Night Stalker

Balanar the Night Stalker is a unique melee Strength hero in that his skills are affected by the time of day during the game. During daytime, he is weaker than a hero of an equal level, especially in the early game. But once 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.

Recommended items
Unmentioned items:
 * Satanic and Helm of the Dominator can be used to help Night Stalker jungle in the mid game stage and the active of Satanic will aid him in healing a lot of damage if he has to encounter the enemy carry during a manfight.
 * Vladmir's Offering is an alternative which helps pushing towers greatly after a successful gank and provides a vampiric aura to your allies. However don't build it if your team already has one.
 * Desolator is a relatively unusual Night Stalker item, but can be purchased to amplify your damage while decreasing the armor of enemy heroes or structures.

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 him bonus damage 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 one of the only two heroes with less than 1800 daytime vision, the other being Batrider with his 1200 sight range during daytime.