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Bad against...[]
- Windranger's highly mobile playstyle allows her to easily control Lifestealer from a distance, as he has no disables on his own. Windrun not only provides her with bonus move speed, but evasion as well, undoing Lifestealer's ability to attack her. In combination with Focus Fire, Windranger can easily dispose of Lifestealer without him being able to reach her.
- Razor's highly mobile nature allows him to control Lifestealer from a distance. As well, Lifestealer is already slow in comparison due to his lack of disables and move speed. Lifestealer is also an ideal target for Static Link, for its ability to pierce magic immunity and damage steal, which can render Lifestealer's Feast useless.
- Plasma Field can slow Lifestealer from a distance and force him to cast Rage too early.
- Eye of the Storm pierces magic immunity, deals physical damage, and reduces armor, allowing Razor to easily stand up to Lifestealer.
- Lacking any stun and being heavily dependent on his physical attacks and spell immunity, Lifestealer has no way to stop Black Hole, assuming he does not initiate Enigma first with Abyssal Blade.
- Enigma's Black Hole and Midnight Pulse damage can pierce through Lifestealer's Rage.
- However, if Lifestealer manages to get Aghanim's Scepter and combines it with Abyssal Blade, he will be able to disable Enigma's Black Hole inside him with Infest and he will be able to help his allies recover themselves from Enigma's initiation with Open Wounds if Lifestealer gets Aghanim's Shard.
- Although Lifestealer can avoid Eclipse with Rage and Infest, Luna's physical damage can be enough to deal with him.
- Manta Style is a common pick on Luna, which can help her dispel slows from Ghoul Frenzy and Open Wounds. In addition, Lifestealer is not good against illusions created by Manta Style.
- Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Enfeeble". can weaken Lifestealer's Feast and may force him to cast Rage too quickly or itemize to dispel it.
- Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Fiend's Grip". pierces through magic immunity and allows him to disable Lifestealer while in Rage.
- Ice Blast prevents Lifestealer from lifestealing and healing with Infest in fights.
- Chaos Strike is a strong burst damage passive that allows Chaos Knight to stand up and even survive Lifestealer's attacks. Level 20 Talent: Reality Rift Pierces Spell Immunity allows him to burst down Lifestealer even while he is in Rage.
- Lifestealer's single-target nature will struggle against Chaos Knight's Phantasm illusions and will be forced to itemize for them.
- Clinkz relies heavily on the physical damage provided by Burning Barrage and Searing Arrows, which completely overrides the capabilities of Rage.
- Lifestealer's lack of disables will struggle to pin Clinkz down while in Skeleton Walk, and can allow Clinkz to kite him.
- Terrorblade's illusions and ranged attacks in Metamorphosis can burst down Lifestealer very quickly.
- Terrorblade has low health due to his low strength gain, which reduces Feast's lifesteal and damage.
- Because Lifestealer can usually heal back HP in fights due to his innate lifesteal (and sometimes Armlet of Mordiggian), he is a great target for Terrorblade's Sunder.
- However, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can disarm Terrorblade and allow Lifestealer to attack him from inside while also increasing Lifestealer's health regeneration that can nullify effects of Sunder, even if Terrorblade is spell immune, which could potentially render Terorrblade useless in teamfights. And if Terrorblade cannot attack enemy heroes, he will go down very quickly.
- Lifestealer will struggle to deal with Phantom Lancer's illusions and will either be forced to use his abilities too quickly, or itemize too heavily for them.
- Phantom Lancer commonly builds Diffusal Blade, which poses a large problem to Lifestealer and his low mana pool, and can shut him down from even casting his abilities.
- Shadow Dance allows Slark to attack Lifestealer for its duration without any way for Lifestealer to fight back, allowing him to steal his stats with Essence Shift, which also reduces Lifestealer's strength and, therefore, health pool.
- Slark can easily escape Lifestealer with Pounce, and can avoid Open Wounds with Dark Pact should Lifestealer be forced to itemize for it.
- Slark commonly buys a Silver Edge, which can break Lifestealer's Feast, severely diminishing his damage output and lifesteal.
