Electrician is a strength based hero that starts out with powerful abilities, and still scales pretty well into the end game. He is probably my favorite hero, and has undergone some interesting changes since I started playing this game in beta. Let me start by saying that I never played DotA (OK, I think like twice), and have experienced playing this guy during my entire learning process of the genre. That means no stats, at the 1300-1400 bracket, the 1700-1800 bracket, and everything in between. I have had pretty solid success with Electrician, and have peaked at an 86% win percentage with him. I by no means am an expert on the game, but I hope that my experience can help you play this hero better, and come to love him like I have (Shop Guide).
Stats
Strength: 23 (+2.4)
Electrician has one of the lowest starting strengths of the strength heroes (Range is 21-27), and one of the lowest strength gains as well (2.2-3.4). This means that you are going to have lower attack damage and less health than your average strength hero (Although still better than int/agi heroes).
Agility: 15 (+2.0)
Fairly average starting agility (9-21), with an above average gain (.9-2.2). This means that by the end of the game you will have a higher attack speed and base armor than the other strength hero selections. This is good, because electrician excels at being "Tanky", so that armor is going to help (I'll go into what this means in HoN in the 'Roles' section).
Intellect: 25 (+1.3)
Above average starting intellects (21-25) of the strength heroes, but literally THE WORST Intellect gain per level. This means that you are going to have a low mana pool unless you get items to boost it throughout the entire game. This can be a boon and a detriment depending on the way the game is progressing, what skills you level, and what items you get. Either way, this is an important thing to note about this hero when making skill/item selections.
Armor: 2.1
A bit below average, but gets better as you level (.26 - 5.38).
Movement: 300
Middle of the road(285-310), plus you can always use cleansing shock to move faster if you need.
Damage: 53-61
Pretty average, nothing really to say about this.
Skills
Static Grip
The Facts
The Electrician binds a target in a static grip, preventing them from casting spells, moving, attacking, or using items for a short time. The Electrician is dragged slowly toward the target.
Activation
Applies Static Grip to target for 2.5 / 3.25 / 4.0 / 4.75 seconds or until spell is cancelled. Deals 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 Magic Damage per second to the target.
My Interpretation
This is your bread and butter. This skill is what makes you terrifying to a solo opponent, an amazing ganker, a great counter-initiator, and someone who should not be tower dove.
At almost a 5 second stun at max level, this gives your team plenty of time to dump into a target. It allows characters with skill shots (Non-targeted abilities that have to be aimed well) plenty of time to line them up or just even get in range, dealing 20-80 magic damage a second the whole time.
This skill behaves like a channeled ability in almost all ways except one, and leaves you standing next to your opponent at the end of it's duration. While being channeled you move over any terrain (Including cliffs, trees, fissure),and will continue to move you towards the gripped target as long as your channel is not interrupted. If your target is moved by some other force ( grip, turret/keg, mummies) you will follow them if there is enough time left in the channel, which is good to know because it can put you in a more or less advantageous position depending on the situation. The exception to the movement rule is swap, which will immediately end the channel, and is one of the few ways to stop your grip once you pick up a :ShrunkenHead:.
The one way this ability does not act like a channeled ability is that you can activate your second skill (Energy Shield) while gripping an opponent. At max level, this allows you to add 60 additional damage per second to grip, and prepare for any retribution that might come in response to your grip.
One final powerful use of this ability is to catch your opponent getting beat on by creep. One of my favorite things to do to an opponent who comes in to deny the last creep in their wave is to grip them right before they can. Your wave will make quick work of that last creep and find themselves beating on the opposing hero as they stand stunned in their path.
Devourer tries to pull an ally Behemoth to safety,
But Electrician is coming along for the ride...
Behemoth puts a fissure down to block Electrician's path, but that won't stop Electrician...
Electric Shield
The Facts
The Electrician uses electricity to create a shield around himself. The shield will negate a portion of incoming damage.
Activation
Applies a shield to self for 12 seconds. Mana Power of the shield is equal to 0.5 / 0.6 / 0.8 / 1.33x the Mana used on cast.
Applies Electric Aura in 300 radius around Electrician when active, which deals 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 Magic Damage per second.
Electric Shield Effects
50% of damage taken is absorbed. Total absorbed damage is 0.5 / 0.6 / 0.8 / 1.33x the Mana consumed to cast it.
My Interpretation
This skill has changed quite a bit since its' initial implementation (Originally it was a toggle, and could always be on), but still offers a powerful combination of survivability and damage at a unique cost of 20% mana (Or whatever you have left if it is less than 20%). This means that this skill will still allow you to output a whopping 60 damage per second (That is 1.5x Mock!!!) for just 1 mana if that is all you have. It also means that the more mana you have, the more survivability this skill is going to give you.
