Early game Top
Assuming you picked block first , you will want to lead your team to which ever area is the point of interest. Don't be a afraid to initiate. ETC has an amazing early game in terms of cc and damage output. If possible , go around the enemy, mounted, and Knock one back , making sure to split the enemy team. If you knocked a hero into your team that has an escape , make sure to hold off on power slide until that is used. Then proceed to body block. Most of the time this leads to an early kill. ( make sure not to over stay your welcome , you will likely be low on health after this skirmish.)
During early game laning , try to lane with another for the best outcome. ETC can safely lane alone and be fine. But he truly shines in a duo lane , since his kit sets up kills so well. If you happen to duo lane and get a kill , try to leave lane and gank another. Setting up an early game paranoia for the enemy gives your team the edge early and causes the enemy team to know your presence.
Tier 1 talents Top
In almost all of my ETC games , i have found block to be the best choice. The other three talents in this tree just don't stand up to block.
Damage Slide - The extra damage is nice , but isn't noticeable enough to replace block.
Dance Your Pants Off! - An interesting talent , effectively stops a wave of minions from attacking. Could possible be good for wave advantage , but other heroes could do that better.
Scouting Drone - An active ward is always nice , and maybe in the future i will dabble with it more to see if its viable.
Tier 2 talents Top
Tier 2 has a few tricky talents that will slightly change depending on the team comp and what the team is lacking. Most of the time i ended up picking Pwn Shop Hero , My build focuses on initiating and disrupting. In doing so , you will use a lot of mana . So less mana on the self heal helps you stay in the fight and lessen your chances of going oom.
Superiority - It's a decent talent , but since ETCs damage isn't that best , he would most likely spend too much time on the non-heroic enemies. Making it not very practical given the kit he has.
Groupies - Taking this talent is debatable . The heal is delivers isn't large , but it is noticeable. It could essentially let you or an ally get that last auto attack off for the win. In some cases , if for some reason your team lacks heals , you could take this to add some sort of team sustain.
Echo Pedal - This talent is decent. The damage it provides is small , but noticeable enough to help wave clear and in team fights. Since you are in the middle of the battle anyway , the damage adds us. A good talent to take if your team lacks damage.
Tier 3 talents Top
I take Loud Speakers here. The increased range and knockback is huge , especially if you split the enemy team in half. Those few seconds of team isolation are crucial and in some cases could win the team fight immediately.
Battle Momentum - This talent is great. In some team comps it will be better to take this. Mainly on teams that need more peel , aka double ranged dps. ( which seems to be what the meta is molding into , for now. ) If ETC can effectively auto attack while body blocking , ideally , you will have your cc abilities back up before the enemy will have theirs and get to your backline. ( with illidan being the exception , that annoying little gnat. ha )
Monster Slide - This talent increases the width of power slide by 50% . Which could be good in certain team comps that require more reliable team lock down. I didn't find very many situations where i needed the extra width.
Guitar Hero - I used this talent a lot while leveling. The damage it adds along with the auto attack reset is crucial , as well as the heal is brings to the table. It is definitely a viable choice , in terms of damage output.
Mid game + Tier 4 talents Top
Mid game , ETCs damage starts to fall off and you will now play as you did early game. Initiating fights , disrupting the enemies line and splitting their team in half. In some instances, at this point , team fights will become more frequent. So it will be harder to catch their backline out. Sometimes it is better to push the enemy frontline to your backline and as ETC , you keep their backline busy. Ideally this means it will be you vs 1-3 while the rest of your team focuses on a 4 v 2-3. You simply initiate , disrupt the back line , and then go back to aid yours. The slow is enough to stall enough time for you to get an edge on the fight. ( if done correctly. I know a lot of people rage when a tank pushes others into their backline. As odd as it sounds to some , sometimes its the right choice if it means the enemy team is outnumbered. )
Mosh Pit - A 4 second " stun " in an area around ETC . It is a very good spell , especially if you have an AoE based team. Although it still works in a team not so heavily AoE based. Mosh Pit is easily disrupted and usually not the best choice if the enemy team is heavily stacked with cc. A good team will make sure to avoid your Mosh Pit and stop it almost immediately.
