I came in like a wrecking ball. By Moodkill [6.82]

Introduction

Earth Spirit also known as Kaolin is quite a hard hero to play but REALLY fun to play once you get used to his mechanics and thus he became my favourite hero. Kaolin is a very flexible hero, he has almost all the roles such as nuker, ganker, escape, initiator, support, lane support and perhaps in some situations a semi-carry not only that his health is pretty high so he can take lots of hits. In short, he is VERY versatile.

This build is mainly focused on an initiator and support Kaolin.

Note: This is my first guide I ever written so please be nice and feel free to point anything out.

Pros + and Cons -

Pros
Excellent early and mid game
Low cooldown escape ability
Quite tanky
Fun to play when winning
Saving teammates like a baws
That hero icon is so fabulous
All skills destroys trees ( Good for messing up enemy jukkes )
Do you even lift?

Cons
Empty mana pool would kill you.
Stone Remnant has a long recharge time.
Boulder Smash needs practice.
All skills must be understood well before playing him.
Not inside the captain's draft hero pool

Stone Remnant

I'll try my best to explain what this ability is about, all your skills use Stone Remnant for example when using Boulder Smash it stuns the enemy and also travels a longer distance.

So be careful when using this, don't just drop it anywhere you please as Stone Remnant has a 30 second recharge time and that is not short. There might be a time where you need it badly so seriously don't just drop it for a Rolling Boulder just because you're lazy to walk. If you're in a teamfight without a Stone Remnant it's almost like you're out of ammo in a counter strike gunfight and all you have is a knife which is like your right click. I also often see Earth Spirit players drop a Stone Remnant before using skills, it might get you more stones ready but the enemy will be prepared for it compared to dropping a Stone Remnant when you need it.

More info on Stone Remnant mechanics will be explained below.

Boulder Smash

Earth Spirit smashes the target enemy, ally, or Stone Remnant, knocking it back in the direction he is facing. The knocked back target deals damage to all units it hits. If the target was a Stone Remnant the travel distance is improved.

Range: 150
Radius: 200
Slam Distance: 500 / 600 / 700 / 800 (2000 when using a Stone Remnant)
Slam Speed: 1200
Damage: 125
Stun Duration: 0.75 / 1.25 / 1.75 / 2.25 seconds (When using a Stone Remnant)

Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown Time: 22 / 18 / 14 / 10



This skill is your bread and butter, with this ability you can either kick your enemies to your team to get a safe kill, use this ability like a Force Staff to kick teammates to safety and use this ability to stun the enemy and start the fight.

As said above, you only get the stun when you kick a Stone Remnant and it hits the enemy. Kinda like sniping.

This skill should be maxed earlier than Rolling Boulder so that your ganks wouldn't fail ( Probably )

Note: Practice lots with this skill as it might not go how you wanted it to, so keep calm and aim properly.

Distance traveled when kicking a Stone Remnant :


Distance traveled when kicking anything else eg: creeps or heroes :

Rolling Boulder

After a 0.6s delay, Earth Spirit becomes a boulder, rolling in the direction he is facing and damaging enemy units, stopping if he collides with an enemy hero or is stunned. If the boulder rolls over a Stone Remnant, the Stone Remnant is consumed and travel distance and speed are improved, and impacted enemies have their movement and attack speed slowed.

Range: 800 (1600 when using a Stone Remnant)
Radius: 150
Damage: 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (135 / 180 / 225 / 270 when using a Stone Remnant)
Movement and Attack Speed Slow: 80% for 2 seconds (Only when using a Stone Remnant)

Mana Cost: 50 Cooldown Time: 16 / 12 / 8 / 4



My favourite ability, allows you to escape from a fight or make the enemy pee their pants when you suddenly pop up from nowhere.

When using this skill, rolling in-front of a Stone Remnant would make the travel distance farther. Don't waste a stone remnant just because you're lazy to walk only use it when escaping, ganking or you're not in a teamfight you're supposed to be in.

Note: Don't rush into a 3-5 man army alone with this skill unless you want to save someone. "There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity", Juggernaut.

