Strategy Guide for Balanar the Night Stalkerby azeroth666s & Souls_f5 (as of v6.59)

http://planetdota.blogspot.com/azeroth666sIndex:

1. Foreword2. Story3. Stats

4. Pros and Cons5. Skills and Skill build

6. Item build7. Rejected items

8. Strategy9. Screenshots

Foreword:

Nightstalker is one of the Powerhouse Heroes in Dota... He is the only hero which depends on

the weather effects... ie day or night. A very versatile hero, so item build is varied enough for

him. Very intersting to play in PUBS

Story:

Balanar was one of the elite Dreadlords before the Burning Legion fell. Now with the Burning Legion gone, he lives his life attacking villages and ambushing his most hated enemy - the Night Elves. He draws upon his power from the moon, thus he is much stronger at night. Balanar can also use his control over time to change the time to night that further strengthens his power. His

presence inspires fear into the heart of many.

Stats:

Range: 100 | Move Speed: 295Primary: STR

Str: 23 + 2.8 | Agi: 18 + 2.25 | Int: 16 + 1.25Damage: 47 – 51 | HP: 587 | Mana: 208

HP Regen: 0.94 | Mana Regen: 0.65Attack Speed: 1.48 | Armor: 6

Pros and Cons:

Good night:

1. Awesome Starting Armour2. Best hero for first blooding

3. Too good at night.4. Very good escape/chasing mechanism at night.

5. A good AGI gain for STR hero6. Has an inbuilt silence/evasion skill.

7. A strong effective nuke8. Ultimate is Mana independant

9. Sight increases at night.

Good Morning:

1. Weak during the day early game.2. pathetic MS during the day.

3. Void loses effectiveness during the day.4. Fear/Hunter are useless during the day.

5. Sight decreases during the day.6. Nukes cost high mana.

Skills and Skill Build:

Void (V)Creates a damaging void. If cast at night, slows the target for 4 seconds.

Level 1 - Deals 90 damage.Level 2 - Deals 160 damage.Level 3 - Deals 255 damage. Level 4 - Deals 335 damage.Mana Cost: 90/ 112/ 130/ 145

Cooldown: 8

QUOTEBest nuke, Very effective during the Night.. an added slow. Good damage but high Mana cost.

Crippling Fear (F)In the night, the Night Stalker can cause intense fear in enemy units, causing them to miss attacks and be unable to cast spells. Level 1 - Miss on 10% of attacks, slow by 4%. Lasts 5 seconds.Level 2 - Miss on 20% of attacks, slow by 8%. Lasts 6 seconds.Level 3 - Miss on 30% of attacks, slow by 12%. Lasts 7 seconds.Level 4 - Miss on 40% of attacks, slow by 16%. Lasts 8 seconds.Mana Cost: 125Cooldown: 12

QUOTEA Silence combined with Evasion... makes a good combo against DPSers and Casters.. Should be maxed Mid game.. early game you wont have mana to cast it ...

Hunter in the Night The Night Stalker is at home at night. He attacks and moves more swiftly. Level 1 - 15% movement speed, 20% attack speed.Level 2 - 20% movement speed, 35% attack speed.Level 3 - 30% movement speed, 55% attack speed.

Level 4 - 35% movement speed, 75% attack speed.

QUOTEThe Creme la` Creme of Balanar's skills... this gives you IMBAness during the night... Insame MS and IAS...

Darkness ®Freezes the time and create a period of Darkness for the Night Stalker to thrive in. Level 1 - Create darkness for 25 second night.Level 2 - Create darkness for 50 seconds.Level 3 - Create darkness for 80 seconds.Mana Cost: N/ACooldown: 240/ 210/ 150

QUOTEA very good Ultimate.. enhancing his abilities... No mana cost an added bonus... It stops Time note that !!

Skill build:

VoidHunter at nightVoidHunter at nightVoidHunter at nightVoidHunter at nightCrippling FearDarknessDarknessCrippling FearStatsStatsStatsDarknessStats upto lvl 25.

