Night Stalker

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Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

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Night Stalker #42 23 + 3 18 + 2.2 15 + 1.6
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 120 626 1550 2474 2848 +2 +4.3 +8.5 +12.7 +14.4 Mana 75 255 519 855 975 +0.25 +1 +2.12 +3.52 +4.02 Armor 2 5 10.13 15.8 17.97 Magic Resist 25% 26.5% 28.74% 31.54% 32.54% Damage Block 16 (50%) Damage 40 44 63 67 105 109 147 151 164 168 Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.69/s 0.88/s 1.08/s 1.15/s Attack Range 150 (600) Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.55 + 0.55 Projectile Speed Instant Move Speed ▶️ 295 ( 325) Turn Rate 0.6 Collision Size 27 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 800 ( 1800) Gib Type Default Internal npc_dota_hero_night_stalker

Empowered by the shadows of nightfall.
The beast of bedtime tales, Balanar is the primal terror that every child knows to fear. Once the sun goes down, Night Stalker's hunt begins. Charging through the shadowy forests, he snares prey in a debilitating Void, slowing and forcing his quarry to flee, arms withering and spells fizzling as their hearts are stricken with Crippling Fear. Should sunrise threaten to end his terror, the Hunter in the Night transforms through a Dark Ascension, spreading his wings under the blackened veil of night, and goes on the prowl for ever more victims.
Roles:	Carry Initiator Durable Disabler Nuker
Complexity:
Adjectives:	Blue, Flying, NicePecs, Wings Legs ( 2 )

Bio

Balanar, the Night Stalker

▶️ "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.

Alias:

NS

Voice:

Tony Todd (Responses)

Abilities

Void

▶️QV

Ability
Target Unit
( Target Area)

Affects
Enemies
( Self)

Damage
Magical

Creates a damaging void that slows an enemy unit and deals damage. At night, Void also mini-stuns, interrupting channeling abilities, and the slowing effect lasts longer.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0.47

Cast Range: 525

Damage: 80/160/240/320 ( 130/210/290/370)

Move Speed Slow: 50%

Attack Speed Slow: 50

Day Slow Duration: 1.25

Night Slow Duration: 2.5/3/3.5/4

Day Stun Duration: 0

Night Stun Duration: 0.1 ( 1)

 Radius: 450

 Void Zone Duration: 5

 Aura Linger Duration: 0

 11/10/9/8

 90/95/100/105

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Void becomes an area of effect ability. Increases the mini-stun duration and leaves behind a void zone. While in the zone, all of Night Stalker's abilities are empowered with their night time effect.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_night_stalker_void_zone

Undispellable

modifier_night_stalker_void

Any

modifier_stunned

Strong

Balanar creates a vortex of infinite night, tearing opponents violently into the eternal darkness that once was.

• Uses the nighttime values during the night, and from the following sources:
  • The nighttime of Dark Ascension and Eclipse.
  • Within the Void Zone radius.

• Void first applies the movement speed slow debuff, the damage, the stun debuff, then creates the Void Zone.

• Has a cast backswing of 0.73 when the passive component of Hunter in the Night is active during nighttime.

• SCEPTER
  Turns Void into an area-targeted ability affecting all enemy units within 450 radius.
  • Does not target invisible units or units inside the Fog of War within the radius.
  • With the cast range and effect radius, Void can hit units up to 975 range away.

• SCEPTER
  0.4 seconds after cast, the Void Zone created provides an aura that grants all of Night Stalker's abilities the nighttime bonuses within the radius.
  • Unlike nighttime, the Void Zone created neither lingers nor modifies the Time of Day in any way.
  • Each created Void Zone has its own independent duration.
• SPELL STEAL
  Night Stalker does not benefit from Rubick's Void Zone.

Crippling Fear

▶️▶️WF

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Night Stalker horrifies all nearby enemies, causing them to become silenced and take damage over time while near him. The effect lasts longer at night.

Cast Animation:  0+0

Radius: 375

Damage per Second: 25/30/35/40

Day Duration: 3

Night Duration: 4.5/5/5.5/6

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

 30/25/20/15 ( 25/20/15/10)

 50

Modifiers [?]

modifier_night_stalker_crippling_fear_aura

Death

modifier_night_stalker_crippling_fear

Death

A vision of the twisted maw of Balanar etches itself into the minds of the poor souls unlucky enough to cross his path.

• Uses the nighttime values during the night, and from the following sources:
  • The nighttime of Dark Ascension and Eclipse.
  • Within the Void Zone radius.