Screenshots for comparison right below:

Without adding a Stone Remnant



Rolling Boulder with a Stone Remnant

Geomagnetic Grip

Earth Spirit pulls the target allied unit or Stone Remnant to his location. Enemies struck by the flying target will be silenced, and take damage if the flying target is a Stone Remnant.

Range: 1100
Radius: 180
Pull Speed: 1000
Silence Duration: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Stone Remnant Damage: 100 / 150 / 200 / 250


Mana Cost: 75 Cooldown Time: 13


This skill can silence the enemy and deal a quite high damage when you pull a unit that goes through the pulled units' path and is a great teammate saving skill. It will only deal damage IF the pulled unit is a Stone Remnant.

Use this to either finish off an enemy, save your allies or (I haven't tried this yet) pull in your team AOE stunner such as Slardar or Tidehunter to start the fight.

Also remember to beware of who you pull eg pulling a teammate under Rupture.

Magnetize

Magnetizes units in a small nearby area, causing them to take damage over time for a short duration. Any magnetized heroes cause nearby Stone Remnants to become energized and explode, applying/refreshing the magnetize debuff on all units near the Stone Remnant. This process can repeat multiple times. Stone Remnants are destroyed in this process. If an enemy hero is affected by silence or slows as a result of Rolling Boulder or Boulder Smash, all magnetized heroes share the effects.

Cast Radius: 300
Search Radius: 300
Explosion Radius: 600
Duration: 6
Damage per Second: 50 / 75 / 100

Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown Time: 80



Ahh your ultimate, with this killing heroes would be a snap.

This ability is a damage over time thing and when you place a Stone Remnant, guess what? IT FREAKIN REFRESHES. What I mean is whenever a Stone Remnant is place on an enemy affected with your ult, the debuff repeats again and continues to whack 'em. The short cooldown of this high-damage ultimate is what makes Earth Spirit feared, a good skill combo would be with blackhole or Reverse Polarity

Don't hesitate to use this against one enemy, a kill can change the whole game.

Screenshot for more info :

The zap thingy occurs when a Stone Remnant is place near the enemy effected by Magnetize

Gameplay

Early game



At the early game, just sit there and let the carry farm. Take as many ganking opportunities if possible, as you know time and Tidehunter wait for no man ( See what I did there ). If the gank fails be sure to pull your teammate to safety.

Taking the mid lane is good if your teammates don't want to. Get some last hits and once you hit lvl6, start ganking people with your insane long range stun, but choose which lane you want to gank wisely.

You should have your Arcane Boots and Buckler by this stage.

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Mid Game



This is where you start to rely on Boulder Smash a lot, what you should do is stay out of enemy sight and start sniping. Wait for an oppurtunity and STUN!!! Let your team whack the enemy. You can also try to do a 1v1 battle with heroes free farming lanes but it's risky

You should have your Mekansm and Veil of Discord done at this time.

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Late Game



Okay this is where Earth Spirit starts to drop, his only skill that still does well in late game is Boulder Smash which is his only stun. This is why I put Veil of Discord as a core in-case your skills deal no damage. Despite Veil of Discord being a good damage-dealing item, try not to drag the game too late and it is best to end the game before say 40 minutes? If not most likely you're gonna have a hard time dealing with tanky heroes such as Alchemist or Bristleback.

Your role in late game is as usual to stun the enemy and get the war starting.

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Also here's a tip when ganking or doing almost anything with Earth Spirit. Before you stun or tower dive, getting out of enemy vision is important. Think of it as playing Pudge, if people see you they would most likely be more cautious and hug creeps. Here's an example:



See that Crystal Maiden over there? Doesn't she look delish? If you are spotted, the Chaos Knight would be prepared and spam all his skills whereas if they did not expect a gank, the 2 heroes there would usually not react fast enough.

Skill Combo

Ok this is the hard part so here goes


1)Start off with a Rolling Boulder and use your Boulder Smash to kick the enemy to your team and let them do all the work( Don't forget to use Geomagnetic Grip if the enemy has an escape skill ).

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2)Use your Boulder Smash together with a Stone Remnant to get a stun on the enemy then use a Rolling Boulder to get in the fight and instantly pop a Magnetize.

