Earth Spirit

	Stone Remnant
	150px
Creep
This unit has no health.
This unit has no mana.
Notes	invulnerable; unselectable

Earth Spirit 21 + 2.9 17 + 1.5 18 + 2.4
	Grants the following bonuses per point of attribute:
	+22HP and +0.1HP regeneration; +1 main attack damage
	+0.17 armor and 1 attack speed
	+12MP and +0.05MP regeneration; +0.1% base magic resistance ;
L0	Base Hero Values
L1	⤷ + Base Attributes
L15	⤷ + Attribute Gain
L25	⤷ + 6 levels of Attribute Bonus
L30	⤷ + 7 levels of Attribute Bonus
	All values shown are without talent bonuses.
Attack Animation	0.35 + 0.65
Gib Type	Default
Internal	Not Provided

Kaolin the Earth Spirit is a highly adaptable strength hero with great utility, able to effectively fill the role of a support, ganker, or offlaner, while still having a large game presence due to his strong initiation. Unlike most heroes, his abilities revolve around an innate ability, Stone Remnant. Because of Stone Remnant's synergy with his other abilities, Earth Spirit has an incredibly high skill cap, and can be challenging to master. He can be surprisingly mobile, owing to his Rolling Boulder, and can use this in combination with his other abilities to position himself to disable multiple enemies, save allies from certain death and generally become a commanding presence in a teamfight, even without a great deal of farm. With good timing he can initiate fights from a distance, and given the right circumstances can deal a surprising amount of damage to both single and multiple targets, all the while disrupting enemy positioning allowing for easy kills. A useful ally and a dangerous enemy, the Earth Spirit's versatility and flexibility make him an ideal hero in almost any lineup or lane.

Bio

Kaolin, the Earth Spirit

▶️ "Through conflict, one's nature is revealed."

Lore:

Deep amid the Upland crags and cliffs there runs a seam of sacred jade long foresworn by highland miners. From this rare material, the likeness of the great general Kaolin was carved and buried at the head of a stone funerary army ten thousand strong--a force of soldiers and holy men, jesters and acrobats, carved by craftsmen and entombed for millennia in the dark embrace of the Earth. What the craftsmen had not known was that within the strange seam of jade flowed the spirit of the Earth itself--an elemental force at one with the planet. When the force within the carved jade found itself cut off from the life's blood of the world, it gathered its strength over the course of a thousand years and dug itself free and into the light. Now the great Kaolin Earth Spirit strides the Upland roads, fighting for the spirit of the Earth; and in times of need calls forth remnants of his buried army still locked in the loving embrace of the soil.

Voice:

[[Voice actors#|]] (Responses)

Gameplay

Due to how flexible Earth Spirit is during the game the first ability would be situational. In level 1 engagements it is almost always advisable to skill Boulder Smash as it is Earth Spirit's highest damaging spell at level 1 and also offers the utility of providing an area stun or a repositioning tool to save allies or put enemies on a cliff, forcing them to buy a Town Portal Scroll if they don't have a way to get off already. However Rolling Boulder may also be required to be able to escape a level 1 gank from the enemy team. From here it is almost always advisable to get a point in all 3 of Earth Spirit's basic spells by level 3. Next, maxing Geomagnetic Grip by level 7 is usually the best approach to skill Earth Spirit as he gains a surpising amout of burst damage with his combos. At this point Earth spirit reaches his first peak. He has massive amounts of magical damage at this stage of the game and a long lasting area silence from Geomagnetic Grip combined with a slow from Rolling Boulder is usually enough to take down any hero or turn the tides of any mid game skirmishes and team fights. Next Earth Spirit should max out Boulder Smash to increase the stun duration, as opposed to putting any more points in Rolling Boulder as it only reduces cooldown, nothing more. At level 11, with 2 points in Magnetize, Earth Spirit's full combo is absolutely lethal to anyone it hits. Finally once Earth Spirit maxes out Rolling Boulder be sure to use it whenever it is off its very short cooldown in a team fight while the enemy are affected by Magnetize as it will slow everyone's movement speed by a crippling amount, if they don't have spell immunity.