It is also good to note that Electric Shield applies after all other reduction, so the more armor (or magic armor) you have, the longer your shield will last. If you want to know more about how damage reduction works this is a good source.
Even with no mana Electrician is able to deal out 60 damage a second which will bring down even a Devourer (With high magic armor) pretty quickly...
Energy Absorption
The Facts
The Electrician discharges energy around him. Nearby enemies are damaged and have their Mana drained. For each enemy with Mana drained, the Electrician absorbs some Mana. He also gains 50 Movement Speed.
Activation
Damages enemies in radius for 85 / 165 / 225 / 300 Magic Damage, draining 3 / 6 / 9 / 12% of their maximum Mana. Applies Energy Absorption to self for 7 seconds.
If the first target is a Creep, applies 3 initial charges. If the first target is a Hero, applies 5 charges.
Applies one extra charge per additional Creep target and three extra charges per additional Hero target.
Replenishes 12 / 16 / 20 / 24 Mana per charge.
Energy Absorption Effects
50 movement speed
My Interpretation
One of my favorite skills in the game because it outputs a high amount of damage in an AOE, and has the potential to actually restore your mana when you cast it. This skill used to give armor and magic armor when used, but did half of the damage it does now. This is the perfect compliment to Static Grip because it leaves you right next to your target and can actually be queued during your grip (By pressing Shift + E) to explode immediately after the channel duration.
To understand the effective mana cost of this ability, we have to note that the mana cost is 6.25 times the mana replenished per charge at every level. Since hitting a hero as one of your targets starts you at 5 charges, and hitting a creep starts you off at 3, hitting 2 targets when one is a hero, or 4 targets when one is not makes this ability cost less than 10 mana at every level. Hitting any more targets than this will actually cause this ability to restore mana! Targets that are magic immune will not provide any charges, and if you fail to hit any targets with this ability, you will be losing out on the full mana cost of this ability for no effect.
Lastly it is good to note that this ability also grants 50 movement speed (But only if it actually hits a target), so it can act as a nice escape mechanism, or chasing mechanism depending on circumstances. This ability will even allow you to escape things like decay if you happen to find yourself being chased by him.
Electrician gets a huge wave of creep low with Electric Shield,
Then explodes on them to get a ton of farm, and actually gain a ton of mana....
Cleansing Shock
The Facts
The Electrician shocks a target unit, removing debuffs and increasing Movement Speed if the target is an ally, or removing buffs and decreasing Movement Speed if target is an enemy.
Activation
Removes debuffs from target allied unit, or removes buffs from target enemy unit. Applies Cleansed to allies or Shocked to enemies for 5 seconds.
His ability can be boosted by Staff of the Master.
Staff Effect: Shocks self and the target at the same time.
Cleansed Effects
{+30,+40,+50}% Movement Speed initially, decreases over 5 seconds. Shocked Effects
{-40,-60,-80}% Movement Speed initially, decreases over 5 seconds.
My Interpretation
Electrician's Cleansing Shock is quite a unique snowflake as far as ultimates go. What it lacks the shear power of many character's ultimates, it makes up for with it's utility and tiny cool-down (10 seconds at max level). The first thing to note is that this ability can be used on any unit (Yourself, Ally, Enemy, Pet, or Creep). Next we should note that on enemies it removes buffs, and on allies it removes debuffs; although it should be noted there are some exceptions ( ult, Hold, // transformations).
It also slows opponents, and speeds up allies that it is cast upon. An important note is that it slows opponents more than it speeds up allies, so in a one on one situation (Excluding buffs and debuffs) it is better to use this on an opponent than yourself.
Finally this ability deals massive True Damage to summoned units, taking out 2/3 the health of an equivalent level Malphas. This will treat permanent pets like BooBoo and Shudder like any other enemy unit, as these are not considered summoned units.
A Cleansing Shock makes quick work of a Malphas who was not quite at full health.
Pros/Cons
Very powerful skill set that is useful from level 1 all the way to level 25.
Very hard to kill between Energy Shield, and two movement speed enhancers.
Counters heroes with powerful debuffs and summoned units like /.
With survivability and powerful AOE damage, he is a double edged sword in team fights; either spend resources killing someone hard to kill, or constantly deal with his damage output and and utility.
With the lowest Intellect gain compared to other Strength heroes, he lacks a mana pool without itemizing for more mana, and is very susceptible to mana drains.
