Night Stalker
Hero
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   23 + 3.2
18 + 2.3
13 + 1.6
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Balanar, the Night Stalker, is a melee strength hero, renowned for being a very potent ganker once night falls.
Unlike most other heroes in the game, Night Stalker's strength greatly fluctuates depending on the time of day. He is relatively innocuous during the day, with one of his abilities being completely disabled then while two others are heavily weakened in potency, but he quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with once the moon rises. He has a slow in Void, which allows him to hound and nuke down lone enemies who are unfortunate enough to encounter him; the slow effect is considerably more debilitating at night where a mini stun is also applied. He also has the ability to silence his foes with Crippling Fear, which drastically increases in duration at night, preventing spellcasters and even carries from retaliating against him while he lashes at them with relative impunity. His passive, Hunter In the Night, greatly boosts his movement speed and attack speed at night, allowing him to easily move around the map, to pursue and tear apart his prey. Finally, his ultimate, Dark Ascension, summons instant nighttime and hampers enemy night vision, making even the strongest enemy heroes sitting ducks for the Night Stalker and his allies. A terror in darkness, Night Stalker is the embodiment of heroes' nightmares, and one of the last things they will ever wish to encounter alone at night.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Balanar, the Night StalkerPlay "I feed the darkness and the darkness feeds me."
Lore:
Of the Night Stalker, there is no history, only stories. There are ancient tales woven into the lore of every race and every culture, of an impossible time before sunlight and daytime, when night reigned alone and the world was covered with the creatures of darkness--creatures like Balanar the Night Stalker.
It is said that on the dawn of the First Day, all the night creatures perished. All, that is, save one. Evil's embodiment, Night Stalker delights in his malevolence. He created the primal role of the Night Terror, the Boogeyman, and as long as there have been younglings, his is the specter summoned to terrify them. This is a role he relishes; nor are these empty theatrics. He does indeed stalk the unwary, the defenseless, those who have strayed beyond the lighted paths or denied the warnings of their communities. Night Stalker serves as living proof that every child's worst nightmare....is true.
Abilities[edit]
Void
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. Deals half damage during day.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.33
Cast Range: 525
Damage: 90/160/255/335
Move Speed Slow: 50%
Attack Speed Slow: 50
Day Slow Duration: 1.25
Night Slow Duration: 2.5/3/3.5/4
Night Stun Duration: 0.1
11/
80/
Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
Void: Dispellable with any dispel. Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.Balanar creates a vortex of infinite night, tearing opponents violently into the eternal darkness that once was.
Notes:
- Deals 45/80/127.5/167.5 damage during the day.
- The mini-stun is only applied during the night.
- Also uses the night values during the night from Eclipse.
- Void first applies the slow debuff, then the damage, then the stun debuff.
- Has a cast backswing of 0.57 during Hunter in the Night.
Crippling Fear
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Night Stalker horrifies all nearby enemies, causing them to become silenced while near him. The effect lasts longer at night.
Cast Animation: 0.2+0.43
Radius: 375
Day Duration: 3
Night Duration: 5/6/7/8
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
30/ 50
Debuff persists if it was placed before spell immunity.Modifiers
Crippling Fear Aura: Undispellable. Crippling Fear: Undispellable.A vision of the twisted maw of Balanar etches itself into the minds of the poor souls unlucky enough to cross his path.
Notes:
- The silence is provided by an aura, its debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- The aura's duration does not update when it turns day or night while the buff is on.
- Also uses the night values during the night from Eclipse.
- Has a cast backswing of 0.67 during Hunter in the Night.
Hunter in the Night
E
G
Ability
Passive
Passive
Affects
Self
Self
Night Stalker is in his element at night, attacking and moving with great swiftness.
Move Speed Bonus: 22%/28%/34%/40%
Attack Speed Bonus: 30/50/70/90 (
170/190/210/230)
170/190/210/230)The hunting prowess of Balanar improves as the night beckons.
Notes:
- Also works during the night from Eclipse.
Dark Ascension
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Self
Self
Night Stalker smothers the sun and summons instant darkness, so that he might use his powers at their fullest. Nightstalker gains flight and bonus damage during this time. Has unobstructed vision.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0
Attack Damage Bonus: 50/100/150
Duration: 30
140/ 100/90/80) 125/Modifiers
Darkness: Undispellable.It is a humbling sight to see when the mightiest of warriors become afraid of the dark.
Notes:
- Dark Ascension has a lower priority than the daytime caused by Supernova.
- During it, Night Stalker still flies, has the damage bonus and unobstructed vision, but the vision is limited to his default daytime vision.
- Has a cast backswing of 0.5 seconds when cast during the night.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| -40s Dark Ascension Cooldown | 25 | +140 Hunter in the Night Attack Speed |
| +50 Damage | 20 | +40 Movement Speed |
| 15% Lifesteal | 15 | +15 Strength |
| +200 Mana | 10 | +200 Health |
Notes:
- The mana talent increases maximum mana capacity, and keeps the current mana percentage.
- The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.
- The lifesteal talent stacks additively with other sources of lifesteal.
- The strength talent effectively grants Night Stalker 300 health, 1.5 health regen, 1.2% magic resistance and 15 attack damage.
- This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage, so it does not benefit illusions, and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
- Tango gives health regeneration to stay alive.
- Healing Salve restores health in the early game.
- Enchanted Mango restores mana so Night Stalker may use one more Void in the early game to secure kill.
- Clarity allows Night Stalker with low base intelligence to maintain his early mana pool so he can use Void to harass and gank.
- Stout Shield provides damage block that can greatly increase survivability in lane, and can upgrade into Vanguard later.