Abilities

Boulder Smash

▶️QD

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Units

Damage
Magical

Earth Spirit smashes the target enemy or ally, sending them in the direction he is facing. If Earth Spirit targets an area, he will smash the nearest Stone Remnant in a 200 radius. The traveling unit or remnant damages all enemy units it hits. If an enemy is hit by a Stone Remnant, they are also stunned. Stone Remnants travel further than other units.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 150

Damage & Stun Radius: 200

Damage: 125

Knockback Speed: 1200

Unit Knockback Distance: 500/600/700/800

Stone Knockback Distance: 2000

Stone Stun Duration: 0.75/1.25/1.75/2.25

22/18/14/10

100

It is with the power of a mountain that Earth Spirit strikes his enemies.

The actual cast range of the ability is 1300. However, this big cast range is only for aiming the Stone Remnants.
- In order to smash a Stone Remnant, Earth Spirit must stand within 200 range of the remnant and target anywhere within the 1300 cast range. The remnant is smashed towards the targeted direction.
- When no remnants are within 200 range of Earth Spirit, nothing happens. The spell is not cast.
- In order to smash a unit, it has to be directly targeted. Earth Spirit then walks up to the unit and smashes it into the direction he approaches the target from.

Stun is applied to all enemy units within the radius of a smashed Stone Remnant. A smashed unit is not and does not stun.

Damage is applied to the targeted unit (if it's an enemy) instantly and to enemy units within the radius of the smashed unit or Stone Remnant.

Targeted units are not disabled during the knockback. They are able to turn, attack, cast spells and use items.

This means that it can't be used to interrupt the target's channeling spells.

Cannot be cast on Roshan, ancient units, Warlock's Golem, Visage's Familiars and the Primal Split spirits.

Unlike Geomagnetic Grip, Boulder Smash can knock units inside Chronosphere and Black Hole and during Duel.

Casting Boulder Smash on Power Cogs or a unit under the effect of Flaming Lasso damages enemies within the radius around the target upon cast, but does not knock it back.

Can move units and Stone Remnants over impassable terrain.

Destroys trees which the targeted units or Stone Remnant collide with during the knockback.

Rolling Boulder

▶️WF

128x128px

Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Earth Spirit gathers himself into a boulder and, after a 0.6s delay, rolls towards the target location, damaging enemy units. He will stop if he collides with an enemy hero or is stunned. If he rolls over a Stone Remnant, he will travel further and faster, and enemies hit by the boulder will have their movement speed slowed.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 3000

Effect & Collision Radius: 150

Max Roll Distance: 800 (1600 with Stone Remnant)

Roll Speed: 800 (1600 with Stone Remnant)

Damage: 100

Stone Move Speed Slow: 80%

Stone Slow Duration: 2

16/12/8/4

50

Calling upon his connection to the land, the Earth Spirit draws loose stone to him, which forms a protective ball that he can use to roll short distances.

Rolls at a speed of 800 without, and 1600 with Stone Remnant.

Always rolls for the full distance (800 or 1600) when not colliding with an enemy hero.

Upon colliding with an enemy hero, the rolling stops and Earth Spirit is placed 80 units away from them, on the exact opposite side that he collided into them from.

Rolling over a Stone Remnant increases the total distance covered 1600 units, rolling speed to 1600, and adds the movement slow.

Rolling over a Stone Remnant earlier or later in the roll does not affect the total distance covered, but it does affect the time it takes to get there due to the change in roll speed.

Slow is applied to all units in the path, not just the hero it collides with.

Rolling Boulder roots and disarms Earth Spirit for its full duration. Means he cannot blink or attack during it, but can cast other items and spells and can turn.

If Earth Spirit gets stunned, slept, cycloned or forcibly moved by another spell at any time during Rolling Boulder, it instantly ends.

