Tips and tricks for getting more out of Reinhardt's show-stopping Ultimate.
Earthshatter is Reinhardt’s brutal Ultimate ability, and in the right hands it’s capable of knocking out an entire enemy team, leaving you and your allies plenty of time to turn the opposition into mincemeat.
Timing, patience and practise is everything when it comes to mastering this ability though, and so we thought we’d put together an Earthshatter guide that explores this skill in just a little more detail, and should help you use it a little more efficiently.
If you’re just getting started with this character then be sure to take a look at our Reinhardt guide as well, as this contains a huge amount of information that will make you a better tank faster. For now though, let’s see what makes this devastating Ultimate tick.
Earthshatter range, hitbox and stats
First of all, here are the raw stats relating to the Earthshatter Ultimate:
- 0.5 second cast time
- 20 metre range
- 50 damage per enemy
- 2.5 second duration
– Earthshatter is delivered as a conical attack directly in front of Reinhardt, and will hit anything within that cone, up to 20 metres ahead of him.
– In terms of audio cues, you will know the enemy Reinhardt is about to deliver this punch when he shouts “Hammer down!” Your friendly Reinhardt, however, will merely grunt to announce the triggering of Earthshatter.
– Earthshatter will not pass through a shield and so it bears mentioning here that a friendly Reinhardt can use his projected barrier to prevent his mirror opponent from striking his team.
– Reinhardt’s Ultimate is capable of passing through the Payload, and can also spread along vertical surfaces too.
Maximising the impact of Earthshatter
You should not greedily spend your Earthshatter, as it can be a game-changing (or even outright game-ending) ability if used properly and with patience. It should preferably be used with support from teammates and in a brawl, granting your team a ridiculous advantage.
Once you’ve bagged yourself a nice selection of bodies on the floor, it’s important to ensure you actually capitalise on the potential Play of the Game opportunity in front of you. This is ideally done in partnership with your team – and even more ideally in conjunction with their Ultimates (see below) – but you can still contribute heartily to the damage yourself.
As quickly as you can, drop Firestrike in a nice line, and then start swinging. Alternative, and especially if you have good team support, aim your Charge at highest HP target (usually the tank) and let your teammates deal with the softies who are left behind, and are now without the protection of their tank.
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Comboing Earthshatter with other Ultimates
Another way to get more out of Earthshatter is of course to combo it with one of your teammate’s Ultimates. This is easier said than done in the solo queue where many people eschew a headset and often actually mute chat altogether.
Nevertheless, and particularly if you’re approaching a game-ending battle on a capture point (for example), tap the Z key* to let your allies know that Earthshatter is either fully charged or very nearly at trigger point. That may hopefully at least encourage your team to get stuck into the fray as a group.
If you get a similiar response from someone on your team though, get near them and start approaching the objective with them – this should hopeful indicate your desire to deliver a combo together. Even just two of you working together like this can swing the tide of battle heavily – particularly in random matches, where the enemy team are likely to be no more coordinated than your own!
What makes a particularly good friendly Ultimate to combo Earthshatter with though? Well, anyone with a powerful offensive Ult will relish the opportunity to lay into a whole heap of potential victims, but don’t forget the likes of D.Va either. If you can pin everyone to the ground, they’ll have no way of dodging her deadly mech suit detonation.
Storm, Earth and Fire Achievement
There’s an Achievement or Trophy – depending on your platform of choice – associated with Earthshatter called Storm, Earth and Fire. To tick this one off your list, you’ll need to land a Fire Strike and a Charge after dropping your Ultimate.
It’s one of the easier ones to complete really, but just make sure that both of these other abilities are off their cooldowns before dropping Earthshatter! You should really not have any trouble rattling off a quick strike, followed by a Charge if you’ve much experience at all with this hero.
If you’re struggling to complete it without getting picked off by someone not caught up in the Earthshatter, you may find it easier to wait until you’re in a one-on-one situation with someone. Get close, drop it and you should have ample time to finish them off with the follow up moves.
That ends our closer look at Earthshatter! Let us know in the comments if you have any tried and tested tips that you use with this Ultimate, so we can all get better at playing this ever-popular hero.