While still an extremely potent ability with nearly a 5 second stun, Static Grip is channeled and does not allow Electrician himself to take full advantage of the time, and is easily interrupted in a team fight scenario.
The reason "Tank" is in quotes, is that you hear it all the time that tank is not really a role in HoN, and in a way it is not. In my mind the role of a tank is really as a type of initiator; the idea being that you can initiate or counter-initiate without typical initiation skills or items because you are hard to kill. You force the opposing team to make hard decisions regarding what skills they want to invest on someone so hard to kill. On one hand if they dump into you, and try to get a kill, they could be left without many abilities to use with the rest of your team on top of them. On the other hand, if they don't try and kill you off the bat, they could be left taking 60 damage a second from your shield, not to mention the grips, purges, and explosions.
Ganker
My personal favorite role in Heroes of Newerth is one that Electrician excels at. Perhaps he does not output the level of damage that a , , , or can on their own, but he can still provide solid damage while stunning an opponent for almost 5 seconds, allowing any nearby allies to provide their damage to the target without fear of reprisal. Because his most damaging skill can cost no mana, and all his skills are on short cool-downs, he is also able to gank with less downtime. Tower diving foes should greatly fear a TP from Electrician because they are likely to end up enduring 5+ seconds of tower damage.
"Carry"
Another role in quotes because Electrician is not a carry in the typical sense. Don't get me wrong, I have carried games while playing electrician, but typically in the same way that any other ganker who has early success does. I have also seen a few situations Electrician as a carry in a game where we were lacking one. With a Mock of Brilliance and Energy Shield you can put out 100 damage a second to nearby enemies; dealing 180 damage a second to targets you are gripping. Not a role I find he excels at, but I have seen it played in games where the role needs to be filled.
Electrician is a fairly versatile character and can typically fit in most lanes. He pairs well in a lane with another stunning character, or any character with high auto attack damage (I will go more into this later). He makes for a powerful mid character; excelling against other melee mids with his spammable (READ: Free) harass and survivability. His survivability also makes him a viable (Although not the best) candidate for a solo side lane where you would be against multiple opponents.
Side Lane
Electrician is very powerful in a side lane with a partner, especially if your lane opponents do not have stuns to stop your channel. He can play a very aggressive strategy, or can save his abilities to defend his laning partner against an aggressive lane. Laning with another melee hero is typically sub-optimal, but it is still very possible to be successful. For more info on good laning partners, check out the Allies and Enemies section.
If you are against a single disable (Something that can stop your Static Grip Channel) you should always try and grip your opponent that has the disable, that way you cannot be interrupted. In this situation, your opponent with a disable should really hang back out of grip range to prevent this kind of play; watch them closely though because if they hang too far back you will be able to initiate on their team-mate while they are out of range.
If you are against a double disable you want to keep a close eye on your opponents mana and cool-downs. If someone uses their disable to get some creep kills or leaves themselves too low on mana to use it, grip their lane-mate and they will be helpless to stop you.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when laning with a partner is communication. Whether it is verbal, textual (Is that a word?), or just an understanding, knowing what the your laning partner will do if you grip someone, or get in trouble is very important. You can play perfectly and take advantage of an amazing opportunity, but if your partner runs or last hits creep, you will soon find yourself in a bad situation.
Solo Mid
Electrician can be very dominant mid if played correctly, especially against other melee heroes. In a 1v1 scenario grip cannot be interrupted (With the exception of an already in-flight projectile stun), which will close the distance and allow you to Energy Absorption if you so choose. If your opponent is melee and does not have a spammable ranged ability to get last hits with, you can also just stand with the creep and Energy Absorption to discourage your opponent from coming in for last hits. Just keep in mind that both Electric Shield and Energy Absorption can push the lane if you are not careful with positioning.
An important thing to note about solo midding is that a good portion of being successful is knowing your opponent. Keeping creep between you and so he can't grip you into a bad position, recognizing situations that would allow to chuck you into tower range, and recognizing obvious cast animations like and . If you don't know heroes and how to counter them, you probably should get some more experience with the game before midding.
Solo Side Lane
You are far from the most potent character in a 2v1 situation, but both energy absorption and mana shield can help you survive and get some last hits in lane. Your primary goal should be surviving and getting a level advantage, but if you feel safe being aggressive with your laning opponents you can turn the tide of the game by winning in a 2v1 lane.
Tri Lane
As Electrician needs some farm to be fully successful, but scales better with his powerful abilities than farm, he is not a good choice for tri-lane support or for a tri-lane carry.