The basic aim is to max out the Nuke. It gives a damage of 335, 250 damage including 25% spell reduction.Slows the target during Night. Hunter at Night is the passive ability which makes you insane at night. It gives you an awesome MS and IAS,a free MoM without damage amplification.Fear is the skill which makes you a semi Anti caster. A silence and evasion effect inbuilt.Perfect against nukers Mid game and against DPS heroes late game.Darkness is taken at lvls 10-11, a common thing, as its night time when you reach lvl 6. I have preferred 3 points of stats so as to give NS a small boost. Then it is taken after lvl 16 when DPS heroes begin to dominate.so its like:2 points of fear to counter nukers mid game.2 points to counter DPSers late game.

Item build:Early:

Early game start of with 2x circlets (helps u to make bracers/nulls). I never prefer GG branches on NS, as they are later to be disposed.but if you have some gold left buy 1-2 branches.Now considering Void to be your basic nuke, and owing to its high mana cost and your pathetic mana pool, nulls are preferred.More likely to opt for nulls when your lane contains more than 1 opponent , or else go for bracers.Empty bottle is the best item to regenerate your mana and HP. Its much needed early as you will be tower diving to slay your opponents.So better carry Town portals and a empty bottle.boots are essential to save your ass to kick others' ass. Very helpful during the day owing to your pathetic MS. And an extraadded bonus during the night.

The core:

Requires:Boots of Speed

Boots of Travel Recipe Scroll

Gives: +90 Run Speed Active: Teleport

60 Second Cooldown 3 Second Cast Time

Requires:Sacred Relic

Radiance Recipe Scroll

Gives: +8% Chance to Evade

+70 Damage Passive: Immolation

400 Radius 35 Damage/sec Immolation

Requires:Helm of Iron WillGloves of HasteBlades of Attack

Armlet of Mordiggian

Gives: +9 damage+15% aspd

+5 armor+3 hp regen

Unholy Strength (active)

Requires:Crystalis

Demon EdgeBuriza-do Kyanon Recipe Scroll

Gives: +75 Damage

Passive: Critical Strike 20% Chance 2.2x Damage Multiplier

Requires:Plate MailHyperstoneChainmail

Assault Cuirass

Gives: +10 Armor

+5 Armor Aura-5 Armor Aura

+40% Attack Speed+15% Attack Speed Aura

OR

Requires:Eaglehorn

Quarter StaffThe Butterfly Recipe Scroll

Gives: 30% Evasion+30 damage

30% increased attack speed+30 Agility

ORB options:

Requires:Helm of the DominatorMesserschmidts ReaverSatanic Recipe Scroll

Gives: 25% Life Steal +25 Strength

+5 Armor Activate: Unholy Rage

50 sec cooldown, no mana cost, gives 30 bonus damage and additional 15% life steal for 20 secs

OR

Requires:Yasha

SangeSange and Yasha Recipe Scroll

Gives: +16 Agility

+16 Strength +16 Damage

+10% incr movement speed, +10% incr attack speed Effect: Maim

10% chance, -35% attack speed -35% movement speed for 6 sec

Orb effects do not stack

OR

Requires:Mithril HammerMithril Hammer

Stygian Desolator Recipe Scroll

Gives: +60 Damage

Passive: Corruption -6 Armor to Enemy Target

5 Second Duration Orb effects do not stack

Later Options:

Requires:Messerschmidts Reaver

Vitality BoosterHeart of Tarrasque Recipe Scroll

Gives:

+300 Hit Points +11 HP/Sec Regeneration

35 Strength

Requires:Demon Edge

2 Javelins

Gives: +75 Damage

+15% Attack Speed Passive: Bonus Damage

100 Damage to Target 0.01 Second Stun 30% Chance The bonus damage is fixed regardless of any situations e.g. critical attack, armor, and will cancel

any previous bash

Explanations:First you should rush for Hyperstone/Eaglehorn and Relic. You need IAS and a good damage boost and a farming item.Eaglehorn is used to make butterfly, and in certain cases you should opt for butterfly.When your Opponents have these following abilities and are late game DPSers:-Bash-Crit-Evasion