Hex only cancels Rolling Boulder while rolling, not during the 0.6 seconds delay.

Roots and taunts do not cancel Rolling Boulder ( Frostbite cancels it, because it applies a mini-stun).

Does not affect invulnerable units and heroes. Can't collide with invulnerable heroes.

Fully affects invisible units and heroes.

Can move Earth Spirit over impassable terrain.

Destroys trees Earth Spirit collides with while rolling.

Depending on when and where in the roll the Stone Remnant is placed, Earth Spirit moves at a net rate of 500 or 762-1000 ms.
- Rolling without a Stone Remnant moves Earth Spirit 800 units in 1.6 (0.6 + 1) seconds, resulting in a net rate of 500 effective ms.
- Rolling into a Stone Remnant 949-950 distance from Earth Spirit's initial location moves him 1600 in 2.1 (0.6 + 1 + 0.5) seconds, resulting in a net rate of 762 effective ms.
- Rolling into a Stone Remnant 0-150 distance from Earth Spirit's initial location moves him 1600 in 1.6 (0.6 + 1) seconds, resulting in a net rate of 1000 effective ms.

Geomagnetic Grip

▶️ER

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Allies

Damage
Magical

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

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1100

Effect Radius: 180

Stone Damage: 50/125/200/275

Stone Pull Speed: 1000

Unit Pull Speed: 600

Silence Duration: 2.5/3/3.5/4

13

75

Like calls to like. Even the minerals found in the blood and bones of living beings are not immune to the call of the Earth Spirit.

When targeting ground, a Stone Remnant within 180 radius of the targeted point is pulled.

When no remnants are within the range, nothing happens. The spell is not cast.

In order to pull a unit, it has to be targeted directly.

Silence is applied to all enemy units within the radius of a pulled unit or remnant.

Damage is applied to all enemy units within the radius of a pulled Stone Remnant. A pulled units is not and does not damage.

Targeted units are not disabled during the pull. They are able to turn, attack, cast spells and use items.

This means that it can't be used to interrupt the target's channeling spells.

Casting Geomagnetic Grip on a unit affected by Chronosphere, Black Hole, Flaming Lasso or Duel has no effect, wasting the mana and cooldown.

Can be casted on allies or Stone Remnants which are being knocked back by Boulder Smash, pulling them and canceling the knockback.

Can move allies and Stone Remnants over impassable terrain.

Destroys trees within 200 radius around allied heroes during the pull.

Stone Remnant

▶️DE

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Ability
N/A

Call a Stone Remnant to the target location. Stones Remnants have no vision and are invulnerable, and can be used with Earth Spirit's abilities. Calling a Stone Remnant consumes a charge, which recharge over time.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1100

Max Charges: 6

Charge Restore Time: 30

Remnant Duration: 120

Earth Spirit calls forth a remnant of his stone army, long buried with him in the dark embrace of the Earth.

This is an innate ability and does not need to be skilled.

Kaolin begins the game with and cannot have more than 6 Stone Charges.

Charges represent the number shown on the status buff icon. It does not mean he can have only 6 remnants on the map.

It's possible to have up to 9 remnants on the map when placing all 6 remants at once, and then every time after the 30 seconds recharge.

Stone Charges gradually replenish even while dead.

Stone Remnants can only disappear by expiring after 120 seconds, 8 seconds after being used by Magnetize, or instantly by Rolling Boulder.

Does not interact with spells which react on spell cast (e.g. Magic Stick, Curse of the Silent, Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Essence Aura". etc.)

An enemy Rubick can make use of the same remnants when stealing and using one of Earth Spirit's spells (except for Rolling Boulder).

Stone Remnants can be seen through the Fog of War by all players.

