7.15 Earth Spirit Roamer In Depth Guide

Introduction

Hi! Earth Spirit (Kaolin) is a melee strength hero, that possess a vast arsenal of disabling skills.

Unlike his brothers (Ember Spirit and Storm Spirit), Kaolin is shifting roles since his introduction in the game. Designed to be a Tanker, played heavily as a Core in early interactions of the game, Earth evolved to be a Support/Roamer. Earth Spirit has the longest reach area stun in the game, and his high mobility makes him extremely fun to be played. Being a strength-based support, he can still be built to be tanky(-ish). But his biggest contributions will be through his disables and TON of magical damage.

While not as powerful as before, in the right hands he can still dominate the game, dictate the pace of your team while frustrating the opposition like no other hero.

However, he is difficult to master. He have a unique mechanic , that forces the player not only manage his mana but also resource manage his Stone Remnants. Also, you WILL need to develop muscle memory to properly deliver his combos and maximize his impact on the game.

While challenging, none other support has the same “clutch” potential as Earth Spirit. A well-placed stun can crush enemy team initiation or save an ally. But at the same time, not properly deliver his abilities will impact negatively your team. So Kaolin will need to be practiced and studied.

After almost 300 games, this is my ideas of how you can maximize your journey with our beloved rocky buddy =)

This is an in-depth guide of Kaolin, so I won`t be shy about the size of my points. Also, feel free to adjust my ideas to suit your playstyle.

About Me

My name is Leoh. I'm Brazilian, playing Dota since 2013 - but games in general since 3 yo. I always liked to share knowledge and help other people to succeed, and also learn from other people experiences in the process. I've written several faqs for other games like Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2 (Rivals Schools 2), Suikoden 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Series, X-Com and so on.

I was a very active DF`s discord and done a lot of coaching with people all over the globe. But Dota is a very complex and ever-changing game. I still consider myself a student of the game and will be available to exchange ideas. I really hope my points can help you improve your game somehow.

Outside Dota, I`m into strategy and RPGs. I also LOVE sandbox games like Cities Skylines and the Civilization Series. I suck at FPS but most of my friends play PUBG and Counter-Strike, so I'm giving it a chance.

But my main game outside Dota is being Street Fighter V. Last year a friend invited me to play, and after being beaten badly (lol) I rediscovered the joy and excitement that FGCs provide to you. And also the incredible people that you meet along the way ;)

Right now I`m Ranking Gold as Laura - and learning some Zeku after much insistence.

Roles/Impact

As said before, Kaolin shifted roles during the evolution of the game and tons of nerfs that he received since his introduction. Right now, he is normally played as a support – preferably a position 4 support that can roam. Kaolin has an early game stomping potential and will shine if he can setup up kills for his teammates on the laning phase. He does not need tons of items but will need levels to stay relevant in the game. If you roam around and can’t get kills (or worst, die in the process), you will have a tough game ahead. So be clever and learn how to properly time your efforts to maximize your XP and take the right chances in the game.

Earth needs to create setbacks for enemies to properly survive during the later stages of the game since he will have some problems after the enemy carries farm a BKB. If you don’t punish them early on, they will be prepared against you and Kaolin will be kinda useless on mid/late game. On that stage, you should already have some farm available to spend on a utility item, or shift your focus to lock-on enemy supports and remove them from the fight as quickly as possible.

Sticking with the rock motif, your decisions in the game will be written in stone. A nice start will secure a win, but a troubled one will stop your momentum and limit your impact and lower your ceiling.

Pros/Cons

Pros Old-man Swag + High Mobility + Can solo kill most heroes in the game with lvl 6 and 5 remnants (more about this later) + Powerful crowd control + 2000 Distance Stun + Can be build to be tanky if needed + Can Boulder Smash allies into safety Pick Him when: + Your team needs a stun + Enemy team have squishy heroes that can be ganked and easily get killed + Your team has another support or other reliable disabling abilities, that can chain disable an enemy. + Your team have a nuker, someone that can burst damage and a enjoy your ganks and setups.