Examples like Mortred, juggernaut, Broodmother, Faceless Void, Gondar, Skeleton King, Spiritbreaker etc.You must go for the Butterfly in these cases. Evasion from butterfly will greatly help you, and combined with the evasion from Fear.In other cases go for Hyperstone, a cheap item which increases IAS by 55%.Radiance is your basic early DPS item and an insane Farming item. Go for Radiance after your Butterfly/hyperstone.I have BoT over PT, as it gives you a MS of 520 at night. PT gives a MS of 486 with 30% IAS, but you wont be able to experience the full potential at night.Heart is the best tanking item for NS; as he has a decent str gain and very good escape mechanism.Tanking Factor:Start------> Str =23+ (2.8 per level)At lvl 25:Total Hp gained regardless of Items: 587+(2.8*25*19)+(20*19)= 2297

Str from HoT= 35+300HP=965 total HP gained from HoTStr from Satanic=25 = 475 HP gainedTotal Hp pool from above calculations: 3737 HP

Buriza is the best item for NS; owing to his high IAS, the probablity of CRITS goes up considerably. Added to the fact that Radiance gives your crits a boost. Satanic is much needed when you have CRITS in your inventory. Satanic gives you good Armour and tanking abilities.

Armlet is the best item mid game for NS, and all those semi tank DPS heroes like Sven, Skeleton, Ursa, bristleback etc.Gain from armlet = 25 str , 40% IAS, +40 damage when active.HP gained from armlet = 475Total HP added to the above calculated: 3737+475 = 4212

This proves him to be a good tank... as 4k HP rocks any day

I have added MKB in late game, just to enhance your Crits, it isnt necessary to make MKB, just as a mentioning of a good DPS item on NS.

The Debatable Item:

I have added SnY in the ORB list but I dont favour it. Agreed that it gives full MS at Night with only Boots, the Maim ORB is wasted and 1 slot is occupied, as you dont need Maim owing to your high MS which can chase anybody and your nuke can slow down opponents.

MS during the day: 295At night : 398.25MS with Boots: Day: 345Night: 465MS with boots+SnY:day: 400night: 540>522(max)MS with BoT:day: 385night: 520

Cost for SnY+Boots: 5600Cost for BoT: 2700

Now both have its Adv and Disadv; but the gold difference is too much, and the attribute gain from SnY is meagre. Also you will be upgrading the Boots in Your SnY inventory to PT, which will cost you more. also 1 slot of inventory is wasted. maim is useless and 1 orb effect is lost. Considering BoT the difference in MS is not Huge. Also you save about 3k gold, which can be

used to buy:Hyperstone/HoD/Vitality Boosters/Armlet.best buy according to me will be Armlet, for 2900 gold.

I have added SnY as many recommend it, but Think twice before making it

The Situationals:

Vanguard is made when you have opponents like Furion, Lycanthrope, Broodmother, Chen, Enchantress, Necrobbokies etc. Its good to ward off the creep attacks which they spawn.Hood is taken early against chain nukers. Sell the hood when you have made your Satanic and HoT as you'll have surplus HP to withstand their Nukes.Vladmir's is an option I have put for those opting for SnY. lifesteal is a must for balanar, owing to his high IAS and DPS.

Rejected items:

Looks good on him, but I dont prefer it. Waste of precious Inventory slot. Agreed that you'll get more bashes during the night, but its waste as:

1. You have full MS at night.2. You can easily chase down your heroes.

3. You have an ability to slow down opponents which are a little faster (like Spiritbreaker, Chaos etc).

So why do you prefer a basher when you have such IMBA skills?Also the cost of making Basher is high and doesnt give enough damage increase.