Electrician has a powerful skill-set that can cater to many situations and play styles. I am going to provide a build that focuses on maxing each one of his skills first, which I believe are all viable. In the ranges that I play in, I have found the most success maxing Energy Absorption first because it gives you a very powerful spammable harass as well as somewhat of an escape mechanism. An option that is potent on some heroes is early stats, but I DO NOT recommend this on electrician because his skills are all just too valuable in my opinion. Every one of his skills will turn the tide of a fight more than stats will in almost every situation.
Max Absorption
This build focuses on Energy Absorption but still leaves you with the option of maxing energy shield or static grip second. No matter which one you choose to max first, you should always take at least one level in grip, as it will help you close the distance in order to use energy absorption, and is invaluable in too many situations. When deciding which to max first keep in mind that while static grip is a one point wonder, energy shield is not, and you will not really realize it's potency until later levels of the skill.
Static Grip/Energy Absorption
Energy Absorption/Static Grip
Energy Absorption
Static Grip/Electric Shield
Energy Absorption
Cleansing Shock
Energy Absorption
Static Grip/Electric Shield
Static Grip/Electric Shield
Electric Shield
Cleansing Shock
Electric Shield/Static Grip
Electric Shield/Static Grip
Electric Shield/Static Grip
Stats
Cleansing Shock
Max Shield
This build focuses on Electric Shield and getting it maxed quickly. At max level, energy shield is deadly to your opponents if you are just standing next to them and can be activated for as little as 1 mana. It also grants you essentially a 50% damage reduction (As long as you can keep it applied) for quite a bit of added survivability.
Static Grip
Electric Shield
Electric Shield
Static Grip/Energy Absorption
Electric Shield
Cleansing Shock
Electric Shield
Static Grip
Static Grip
Energy Absorption/Static Grip
Cleansing Shock
Energy Absorption
Energy Absorption
Energy Absorption
Stats
Cleansing Shock
Max Grip
This build focuses on maxing Static Grip first, which gets you a targeted 4.75 second stun that deals 380 damage in the process. This can be exceptionally potent if you are not afraid of your channel being interrupted in any way, or when facing opponents with powerful escape mechanisms (//). If going this build against an escaping character, I would even recommend not taking Cleansing Shock until 9, because the slow will not help you as much as additional burst.
Static Grip
Energy Absorption
Static Grip
Energy Absorption
Static Grip
Energy Absorption/Cleansing Shock
Static Grip
Energy Absorption
Cleansing Shock/Energy Absorption
Electric Shield
Cleansing Shock
Electric Shield
Electric Shield
Electric Shield
Stats
Cleansing Shock
Solo Survival
This build focuses on maxing your survivability in a lane where you are on your own. In the list of abilities I delay getting the first level in grip until level 7, because from my experience this is about the level that the laning phase really starts to be much less static. Realistically I would throw a level into grip whenever you feel like you will be ganking. This could be as early as mid coming to gank your lane, or as late as level 10.
I cannot play without one. Luckily a recent patch made your team start with one of these by default, although if no one else is upgrading it, and I can afford to sometimes I will. Electrician is not normally the person to spend on this, but if I have the money and I don't think the support will...
The first thing you always want to make sure you have is enough regen to survive in a lane long enough to at least get the money to courier yourself more regen. I like having at least a set of :RunesOfTheBlight: because they can keep your life topped off from harass without having to use all the regen at once. I hate getting harassed down to half life with just a health pot at low level and having to decide if I should use the top for partial effectiveness or risk dying to burst. If you think your lane opponents will put out a lot of harass, you should probably also pick up a :HealthPotion: to start. :ManaBattery: is not a bad pick up if you will be against someone who spams abilities like or . Keep in mind when using this item that it is much better at restoring mana than it is at restoring health; don't think this can replace :RunesOfTheBlight: or :HealthPotion:.
Anti-Harrass (:IronBuckler:/:GuardianRing
You are a melee character and are prone to taking auto-attacks when coming in for last hits. An :IronBuckler: will make a huge difference in how much regen you will need to have as a result of this. It is also a component in :HelmOfTheBlackLegio which is a great item for Electrician. Another item to consider is :GuardianRing: because it will reduce the damage you take by even more and is a component in many powerful items (Read: :RingOfTheTeacher. If you will not be building anything that uses it then this is probably a bad pickup.
Last Hit (:MinorTotem:/:LoggersHatchet:/:PretendersCrown
This can be exceptionally important if you are mid because it is not only your job to level fast, and get some farm of your own, but it is also important to keep your opponent from getting too much farm. Electrician is a melee so :LoggersHatchet: should not be completely overlooked, but with an already high base damage this is only necessary if you think you will struggle to get last hits without it, and wont be auto-attacking your opponent much. Lastly, :MinorTotem: give you a huge bang for your buck, but not for your inventory space. I like picking up at least one of these, because I like to build :PlatedGreaves: on him, and they are a component in it. If you are intending to pick up :PowerSupply: you can get up to three of these without having to end up selling them back for half price.