Early game:
- Orb of Venom adds movement speed slow to attacks. Together with Void's 50% movement speed slow, it greatly reduces the target's chances of escaping.
- Magic Stick stores charges that restore HP and mana for Night Stalker to stay alive and use abilities during ganks.
- Boots of Speed, combined with Hunter in the Night, increase Night Stalker base movement speed, granting him unparalleled mobility at night.
- Urn of Shadows fits the active Night Stalker, giving him charges that heal or hurt heroes. It also increases mana regeneration and armor so Night Stalker can stay alive to contribute to ganks.
- Observer Ward grants vision so Night Stalker can set up ganks; his high mobility at night makes placing wards deep inside enemy territory easy.
Mid game:
- Magic Wand provides attributes and restores HP and mana to Night Stalker.
- Phase Boots grant Night Stalker extra movement speed and attack speed, synergizing well with Dark Ascension's attack damage and Hunter in the Night's movement speed boost.
- Spirit Vessel gives useful health and movement speed, as well as ability to counter enemy healing and health regeneration which may make ganking easier.
Late game:
- [Aghanim Scepter Upgrade removed from Night Stalker in 7.21, leaving description hoping they bring it back.]
- Aghanim's Scepter removes terrain restrictions on Night Stalker's night vision, allowing him to take full advantage of his mobility and giving him a critical edge in map control, particularly when Dark Ascension is active. It also gives him more health to build tankiness, and more mana to use abilities.
- Lotus Orb gives Night Stalker a blend of self-sustain and survivability through the health and mana regeneration as well as the additional armor. The active applies dispel and may discourage enemies from using targeted abilities on him or allies, prolonging their lives during team fights or preventing gank targets from easily using disables to escape.
- Assault Cuirass gives Night Stalker both offensive and defensive power. The extra armor makes him much tankier, synergizing well with his high strength growth, and the attack speed bonus combines with the enemy armor reduction to greatly improve Night Stalker's and teammates' physical damage output.
Situational items:
- Smoke of Deceit helps Night Stalker get crucial kills by masking his and allies' presence from enemy wards.
- Gem of True Sight reveals invisible enemies and wards. Combined with Aghanim's Scepter's unobstructed vision during nighttime, Night Stalker commands great vision over the map.
- Blade Mail's Damage Return can keep Night Stalker alive as enemies may choose not to deal any damage to him, lest losing HP themselves.
- Solar Crest gives Night Stalker armor and attributes to increase his survivability, as well as mana regeneration to sustain his mana pool. The active decreases a gank target's armor, attack speed, and movement speed, reducing their ability to fight back and increasing the damage they take from allies' attacks.
- Heaven's Halberd's disarm works well with Crippling Fear's silence to completely prevent an enemy from fighting back. It also increases survivability with bonuses to strength, evasion, and status resistance.
- Black King Bar makes Night Stalker immune to most disables in team fights so he can focus on using abilities and attacking the enemies without interruption; it also gives him more health and attack damage.
- Silver Edge gives Night Stalker bonuses to attributes, attack speed, and attack damage. Shadow Walk, combined with Hunter in the Night, allows him to gank while moving at maximum speed, inflicting bonus damage and break to ruin enemy powerful passive abilities.
- Abyssal Blade helps Night Stalker locking down targets with stun and bash; its damage block and bonus health also add to his tankiness.
- Heart of Tarrasque greatly increases the size of Night Stalker's health pool, making him much harder to bring down in fights. The extra strength gives him more base damage as well, and the passive health regeneration makes staying active on the map easy.
- Octarine Core lowers cooldowns of Night Stalker's already spammable abilities and items. More importantly, it reduces Dark Ascension's cooldown.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Carry Initiator Durable Disabler Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★☆☆ |
| Playstyle: | The beast of bedtime tales, Balanar is the primal terror that every child knows to fear. When night falls, Balanar goes on the hunt, moving and striking with devilish swiftness. He inflicts a debilitating Void, slowing and forcing his quarry to flee, arms withering and spells fizzling as their hearts are stricken with Crippling Fear. Even the lighted hours provide no safety from the Night Stalker. When needed, Balanar transforms through a Dark Ascension, spreads his wings under the blackened veil of night, and goes on the prowl for ever more victims. |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Many of Night Stalker's responses that refer to his vampiric qualities make reference to Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film adaptation of the classic novel starring Gary Oldman.
- Night stalker's line Play "If I ever get my claws on that bird." is likely a reference to the rooster that crows when the game transitions from nighttime to daytime.
- Additionally it is a reference to a line used by "Looney Tunes" character Sylvester the cat when describing "Tweety Bird."
- Night Stalker's deep and raspy voice is a possible reference to Batman.
- In an earlier version DotA, there existed a hero similar to Night Stalker called Void Demon. His first ability "Time Void" had similar effects to the present Void ability, except it also stunned the target for 5 seconds. Void Demon also had an ability similar to Omniknight's Degen Aura, though it had a larger radius of 600 units. His third ability was a pushing spell called "Quake" which was useful for destroying towers. Finally, his ultimate was called "Mass Haste". This aura gave Void Demon and nearby allies benefits similar to Night Stalker's Hunter in the Night, except that it had no conditions and enabled Void Demon and his team to hunt Heroes relentlessly both day and night. Ultimately, Void Demon was replaced with Night Stalker as his skill set was deemed too powerful.
- Night Stalker's response "In the forest of the night" is a reference to the poem The Tyger by William Blake.
- You can hear the line "Sinless Demon" when you activate Night Stalker's Play Dark Ascension.
Gallery[edit]
Day model
Night model
Concept art
Low Violence model
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
Old game clock modifier