Another waste of slot. Cleave is better only f you have high crit ability (like PA) or has an inbuilt cleave such that your splash % increases. immolation is better than splash and Radiance is much better against Invi heroes. Mana regen is good, but the damage splashed is pathetic. So its useless

and I prefer radiance any day to Bfury.

Again a useless ORB item for Balanar, as images dont have the MS or IAS gain from Hunter. So another reason to be useless.

You have a very good escape mechanism, so I dont think NS needs a Dagger to save himself. And dagger during Day is worthless idea.

Strategy:

Gameplay Walkthrough:

Early game:

Being a melee Hero, its better you team up with an ally. A ranged disable/slow is a good option to lane with. Else a Melee stunner is welcome. NS is always focusses fired early game, to stop him levelling up or farming. Best buy is: 2x Circlets, 2x Tangoes, 2x Clarities.Lane Choosing:Avoid middle lane at any costs for any team. Top lane for Scourge and bottom lane for Sentinel are the best. Enables you to tower hug, play a more defensive play. Also the forest is near to farm on neutrals.Bottom for scourge and top for senti should be chosen only if you have a ranged Nuker/slower/disabler as you lane mate.Play as defensive as possible.

Mid Game

Honeymoon:

OR

At about 17:30 ie your clock timer shows, you should Have Boots, Empty Bottle in your inventory. Early nightime, go creeping (neutral) and eliminate all those creeps except those who have Chaos as ATTACK type damage. A stout shield at this point is welcome, but dont make it in vanguard; as it depends on the opponents. Finish your Nulls/Bracers; and now you are ready to gank. Check which lane has a vulnerable hero and has least escape ability. Ask you ally to bait him, and you proceed to gank him. Atleast you should have 2-3 kills in the first night. Hunt for Runes; Double damage is the best rune at night, and Invi rune also as it allows you to sneak up behind your foes. The haste Rune should NOT be taken at night, ask your ally to take it which will be an added bonus. Ask allies like Sven, Skeleton, Spirit to take the haste rune at night. During the day DO NOT ignore the haste rune. Also remember to own the enemy RAX at night.Keep hitting the tower until it focusses you and run, again come back and hit and follow the procedure. Note that this tactic should be used when a lot of creeps are near the vicinity of the tower.

Hangover:

After your first night is over, play defensive. Team up with an ally and push. During this stage you are at max bet lvls 10-13. So you'll have 2 points of your Ulti. here complete your BoT, helm of Dominator. Do not use Darkness for fun or creeping. Check out your opponents and plan a gank. bait and then use Darkness to eliminate the foe. You can also activate it to save your ass when you figure out that a gank is coming. Also if you see a fleeing hero dont hesitate to use darkness. A kill is worth using it.

Party Time:

During your 2nd night you ready to solo Roshan. You should have BoT, Armlet, Hyperstone/Eaglehorn, Relic, HoD in your inventory. Now you'll have almost Max MS at night and a very good IAS. A Double Damage Rune is like an extra icing on the cake. Complete your butterfly and Radiance and go for Crystalys ASAP.Also you'll have maxed your Ultimate, so use it to extend night-time. As the cooldown is less, you'll have much more fun playing with NS at this Stage.By level 20 you should have finished your buriza; so look for Satanic as its a semi tanking Item. Then go for a Hot to tank completely.

Late Game:

Late Game:

Late game, mostly you act as a tank. Balanar’s versatality is such that, he can tank as well as act

as a DPS hero.So during the day , Balanar is a tank... as HitN isnt active which is your basic DPS ability, hence the probability of killing the hero is less.At night.. HitN is active, making your AS and MS insane. So at night you act as a DPS hero.Late game Void becomes an ineffective spell, while Fear becomes a good one.Silence and evasion are great late game and can turn the tides of the war !

Item Suggestions:(owing to large consensus of suggestions from posts posted by Members.)

The items that I had suggested above to get are not possible to get...So I have considered getting some of the items imperative for NS in 3 Stages:

Early Game(1 to 6):

/

Mid Game(8 to16):

OR

Late Game(16 to 25):

The above items are a must to get, and then you may proceed to get other luxury items for NS.