Cons Thousand years-old heroes may suffer Arthritis sometimes - Needs to properly manage Remnants - Is mana dependent, and will have short mana supply early on - Will be punished by mistakes - Silence makes him useless - A nice Magnetize will be your most powerful weapon, but will expose you to damage. - BKB will nullify him later on. Avoid Picking Him when: + Your team have already supports, specially supports that needs to compete in farm with you to be reliable IE: Skywrath Mage, Elder Titan, Bounty Hunter. + Enemy team have silence that can be used to counter-initiate you. Riki and Silencer for instance are tough matchups. + Enemy have a tanky, survival-oriented hero that can survive you. Bristleback, Axe are another tough challenges + Your carries don’t have early game potential to secure kills, or needs to farm expensive itens to start contributing to your team. IE : Spectre, Lone Druid, Alchemist

Allies

Bloodseeker: Can Rupture enemies to lock enemies, making them a sitting duck for your combos. ALSO you can kick enemies to force rupture damage. Enemies will take rupture damage even if you turn them into stone using Enchant Remnant, one of the cheesiest tactics on the game.


Naga Siren : Ensnare is a reliable tool to make enemies immobile, to secure stun/silence. Song of the Siren can be used for you properly position yourself and your remnants to a good Magnetize and chain silence thru Geomagnetic Grip.


Enigma : Black Hole is an awesome tool disable enemies while you deliver a good Magnetize. A Black Hole and a Magnetize combo team-wipe enemies depending on the enemy team itemization. You can also follow-up with a stun to hold them in-place to take extra damage on Midnight Pulse. Malefice also slows enemies down so you can chase them up. But keep in mind that Enigma is also a greedy-ish hero, and is supposed to be off-laning to really complement Kaolin. If your team picks a supp 4 Enigma, consider not picking Kaolin so Enigma can get his Blink Dagger faster.


Crystal Maiden: One of the best pairs possible. Crystal can lock down enemies for you, provide slow, have burst damage AND give you mana regen – making your life WAY easier. Boulder Smash is a nice area stun that can be used to defend Rylai during her ult. Rolling Boulder`s slow stacks with Crystal Nova and Freezing Field, almost reducing to 0 your opposition move speed.


Enchantress: This one is kinda situational. But if you have an offlane Enchantress, your ganking abilities will be more than welcome to help her to secure kills. Untouchable and Enchant are powerful slows that can help you to land your skills. ALSO you can kick your enemies while Enchantress is throwing her Impetus to further the distance between Aiushtha and her target, making her deal EVEN more damage. Just make sure that you do this to secure a kill, since your kick can benefit the enemy by moving him away from Ench`s range. Also, legend says that Earth Spirit used to dig Enchantress booty =P


Faceless Void, Dragon Knight, Sven: these fellas can chain-stun with your Boulder Smash, and have burst damage to secure kills early on. They are probably the best carries to complement your abilities and snowball through the game.

Skills

Spoiler: Click to view

Boulder Smash is your biggest weapon. Kaolin kicks a unit, throwing it back 480/600/680/800 units. If the unit kicked is an enemy, he will receive damage. Every enemy unit on the path of the throwback will also be damaged as well

If Kaolin kicks a Stone Remnant, the statue will travel 2000 units, deal damage and stunning every enemy unit or neutral creep on its path (except Ancients).

Boulder Smash have two different targeting systems.
To kick a remnant, you target the direction you want the smash lands, and the game will auto-search for a statue within 200 units of you and kick it in the direction pointed.
You CAN kick Remnants in any direction you want. Notice the mouse clicking below:

To kick a unit, you need to MANUALLY target the unit you want to be smashed. Since you have to click on the unit, you CAN'T select the direction you wanna kick it. So Boulder Smash on units will always be target towards Kaolin is facing at the moment he lands the Spell.
Keep that in mind and take your time adjusting your positioning to ensure you get the right direction

The knockback will move units thru impassible terrain, so you can hit enemies on high ground for instance.
Boulder Smash units won't cancel channeling abilities. So you can kick allies during Town Portal Scrool, Black Hole, Death Ward and other abilities. This is a nice way to reposition them without braking their chant. But the same goes to enemies : if you see an enemy using TP, remember to kick a Remnant on him or else you might help him to escape.

Spoiler: Click to view

Rolling Boulder is your mobility and ganking tool. Its a roll of 1600 units of distance (800 if you dont use a remnant) and can catch most enemies of guard.
While rolling, every enemy creep or neutral unit on your path will take damage. But if you hit a enemy Hero, the rolling will stop and you will appear o the next to the enemy but on the opposite side of where the skill landed. If you used a Remnant to deliver the roll, the enemy will also receive Slow.

To be able to use it properly offensively, try to se a pattern on your enemies. Some players move up-and-down, other moves side-to-side. Normally, you will have a better chance by attacking the enemy at a 90 degrees angle, since the skill have a "miss-tolerance" of 300 units. But since you can initiate from almost a full screen away of you enemy, sometimes going straight is the best option. If you take the second approach, I advise you to use your skill as farthest as possible - so if you miss, you won`t land in enemy lines and far away from help.

