Dota 2 Hero Guide: Balanar, the Night Stalker

So, you've picked Night Stalker. Talk about a great hero! Considered by many to be "slightly balanced" in the day, and imbalanced at night, you're going to have a hell of a ride when you play him. Night Stalker brings fear to many people when they see him pop-up in the Hero Selection phase. He's one that inspires fear, as they know even with proper teamwork, and warding, a Night Stalker can completely take over a game with a few kills on supports giving him a strong lead from 6 minutes onward. Anytime night has fallen on the map, everyone will be fearful that Night Stalker is coming for him.

Night Stalker's role is safely stated as: Initiator/Carry and Ganker. Balanar is a durable strength hero with decent strength and agility gain, and OK intelligence gain. His stats are pretty good overall, and is a strong hero because of this. His decent agility gain also lets him translate safely into a carry as time goes on.

 

Abilities

Void (Q, V)
Creates a damaging void that slows an enemy unit and deals damage. Void also mini-stuns, interrupting channeling abilities. The slowing effect lasts longer at night.
Day Duration: 2
Night Duration: 4
Move Slow: 50%
Attack Slow: 35%
Damage: 90/160/255/335
Range: 525
8 Second Cooldown
Mana Cost: 80/90/100/110

Crippling Fear (W, F)
Night Stalker horrifies the target enemy Hero, causing it to miss attacks and become silenced. The effect longer at night.
Day Duration: 3 (static)
Night Duration: 5/6/7/8
Miss Chance (Day): 10%
Miss Chance (Night): 40%
Range: 500

 

Hunter in the Night (E, G) (Passive, Night Only)
Night Stalker in his element at night, attacking and moving with great swiftness.
Move Speed: 20%/25%/30%/35%
Attack Speed: 30/45/60/75

 

 

 

Darkness (R, R)
Night Stalker smothers the sun and summons instant darkness, so that he might use his powers at their fullest. When used at night, it extends night time by Darkness' duration.
Duration: 25/50/80 seconds
Cooldown: 180/150/120
Aghanim's Scepter : Grants unobstructed vision in the night. The improved vision does not depend on using Darkness.

 

Skill Build:
1. Void
2. Hunter in the Night
3. Void
4. Hunter in the Night
5. Void
6. Darkness
7. Crippling Fear/Void (situational)
8. Hunter in the Night/Void
9. Void/Hunter in the Night
10. Crippling Fear
11. Darkness
12. Crippling Fear
13. Crippling Fear
14. Crippling Fear
15. Stats
16. Darkness
17-25. Stats

This is a pretty basic skill build that is followed in most games-- the main point is to max out Void in order to do the most damage. Void scales really well, and should be leveled up first, with Hunter in the Night right behind it. I personally say put one point into Crippling Fear if the heroes you are ganking have lots of stuns, such as an Earthshaker, or any other hero that can escape you (Mirana, Storm Spirit, to name a few). This is completely situational though-- make sure you know who you are up against when ganking.

Early Game: The early game is tough for Night Stalker, keep in mind that he is much weaker during the day, as he is supposed to be extra strong at night. Night Stalker at this point in the game should be focused on last hitting in order to get the items he needs. Most games, it's wise to start by purchasing two Gauntlets of Strength, two iron branches, a health potion, and tangoes. This buffs up your damage by a significant amount which will let you last hit more easily (a problem for Night Stalker, his attack animation is pretty bad), while giving you sufficient regen to stay in lane if you get harrased.

In the most ideal of situations, by the time night rolls around, you'll want Boots of Speed, an Urn of Shadows, and a Bottle. This is the absolute ideal situation where you get first blood, and are able to grab most of the creeps in your lane. BUT, this is atypical, so what you should look for (in my opinion), is Boots of Speed and a Bottle. This lets you control runes, which are important for ganking, and keeping your mana pool up (if you need to use Void to last hit!).

Try to get to every rune, as it can shut down the enemy mid hard, and it will make ganking much easier instead of having to return to base or having a courier bottle ferry for you. Anyway, early game you should focus on getting a few key items first: boots, bottle, and urn. After you have these core early game items, your ganks will be incredibly powerful. You are a power house at night time. One tip to keep in mind: as soon as it turns night time (5:50-1), pop your ultimate. Your ultimate effectively "pauses" the current time. So that means, whenever it's up, make sure to use it at night. This extends night time significantly.

Items for Early Game:

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Mid Game: In mid game you want to focus on saving your ultimate for team fights or important kills (a kill on a carry that's been farming, or something of the sort). This also is a time when farming for you comes into play. Make smart choices about farming. Depending on my role (am I the primary carry, or at least high priority for farm?), I will only farm during the day, having a TP scroll with myself in order to make sure you are able to gank, and counter-gank effectively. At this point, you should have some idea of what you need to farm up.

 

Do you need to be more tanky? Get a Vanguard, or a Black King Bar (or both). Do you need more armor? Start building an Assault Cuirass. Do you want to get more vision at night to help your ganking? Or do you need more vision? Get Aghanim's Scepter (I personally consider it core on Night Stalker). Your mid game should be focused on farming and ganking when night time arises.

Items for Mid Game:

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Late Game: In the late game, you want to be farmed. At this point, you should have at least a BKB, Urn of Shadows, Upgraded Boots (either Phase or Treads), and one more item, or at least a build up to one of the following: Aghanim's Scepter, Assault Cuirass, Heart of Tarrasque, or Abyssal Blade. You can change up what items you need based on the game, but either a tanky item (if you have no vanguard) or a damage item (if you have a vanguard).

Your role in team fights will be to:
1. Cast Darkness
2. Silence the support or main damage dealing hero who casts lots of spells.
3. Using Void on the carry and focusing the enemy carry with your tankability and damage output.
This should be your role late game, and typically you should win teammfights if your team is not behind by a significant amount.

Items for Late Game:

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I hope you've enjoyed this guide. Hopefully you can become a better Night Stalker player!


Notable Replays: http://www.dota2.com/international/game/210, http://www.dota2.com/international/game/194

In-Game Match IDs: 36107873, 36280903