Enemies can also see and hear the following effects through the Fog of War:
- Stone Remnants being smashed by Boulder Smash
- Stone Remnants being consumed by Rolling Boulder to roll farther
- Stone Remnants being pulled by Geomagnetic Grip

Magnetize

▶️RT

128x128px

Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Magnetizes units in a small nearby area, causing them to take damage for a short duration. Magnetized heroes cause nearby Stone Remnants to explode, destroying the remnant and refreshing Magnetize's duration on all nearby enemies. This process can repeat multiple times. If an enemy hero is affected silence or slows as a result of Geomagnetic Grip or Rolling Boulder, all magnetized heroes share the effects.

Cast Animation: +

Radius: 300

Stone Search Radius: 400

Stone Refresh Radius: 600

Damage per Second: 50/75/100

Duration: 6

80

100

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Adds the

Enchant Remnant ability.

At the Earth Spirit’s call, the minerals in the blood and bones of his enemies rebel against the bodies they find themselves in.

If a Stone Remnant is within 400 range of a Magnetized unit during one of the 0.5 second checks, it applies a fresh Magnetize to all enemies within 600 range of the Remnant.

Stone Remnants are destroyed 8 seconds after spreading Magnetize. They can still be utilized by Earth Spirit's other spells meanwhile.

Deals 25/37.5/50 damage and checks for Stone Remnants within range in 0.5 second intervals, starting 0.5 second after cast.

Without any Stone Remnant refreshing the duration, Magnetize can deal up to 300/450/600 damage per affected unit (before reductions).

The Magnetize debuff can be placed on and spread from spell immune, invisible and invulnerable units.

Once purches, Earth Spirit cannot drop his Aghanim's Scepter.

Enchant Remnant

▶️FF

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Units

Damage
Magical

Earth Spirit temporarily enchants a hero, granting them the properties of a Stone Remnant. After 3 seconds the remnant shatters, releasing the hero and damaging nearby enemies.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 600

Damage Radius: 300

Damage: 300

Duration: 3

45

150

Kaolin uses the elemental power of the Earth to temporarily petrify living beings, so that they might be conscripted into his stone funerary army.

Requires Aghanim's Scepter to be unlocked.

An enchanted hero is fully disabled, invulnerable and reacts on Earth Spirit's spells just like a Stone Remnant.
- Boulder Smash: Enchanted heroes are knocked back for 2000 distance and stun enemies they collide with.
- Rolling Boulder: Enchanted heroes boost it like a Stone Remnant. Earth Spirit will roll straight through them and break their stone form prematurely.
- Geomagnetic Grip: Enchanted heroes are pulled at a speed of 1000 and apply the silence/damage. Can pull enchanted enemy heroes.
- Magnetize: Enchanted heroes refresh and spread Magnetize when within its stone search radius. Enchanted enemies can receive the magnetize debuff, but cannot receive or propagate the silence/slow from grip/roll.

The knock-back from Boulder Smash and the pull from Geomagnetic Grip will continue normally even if the enchantment expires.

If the enchantment expires while the target is being smashed back or pulled and then they collide with enemies, then only minor effects will apply: smash will damage but won't stun, and grip will silence, but won't damage.

If the enchantment expires while an enemy is being smashed back, they will take 125 damage, but won't be stunned.

