title_body: Is it common to break ESCs?
upvoted_answer: Aside from quality control issues with the product, the only real way to destroy an ESC faster than the effects or normal wear and tear (minimal) is to mistreat it:
  
  Using it with a voltage higher than its rating
  Using it with a motor that's dramatically too large
  Drawing more current than its rating
  
  Frequently stalling the motor against tree branches or alike
  
  
  Not adequately cooling the MOSFET transistors when used in high-power applications
  
  I will say, there's something to be said for having all of the ESCs on a model be the same make and model. This would minimize the risk of asymmetric behaviors between the ESCs in-flight.