Economics:

Basic Start items:Bottle+ 4xTangoes + 2xBracer/Nulls + BoT = 4780 goldSold: Bottle, Bracers = 860 gold

Inventory 1:

Armlet + Radiance + Satanic + Butterfly + Buriza = 26800 goldTotal gold required: 30720

Inventory 2:

Armlet + Radiance + Satanic + Buriza + Assualt = 26670 goldTotal Gold required: 30590 gold

Inventory 3:

HoT + Radiance + Satanic + Buriza + Assualt = 29320 goldTotal Gold = 33240

Inventory 4:

SnY + Vladmir’s + HoT + Buriza + Assualt = 25545 goldTotal Gold: 29465 gold

Lifesteal:

LS given by Helm of Dominator = 15 %LS given by Vladmir’s = 15 %LS given by Inactive Satanic = 25 %LS given by Active Satanic = 40 %

Now considering a range of Damage from 75-- 400 for a normal build, life Stealing factor is given below:

Seeing the above chart and rising crits you’ll see that your life regen becomes insane. You are gaining an avg of 75 HP in less than a second which is about 7 times that of HoT. Also it depicts how important Lifesteal ORB is for NS.

IAS Summing for NS:

Consider the base IAS at lvl 1 without items for NS to be 0. (actually it isnt zero, but as i want to make things simpler, I have taken 0 IAS as base)Now 1 agi= 1% IASAgi gain per lvl = 2.25Agi gained from Attribute = 20Total Gain: 76.25Thus without items, IAS gain = 76.25 %

IAS gain from Items: Bracers/ Nulls x2 = 6% Hyperstone = 55%Butterfly = 60%SnY = 32%Armlet Inactive = 15%Active armlet = 25%MKB = 15%IAS gain from Hunter:Lvl1 : 20%Lvl 2: 35%Lvl 3: 55% Lvl 4: 75%

Total IAs increase from Inventory:(Level 25 NS)

Inventory 1:Day: 151.25% (Inactive Armlet)Day: 161.25% (Active Armlet)Night: 226.25% (Inactive Armlet)Night: 236.25% (Active Armlet)

Inventory 2:Day: 146.25% (Inactive Armlet)Day: 156.25% (active Armlet)Night: 221.25%Night: 231.25%

Inventory 3:Day: 131.25%Night: 206.25%

Inventory 4:Day: 163.25% + 30% from PT + 10% If AGI attribute is ONNight: 238.25% + 30% from PT+ 10% if AGi attribute is ON

Note: The above figures are approximate, and the IAS will be in a factor of +/- 20 that of the given values.

Increase in Sight at night:

Nightstalker's line of Sight increase at night. During the day:800 At Night :1600

When to use Darkness:

Your Ultimate darkness, stops the time in the Map.Contrary to the belief that it turns day into night without stopping time; the clock timer stops

when you use Darkness, ie timer will show time as 00:00.Thus the duration of night and day remains same... only you extend nightime.

During nightime:You MUST use your ultimate when night starts. As soon as you hear the wolf howl at 18:00, use darkness. This makes sure that the night time duration increases and you’ll get to use darkness more often during the night. Use whenever your ultimate is available.

During Daytime:You want your daytime to be for the required time only. So use darkness to the minimum during the day. When you are sure that you can chase and kill the opponent , then only use darkness. Or else dont spam it unnecessarily.

Animation Cancelling for Void:(click to zoom..)

Creep Blocking

Basic Images dealing with Creep blocking to bring them near your tower.

Laning:

lane choosing is an important aspect for melee heroes like Nightstalker. Your amt of gold and XP depends on the right lane chosen.