Recommended Items

Template:Recommendeditems

Equipment

Earth Spirit/equipment

Tips

Earth Spirit is a relatively farm-independent hero, and can contribute greatly to ganks and teamfights with few to no items. As such, he should not be played as a farming carry, but as a utility initiator that can be useful without items but increases greatly in effectiveness with farm.
Earth Spirit has relatively little single-target physical damage, and his spells require the use of Stone Remnants in order to be effective. As such, it is difficult to farm with him, so he should get his gold by being active and getting kills and assists in teamfights and ganks.
Positioning is key with Earth Spirit; this hero is adept at initiating, counter-initiating and running down fleeing foes. As a support player you may want to have yourself positioned behind your core heroes so you can pull them to safety in case they get initiated on. You can Boulder Smash away an enemy hero chasing you or your ally, or if you're too far use a Stone Remnant to stun them from a massive distance.
Stone Remnants are key to enhancing the effectiveness of all of Earth Spirit's spells. As such, they should be treated as a resource more valuable than your mana, as while abilities and items exist to replenish mana, none exist to increase the number of Stone Remnant charges you have besides waiting for them to naturally replenish.
- When casting your spells to farm or disable enemies in fights, remember that you can use the same Stone Remnant more than once. The Stone Remnant that you pulled to you with Geomagnetic Grip to silence an enemy can then be used to stun a distant target with Boulder Smash, or quickly reposition yourself with Rolling Boulder.
- Stone Remnants persist on the field for up to 2 minutes, and ignore pathing and collision. If you are short on Stone Remnants but have plenty of mana, you can recycle them by moving old Stone Remnants to more advantageous positions using your spells. As well, Stone Remnants left over from previous teamfights can be improvised if another fight occurs in the same area.
A successfully targeted Boulder Smash with a Stone Remnant is one of the longest range and fastest moving stuns in the game. You can use it for a variety of effects despite its mediocre damage, such as canceling an enemy's teleport from a safe distance (e.g. a Naga Siren who has cast Song of the Siren, a Tinker with Boots of Travel or a Nature's Prophet hidden inside Sprout) or enemy channeling spells without endangering yourself (e.g. Witch Doctor's Death Ward).
- Keep in mind, Boulder Smash can be cast on allies as well as enemies, not just Stone Remnants. It can be used to help an ally initiate, or to forcibly displace an enemy in a direction favorable to your team. However, keep in mind that a Boulder Smash cast on a unit has a relatively short travel distance and will not stun any enemies in its path. It also will not interrupt the targeted unit, so it won't cancel channeling spells this way.
- When ganking or solo-killing a target, it is often beneficial to keep Boulder Smash in reserve in case the target attempts to teleport out. Earth Spirit has limited physical damage output and his spells lack immediate nuking power, so holding on to your stun can allow you to prevent the target from easily escaping after being initiated on.
Rolling Boulder is a very powerful mobility spell, as its cooldown reduces to 4 seconds at level 4. However, utilizing the speed boost and target slow requires the use of a Stone Remnant, so it is best to only take one early level and max it out after Boulder Smash and Geomagnetic Grip.
- Remember that Rolling Boulder allows Earth Spirit to move up and down cliffs, as well as through trees, so you can use it to path over normally impassable terrain. However, keep in mind that getting disabled during the spell's 0.6 second delay will interrupt it, so be very careful about using it when fleeing enemies with stuns.
- When using Rolling Boulder to initiate on a target, good aim is absolutely mandatory. The boulder only stops when it connects with an enemy hero, so if you miss and overshoot, you may wind up in an extremely disadvantageous position.
- Remember that while you are rooted for the duration of Rolling Boulder, you may still use items (excluding Blink Dagger). For instance, Town Portal scrolls can be used without being interrupted, so they can be activated during the delay or roll, allowing Earth Spirit to start channeling an escape early and displace himself during the channelling.
Geomagnetic Grip has great utility in saving allies who are caught out of position, as it can pull them to safety over terrain and regardless of the direction they are facing or intervening enemy units. As well, it will silence any nearby enemies, preventing them from easily pursuing.
- Geomagnetic Grip deals no damage unless a Stone Remnant is pulled. Therefore, if the aim is to deal damage, a remnant must be used.
- When using Stone Remnants to utilize Geomagnetic Grip's silence, remember that Stone Remnants have no collision boxes. Therefore if your aim is surprise, you can place the Stone Remnant in the enemy's fog of war (inside of trees, or on a cliff) and then pull it to you to avoid alerting them when they see the remnant being placed.