Rolling Boulder can be used defensively as well, and will be your major tool to runaway from danger. Its cooldown is really low and the cost of mana is small. But remember that you need 0.6 seconds of channeling for that skill. During that time you are defenseless and you are NOT invincible to magic as Storm Spirit or Ember Spirit are when using their mobility skills. So Stuns, Rod of Atos, Scythe of Vyse will break your roll and leave you defenseless.

At the same time, during your roll, you can cast skills and use items as you wish. A common tactic is to roll and tp to safety.

Another "trick" is Rolling Boulder to get outside the map. If you are trying to juke someone and you are near the edge of the map, try to roll in a 45 Degree angle toward the border of the map. If everything works, Kaolin will reappear in a random spot near the point in front of where his skill finished but vacuumed inside the map.

Spoiler: Click to view

Geomagnetic Grip is your silence. Kaolin can cast it on Remnants or allied creeps only. Earth Spirit will "attrach" the selected unit, and everything in his path will take SILENCE. If you pull a Remnant, you will deal damage.

Grip on Remnants:

Grip on Creeps:

Different to Boulder Smash, Grip won't target preferably Remnants. To properly land combos, you will need to click exactly on the unit you want to pull. Its common that people messes up the Push-Pull combo because they gripped a creep instead of the Remnant. Take extra-care while using this skill.

Geomagnetic Grip can receive an upgrade at level 25 that enable you to target allied heroes. While good on paper, I consider this upgrade situational since the the pulling speed is very slow and the range is not that good. If you want to use this talent, remember that Grip have 4 abilities that are exceptions on its mechanic. Geomagnetic Grip don't work against units on Black Hole, Chronosphere , Duel or Flaming Lasso. Beside these 4, everything works - including Pit of Malice or Kinetic Field.

Spoiler: Click to view

Magnetize is your ult and your biggest source of damage. It has a unique mechanic. When activated, Earth Spirit will "infect" every enemy unit around a 300 unit radius. Magnetized units will take damage every 0.5 seconds, 6 seconds total. If they take a full load of Magnetize, they will suffer from 300 to 600 magic damage each.

However, if a Magnetize unit get closer to a Stone Remnant, it will react with the statue and the Remnant will RECAST the ult to every single unit inside a 600 unit radius. This process can be repeated as long you have Remnants available.

If an enemy has negative buffs applied to him due Rolling Boulder or Geomagnetic Grip (slow or silence) and reacts to a remnant, all his buffs will be applied to enemies that will suffer Magnetize as well.

Theoretically, Magnetize can deal 1500 to 3000 damage in the area - without counting spell amplification items.

The problem is: to land Magnetize you will need to be close to your enemies. And to deal Max Damage, you will need to maintain your cool and wait the very last second to summon another Remnant to recast the Ult.
Another bad side effect is that Remnants that reacted to Magnetize will blow up and be wasted after 8 seconds. If you consider that takes 60 seconds of cooldown to get 1 remnant back, it may take 5 minutes to get all your charges back.

My strategy is use Magnetize on 1 vs 1 situations that I KNOW I can win, or during teamfights. On the second scenario, try to wait a fell moments before everyone is doing something and try to sneakily ult on your enemies, and quickly disengage. Chances are that they won't even notice the DPS until you use your second Remnant. Take your time and try to maximize the damage afflicted.

A cool thing to notice is that you can kick remnants to force magnetize enemies get in contact with your statues and recast the skill.
This is a good example (below). I could force a recast on a running Dragon Knight and messed up his Armlet toggle to seize a kill
Play Video

Spoiler: Click to view

Enchant Remnant is a skill unlocked via Aghanim's Scepter. I see this as a situational build, since affording Aghs is a luxury when you are working as a Roamer.
It grants Kaolin the ability to turn any hero in a Remnant for 3 seconds. During that time, the target will receive a hard debuff, nullifying every effect active. The target won't be able to cast any spells, use any target or suffer any damage.

Enchant Remnant will pierce any magical resistance, such as Black King Bar. However, it won't go thru Linken's Sphere.

They can be kicked, rolled or pulled like every other Remnant.

After 3 seconds, the statue will explode damaging enemy units in a 300 radius. Allies won't suffer any damage.