The Top lane(for scourge) and Bottom Lane( for sentinel):

These lanes are the best for melee heroes as they allow you to be near the tower, which means more protection. Thus you can creep block to bring the enemy creeps near the tower, ensuring a better chance to last hit. XP gained in 1 wave of creeps:

3 melee and 1 range =

Usually, check the opponents laning against you. This will aid you in choosing a lane partner or solo.Consider the following options:

Single Range:If the opponent is ranged and soloing, you may or may not ask for backup. Usually ask for backup if he is a chain Nuker. This will ensure that you arent totally focus- fired.

Single Melee:Here you must solo, as there is absolutly no threat to you against melee heroes early. They share the same predicament as you do early game .

2 Melee:You may solo, but if they are stunners, then ask for a lane partner. This will ensure that you remain gank free.

1 range and 1 melee:Better ask for a backup. It may prove fatal as melee will harass you too... owing that his ranged ally may finish you off.

2 Ranged:Must call for backup, a ranged lane partner is a must in these cases.

The Bottom (for scourge) and Top ( for sentinel):

Bottom lane is I may say treacherous for melee heroes. They are further away from the protection of the tower and also near the enemy tower and near to Jungle ganking spots. Must use wards in this situation to eliminate any chances of ganks.You must lane up with a good partner, a ranged disabler which will save both of your asses. Must use creep block to stay further away from their tower.

The Middle Lane:

The leat chosen of the lanes for melee heroes. The concentration of nukers here is more, hence avoid it early game.

Last Hitting and Denying:

The best way to avoid pushing too much early game and denying your opponents Gold. Last hitting is done when the creep’s Hp bar is red. You have to note the hero’s base damage and the creep’s HP, and time it perfectly so that you hit only once and get the gold. Remember the timing

should be perfect and it needs practise.Denying is same as last hitting, but you kill your own creeps to deny gold. This tactic is used also to deny Xp. Used mostly upto levels 13-14. To see your creeps denies ( as a “!” mark) turn the deny commands ON.Also you may deny your own towers to ensure that your enemy doesnt obtain the gold bonus. When the tower’s HP is less than 100, you may deny it. Check whether your enemy is far away and start hitting the tower ( press “a” and click on the tower).Commands are: -di or -showdeny.

Aove is the pic, when to deny. See the ! mark when u deny.

Tower Denying:

Creep Pulling and Jungling:

Creep pulling is used as per the timer in your game. Neutrals spawn at intervals of a minute.The place of spawning should be:1. In fog of war2. No corpses should be lying around.

A stout shield is necessary early for warding of creep’s attack.Now pulling neutrals, you should attack them and run at 51st second mark. Stay in their LoS(line of sight) so that they wont turn back. Do Not kill them just hit and run away from their base. At 59th second run further away so that they wont follow you and turn to their base. you will see and extra set of neutrals will be spawned in their position with he previous neutrals. You may use this tactic to spawn atleat 3 sets of neutrals.This is known as Stacking, which ensures you bonus gold and XP.While killing neutrals, make sure you kill all of them under 40 second mark, which ensures no corpses are lying around, and it wont interfere with the spawning.Below is the pic on how to pull:

Now pulling you opponent creeps is very important. You must make sure that there isnt a gank approaching, and your opponent is safely in his base or far away. Use wards near ward places which will warn you if a gank is taking place. Make sure that you have a lane partner so that he gforewarns you of opponents.Now to pull these creeps, go ahead of your wave, and hit the creeps and run in the forest. The creeps will follow you; steer them away from your own creep wave. Stay in their LoS, and keep hitting and running. Steer them towards your neural stack. Now attack any one from the stack and run. they will all follow you for a ceratin distance and then will engage among themselves. Enjoy the fight and last hit. This ensures that you Gain bonus XP from both the enemy and neutral creeps.A word of caution though.. the enemy’s creeps will bring you in LoS of all your opponents. So beware of that situation.Below is the pic when u have engaged the neutrals:

Allies and Enemies:

Allies:

Stunners:

Disablers:

Slowers:

Healers:

MS boosters:

Stunners:They are your best allies. Stun will lock the target in place which will help in delivering a chunk

of damage to the stunned opponent. Will help you greatly during day.