- Depth Shroud from Aghanim's Shard allows Slark to save both, himself and his allies with Shadow Dance while also allowing them to fight back against Lifestealer.
- Lifestealer is a susceptible target to Fervor due to his non-mobile nature and lack of disables. Troll Warlord's ranged Berserker's Rage can also be used to kite Lifestealer safely. The root from its melee form also pierces magic immunity, which can potentially keep Lifestealer in place even while he is in Rage.
- Both Whirling Axes (Melee) and Whirling Axes (Ranged) can force Lifestealer to cast Rage too quickly and allow Troll Warlord to change strategies mid-fight, especially thanks to their separate cooldowns.
- Battle Trance allows Troll Warlord to survive Lifestealer's Feast and turn the fight in his favor.
- Lifestealer will struggle to duel Ursa in all stages of the game due to Fury Swipes, which pierces magic immunity. Ursa can also stand up to Lifestealer with Enrage, which dramatically reduces incoming damage and further delay Lifestealer's Feast.
- Though The Swarm can be blocked by Rage, it can be used to lower Lifestealer's already low armor, making him even more vulnerable to physical damage while Rage is on cooldown.
- Lifestealer has no strong disables on his own and thus cannot catch up with nor escape from Weaver's Shukuchi.
- Lifestealer's reliance on meticulous auto-attacks will not help against Time Lapse, which can undo Lifestealer's already slow build-up of damage. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Time Lapse can also be used to save allies from getting killed by Lifestealer, but that will require targeting the allied hero rather than just pressing the button that will trigger the Time Lapse.
Others[]
- Heroes with high physical damage can damage Lifestealer more than he can heal: Bristleback, Clinkz, Luna, Shadow Fiend, Slardar, Terrorblade
- Heroes with illusions: Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Phantom Lancer, Terrorblade
- Heroes with summons: Lycan, Broodmother, Visage, Nature's Prophet, Warlock.
- Dragon Knight can withstand against Lifestealer's physical damage due to his high armor and strength.
- Disables that pierces Lifestealer's spell immunity granted by Rage: Primal Roar, Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Fiend's Grip"., Reverse Polarity. Black Hole
- Heroes with escape abilities: Anti-Mage Dark Seer Slark Storm Spirit Windranger Weaver can kite Lifestealer due to him having no lockdown.
- Lifestealer, at even farm levels, will often fall against other man-fighting non-Strength cores like Ursa, Phantom Assassin or Troll Warlord as he cannot truly rely on sustain from Feast.
Items[]
- Force Staff is very useful to kite Lifestealer in team-fight and to escape from him. Force Staff can later be upgraded into Hurricane Pike that can do the same and which can also increase the attack range of ranged heroes.
- Orchid Malevolence and Bloodthorn If placed before Rage will make Lifestealer unable to use his abilities in a teamfight. And Lifestealer cannot dispel its effect with Rage.
- Ghost Scepter is a good protection against Lifestealer as he relies mostly on direct attacks to deal damage and has no other ways of dealing damage outside from Infest. It can be later upgraded into Ethereal Blade, which can disarm Lifestealer and make him more vulnerable to magic damage. But remember that Lifestealer can dispel its effect with Rage.
- Manta Style Lifestealer has no way of dealing with illusions and the extra damage from the illusions can damage him more than he can heal.
- Scythe of Vyse If placed before Rage will make Lifestealer unable to use neither his abilities nor items in a teamfight. And like silence, Lifestealer cannot dispel its effect with Rage.
- Heaven's Halberd gives evasion and an undispellable disarm, making Lifestealer useless if placed before Rage.
- Solar Crest, Assault Cuirass, Shiva's Guard and Crimson Guard items are useful against Lifestealer's mostly-phyiscal damage.
- Silver Edge if applied before Rage can apply an undispellable break that can disable Feast while also giving an escape tool from Lifestealer. And Lifestealer cannot dispel Silver Edge's effect with Rage.
- Linken's Sphere can block Abyssal Blade, Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard and Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest, which can force Lifestealer to either choose between one of those three abilities/items, or to purchase items that can be used to pop Linken's Sphere's spellblock like Diffusal Blade or Dagon.