Examples
:IronBuckler:/:MinorTotem:/:PretendersCrown:/:RunesOfTheBlight: is my typical start. I will replace :PretendersCrown: with more regen if I expect to be in an aggressive lane. I do like pretenders for it's stats though, and it builds into :RingOfSorcery: now.
:IronBuckler:/:LoggersHatchet:/:RunesOfTheBlight: is something I will only do if I think I am going to be up against someone else with a hatchet, or a last hitting monster like / just so I can stay in the last hitting game. Nothing is worse than having everything denied because your opponent can last hit from twice the health you can.
Core
Always Core (:HomecomingStone
Keep one on you, watch the map, and know your opponents. Characters like / can output a lot of damage and make it hard to get away (Although Cleansing Shock helps) but can't stop you in any way from teleporting to get away. If you see someone tower diving a team-mate, port in and grip them. Not only will you possibly save your team-mate, but you are almost guaranteed a kill while the tower beats on them for 5 seconds.
This is the core that I personally play with most of the time and have found most successful. Depending on the opposing team the order I build these items in will change, but this is my usual build. If I am having a bad early game and am playing a ganker role, sometimes I will go :stri: for boots just to get around the map, and :Bottle: for mana regen; although I find that the ring helps your team so much more because it restores your team's mana.
These used to be closer to his core before they modified Electric Shield to not be able to always be active. The idea being to just stack armor and regenerate your two health pools (Since 50% of damage went to mana) faster than you could take damage. This build is still pseudo-viable, but can no longer make you the un-killable machine that it used to. Sometimes :Nullstone: works out better than Sac Stone if the opposing team has some targeted or global abilities that you would like to avoid.
If the team doesn't have a carry, I have seen a build like this work if it can be gotten early. Keep in mind you can jungle pretty well between Energy Absorption and Electric Shield, you just want to make sure to stack first to not waste mana.
:ShrunkenHead: is so amazing that it is almost always picked up if the game lasts long enough. Like on all Strength heroes, this grants huge survivability and added damage. With a few exceptions, it can ensure that your grip does not get interrupted, and will make you a powerful initiator. This item can also be activated during channeled spells, so you can use it once you have targeted someone with grip.
:Platemail: is a pretty solid pickup and builds into some powerful items. If you find the opposing team is mainly physical damage, just picking this item up can be very helpful even if you don't build it into anything else.
:VoidTalisman: is not a bad pickup on him because so much of his damage comes from abilities. You can't attack during a grip anyway, might as well not be able to be attacked as well. This is really potent for fighting a farmed hard carry that you don't want obliterating you with auto-attacks while you try and wait out their shruken head.
:Portalkey: should never be discounted as it can grant great initiation, and some nice survivability (Don't take damage for 3 seconds and you are out of there). Positioning matters so much in HoN, and this item can really turn the tide of battles. Not as effective as on characters with AoE stuns, but still a powerful item in most heroes hands. Initially I picked this item up as a joke in a game where I was way ahead, but after picking this item up a couple more times, I absolutely love having it on Electrician.
:BehemothsHeart: can also help make him near un-killable especially when combined with lots of armor. Not really a first pickup, but a nice luxury if the game makes it to the 50+ minute mark.
:NomesWisdom: is a very powerful item made from powerful components and is a great pickup for Electrician. Not only does it add a powerful aura to your team, but it adds mana regen and a good amount of mana pool.
:BarbedArmor: really adds even more to your initiation potential because it further discourages the other team even more from targeting you, forcing them to deal with your skillset in a team fight for even longer.
:PostHaste: is a very powerful, but very expensive item. It does not offer any survivability, but offers the most movement speed of all the boots, and an improved version of a homecoming stone available every minute. I do not recommend getting this item if it will interfere with your core, but if you somehow have ridiculous farm it can help you continue that trend.
:KuldrasSheepstick: gives your team another CC. Typically always better to have this built on an INT character, but if you find yourself with the farm, and the INT characters arn't getting it to counter powerful heroes that need to be controlled...
:SolsBulwark: demonic has great effects and tons of armor but is really expensive. This item fixes the cost issue by removing some major components, but removing some benefits that we probably didn't care about anyway (Attack Speed). This item is so powerful for it's cost that it should probably be built on at least one person in almost every team, so if your team doesn't have one, it is a good investment.
