Night Stalker

Balanar the Night Stalker is a unique melee Strength hero in the sense that his skills are affected by the time of day during the game, as they become much stronger during the night. During daytime, he is weaker than a hero of an equal level, especially in the early game. But once the the sun goes down, Balanar's real power is unleashed, becoming the beast known as the Night Stalker. His Void damages and slows his target to a crawl as he pursues them. Crippling Fear prevents his enemy from attacking Balanar, silencing them and causing their attacks to miss, making him an effective counter against spellcasters and physical attackers. Hunter in the Night is what defines the Night Stalker. He becomes a brutal and merciless hunter during the night, with supernatural attack speed and movement speed, which allows Balanar to chase and savagely attack his victim. Darkness creates a period of darkness for the Night Stalker to enjoy and use his abilities to the fullest. Though the Night Stalker is feeble and isn't much of a danger in daytime, it's too late when the light of the day begins to fade. When the night beckons, the Night Stalker rises. Poor souls would likely never survive his horror in the dark fields and would never see daylight again.

Recommended items
Early-game Items
 * An early Urn of Shadows can be used not only to remedy Night Stalker's mana issues, but also to assist your teammates or finish off weak enemies.

Core items:
 * Phase Boots provide Night Stalker with both a nice speed boost and extra hitting power. Its active ability, Phase, can also stack with Hunter in the Night's movement speed, allowing Night Stalker to either chase down an enemy or escape.
 * Vanguard provides health regeneration and durability if you wish to be the first to initiate in team fights.

Situational items:
 * Black King Bar makes Night Stalker immune to most crowd control and disables throughout ganking situations while providing him more survivability.
 * Assault Cuirass is an excellent item. Not only does its attack speed stack with Night Stalker's Hunter in the Night, it also provides armor for your allies while decreasing enemy armor.
 * Armlet of Mordiggian provides more attack speed, damage and capability to tank, allowing Night Stalker to perform at his finest throughout team fights.
 * Aghanim's Scepter grants Night Stalker unobstructed vision at night, allowing him to gank or counter-gank more efficiently.
 * Skull Basher, which can be upgraded into Abyssal Blade, is used in conjunction with Night Stalker's naturally high attack speed during night time to permanently stun your enemies in place, allowing you or your allies to clean up.
 * Heart of Tarrasque boosts Night Stalker's health regeneration and provides the greatest amount of Strength per item in the game. It can be used to remedy the degeneration of Armlet and heal Balanar after a long fight.

Tips

 * Void is the best skill to max early, as the damage increase and slow allow you to use it to kill your desired target.
 * Crippling Fear is most effective during the night. Use it when you are ganking during the night time. An enemy affected by Crippling Fear will be silenced and blinded, making the ability a powerful debuff on your target.
 * Balanar has one of the highest overall defense in the game with a starting armor of 5, one of the highest Strength in the game, and the third highest Agility among Strength heroes. Balanar is a powerful semi-carry with great durability and an amazing skillset.
 * Hunter in the Night empowers his attack speed and movement speed superbly during the night, making him the best ganker during the earliest parts of the game.
 * Night Stalker will greatly benefit from being on the same team as a Luna. Her Lunar Blessing will give her bonus damage as well as full night vision (although Balanar already has the highest night sight range in the game) and her Eclipse will turn the time of the day to night for 10 seconds. This 10 seconds is often significant enough for the Night Stalker to set in and go for the kill.
 * Using Darkness during night time will prolong the duration of the night, allowing Night Stalker to ultimately change the time to his favor.
 * During the night, most heroes have below average vision, rendering them to be ineffective on chases and gives enemies a chance to hide the blind spot. Night Stalker, however, is at home in this time and has full vision, allowing him to effectively chase without getting obscured on his sight. With Aghanim's Scepter, he gains full unobstructed vision, allowing to see through trees, higher terrains, and even spy at Roshan in his base.

Trivia

 * Some people call him "The Legal Map Hack" after getting Aghanim's Scepter due to the unobstructed vision at night.
 * Night Stalker is one of the few heroes to have 1800 night vision instead of the usual 800. However, he is the only hero with less than 1800 daytime vision.