• Both the damage per second and silence are provided by an aura, its debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
  • Although the damage per second component does not affect invulnerable and hidden units, the silence debuff fully affects them.
  • Deals 2.5/3/3.5/4 damage in 0.1-second intervals, resulting in 35 and 50/55/60/65 damage instances for daytime and nighttime respectively.
    • Can deal up to 87.5/105/122.5/140 or 125/165/210/260 damage to a single unit (before reductions) when the affected unit stays in range for the entire duration.

• Does not update the current instance when the time of day turns daytime or nighttime while active.

Hunter in the Night

▶️▶️EG

Ability
Passive
( Target Unit)

Affects
Self
( Units)

Damage
 Instant Kill

Night Stalker is in his element at night, attacking and moving with great swiftness.

Passive Component

Move Speed Bonus: 22%/28%/34%/40%

Attack Speed Bonus: 20/40/60/80 ( 120/140/160/180)

 Status Resistance Bonus: 25%

 Cast Animation: 0+1.07

 Cast Range: 125

 Max Health as Heal: 30%

 Max Mana as Mana Restore: 25%

   30

  50

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Hunter in the Night may be cast on a creep, instantly killing it and restoring some of Night Stalker's maximum health and mana. Cannot target ancients during the daytime.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_night_stalker_hunter_in_the_night

Undispellable

The hunting prowess of Balanar improves as the night beckons.

• Grants passive bonuses only during nighttime, and from the following sources:
  • The nighttime of Dark Ascension and Eclipse.
  • Within the Void Zone radius.

• SHARD
  Adds an active component to Hunter in the Night, with the passive effects still present.
  • Can be cast on any unit except for heroes, wards and buildings.
    • Treats illusions, clones, creep-heroes and Roshan as heroes.
  • Cannot be cast on ancient creeps during daytime, but can during nighttime.
  • The targeted creep is instantly killed, granting its gold and experience bounties if it was an enemy, denying it if it was an ally.
  • Despite the visual effect, the health and mana restored are applied instantly upon cast.

• SHARD
  The active has a minimum cast range of 150 despite having a different value in the game files.

• TALENT
  Stacks multiplicatively with other status resistance sources.
• SPELL STEAL
  The acquired ability is a passive ability on Rubick if he does not have Aghanim's Shard equipped.

Dark Ascension

▶️▶️RR

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Night Stalker smothers the sun and summons instant darkness, so that he might use his powers at their fullest. Refreshes the cooldown of all non-ultimate abilities when cast. Night Stalker gains flight and bonus damage during this time. Has unobstructed vision.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0

Attack Damage Bonus: 50/100/150 ( 80/130/180)

Current Cooldown Skip: 100%

Duration: 30 ( 38)

 140/135/130 ( 90/85/80)

 125/175/225

Modifiers [?]

modifier_night_stalker_darkness

Death

It is a humbling sight to see when the mightiest of warriors become afraid of the dark.

The appearance of the game clock changes when Dark Ascension is cast.

• Time of Day modifying abilities has the following priorities: Supernova ➤ Eclipse ➤ Dark Ascension.
  • The ability's bonuses are not disabled during Supernova's daytime. However, the vision is limited to Night Stalker's default daytime vision.
  • Eclipse does not interfere with the nighttime caused by Dark Ascension in any way — they do not cancel or pause each other's nighttime.

• Upon cast, the hero model and hitbox of Night Stalker ascends 150 units above the z-axis.
  • However, its collision size is still on the ground. This does not change the current absolute coordinates of the model as well.

• Grants flying vision based on the caster's current vision range for its duration.
  • For Night Stalker, Dark Ascension grants 1800 flying vision.

• Grants regular flat bonus attack damage.
  • TALENT
    The damage increasing talent immediately updates the currently active instance.

• Resets the current cooldowns of all the caster's basic abilities upon cast.
  • Neither reset ultimate abilities nor item abilities.
  • Does not reset charges for charged-based abilities.

• Destroys trees within a 150 radius at the end of the duration.

• Always replaces the game clock's daytime or status with Night Stalker's minimap icon regardless of the caster.
• SPELL STEAL
  Rubick neither ascends above the z-axis nor turns into a flying unit.

