Why epidemic? If affects the same amout of foes that Belly Smash would anyway. Even the Deep Wound from Crushing Blow won"t last long enough to be worth spreading from foe to foe...imho.
Ya..i don't really like epidemic..meh. Energy is tight on a hammer anyway.
I really don't know how it could have taken you 3hrs to cap Earthshaker though..unless you were afk for 2 of them..idk
hehe...well, if he spawned on the upper Snake Dance spawn. That one can be tough to get to with the massive amount of trolls up there. Trolls plus the Tundra Giants can put the hurt on a part pretty fast. If he spawned at the one right after you enter from Grenth's Footprint, well...there's no excuse for that.