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3)Use your Geomagnetic Grip on a Stone Remnant and instantly use Rolling Boulder ( Yes you can use it while rolling but you have to be fast ), that would deal quite a good amount of damage with only one stone then drop another Stone Remnant and kick it with a Boulder Smash and as always pop your Magnetize

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4)Use Geomagnetic Grip on a Stone Remnant and quickly use a Boulder Smash, with this you can get a silence and a stun HOWEVER you might miss the Boulder Smash if the enemy has very fast reaction speed.

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5)This one will require lots and lots of finger speed so here goes drop a Stone Remnant in front of an enemy and kick it with a Boulder Smash then immediately use Geomagnetic Grip to pull the stone you just kicked then instantly use Rolling Boulder, so you get a 2.25 second stun, a 5 second silence along with a 80% slow with just 1 Stone Remnant. When done correctly will look beautiful, practice this if you attempt to do it in -wtf mode. ( Make sure you are considerably close to the enemy so your Geomagnetic Grip is in range for the pull. )

Screen shot right below

As I said place a Stone Remnant.


Then use Boulder Smash.


After that, use Geomagnetic Grip to pull the stone ( Must be done quickly)



Finally, use Rolling Boulder to get close to the enemy



Video on the combo:
Play Video

Items

Core


This item is placed as core because it can help you and your team survive longer even if you're playing as a Semi-carry, though it can be skipped for a Vanguard or a Heart of Tarrasque if needed. P


This is also your core because since most your abilities are magical damage, it helps boost your damage by a lot and also helps if the game drags out for too long.


Great movespeed, Great attack speed and great stats, I don't see why this shouldn't be considered unless some terrible thing happens which I have yet to encounter. If you want you can skip it as this item would be more important if you're playing as a support. Either get Mekansm or this unless you plan to get both which is fine too.

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Situational


So you're really fed and you want your enemies to attack you for minutes without dying. So why not?

Dagon
35 seconds cooldown and 400 burst damage at lvl1, should be gotten if the enemy always gets away when he's almost dead or if you feel like buying one.


So here's what you do if you get it, blink in and kick the enemy to your team OR use Rolling Boulder to go in, kick him then blink out. Remember that Radiance counters this item and makes the cooldown go on forever so don't think of this as an escape item if the enemy has a hero like Lone Druid that can rush Radiance.


Makes you unstoppable and get those ultimates in without getting disturbed.


It gives the stats Earth Spirit needs and also can help finish off an enemy or let you not need to go back to the fountain


This item is pretty good and can help you gank, MORE!!! Get this if you have enough gold or if you're playing mid and want them runes.


Get this if your enemy team has lots of spell casters and no one in your team doesn't get it.


Great items especially in the late game. The damage bonus and lifesteal is great for any hard carry.


Very and I mean VERY situational. This item should only be considered if you are too rich as a support. The reason this is added into the item build is because it can purge units (removing debuffs and dealing intense damage to summoned units eg Warlock golems and illusions)


It might be good if you're annoyed with luna like movespeed but this is very situational unless you're playing as a support/initiator. Haven't tried this but it sounds decent. Opinions are most welcome and appreciated on this item. But seriously though, this item is underused.


Known to be the WORST item in the game, a Mekansm can help you tank more than a Vanguard as the damage block is a bit unreliable. If your team has many hard supports like Chen and he bought a Drum of Endurance and another teammate bought Mekansm, you can consider this for the extra survivability.


I've come to love this item, the amplify damage works well with your ultimate and the silence lets you destroy those pesky heroes like Anti-Mage or Storm Spirit from chickening out.


Blademail is a good item to counter heroes like Legion Commander or Ember Spirit, the stats it gives are decent and the cost isn't too high for the active skill.


Sounds like an odd pickup for Earth Spirit but it is worth it. The attack speed aura is great and the true sight it provides when the necro book is leveled up is useful.

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Luxury


Gives great armor and great aura during team fights, also helps with mana problems.


This can help A LOT in team fights, use it on the enemy carry or the team disable. Great item if you have tons of cash.


More armor for you and less for the enemy, yay.

Why do we pick him? And when do we not pick him?

