by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

If you watched our most recent episode of the Heroes Powerhour you probably saw Twizz rocking a gnarly looking Tauren with a guitar. This hero is E.T.C(Elite Tauren Chieftain) and if you want to get some of the basics on him check out our E.T.C. Hero Page

E.T.C’s passive is Rockstar which grants a 20% increase to attack speed for 3 seconds to all nearby units whenever you use a basic or heroic ability. Nearby minions gain half of the buff. This makes E.T.C. one of the best tanks to pair with teams that focus on auto attacking. You’re going to be using abilities quite often and Rockstar providing a benefit to the entire team and minions is HUGE. His Q ability is Power Slide. This ability allows you to dash in a direction and stun anybody hit by it for one second. This is great for setting up combos with your team or your own abilities. His W is Face Melt and its an important tool for positioning the enemy away from each other. Use it to deal AOE damage to the enemy and knock them back. His E is Guitar solo and you will be using this ability a lot. Not only is it a nice little heal over time it will also serve as your best option to trigger your Rockstar trait for your allies. His two choices in Heroic Abilities(R) are Mosh Pit and Stage Dive. After a short delay Mosh Pit stuns everyone in a radius around E.T.C. for 4 seconds. Stage Dive lets you leap to any location on the map and damages any enemies standing in the landing zone while also slowing them for 3 seconds. These are both great options depending on the map and if your team is good enough to capitalize on Mosh Pit. If your team doesn’t have the ability to or you are in solo queue use Stage Dive for an effective presence anywhere on the map.

The Build

Level 1

Block – This ability is a must for me anymore. I used to take Power Slide for the extra damage but Block allows E.T.C. to stay in lane much longer and duel with the enemy much more efficiently.

Level 4

Echo Pedal – I just started using this ability too and I love it! It allows you to put AOE damage on ALL of your abilities. This will help bump up E.T.C.’s low damage output and clean up mercenary camps much quicker. If you have trouble managing your mana due to spamming Guitar Solo you may want to also consider PWN Shop Guitar at this level.

Level 7

Guitar Hero – I personally can’t see taking any other talent at this level. Guitar Hero not only gives you crazy extra damage it’s heal also makes you a great lane bully. People will have a hard time pushing you off of your spot with that amazing damage and healing buff.

Level 10

Mosh Pit – What a fun and great ability. A good Mosh Pit has the potential of swinging a game completely in your favor when your team capitalizes on it. Imagine Nazeebo popping ravenous spirit seconds before you snag 3 enemies in your pit. A good portion of the cast have amazing heroics that only get stronger when the enemy is stuck dancing for 4 seconds. The only problem is that Mosh Pit can be interrupted and coordinated teams will make it hard for you to get a good one off. If your team can’t capitalize off of Mosh Pit then Stage Dive is a great choice. I think it’s a good idea to take Mosh Pit most of the time unless the other team has a ton of cc/interrupt. Remember Mosh Pit can also be used as a disengage tool against heroes like Zeratul, Illidan, and Kerrigan who like to jump on to your back line and wreck your squishies.

Level 13

Uber Rockstar – Giving your Rockstar trait a movement speed steroid?!?! This is the ability that makes you downright impossible to kill. I can’t tell you how many times I got away from a death just by running and popping guitar solo for heals and wheels. Your whole team also gets the movement buff so be sure to help them cheat death too!

Level 16

Guitar Instrumental – This level has a lot of options but Instrumental is the base pick just because of how much sustain it adds. You may consider imposing presence if the other team has good auto attacks and are spending a lot of time focusing you. Stoneskin is great for surviving heavy burst comps on the enemy side. Be conscious of what the other team has done so far and grab the skill that will help out the most.

Level 20

Bolt of the Storm – For me there is no other choice at this level. Good teams will even have a hard time against a well timed Bolt into Mosh Pit. On a 40 second cooldown you get insane value out of bolt. Remember you can use it to teleport over obstacles such as walls so you can really surprise the enemy team. Oh yeah not to mention its an amazing escape tool. Did I mention it had a 40 second cooldown too? I did? Well it needed to be said twice.

Strategy

Early game strategies vary depending on your team comp and the map you are in. It’s best to be there for your team when objectives hit so they can capitalize on your stuns and Rockstar steroid. Remember if your full on health and mana with this build you should have an easy time soloing the bruiser camps at level 7.

Once you hit level 10 its time to group up and try to catch the enemy team in a murderous Mosh Pit. Remember failed attempts at Mosh Pit can be canceled with another press of R. It’s important to stay with your team for the most part at this point while maintaining control of the mercenary camps. Your team will need you more than ever at this point in the game so stay grouped as much as possible. You are going to have to peel enemies away from your squishy team members so that they can survive and continue to harass the enemy.

E.T.C. is a total rock star when it comes to team fights. I’m always glad to have him on my team or play him myself because I know I got a great tank on the team. Practice with this build will help you learn how to  provide a presence to your team that doesn’t involve flashy numbers but strong mechanics that allow others to shine. I hope you enjoyed reading my guide and look for more builds from me in the future.