- Lotus Orb if used before Rage can reflect Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard and Abyssal Blade back at Lifestealer if he impulsively uses it on a hero protected by it. However, Lotus Orb cannot reflect Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest back at Lifestealer as Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest is one of the few single-targeted abilities that cannot be reflected by Lotus Orb at all.
Good against...[]
- Crystal Maiden is an ideal target for Lifestealer due to her poor mobility and low health pool. Lifestealer can usually catch up to her simply by casting Rage, as none of her abilities pierce through magic immunity. Freezing Field can potentially make her even more vulnerable to Lifestealer while under Rage as she is even more immobile while channeling it.
- Lifestealer commonly buys Abyssal Blade, which allows him to cancel Freezing Field, even if Crystal Maiden is spell immune.
- Alternatively, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest combined with Abyssal Blade and with items that provide attack speed which Lifestealer commonly buys allow him to to cancel Freezing Field from within the Crystal Maiden.
- Lifestealer is able to endure Undying, especially in the laning phase, where Undying is strongest. Feast can offset Decay's strength steal for its percentage lifesteal. Rage delays Undying from stealing strength and can help Lifestealer destroy Undying's Tombstone uninterrupted. As well, none of Undying's abilities pierce magic immunity.
- Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Dark Willow's abilities.
- Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Invoker's spells (except for Sun Strike).
- Centaur Warrunner's active abilities cannot pierce magic immunity. Hoof Stomp's slow wind up can also be anticipated and negated with Rage.
- Lifestealer can offset Retaliate's damage return simply with Feast. Centaur's high strength gain and therefore big health pool makes him an ideal target to Feast on, especially in the late-game.
- Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Techies's abilities. Reactive Tazer's disarm will also not work on Lifestealer under Rage.
- Rage can also be used to trigger Techies's Proximity Mines safely.
- Lifestealer's Rage makes him immune to all of Tinker's damage and debuffs.
- Lifestealer can infest a mobile ally (teams usually pick one against Tinker), which may ensure that Tinker will die if he is caught.
- Lifestealer's Rage makes him immune to all of Ogre's magical debuffs and also dispels them.
- Ogre's high health pool makes him an ideal target for Feast.
- Rage allows Lifestealer to freely attack Nyx Assassin and hunt him down if Vendetta is on cooldown. Nyx Assassin cannot counter Rage with Spiked Carapace because Rage gives Lifestealer spell immunity. And besides Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Lifestealer while he is spell immune.
- Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard allows Lifestealer to severely slow down Nyx Assassin while also allowing his team to recover themselves while attacking Nyx Assassin. Open Wounds can also fester and spread if Nyx Assassin takes enough damage that will trigger the spread while he is affected with Open Wounds.
- Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target to surprise with Dust of Appearance or a Gem of True Sight. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can also allow Lifestealer to infest, disarm and freely attack Nyx Assassin from within. and Nyx Assassin cannot counter this with Spiked Carapace because Lifestealer is invulnerable while attacking the infested enemy hero from within.
- Overall, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Lifestealer will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Lifestealer.
- Rage can protect Lifestealer from most of the Silencer's abilities with the exception of Global Silence, as it will still silence if cast while the target is magic immune. However, it will not work if Lifestealer is infesting a unit.
- Silencer is vulnerable to Open Wounds due to his lack of an innate escape.
- Against a carry Silencer, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can disarm him and allow Lifestealer to attack Silencer from within, even if Silencer is spell immune.
- Feast makes it impossible to for Lifestealer to be culled with Culling Blade and also deals high damage to Axe due to his naturally high health.
- However, Berserker's Call and Counter Helix can pierce through the Rage, and if Axe has allies with him against Lifestealer, Lifestealer may go down very quickly.
Others[]
- Heroes who have most or all their abilities (damage or disable) unable to pierce spell immunity: Keeper of the Light, Lina, Lion, Zeus.
- Gankers should play cautiously when doing their job, as their victim might be Infested.
- With Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest, Lifestealer can use it on enemy heroes to attack them and disarm them from inside, even if they are spell immune, which can give him the edge over the heroes he's weak against like Ursa, Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade or Troll Warlord.