Probably my favorite laning partner, this combination is extremely dangerous to face. Puppet Master has amazing auto-attack damage with whiplash, and can follow up a long grip with a long puppet show. I have even seen puppet show used to drag someone into tower range to be followed up with a grip in tower range.
Voodoo Jester ()
Cursed Ground makes any damage dealt during a grip even more potent, not to mention that he brings his own stun to the picture. At level 5 Cursed Ground, Static Grip, Energy Absorption and some auto attacks will kill most heroes from full life. Enough said.
Forsaken (:fors
Another decent ranged damage dealer with a skill-shot disable. She can follow up your grip with a crippling volley; all the while both her and her skellies are beating on the unfortunate foe.
Nymphora ()
She can drop a heal down with your grip to both heal you and nuke your grip target. She can also fill your limited mana pool very quickly as well as get you in range of your targets with Grace of the Nymph. This doesn't even include a possible follow up stun. Starting at 6 you both can teleport around the map setting up ganks. Being against a double stun lane can hurt this combo, but it is still pretty potent if played right.
Jeraziah (:jera
Not a good laning partner because of it being double melee, but Grip into Inner Light is pretty powerful. Who needs a :ShrunkenHead: when you have this guy to make you immune to magic for 14 of every 20 seconds?!?! Only thing to keep in mind is that you cannot receive beneficial magic while this is active (Which includes Jer's heal).
Enemies
Magebane ()
Mana Drain hurts Electrician a lot as it provides an almost second health pool for him. It also doesn't help that you have a tiny mana pool, and at max level this guy is taking 64 mana per hit!! If you find yourself against this guy, don't try and trade auto attacks with him. His teleport makes him pretty mobile, but if you can just keep out of range until grip is ready you can turn things around pretty quickly.
Witch Slayer ()
With a mana drain, and two ways to stop a static grip, this guy is really annoying. He is also one of the heroes that can stop a static in a 1v1 by casting his stun as you are casting grip. This results in you getting stunned AND cancelling your grip (Costing you mana and a cooldown). He stays pretty squishy throughout the game though, and :ShrunkenHead: prevents him from doing just about anything to you.
Nullfire (:NullfireBlade
Have I mentioned how much mana burn/drain sucks for electrician? This item can also purge your shield on use, and works very similarly to your ult (Except it doesn't speed up allies, just dispels them).
Puzzlebox(:Puzzlebox
I almost forgot about this one, but look, it is another item that grants some kind of mana burn. Also grants true seeing which means that you are probably going to be getting counter warded a lot, which will make it harder to gank successfully since you will have no vision.
Deadwood ()
This guy has two physical stuns on really short, and fairly short cooldowns. This allows him to stop your static grip very easily, even if you have picked up a :ShrunkenHead:. You can Cleansing Shock his Rotten Grasp, but this guy becomes a giant pain once he has a :Portalkey:. Armor is a pretty solid counter to this guy, so getting a aemonicBreastplate will help you and your team immensely against this guy.
Andromeda ()
Another pesky hero that can stop Static Grip despite magic immunity. Long duration stun and armor reduction can be dangerous too. Careful positioning and timing is the best counter to her power though. She tends to be pretty squishy throughout the game, and is a good target for initiating on if you can.
Vindicator ()
Not only can this guy stop your grip from across the map, and drain your mana if you are not careful, but when he is near you cannot use your combo fully as every time you use an ability you are silenced for a short duration. In early laning keep in mind that you can use mana shield for 1 mana if you have to, and later you can use Cleansing shock to clear Sage's Lore off yourself and someone else at the same time.
Hellflower (:Hellflower
Although not specifically a counter to Electrician, it is worth noting that this item removes all of the mobility and survivability that your skills grant you for long enough for a beefy carry to take you out. Also worth noting that this will prevent you from activating :ShrunkenHead: for it's duration if you have picked one up, so it might be valuable to be careful if the opposing team has one.
Match where I go mid against a not so great Soulstealer, and end up at 800XP/Min by the end of the game. I do not gank the side lanes early in this game like I normally would because we were dominating those lanes without ganks, so I decided just to farm a bit longer before really roaming.
I side lane with Soul Reaper against a Kraken Torturer and we do fairly well. I overplay a couple of times and get killed for it, but by the end of the game the other team is ignoring me in team fights and paying for it.
There was also once Brized owning with him mid in a honcast match. I remember he went a very strange build (that actually became THE elec build after that) but I cannot remember the details of that match
Good (if not excellent) guide. You mention everything that needs to be said about electrician, in a neat and good looking manner.