Stage Dive - The map presence this brings to the team keeps with the presence you hopefully established early game. Good for getting to objectives , initiating , and escaping. The damage is decent , nothing too extreme. The slow it brings is very good and combined with your knock back slowing , its a solid 4 seconds of slow. Since my build focuses on team fights and disruption , Stage dive is the best choice.
Tier 5 talents Top
In this tier i pick Face Smelt for the added slow. An 80% slow is very crucial in peeling for the team as well as initiating and giving your team more time to focus on the split half of the enemy.
Uber Rockstar - This movement speed aura is indeed a very good talent. In some team comps it may be the better route. ( a team of chasers or to escape with your team if earlier skirmishes weren't going so well and this talent is needed )
Rockin' Out - This talent is interesting with the added duration and minions gaining the full effect. It could help in a push and help in a team fight for those 2 extra seconds. Overall , i didn't find it to be as good as the other talents that could be chosen in this tier.
Relentless - This talent is always a good choice. The reduction of cc on you is always a good thing. However , at the time this is to be picked , you have to see if the enemy team is cc'n you and if its affecting your ability to do your job. ( initiating / peeling ) If it is , you need to take this talent. Most of the time i found , if the enemy is using cc on me , they aren't using it on my backline , which always put my mind at ease.
Tier 6 talents Top
I usually take Imposing Presence here. Giving the build and playstyle i do , The back line will be forced to focus you. With the block charges and this talent slowing their attack speed , you will last a very long time.
Head Crack - 50% increased duration of power slide stun is indeed nice , and in another build , it may be the ideal talent to take. Increasing the stun to 1.5 is a huge deal . If you feel you need that extra .5 seconds to aid your team , you may have to take it. but if played " correctly " , The extra .5 second stun should be irrelevant.
Guitar Instrumental - 100% increased duration to the heal is pretty strong. But one must ask themselves , will i need to stay in a fight that long ? Will the extra healing be used to its full potential? If the answer is yes , its up for debate if you should take it. If you are unsure , it's best not to take this. With the build i have , the extra healing time doesn't really matter due to the simple fact that you are disrupting them.
Stoneskin - This is one amazing talent , i can't lie. Many times i have used it , with the same results ( mostly ) with this talent replacing Imposing Presence. The only reason i ultimately went for Imposing Presence is as follows... The debuff it causes lingers for a short time and has no cooldown. Granted , they have to be focusing you for it to be effective. But the same could be said about Stoneskin. I see in the future , that i will be rotating between the two.
Tier 7 talents Top
I pick rock god here. I am aware how good Bolt of the storm is , and have debated about using it many times. The faster leap and extra damage really show. The speed at which you land adds even more great initiating ( or escaping ) Typically , once you have this talent , you initiate with it. Ideally you are in the middle of them , they will scatter to avoid it. At which point , if possible , you do what you have been doing all game. Splitting them in half.
Death metal - If you took Mosh Pit this talent is decent. If you know you wont get disrupted out of it , this talent could work wonders. usually , when mosh pit starts , your team has enough time to kill the enemy. The added 25% is great , but its not mandatory if you know your team can dish out the damage without it.
Fury of the storm - I wont lie , i don't like this talent at all on ETC. He isn't the strongest hero already , so splitting 50% to two more targets seems minimal and a waste of the last tier slot.
Bolt of the storm - This is a very good talent to take. If you took mosh pit , you will most likely take this along with it. You don't need it as much with Stage Dive. But , with different games brings different scenarios. Bolt of the storm may be the best choice , depending on the game.
Thanks for reading! Top
Hey everyone! Thanks for reading ( if you made it this far lol ). This is my first guide , ever. I would like to know what you guys think and all opinions are wanted. ( even the negative ones <3 )
I go by Carbuncle on bnet , and if anyone ever wants to add me and play some games or try to learn more of ETC im more than happy to help anyone. I'm a level 10 ETC with many games under my belt. I would like to think i have a good grasp of him.
I will be adding more to this guide when i have time.
Thanks again ! Hopefuly someone finds this helpful :P
Quick Comment (1) View Comments
You need to log in before commenting.