Heavy Metal - Tips For Synergizing With E.T.C. In Your Team

Hi lads! Today our HotS boost team will talk about E.T.C. - not about the champion itself, but we will discuss how to synergize with him, so you are going to be prepared when he is on your team. There are already are lot of guides covering his general gameplay and mechanics, while it’s hard to understand how to support him and to receive help from this guy but don’t worry - we got you covered!

E.T.C. is pretty highly rated on our HotS tier list because of his immense crowd control potential - he can really turn around a fight single handedly, and snowball alone a game whenever he can cooperate with his team, since he can’t carry a game without proper support. Keep reading to see our tips!

React to his ganks

E.T.C. doesn’t offer a lot of damage but he brings a lot of cc’s to the table: he has a stun, a knock back and he’s great at body blocking enemies - it goes without saying that he is a fantastic ganker. If you are able to react properly to his ganks you will easily get a kill or at the very least force your opponent out of lane, since he can maintain his target in range for really a long time, more than you would expect.

However during our hots duo queue boost sessions we see that a lot of players underestimate his ganking potential, failing to react to his movements because they don’t think that the gank will succeed. That’s the worst scenario - E.T.C. will often be able to lock down the enemy for many seconds… without any follow up from his allies. When watching the minimap pay attention to E.T.C.’s position and be always ready to help his ganking attempts. This can help you snowballing in the early game and even get you many objective in the mid-late game.

Become a bait yourself

Elaborating on the first point, sometimes E.T.C. needs a little help to set up the perfect gank – that’s when his allies can come handy. If you are playing a squishy hero, try to overextend baiting your opponents into committing in an all in. According to our HotS boost team, E.T.C. will easily be able to turn the tides of the fight with his crowd controls, punishing the enemy. This strategy can be even better when used against many enemies, but be aware: it will also be riskier.

Maximize the potential of Rockstar

E.T.C. has a very useful trait, Rockstar: it increases the attack speed of his allies by 20% for four seconds in close range. It’s a pretty meaningful buff, yet during our hots duo queue boost sessions many players ignore the boost totally, and stay out of his range. Pay attention to the buff and get the most out of it: using your best abilities during its effect. Every attack damage boost will be more relevant.

At level 16 E.T.C. can choose to get Speed Metal, so don’t forget about its movement speed boost.

Take advantage of the talent Groupies

E.T.C. is a strong hero, according to our hots tier list, because he can offer a lot of utility with his level 13 talent Groupies. Choosing this talent E.T.C. will be able to cast a heal when using Guitar Solo, and it gets even better in combination with Prog Rock (available at level 1). E.T.C. will become almost a secondary healer, giving you more flexibility and a better team comp overall.

With groupies your team has an added healer, so you will get the edge on any long lasting team fight. The cooldown is pretty short – only eight seconds, so keep that in mind when deciding to engage or retreat.

Keep an eye on Face Melt and its disruption

Face Melt offers a great knockback, but this crowd control comes with a downside: often your allies will miss skillshot and crucial abilities because they can’t predict the knock back. According to our heroes of the storm boosting team you should always keep an eye out for this ability and for its cooldown, so you will understand when it’s available and E.T.C. may cast it. Don’t miss your AoE abilities boys, they are often the main source of damage in late game team fights.

Set up Mosh Pit in advance

E.T.C. is at the top of our heroes of the storm tier list because his heroic, Mosh Pit, can win alone a team fight.. As long as everyone is on the same page! If you know that E.T.C. has his heroic available, try to save your strongest ability and chain them up in the Pit. Simply auto attacking isn’t enough: if you want to maximize your damage, throw your best spells, even if it means waiting a little bit. Of course this needs a proper set up, meaning that you also need to be in a good position in advance.

Understand when you should re-engage

We understand that E.T.C. brings some communication problems: having so many crowd controls implies that sometimes your allies will think that you want to re engage when you actually are retreating, and vice versa. His stun and knockback can also be used as a disengage tool, since it offers a decent zoning potential. Try to communicate with pings and use your own judgement. According to our heroes of the storm boosting team, following the same bad plan is better than following five different excellent plans.

If E.T.C. is just trying to deal some quick damage or to disrupt the enemies to make his allies retreat, don’t waste his efforts. Figure out his intentions and be sure to communicate!

E.T.C. has the potential to dominate our heroes of the storm tier list, but he has a big problem: he relies a lot on his allies to make plays. Hopefully after reading this guide you will be able to follow his rhythm and smash your allies just like this rockstar smashes his guitar. Have fun and rock on!