Night Stalker
From Dota 2 Wiki
Hero
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18 + 2.25
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 mini-stun and 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. He also has the ability to silence and blind 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, Darkness, 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.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.33
Cast Range: 525 (
675)
675)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
8
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:
- 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
Target Unit
Target Unit
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Night Stalker horrifies the target enemy Hero, causing it to miss attacks and become silenced. The effect lasts longer at night.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.33
Cast Range: 500 ( 650)
650)Day Miss Chance: 10%
Night Miss Chance: 50%
Day Duration: 3
Night Duration: 5/6/7/8
12 ( 4) 50
Silence and blind persist if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
Crippling Fear: Dispellable with any dispel.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 miss chance and silence duration do not update when it turns day or night while the debuff is on. The values are set upon cast.
- Also uses the night values during the night from Eclipse.
- Has a cast backswing of 0.57 during Hunter in the Night.
Hunter in the Night
E
G
Cast Animation: 0+0
Move Speed Bonus: 20%/25%/30%/35%
Attack Speed Bonus: 30/50/70/90 ( 170/190/210/230)
170/190/210/230)Night Flight Vision: 1000
Night Flight Duration: 2
30/ 80
Modifiers
Hunter In The Night Flight: Dispellable with any dispel.The hunting prowess of Balanar improves as the night beckons.
Notes:
- Both the passive and the active part also work during the night from Eclipse.
- Hunter in the Night turns into an active ability during nighttime, so it can only be cast during the night.
- Hunter in the Night interrupts Night Stalker's channeling spells upon cast.
- Temporarily grants Night Stalker flying movement and flying vision, allowing him to fly over and see past cliffs and trees. However, his vision is reduced to 1000.
- Moon Shard's bonus night vision still works, while Darkness and Nightmare do not affect Night Stalker while flying.
- When Aghanim's Scepter is equipped, Hunter in the Night no longer reduces vision while flying.
- During the active, Night Stalker can neither trigger nor take damage from Proximity Mines.
- Hunter in the Night does not end prematurely when it becomes day while it is active.
- Destroys trees within 200 radius around Night Stalker upon landing.
Darkness
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Night Stalker smothers the sun and summons instant darkness, so that he might use his powers at their fullest. While Darkness is in effect, enemy heroes, units and wards have their vision range reduced.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.5
Enemy Vision Reduction: 25%
Duration: 40
160/
Grants unobstructed vision in the night. The improved vision does not depend on using Darkness.
Unobstructed night vision is not disabled by Break.Modifiers
Darkness: Undispellable. Darkness Blind: Undispellable.It is a humbling sight to see when the mightiest of warriors become afraid of the dark.
Notes:
- The vision reduction only occurs during Darkness nights. Regular nights and the night from Eclipse do not reduce vision when Night Stalker is in the game.
- Does not reduce vision granted by spells.
- Darkness has a lower priority than the daytime caused by Supernova. During it, the vision reduction is not applied either.
- The vision limitation is provided by a global aura and thus the debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds after Darkness' night ends.
- The unobstructed vision from the Aghanim's Scepter upgrade is not bound to any of Night Stalker's spells
- It is also not bound to Darkness nights, and is active during any night.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| -8s Crippling Fear Cooldown | 25 | +140 Hunter in the Night Attack Speed |
| +50 Damage | 20 | +45 Movement Speed |
| +150 Cast Range | 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 strength talent effectively grants Night Stalker 337.5 health, 10.31% health regen amplification, 1.5% magic resistance and 15 attack damage.
- The attack damage talent does not benefit illusions.
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.
- Town Portal Scroll allows Night Stalker to move around the map, looking for gank opportunities.
- 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 damage, synergizing well with Hunter in the Night's attack speed and 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'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 Darkness 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 evasion, hardening his resistance against physical attacks, as well as mana regeneration to sustain his mana pool. The active decreases a gank target's armor and induces a miss chance that stacks alongside Crippling Fear, 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 provides a chance to proc Maim on an enemy, further slowing their attack and movement speed on top of Void.
- 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 Darkness's cooldown to only 60 seconds with a 40 second duration, effectively keep up near-permanent nighttime, which, in conjunction with Aghanim's Scepter upgrade and Gem of True Sight, means enemies will have next to no hope of obtaining map control ever again.
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 turns day to Darkness, 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.
- 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 Darkness.
Gallery[edit]
Day model
Night model
Concept art
Low Violence model
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
Old game clock modifier
Promotional Content