When to pick
-Your team is in need of a disabler/nuker hero.
-Enemy team has a Pudge. Pudge hooks your teammate then you "hook" them back, very fun :D.
-Epic long range stuns.
-Team full of over aggressive, tower diving noobs that need you to save them.
-When you feel like it.
-You just bought a cosmetic set for Kaolin and you want to show it off.

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When NOT to pick
-Enemy team has Doom bringer or Anti-Mage, they will be the "midnight of your soul" ( Okay, I'll stop ).
-Enemy team lineup has good instant disables such as Lion or Disruptor which can bait you to use Rolling Boulder but get ganked later.
-Enemy team hates Kaolin so badly that they have a team filled with anti-magic heroes like Rubick for the null field, Omniknight for his Repel and of course Anti-Mage I hate him that much.
-You're drunk.

Friends and Foes

Friends

Any main carry that can get the kill with disables such as Spectre or Anti-Mage


Rupture. Nuff said. Still don't get it? Rupture plus your Boulder Smash.


His soul catcher with your ultimate will kill almost anything.


Doing a combo with him should be pretty hard but when Shadow Fiend is about to cast Requiem of Souls , either pull him or kick him to the place with enemies. Thought it might not be easy, I don't recommend trying this in a pub game without playing with your friend who is using the Shadow Fiend


The title of this guide says it all, "I came in like a wrecking ball w/ Lifestealer"


Pulling him during Flaming Lasso will not break the lasso, thus the target under Flaming Lasso will get pulled too which is really crazy.


This guy works pretty well with Kaolin. Step 1 Shallow Grave your dying teammate, Step 2 Geomagnetic Grip your teammate to safety then Boulder Smash him away from the enemy, Step 3 watch your enemies rage.

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Foes

He's in a love-hate relationship w/ you. Rupture would make you unable to use your Rolling Boulder or he can just Bloodrage you to silence you from doing anything like destroying the enemy team. When there is a bloodseeker in the match, be sure to always carry a TP scroll for escaping purposes as he can't stun you or anything.


Seriously screw this guy, you can't do anything if he right clicks you. Trying to run away with Rolling Boulder ? Well I'll just blink in and continue wacking.


Not really a big threat but he saps your mana with EMP during the early to mid stage. His Tornado is also pretty annoying when you try to kill someone but get thrown up into the air.

doom bringer
Doom!!! You're dead.


I know everyone hates fighting her, once she silences and starts right clicking you, you're dead.


Seems weird that I put Meepo right? But he counters Earth Spirit really hard as he can poof all the Meepo's together and destroy you the second you try to initiate. Not only that, if you try to escape with Rolling Boulder he can just command more Meepo's to block you from escaping. So yeah, it's tough playing against a good Meepo player.

Cool stuff to know

- Boulder Smash does not interrupt channeling abilities or casting times. The knocked back unit can take actions normally during the knockback.

-Casting Boulder Smash on a unit that finished casting a teleport spell during the knockback will not disrupt the ability, don't be the guy that kicks the enemy away that almost got killed.

- Using Boulder Smash on a Stone Remnant or a random unit will hit invisible units.

-When using Rolling Boulder you can cast spells excpet Blink Dagger, it also makes him stuck on the area he casted Rolling Boulder so you can't just move away to cancel the spell.

- Rolling Boulder hits invisible units which is insane.

- Rolling Boulder can be interrupted at the beginning of the spell, so it isn't a 100% escape and enemies can always blink in front of you anyway.

- Using Geomagnetic Grip on an ally does not interrupt channeling abilities ( really crazy ) or casting times.

- Invisible units are not affected by the start of Magnetize. Units becoming invisible when under Magnetize cannot interact with a Stone Remnant, so you can't place a Stone Remnant on an invisible unit expecting Magnetize to rebuff.

Notes

Remember this is my first guide, I don't even know how to add links properly so forgive me.

Also remember to comment about anything I wrote wrongly. Your opinion is also appreciated.

I'll update this build soon with pics and perhaps vids, I can't do it often as I'm currently studying.

I also apologize if the colours(BRITISH ENGLISH FTW) in the text hurt your eyes, but if it does you should probably get off the screen for a while :P

And also good luck and have fun, hope you pubstomp those noobs well. drunken haze *Cheers

And also finally earth spirit gets a buff at 6.81, huzzah