This skill have two applicable uses :
[*] Lockdown enemy carries, after they got their BKBs... you jump, turn them into stone and kick them away from the fight. This will grant you numerical advantage during every Teamfight
[*] Save allies trapped into some skill or in bad positioning. While Geomagnetic Grip with LVL 25 upgrade can't be used against some skills, Enchant Remnant CAN.
So you can use this skill to avoid Legion Commander win a Duel for instance.
Jerax used this ability to save N0Tail INSIDE a Chronosphere. And of course, we have this miracle provided by KAKA on TI7
Play Video

Combos & Strats

Push-Pull
Stone Remnant > Boulder Smash > Geomagnetic Grip
Stone Remnant > Geomagnetic Grip > Boulder Smash

Spoiler: Click to view

This is the most basic combo of Earth Spirit. It consists in spawn a Remnant and uses the same statue to inflict Silence and Stun (or vice-versa).

It's easier to land the first version, since you have way more reach with Boulder Smash, and since you confirm the stun you can safely walk into the enemy to complement with the silence.

As explained before, keep in mind that Boulder Smash will auto-correct misclicks on the Remnant and kick it where you want, but Geomagnetic Grip WON'T. So practice a little bit this combo on a lobby (as on the image above), so you won't pull a creep by accident during the Team Fight =P

Here is an example of Push-Pull used as a counter-initiation: Play Video .

Stone Remnant

Rolling Boulder

Boulder Smash

Spoiler: Click to view

It's a strategy that I use often while ganking mid. The idea is to land a Rolling Boulder + Stone Remnant in the enemy mid, and use the slow applied on him to properly position yourself and kick him in the direction of your team. If you can kick him into the low ground, even better ! This will expose him since his only options are go in the direction of your mid or endure the harass until he arrives on the other stair.

It works best if your Mid is Ranged or have the mobility to afford the pursuit.

Here is a nice highlight where I was fortunate to land it: Play Video

Stone Remnant

Geomagnetic Grip

Rolling Boulder

Boulder Smash

Spoiler: Click to view

For a while, Kaolin was played as a Core and W33 was ridiculous with him. Playing mostly as mid, he had a setup when his opponent was close to his tower range.
It consists on the same basis as the Cliff Kicking. However, W33 used silence as a starter to ensure his opponent can't use skills to avoid the combo (like Queen of Pain, Puck or Juggernaut could do). Also, you will want to make the opponent take tower damage to help you turn the tides to your side.

Other players apply the same tactic later on (especially Miracle), and Jerax still uses it defensively on enemy carries. Play Video

Rolling Boulder

Stone Remnant

Stone Remnant

Boulder Smash

Spoiler: Click to view

This sequence is very tricky and will require some time to master. I saw TNC's Tims doing it first, but I don't know if he created this combo. But from the best Earth Spirit players, he is the one that does it constantly, so I'm kinda attributing to him.

Boulder Smash does have the best range on the game, but Tims sometimes amplify that range doing a Rolling Boulder with Remnant, spawning another remnant during the rolling and canceling the last frames of the animation into a Boulder Smash.

If done properly, you can Stun enemies up to 3800 units from you (almost 2 full screens). The tricky part comes in the fact that you have to MANUALLY place the remnant you will need to use in the Boulder Smash. If you double-tap the to spawn remnant during the roll, you will go right through it cause you will be in motion.

Play Video

Items & Levels

[*]
Talents on Kaolin are situational
LVL 10 - I normally pick Intelligence for better mana regen, but you can also take +40 Damage to help you farm a bit.
LVL 15 - This one is 50/50. If enemy is dealing primeraly phisical damage, I would take the armor buff anytime. If the opponent is relying on Magic Damage or if you are confortable in the game, take the +200 Rolling Boulder. It triples the damage output of this skill, and can guarantee some kills for you.
LVL 20 - I normally will take the +15% Magic Damage. Since most of your damage output will be magical, this will help from flash farming to helping on team fights.
I would only take the GPM Talent if I'm having to share warding responsibilities or in case of being so far behind the game that I could not get items to sustain myselft reliably.
LVL 25 - This talents sucks to be honest. 9 times out of 10 I would take the stun increase, simply because Boulder Smash is just too good.

Early Game:

are basics survival items. Keep in mind that Earth Spirit have a short mana supply early-on, so use your claritys wiselly.

stacks with your Rolling Boulder, increasing the slow afflicted in the enemy. This 12% more will help you to secure kills on your rotations.

here is where I differ from other players. Most high-level players go for Tranquil Boots. However, I think that Arcane suits more my playstyle, since I get a bigger mana pool and can stay roaming around the map without going back to base for regen.

