Kaolin for the misinformed, intimidated, and newer players

For some reason people are making Kaolin out to be a difficult hero, so this is for the players that don't understand how the hero works. To clear up any confusion, Kaolin does not require micro, he is a single unit and he does not summon controllable units. Overview: Earth Spirit is a strength melee caster, who is pretty item independent. He can be ran as an offlaner, mid, or a 4 support. You can start off with just about any of your abilities, but your third ability ( Geomagnetic Grip) is usually the best choice in a lane with partner(s) since it can be used to disengage from an early gank, if you're soloing whether it be mid or another lane you might want to get your second ability ( Rolling Boulder) to just escape or close in on a friendly gank. You want one of each of your abilities at level 3, no exceptions. Max abilities in order of Magnetize, Boulder Smash, Rolling Boulder, and then finish up with a Geomagnetic Grip. If your having trouble locking down certain units then a couple earlier points in Geomagnetic Grip can help but you're sacrificing damage and cooldown reduction by opting for this route. Abilities: Ability breakdown should probably start with Stone Remnant since it is what the hero's entire kit revolves around. Stone Remnant is an ability that is provided to you at level one and can not be leveled. You can think of them as strategic pawns much like Templar Assassin's Psionic Trap, except you're not provided with vision. Kaolin's first ability, Boulder Smash, can be considered a Force Staff that is not self targetable and has a cast range of melee. If the target you Boulder Smashed collides with an enemy unit it will deal damage to that enemy. Stone Remnant effect: If the target was a Remnant then it will go much further and if it makes contact it will apply a 5 second silence. Earth Spirit's second ability ( Rolling Boulder) is a personal Tusk Snowball that substitutes a stun for a major movement and attack slow. Stone Remnant effect: Roll double the range if you collide with a remnant, and does bonus damage. My favorite of his abilities is his third ( Geomagnetic Grip). You just pull an Ally or a Remnant towards yourself and if the targeted unit collides with an enemy it stuns them and does damage to the hit enemy. His ultimate ( Magnetize) is a huge opportunity. You cast it an it applies a debuff to all enemies in an AoE, the debuff lasts 6 seconds and does damage over time. Additionally if you apply a slow or silence from your other abilities then it will affect all units under your debuff. Stone Remnant effect: Remnants near units under your debuff explode and refresh the debuff. Misc: Make sure your 4th ability key (stone remnant as your ultimate is considered 6th) is set to something easy to access. If you're using QWER then D, T, F, and 5 are good options. Blink Dagger and Force Staff are good initiation tools. Arcane Boots are your friend. You can place remnants as you're starting to roll. Use Geomagnetic Grip to rip friendlies out of fights to disengage, or if there are multiple friendlies place a remnant behind the enemies and Geo it as you place it for an instant disengage stun. Don't be afraid to place remnants for intimidation or even use them defensively to lure enemies into tower. Using Boulder Smash as a finisher to kick them to death is extremely satisfying as the body keeps going. Place remnants close to the enemy as they flee to reapply your ultimate. How to cherrypick targets early game: Rolling Boulder -> Remnant in front of yourself as you begin Rolling Boulder -> Remnant behind enemy after you collide with them -> Geomagnetic the remnant behind them to stun -> Magnetize -> chase and place remnants to do continuous damage. You can use enemy Stone remnants.

I'll add on/edit this later, just took a few minutes to do a write up before I go for a jog.

Honestly earth spirit is not that hard to be usefull with if you understand how he works.
I tried one game against bots and then played him online. I played as a 5 support and got arcanes, mek. Then tried to build into a blink but we were too much behind to get one so i got a halberd instead. At some point we started winning teamfights and i was of great use in chases and saving a guy out of position. (and getting teammates out of the trees or off cliffs)

He is really hard to master though, i didnt really use the pull on allies and i missed the boulder smash silence often.

Why do you think he's item dependent? I just played game with Arcane Boots, Blink Dagger, Drum of Endurance and everything was pretty ok.

He said independant. You probably misread.

How do you feel about his mana? Does he really need the mana from drums? I played 2 games with him so far and i dont think he needs much. I just had arcanes and i had enough mana, even though i had mek.

Early game he is quite mana starved.You should have also explained a basic combo with him.

I'm not having many troubles playing him, but sometimes I find the Boulder Smash very tricky because you can't directly choose its trajectory. His overall skillset isn't that different from other Dota Heroes such as Elder Titan or Tusk, the only difference is that you can place boulders between a skill and the other.

I really like the Rolling Boulder into Boulder Smash combo: you catch the enemy (and possibly slow him), turn and kick him into your team/tower; thie Hero's skills are also super useful as a support since you can manipulate teammates and even enemies! Kick that Puck on the other side of the Rosh pit and drag back a friendly Clockwerk if he cogs a Lifestealer (or vice versa, if Clock is your enemy). I haven't tried him as a support yet, but I believe Arcane Boots and Magic Wand are enough for your mid game; you can focus on Wards and maybe get a Force Staff/ Drum of Endurance/ Ghost Scepter/whatever if you have spare gold.

If you go mid, though, I think a bit of "micro" (I don't really think this is micromanagement, it's just some kind of skillshot ability but regarding the stones and not the enemies) is required unless you want to afk farm and not help in ganking/pushing.

I agree, which is why I thought a Blink Dagger is a good tool to position yourself directly behind an enemy for a clean easy kick into a tower or your team, and then Rolling Boulder back towards them.

Since Rolling Boulder has such a short cooldown and mana cost I think he'd make an excellent roaming support. It'll probably see a cooldown increase in the following patch.



Independent*

I think that build right there for him is enough to be quite effective. Durability, mobility, and utility seem to be the best route for him.
Maybe even a Eul's.



I did, it was under miscellaneous. I specifically wrote down an early game combo that leaves you with a Boulder Smash and Rolling boulder afterward so as to not use excess mana and have a disengage if people rotate in.

Heavens halberd is a great item on him.
I also dont build any mana items on him exept mana boots. His int is just so great.

5v5 SHOM Earth Spirit will be very fun.