Aftershock
Causes the earth to shake underfoot, adding additional damage and stuns to nearby enemy units when Earthshaker casts his abilities.
RADIUS:
350
DAMAGE:
65 / 90 / 115 / 140
DURATION:
1 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3
- Using items does not trigger Aftershock.
The earth trembles beneath the mighty footsteps of Raigor.
Echo Slam
Cooldown
130 / 120 / 110s
Mana
150 / 200 / 250
Shockwaves travel through the ground, damaging enemy units. Each enemy hit causes an echo to damage nearby units. Real heroes cause two echoes.
RADIUS:
700
ECHO DAMAGE:
70 / 90 / 110
INITIAL DAMAGE:
100 / 140 / 180
Tectonic plates crack, mountains fold, and foes are crushed by the Echo Slam.
Talents
Aghanim's Scepter
Enchant Totem
Enchant Totem becomes a ground target ability, causing Earthshaker to jump in the air and land at the target spot, casting Enchant Totem there. Self-casting the ability will behave in the original form, without jumping. Grants Enchant Totem a cleaving attack.
Aghanim's Shard
Fissure
Reduces Fissure cooldown and releases an Aftershock along its path that stuns for a shortened duration when Earthshaker casts another ability.
Hero Performance
Median across all public matches · OpenDotaForm
50%
Win rate in recent matches
Performance
76%
KDA ratio (kills + assists / deaths)
Laning
32%
Last hits per minute over full game
Farm
55%
Average gold per minute
Fighting
24%
Average kills + assists per match
Experience
72%
Average XP per minute
Strategy
When to Pick Earthshaker?
Earthshaker mid is what I would call a "cheese pick"—and I mean that in the best possible way. It is unconventional, it catches people off guard, and when it works, it absolutely destroys the enemy team's entire game plan before they even realize what hit them.
He is strong right now, and the numbers back it up—sitting at a solid win rate across all ranks with a healthy pick rate, and the current meta of grouped-up, team fight-oriented Dota is exactly the environment where a hero with a five-man Echo Slam, a terrain-splitting Fissure, and one of the most satisfying burst combos in the game should be thriving.
The reason you pick him mid specifically is the level advantage—getting to level 6 faster than a position 4 Earthshaker means your Echo Slam comes online sooner, your Fissure gets longer, and you can start rotating to side lanes and absolutely ruin the enemy's day before they have any defensive items to deal with you.
He is disgusting in lineups that love to group and fight—Tidehunter, Enigma, and Magnus—heroes that naturally pull the enemy team together so your Echo Slam hits everything at once and deals the kind of damage that makes people genuinely question why they queued up today.
He thrives in push and summon-heavy metas too, because Echo Slam bounces off every unit on the map—creeps, summons, and illusions—and in a teamfight surrounded by ten extra units, the damage becomes absolutely obscene.
He pairs beautifully with illusion heroes on your own team too—Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, and Naga Siren—because more units near the fight means more Echo bounces, which means more damage, and nobody expects to get Echo Slammed for four thousand damage because the enemy PL had twelve illusions standing nearby.
Avoid picking him into lineups that spread out and never group up—Clinkz, Nature's Prophet, Tinker—heroes that will avoid every Echo Slam and Fissure by simply being in five different parts of the map simultaneously.
Also feels genuinely terrible into silences and instant stuns that cancel your Blink Dagger before you can initiate—Lion, Shadow Shaman, Bane—because a Blink-cancelled Earthshaker who burned all his farm on that dagger and now can't use it is just a melee strength hero with no damage standing in mid lane doing absolutely nothing. And if the enemy has a very aggressive mid that can bully you out of the lane before you reach your item timings?
Be very careful—because Earthshaker mid is not the most comfortable laner in the world, and a bad start means your whole game plan falls apart before it even begins.
Tips & common mistakes
- The core Earthshaker mid-combo is Enchant Totem, Blink, Echo Slam, right-click, Enchant Totem again, right-click—in that EXACT order. If you are doing Echo Slam first and then Enchant Totem, you are leaving an enormous amount of burst damage on the table and probably not getting the kill you needed.
- Casting any Earthshaker spell near an enemy hero procs Aftershock — this means casting Fissure directly next to a target deals both Fissure damage AND Aftershock stun damage simultaneously. This is your main solo kill tool in the mid lane, and most players completely forget it exists.
- Echo Slam bounces off every unit — creeps, summons, illusions, everything. Never use it in an isolated 1v1 duel in an empty lane if you can help it—drag the fight to a creep wave, a jungle camp, or anywhere with extra units so the bounces multiply the damage into something actually threatening.
- Fissure placement is an art form, and most Earthshaker players are terrible at it. The terrain it creates blocks movement completely—use it to cut off escape routes. BEHIND the enemy, not in front of them where they can just walk around it. Trap them, don't warn them.
- Blink Dagger is not optional; it is the entire hero. Without it, you are just a slow melee hero with a long cooldown stun that telegraphs itself from a mile away. Rush it as your first real item every single game, no exceptions, no discussion.
- People get greedy and try to save Echo Slam for the perfect five-man situation that never comes. If you have a guaranteed three-man Echo Slam available right now, take it — three dead heroes win fights. Five theoretical dead heroes that never happen win nothing.
- After your combo goes out, you are basically useless for the next ten seconds waiting on cooldowns. This means positioning AFTER the initiation matters just as much as positioning before it—always have an escape path planned so you don't just stand in the middle of five angry heroes with no abilities and die immediately after the flashiest play of the game.
Summary
Earthshaker mid is one of those picks that the enemy team simply doesn't know how to handle when they haven't prepared for it—you get your levels faster, your Echo Slam comes online earlier, and by the time they realize what is happening, you have already rotated to three different lanes and completely tilted their whole side of the map.
He is strong right now because the meta rewards exactly what he does best — punishing grouped up, fight-heavy lineups with one of the most devastating AOE ultimates in Dota 2. Master the Blink timing, learn your Fissure placements, and make sure your Echo Slam always hits at least three heroes before you press the button.
Just don't pick him mid and then play passively like a scared support waiting for things to happen—because Earthshaker mid only works when you are constantly creating chaos, rotating aggressively, and making the enemy team feel like no matter where they are on the map, a giant rock man with a very large totem is always about to ruin their entire game.
Strong Against
Popular Items
Starting Items
Early Game
Core
Late Game
Popular Neutral Items