Few things I dislike:
- Electrician as good mid. He's situationnal IMO, he is the go-to hero against annoying melees, but will get ass kicked by most ranged mid heroes.
- No mention of puzzlebox, but it's an item that rapes electrician (in the way nullfire does) hands down.
- You could mention Hellflower in the items that are annoying as well, as it prevents you from casting spells (so you deal NO damage for 6s) and therefore transforms you in a squishy target (no shield to protect your ass) in the middle of a lot of angry people
Nothing else to say, thumbs up
Check out my different guides, and leave me comments/suggestions and feedback !
Good (if not excellent) guide. You mention everything that needs to be said about electrician, in a neat and good looking manner.
Few things I dislike:
- Electrician as good mid. He's situationnal IMO, he is the go-to hero against annoying melees, but will get ass kicked by most ranged mid heroes.
- No mention of puzzlebox, but it's an item that rapes electrician (in the way nullfire does) hands down.
- You could mention Hellflower in the items that are annoying as well, as it prevents you from casting spells (so you deal NO damage for 6s) and therefore transforms you in a squishy target (no shield to protect your ass) in the middle of a lot of angry people
Nothing else to say, thumbs up
Thx for the feedback . Added Puzzlebox because I totally forgot about the mana drain on it (Don't see it much at < 1800), and Hellflower. I don't know that I agree on him only being a situational mid just because of the experiences I have had dominating powerful ranged mids like and :soul: (And seen pro players do the same). He should lose to certain heroes like , but a small mistake like him missing a rocket barrage can turn the tables on him very quickly.
Do I really need to play glacius or voodoo jester mid in 1700 games, stomp totally the other mid, to come back and say in all the guides about them ZOMFG GLAC/VJ IMBA MID HERO why not mention it in your guide ?
I am not saying elec CANNOT go mid. I am saying he is better off in a sidelane in most situations. Same goes for Glac and VJ, they can go mid, but they support better.
Check out my different guides, and leave me comments/suggestions and feedback !
Do I really need to play glacius or voodoo jester mid in 1700 games, stomp totally the other mid, to come back and say in all the guides about them ZOMFG GLAC/VJ IMBA MID HERO why not mention it in your guide ?
I am not saying elec CANNOT go mid. I am saying he is better off in a sidelane in most situations. Same goes for Glac and VJ, they can go mid, but they support better.
You are comparing mid to in another lane, when that is not how you choose a lineup. You have 4 characters chosen (Either to tri and solo, or 2 and 2) with solid lanes and you need a mid character. The question is how does mid compare to other choices mid, and how well does he fill out your end game team. He is a very powerful mid in the right hands, and unless you need a carry or tower pusher, he probably fills out your end-game lineup better than other choices...
Originally Posted by dmae
You should add :KuldrasSheepstick: to luxury.
Also :PostHaste: is really good if you went mid and got plenty of farm.
Added both of these to Game Dependant/Luxury, Thx!
This is a great guide! I've started playing Electrician + Nymphora with my brother and I learned a couple of cool little things from it. Maybe I'll get him to try Voodoo Jester as well.
This is a great guide! I've started playing Electrician + Nymphora with my brother and I learned a couple of cool little things from it. Maybe I'll get him to try Voodoo Jester as well.
How do you feel about energizer on Elec? Seems like it would synergize well with his chase ability, and provide the team some extra speed to either get away or to follow up on his initiation.
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can on their own, but he can still provide solid damage while stunning an opponent for almost 5 seconds, allowing any nearby allies to provide their damage to the target without fear of reprisal. Because his most damaging skill can cost no mana, and all his skills are on short cool-downs, he is also able to gank with less downtime. Tower diving foes should greatly fear a TP from Electrician because they are likely to end up enduring 5+ seconds of tower damage.
"Carry"Another role in quotes because Electrician is not a carry in the typical sense. Don't get me wrong, I have carried games while playing electrician, but typically in the same way that any other ganker who has early success does. I have also seen a few situations Electrician as a carry in a game where we were lacking one. With a Mock of Brilliance and Energy Shield you can put out 100 damage a second to nearby enemies; dealing 180 damage a second to targets you are gripping. Not a role I find he excels at, but I have seen it played in games where the role needs to be filled.Electrician is a fairly versatile character and can typically fit in most lanes. He pairs well in a lane with another stunning character, or any character with high auto attack damage (I will go more into this later). He makes for a powerful mid character; excelling against other melee mids with his spammable (READ: Free) harass and survivability. His survivability also makes him a viable (Although not the best) candidate for a solo side lane where you would be against multiple opponents.Side LaneElectrician is very powerful in a side lane with a partner, especially if your lane opponents do not have stuns to stop your channel. He can play a very aggressive strategy, or can save his abilities to defend his laning partner against an aggressive lane. Laning with another melee hero is typically sub-optimal, but it is still very possible to be successful. For more info on good laning partners, check out the Allies and Enemies section.to chuck you into tower range, and recognizing obvious cast animations like
. If you don't know heroes and how to counter them, you probably should get some more experience with the game before midding.