Magnetize is a very powerful teamfight spell. While its initial radius is limited, the debuff can be transferred to other nearby enemies via the use of Stone Remnants. Besides the damage it deals, the ability allows you to extend the effects of Geomagnetic Grip's silence and Rolling Boulder's slow to encompass the entire enemy team, greatly impeding them all while dealing heavy damage over time.
- Remember that you can refresh the duration of Magnetize by placing Stone Remnants near the affected targets. Try to time your stone placements to maximize the damage, however also remember that your spells lose the majority of their effectiveness without Stone Remnants, so be sure to always have some in reserve.
Enchant Remnant requires purchasing an Aghanim's Scepter, which can be hard to farm on a hero like Earth Spirit, but can be well worth the investment. Casting the ability on an ally renders them temporarily invulnerable, allowing you to save them quickly if they are being focused down, or it can be used to help them initiate by casting Boulder Smash on them to stun the enemy while simultaneously placing your teammate in the middle of their formation. Casting the ability on an enemy disables them completely, allowing you to use them to fuel your spells in a teamfight or place them in an extremely disadvantageous location with Geomagnetic Grip.
- Enchant Remnant is perhaps one of the best ways to easily remove an enemy hero from a teamfight by enchanting them and then using Boulder Smash to send them away from the fight, perhaps into impassible terrain or over into the jungle to force them to take a long way back into the fight. This can prove especially useful against heroes that need to be close by to properly utilize their skills (such as Razor's Static Link, melee right click heroes and the like).
- Keep in mind that Enchant Remnant can also be used as a regular disable. So if you have cast Boulder Smash recently to stun a target, and they are trying to teleport away, you can use Enchant Remnant to stop them in their tracks long enough for your team to catch up.
One of Earth Spirit's most basic combos is Boulder Smash followed by Geomagnetic Grip using a Stone Remnant. Knocking the remnant in a target's direction will stun them for a short duration, after which pulling it back before it leaves the spell's 1100 range will silence the target for up to 4 seconds and deal additional damage, rendering them helpless.
When initiating for a major teamfight, it is best to use two Stone Remnants for the initial combo: place two Stone Remnants in your immediate vicinity, then cast Boulder Smash followed by Rolling Boulder. The knocked Stone Remnant will pass through and stun multiple enemies and come to a stop 2000 range away, while you quickly roll in and collide with the nearest enemy. Cast Magnetize at this point and then Geomagnetic Grip on the first Stone Remnant, bringing it close enough to spread the Magnetize debuff and silence all affected enemies. You then have up to 8 seconds to cast Rolling Boulder again using that Stone Remnant to apply a slow, and your remaining 4 Stone Remnants to refresh Magnetize's duration.
Earth Spirit can benefit from purchasing other items not listed under Situational:
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be useful to build in situations where farming a more expensive item is prohibitive. It improves Earth Spirit's mana pool and regeneration, ensuring that he will always have the mana to cast his spells, and the extra movement speed allows him to move into position for his spells more easily without resorting to using a Blink Dagger or Force Staff. As well, the active cyclone can be used to make yourself temporarily invulnerable if you need time during a failed initiation, or instantly disable an enemy to set up your other spells.
- Crimson Guard is a useful utility item to pick up on Earth Spirit if the enemy has lots of physical damage output. As a melee hero the damage block is very effective, while the increased health pool makes him much more durable while initiating. The active will also allow you to give a large amount of physical damage protection to your allies, as even ranged heroes will get 50 damage block for the duration of the buff.

Trivia

Earth Spirit, like Brewmaster, Storm Spirit and Ember Spirit, was a Pandaren in DotA. However, he was re-skinned to avoid copyright issues with Blizzard Entertainment, since Pandaren are a race of creatures in the Warcraft Universe.
His innate ability, Stone Remnant, is called Stone Caller in DotA, and it summons an actual Rock rather than a Remnant. Its function and mechanics are just the same. It's still named Stone Caller in the npc files of Dota2.
Earth Spirit's name, Kaolin, is a reference to a type of fine white clay of the same name.
Earth Spirit's lore draws inspiration from the Terracotta Army, a collection of statues depicting Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang Di's armies.
Earth Spirit's quote "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" may be a reference from Matthew 26:41 in the Bible (KJV). It is also possibly a reference to Futurama's quote "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised" (Futurama S03E05).