Talents

Hero Talents
-50s Dark Ascension Cooldown	25	+100 Hunter In The Night Attack Speed
+20 Strength	20	-5s Crippling Fear Cooldown
+25% Hunter In The Night Status Resistance	15	+30 Dark Ascension Damage
+8s Dark Ascension Duration	10	+50 Void Damage

Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

Version

Description

7.35

• Increased base mana regeneration from 0 to 0.25.
• Reduced Void mana cost from 90/100/110/110 to 90/95/100/105.
• Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
  • Reduced Hunter in the Night max health as heal from 35% to 30%.

• Talents:
• LVL 15

   

  +35 Dark Ascension attack damage bonus reduced to +30.

7.34b

• Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
  • Hunter in the Night
    • Increased mana cost from 0 to 50.
    • Increased cooldown from 20 to 30.

7.34

• Crippling Fear now deals 25/30/35/40 magical damage per second.
• Dark Ascension now refreshes cooldowns of non-ultimate abilities on cast. [?]

• Talents:
• LVL 15

   

  +15% Hunter in the Night status resistance bonus increased to +25%.

Recommended Items

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.

Early game:

• 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 is very situational depending on how fast you need other items, and whether you need it in general.
• Solar Crest gives Night Stalker solid stats all around and a powerful debuff for ganking.
• Phase Boots grant Night Stalker extra movement speed and attack damage, synergizing well with Hunter in the Night's movement and attack speed boost.
• Spirit Vessel gives great health and movement speed while giving the ability to deal with heroes with heavy healing capabilities.
• Aghanim's Shard grants Night Stalker the ability to farm for only 1400 gold.

Late game:

• 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.
• Don't underestimate how strong Butterfly with Satanic can be on a hero who has a very strong ultimate with very strong talents for right clicking.
• Abyssal Blade helps Night Stalker lock down targets with stun and bash; its damage block and bonus health also add to his tankiness.
• 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.

Situational items:

• Lotus Orb gives Night Stalker a blend of self-sustain and survivability through the health and mana regeneration. The active applies dispel which can be very useful against several heroes or just to help sustain your team.
• 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 Dark Ascension unobstructed vision during nighttime, Night Stalker commands great vision over the map.
• Blink Dagger allows Night Stalker to initiate easily as it enables him to pounce on unsuspecting enemies and making him a force to be reckoned with due to the swift movement speed granted from Hunter in the Night and the silence from Crippling Fear. This can be upgraded to Overwhelming Blink, applying a magical burst whilst slowing any enemies in his catch, bolstering his presence especially in the late game.
• 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.
• 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.
• Nullifier this item can be considered in anticipation of the enemies building BKB, which would allow them to cast spells under Night Stalker's 2nd ability. It's also good against enemies who depend on items like Manta Style + Skull Basher like Anti Mage, Spectre, etc. and since the projectile is slow Nullifier would be good to pair with Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade (If the enemy depends on his passive ability better upgrade to Silver Edge).
• 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.
• Bloodthorn for a Night Stalker can be considered thanks to its high bonus attack speed whilst allowing Night Stalker to cast another silence onto a fleeing enemy and refining his hitting power thanks to its active providing 130% critical strike on every attack that cannot be missed.
• 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.

Dota Plus Progress

Main Article: Hero Challenges

Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

Relics	Voice Lines
Channels Cancelled With Void Night Time Kills Slow Duration From Void Damage During Dark Ascension Crippling Fear Silence Duration Teleports Leading To Kills Urn Charges Used Silences Leading To Kills Slows Leading To Kills Solar Crest Casts Leading To Kills Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Kill Assists Kills	Bronze	▶️ Heh heh heh hah heh hehhhh. ▶️ Now they will suffer.
	Silver	▶️ Your nightmare continues. ▶️ Just what I needed!
	Gold	▶️ There's no escape. ▶️ Darkness hungers.
	Platinum	▶️ It's feeding time.
	Master	▶️ I'm the beast of bedtime tales.
	Grandmaster	▶️ Nighty night.

Equipment

Night Stalker Equipment (expand sets) Sets Black Nihility Darkness Wailing Feasts of Forever Frightful Revelries Legends of Darkheart Pursuit Origin of the Dark Oath Twilight Legions Unfettered Malevolence Arms Golden Shadow of the Dark Age Shadow of the Dark Age Taunt Taunt: Party Monster

Trivia

• 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 Oldman.

• ▶️ "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.

• "In the forest of the night" is a reference to the poem The Tyger by William Blake.

Gallery

• 

  Day model

• 

  Night model

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Low Violence model

• 

  Ability icon progress

• 

  Hero icon progress

• 

  Old game clock modifier