Solo Side LaneYou are far from the most potent character in a 2v1 situation, but both energy absorption and mana shield can help you survive and get some last hits in lane. Your primary goal should be surviving and getting a level advantage, but if you feel safe being aggressive with your laning opponents you can turn the tide of the game by winning in a 2v1 lane.Tri LaneAs Electrician needs some farm to be fully successful, but scales better with his powerful abilities than farm, he is not a good choice for tri-lane support or for a tri-lane carry.Electrician has a powerful skill-set that can cater to many situations and play styles. I am going to provide a build that focuses on maxing each one of his skills first, which I believe are all viable. In the ranges that I play in, I have found the most success maxing Energy Absorption first because it gives you a very powerful spammable harass as well as somewhat of an escape mechanism. An option that is potent on some heroes is early stats, but I DO NOT recommend this on electrician because his skills are all just too valuable in my opinion. Every one of his skills will turn the tide of a fight more than stats will in almost every situation.Max AbsorptionThis build focuses on Energy Absorption but still leaves you with the option of maxing energy shield or static grip second. No matter which one you choose to max first, you should always take at least one level in grip, as it will help you close the distance in order to use energy absorption, and is invaluable in too many situations. When deciding which to max first keep in mind that while static grip is a one point wonder, energy shield is not, and you will not really realize it's potency until later levels of the skill./
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). If going this build against an escaping character, I would even recommend not taking Cleansing Shock until 9, because the slow will not help you as much as additional burst.
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. Keep in mind when using this item that it is much better at restoring mana than it is at restoring health; don't think this can replace :RunesOfTheBlight: or :HealthPotion:.
. If you will not be building anything that uses it then this is probably a bad pickup.
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can output a lot of damage and make it hard to get away (Although Cleansing Shock helps) but can't stop you in any way from teleporting to get away. If you see someone tower diving a team-mate, port in and grip them. Not only will you possibly save your team-mate, but you are almost guaranteed a kill while the tower beats on them for 5 seconds.
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Probably my favorite laning partner, this combination is extremely dangerous to face. Puppet Master has amazing auto-attack damage with whiplash, and can follow up a long grip with a long puppet show. I have even seen puppet show used to drag someone into tower range to be followed up with a grip in tower range.)
Cursed Ground makes any damage dealt during a grip even more potent, not to mention that he brings his own stun to the picture. At level 5 Cursed Ground, Static Grip, Energy Absorption and some auto attacks will kill most heroes from full life. Enough said.)
She can drop a heal down with your grip to both heal you and nuke your grip target. She can also fill your limited mana pool very quickly as well as get you in range of your targets with Grace of the Nymph. This doesn't even include a possible follow up stun. Starting at 6 you both can teleport around the map setting up ganks. Being against a double stun lane can hurt this combo, but it is still pretty potent if played right.)
With a mana drain, and two ways to stop a static grip, this guy is really annoying. He is also one of the heroes that can stop a static in a 1v1 by casting his stun as you are casting grip. This results in you getting stunned AND cancelling your grip (Costing you mana and a cooldown). He stays pretty squishy throughout the game though, and :ShrunkenHead: prevents him from doing just about anything to you.aemonicBreastplate will help you and your team immensely against this guy.
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Another pesky hero that can stop Static Grip despite magic immunity. Long duration stun and armor reduction can be dangerous too. Careful positioning and timing is the best counter to her power though. She tends to be pretty squishy throughout the game, and is a good target for initiating on if you can.)
Not only can this guy stop your grip from across the map, and drain your mana if you are not careful, but when he is near you cannot use your combo fully as every time you use an ability you are silenced for a short duration. In early laning keep in mind that you can use mana shield for 1 mana if you have to, and later you can use Cleansing shock to clear Sage's Lore off yourself and someone else at the same time.
Originally Posted by _JiMz_
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fissure),and will continue to move you towards the gripped target as long as your channel is not interrupted. If your target is moved by some other force (
turret/keg, 
mummies) you will follow them if there is enough time left in the channel, which is good to know because it can put you in a more or less advantageous position depending on the situation. The exception to the movement rule is 
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transformations).