Veil is a must on Earth Spirit since you can deliver 25% more damage on your skills. Not only that, but the HP regen will keep you active around the map and provide armor to your ganks.


With this items, your job is pretty much done. Earth Spirit does not need items, and I had my fair share of matches where I ended with only the items above.
But, in case you might need:

Mobility


Some players that I admire consider Blink Dagger a Core Item on Kaolin. With it, you can jump on enemies to Magnetize and catch them off-guard - way faster than you ever could with Rolling Boulder. However, I find it hard to a Roamer to gather that amount of gold before enemy carry got himself a BKB - making my initiation useless.

Kaka in special uses Blink very creatively, blinking to Enchant Remnant an ally and save him from certain death.

If this suits your playstyle, keep in mind that option. If you need a defensive mobility option (against Riki or Monkey King), go for Force Staff.

Extension


Is a nice cheap option that provides magical resistance, and also some escape to be used by you or your teammates. Worth the investment


Provide armor, magic regen and can be used while you sneak on your enemies to magnetize to disrupt their tactics even more. Worth the investment


Ok, this one is extremely situational. Kaya can make you deal more damage, stacks with Veil and makes your skills cheaper. But you will probably purchase Kaya on a stomping scenario where your team already is way ahead. And you got yourself a Veil.
Then if you wanna make the other team salty, go for it. Otherwise, spend on something else.


Atos is kinda good on Kaolin. It provides strength, makes you more durable and provides another lockdown to your team - while helping you to secure Boulder Smashes.
May worth the investment, but it may lose significance after BKBs.


Mek is situational as well. If your team does not have healing sources, needs to get a Guardian Greaves for some reason (and have the money to afford), then it makes sense. But I would rather spend in something else tho =P


Lens has a series of restrictions in Earth Spirit. It won't improve your ult, neither the distance traveled by Rolling Boulder or Boulder Smash. BUT it will make you pull remnants and heroes farther using Grip and you will be able to kick without actually touching the enemy (similar to Pudge's Dismember using lens).
Also, you will get a little bit more reach to Enchant Remnant

Some high-level players do pick Lens in their builds. I personally never faced situations where I HAD to, but is a good mana regen anyway.
Spell Imunnity


At some point, you may need to pick something that protects you from being counter-initiated. BKB is a better option overall and is probably your go-to pick in most cases.
However, Linken makes sense, since it will deliver more mana regen and build you lots of stats.

Luxury Items


Nullifier is expensive, but if you are able to get before BKBs, it's awesome.
Magnetize damage every 0.5 seconds, and each tick counts as a separate hit.
So if you are able to Nullify an enemy and magnetize him, he won`t be able to move - not counting the silence. Also, you will become much tankier.

It's not for every game, but it's really fun =)


Agh's is situational but will enable you to give lots of stats and will enable you to [Enchant Remnant]. Take a look at the skill section for more insights about it.

Shout out!

[*] Soneca, Cell, Azl, Dengue, NoTag, Tulio.Gr, Twister, Spies, Don Cosnie, Paçoca, Urek Mazino : Thanks for all the support and shared laughs through the years. Life is easier because of you guys.
[*] Chichi : The best portuguese export after Cristiano Ronaldo. Thanks for your support and complicity. Wish the best of luck in this awesome new phase alongside Timmy. And of course, also for my fellow minions Bunkansee and Pixelmancer.
[*] Coco the Doge: My son, whom inherited my natural charm, charisma and ability to enjoy the hottest girl around. AS IF hahahahah
[*] Jar-Jar : I love this crazy indian hahahah Jar you make me laugh beyond measure. We need more Jars on the World.
[*] Pos-Sabadomon(AKA Domingos,Sh1fter): Fatty, with the unreliable network, but still funny and an awesome company. Make sure to check his Underlord build
[*] Wulfstan : My hothead friend in Romania. W33 is playing in Brazil, you should join him soon
[*] Hiff : Muh favorite asian O.O Prettiest player on SEA. Best of luck on your discord and keep stomping people like no tomorrow.
[*] Artemis : Hope to join you in Seattle soon girl!
[*] Soffy : Few people can irritates me as you can. But still, I really like to share my day laughing with you. Please if you did not yet, take a look on her guide
[*] Millia : Hey Leonardo! - Blessid Union of Souls . thanks for everything <3

Credits

KidneyShake - Earth Spirit chibi
AbrarKhan123 - Family Photo
Step-S - Earth Spirit Watercolor
Shenron1030- Skills Image