Learn how to dominate the night as Night Stalker in Dota 2 with this comprehensive guide. Master his abilities, item builds, and strategies for ultimate victory.
Night Stalker is the embodiment of evil and enjoys his cruelty. He became the prototype for characters in horror stories such as Baba Yaga and Koschei the Deathless. Since ancient times, his shadow has been used to scare children into listening. He enjoys this role and plays it with full dedication. Under cover of night, he seeks out those who have been careless and found themselves defenseless – people who have strayed from the light and forgotten ancient legends.
Character Description
At sunset, the Night Stalker goes hunting. It moves silently through the night forests, slows down its prey, and attacks it mercilessly. If dawn threatens to disrupt its plans, it can block out the sun and continue the attack.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Strong ultimate to start fights | Dependent on the time of day in the game |
| Mobility and the ability to quickly move around the map | Weak to magical attacks |
| Strong character in the early stages of the game | Requires simulated experience to be fully realized |
| A versatile hero in terms of builds and lines | — |
Character History
Nothing is known for certain about Balanar, only rumors exist. The ancient legends of every race and culture mention an incredible time when there was no day or sun, and only night ruled the world. And in this time of darkness, creatures of the night like Balanar existed.
To get acquainted, we suggest watching the video:
Basic characteristics
Night Stalker is a strong hardlaner or a very solid midlaner. Has high kill potential alone, but expands his capabilities when paired with a support. Can force fights by activating his ultimate and quickly close the distance with the enemy. Very strong at night and weak during the day.
At the start of the game, Balanar has the following characteristics:
The character needs the appropriate items and level to deal a lot of damage. Balanar beats absolutely any hero 1 on 1 at night.
Night Stalker Aspects
Blinding Void
Void’s ability prevents an enemy from sharing vision with allies. If allies cannot see him, he takes damage every second.
Night Reign
The game starts with night instead of day. This ability makes the night longer and the day shorter.
Night Stalker Skills
Heart of Darkness
This is an innate ability of the hero, thanks to which health regeneration increases by 40% at night, and decreases by 20% during the day.
Void
The ability creates a noxious void that slows the enemy, reduces their vision radius, and deals damage to them. At night, this ability briefly stuns the victim, stopping interruptible abilities, and the effects last longer.
Crippling Fear
The hero instills fear in enemies who are near him. They are silenced and take periodic damage. The effect lasts longer at night.
Crippling Fear (Aghanim’s Scepter)
The ability becomes toggled. After the normal duration ends, it consumes a portion of your maximum mana every second. The ability’s cooldown is reduced.
Hunter in the Night
As night falls, the hero reveals his potential: his movement speed and attack speed increase.
Hunter in the Night (Aghanim’s Shard)
Allows the hero to instantly absorb the selected creep, restoring some of their health and mana. Cannot be used on ancient creeps during daytime.
Dark Ascension
Suppresses sunlight, creating impenetrable darkness and maximizing the hero’s potential. He gains unlimited vision, the ability to fly, and additional damage.
Night Stalker Talents
Balanar’s talent tree looks like this:
The standard is to pump the first two right talents, then take the two left ones. But games are different, so look at what you need at this stage of the game.
How to upgrade Night Stalker skills
The screenshot below shows the order in which you should upgrade your skills:
Purchase/Assembly of Night Stalker
Always remember that item purchase is situational, it depends on the lane you are on. There is a basic set of items, but there are also special items for the lane. Item build is focused on dealing a lot of damage with the first skill and finishing off the enemy with your hand.
Below is a build for the hardline, where it is worth focusing on survivability in order to force protracted fights and help allies:
Who to use Night Stalker against
Balanar is a good choice if you are facing heroes with escape capabilities. He is a strong mid laner and can help in the side lanes from the early minutes: after receiving his ultimate, his movement increases.
- Puck;
- Void Spirit;
- Juggernaut;
- Storm (Storm Spirit);
- Slark;
- Timber (Timbersaw);
- Quopa (Queen of Pain).
Thanks to its area-of-effect silence, it can silence several enemies at once. If you play with the first aspect, then when dealing damage with the first skill, the enemy disappears from the sight of his allies – this makes him easy prey for the Night Hunter and his team.
In the early stages, getting kills will be very easy, just take Void at 2 and passive at 1. This will allow you to deal a lot of damage, slow the enemy and deal enough hits to finish off the enemy. The hero shows himself well against thin targets, for example, supports.
Counter pick Night Stalker
Try not to take Balanar against summoner heroes, since 1 on 1 you are strong, but against a crowd of creatures you are no longer. Also dangerous for you are characters that can fight you on equal terms, for example, CC or Huskar. Most likely, you will lose in such a confrontation.
- Naga (Naga Siren);
- Bear (Lone Druid)
- Broodmother
- Huskar
- CC (Chaos Knight);
- Arc Warden.
It’s worth remembering that you are weak to magic damage, even though you have a high increase in strength. Some supports can really ruin your life, but the worst ones are mid-magicians.
Problematic heroes in this case could be:
- Shaman (Shadow Shaman);
- SF (Shadow Fiend);
- Ogre (Ogre Magi).
Tactics of playing as Night Stalker
This character is most often on the offlane, as he can initiate fights and tank a lot of damage. A little less often, he is a midlaner, but only in cases where you know your limits and peak strength. According to statistics for November 2024:
- In over 85% of matches, winning with Night Stalker in the offlane has a 52% win rate.
- Mid is taken by just over 6% and the win rate is 52%.
At the start of the game, finish off creeps and periodically gift your opponent with your first skill. If the opponent is a mage, try to avoid his spells. With additional levels, you can start to be aggressive and try to enter exchanges. The main thing is to pump up all the abilities, at least once, then you are practically unkillable. In the offlane, it is worth pumping up the passive and silence as much as possible, in the mid, the first and second skills.
If you encounter a strong enemy in the mid, try to finish off creeps, farm your starting items and go help your allies when night falls. In one night, you can visit two lanes at once and try to kill the enemy carry or hardliner. The main items will be phases and a sabre. If everything went well, perhaps a phylactery.
In the lane, you should be assisted by a support, as you are focused on keeping the enemy in one place and unable to use skills. Your damage is not very high at the beginning, so your four should take care of this by pumping the necessary abilities to kill the enemy.
If you notice that the enemy support is flying to help the midlaner, you can stop the teleport with the first ability. If you missed it, then most likely the enemy core was left defenseless. This is the very moment when you can send him to the tavern. You can easily dive him under the tower or in a crowd of creeps, since your strength indicator gives you such an opportunity.
The character is relevant not only in the early stages of the game, but also in the midgame and lategame. You should constantly look for an opportunity to make a kill or farm the forest, as you need items. The main items will be Khanda, BKB and Blink. With such a set, the middle of the game will be in your favor. For the lategame, it is worth strengthening yourself with a cuirass and a lotus orb, this will allow you to live longer in the fight.
Try to attack the supports first, excluding them from the fight – you will make the battle easier for your allies. With a couple of slots, you can kill one or even two support characters.