Items[]
- Helm of the Dominator's and Helm of the Overlord's dominated creeps can easily fall victim to Infest, healing Lifestealer and feeding him easy gold.
- Blade Mail's damage return is not effective against Lifestealer for multiple reasons: Rage gives Lifestealer debuff immunity to block the damage return, Feast and Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard allows Lifestealer to restore the lost health from damage return, and Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest allows Lifestealer to freely attack enemy heroes from within while also making him invulnerable for it's duration, which completely ignores Blade Mail's damage return, similarly to Juggernaut's Omnislash and Swiftslash from Aghanim's Scepter.
Works well with...[]
- Clockwerk's highly mobile nature thanks to Hookshot and Jetpack makes him an ideal ally to Infest. Battery Assault and Power Cogs also keep his targets in place, giving Lifestealer ample time to Feast.
- Fortune's End not only keeps the target rooted for Lifestealer to feast on; it can dispel certain buffs that could help them avoid being attacked, like invisibility or ghost form. As well, it could be used to remove most negative buffs from Lifestealer so that he doesn't have to cast Rage to dispel them.
- Casting Fate's Edict on Lifestealer's chosen target can allow Lifestealer to Feast against heroes that could otherwise stand up to him by simply auto-attacking. In combination with Rage, the target will both be disarmed and unable to cast spells onto Lifestealer.
- False Promise doubles Feast's lifesteal and can buy him more time to continually deal damage.
- Dispose not only helps Marci, but Lifestealer as well, in pursuing and attacking a target.
- While Rebound can be used to boost Lifestealer's move speed, it is a good mobility skill that can help Marci close the gap on targets and stun them in place, making her an ideal ally to Infest.
- Sidekick further augments Lifestealer's Feast and turns both him and Marci into formidable frontliners for the duration.
- Surge could be used to immensely improve Lifestealer's mobility, or to buff an ally infested by Lifestealer to help them initiate.
- Due to Lifestealer's close-ranged nature, he is an ideal hero to buff with Ion Shell.
- Wall of Replica (often paired with Vacuum) is a good initiation skill that Lifestealer can take advantage of to enter the fight, or to hide in its illusions should he need to escape.
- Stroke of Fate can provide Lifestealer with a brief gap closer and quick burst of magic damage to soften up his target.
- Phantom's Embrace allows Lifestealer to Feast on the target without fear of reprisal, saving Rage for later.
- Ink Swell gives Lifestealer a much needed stun, something he is severely lacking. Grimstroke can also use this on himself or an ally infested by Lifestealer to allow him safe entrance into a fight.
- Should Lifestealer acquire Open Wounds, Soulbind will duplicate its effect on the two affected targets.
- Thunder Strike can help Lifestealer pursue or discourage a target from fighting him thanks to its magic damage and 100%-slow pulses.
- Kinetic Field allows Lifestealer to Feast on a highly mobile target, while Glimpse can place an escaping target back for Lifestealer to chase more easily.
- Static Storm allows Lifestealer to Feast on the target without being stunned or interrupted, so that he could use Rage for later.
- Blink makes Queen of Pain an ideal ally to Infest. The magic damage from Infest can also assist in her burst damage combos.
- If Infested, Riki is great for traversing the map quickly and undetected. He is also able to close the gap between Lifestealer and his target with Blink Strike and slow them with Smoke Screen, which if coupled with Open Wounds will grant a 90% slow, making the kill exponentially easier.
- Corrosive Haze greatly increases Lifestealer's physical damage.
- Slardar is a common Blink Dagger carrier and a good target for Infest.
- Like many others, Spirit Breaker is a great ally to Infest as he provides a perfect gap closer with Charge of Darkness and a follow up disable with Nether Strike.
- Storm Spirit is a great ally to Infest as he provides a perfect gap closer with Ball Lightning and a follow up disable with Electric Vortex.
- Sand King's ability to close the gap with Burrowstrike, especially with Aghanim's Scepter, makes him an ideal ally to Infest. In combination with Epicenter, both Sand King and Lifestealer can dole out lethal amounts of magic damage.
Others[]
- Heroes with high mobility and good initiation are good targets to Infest and ambush enemies with.
Items[]
- Blink Dagger adds mobility to Infest.