Disablers:Usually spells like Voodoo, Fiend's Grip, Shackles etc. are the best disables. They will almost silence the trapped heroes. A good way to kill opponents during the day.

Healers:very useful as most of the time at night you'll be tower diving to kill your opponents, thus losing a considerable HP pool. So hence to make you more lane dominant, healers are very good lane partners.

MS boosters:Passively increase your MS, helping you early during Day and Night. Allies like Darkseer are too good.

Enemies:

Early Chain nukers:

Late Game DPSers:

Tanks:

Imagers:They are probably your worst enemies. Much of your time will be wasted in figuring out the real one of them. They are a threat Mid game, make Radiance to counter images.

Stunners:They are a majority of Semi-Dps heroes; which may take a load of your HP pool during the stun duration. Enemies like Spiritbreaker are a pain in the ass, you'll be knocked around by Greater bashes more often late game.

Casters:They are probably dangerous early game. Mid-Late game they are a piece of cake, maybe except Obsidian, Necrolyte, Enchantress. Best to counter them using Fear, a 8 second silence will probably benefit you.

Tanks:Tanks like Centaur,Avernus, bristleback, Ursa can sustain much damage and also deliver high damage. They are your perfect counters.

Special Counter:

Bloodseeker: he is your best late game counter, with bloodrage amplyfying his damage to a lethal amount, and an ultimate which may spell doom during the night. beware of him as he will fight to death, as owing to your high HP he will regen his own by killing you !!

Conclusion:

Souls_f5

Skill build:For complete details about Balanar, click here.

01. | Void02. | Hunter in the Night03. | Hunter in the Night04. | Void05. | Void06. | Hunter in the Night07. | Void08. | Hunter in the Night09. | Darkness10. | Stats/Crippling Fear11. | Darkness12. | Stats/Crippling Fear13. | Stats/Crippling Fear14. | Stats/Crippling Fear15. | Stats16. | Darkness17. | Stats/Crippling Fear18. | Stats/Crippling Fear

19. | Stats/Crippling Fear20. | Stats/Crippling Fear21-25. | Stats

This skill build is for people who are enjoying in playing aggressively. Void and Hunter in the night is a must to max out first and I expect you really know why. Some people take a level of Fear at level 1, but a level of Fear early game is not really needed since it can't help you by that time. It is taken later on. If your dominating, take Fear at level 10, else take it at 17. All you have to do early game is to last hit and deny until you hit level 6 then by that time, its time to grab some kills.

Core build:(Click on the images to view its details)

The reason for the treads is that it makes you kill more quickly and the stats boost is great early game(STR or INT), Bracers are for HP for you to tower dive and a quiet damage boost, and the empty bottle is for you to replenish your lost HP and mana after a gank and allows you to store runes and save it for ganks. After these items, you can grab whatever damage items or strength items you want. BoT for me is not good early game just because its expensive, otherwise you could have it.

Just don't take one of these items. Sange and Yasha (Maim is rather useless and the added movement speed is not needed), Manta Style (Simple, the illusions don't get the buff of Hunter in the night), and Mask of Madness (You take 20% more damage).

Strategy

How to huntBalanar was called the Night Stalker for obvious reason, he hunts at night. Choose a target that is easy to kill (either he's solo in his lane)or at his worst. Before attempting to hunt an opponent, you must check first his situation(Health, Mana, Skills, Level, etc.). Balanar's common tactic to kill is to charge straight to his target then cast Void then attack a couple of hits then cast Void either to finish him. Hunting is all about timing. If you want to be aggressive even day time, get close to your target (not too close that he can almost notice you)then cast Darkness then cast

Void and attack him (use Void after its cooldown), until his dead. Map awareness is a must, you should know where your allies/opponents are. If someone of your opponent is missing, call missing. So that your allies will be prepared for incoming ganks. Fear is used if you're facing a caster (But if the opposing team has more than three casters, I suggest you to take BKB)or a DPS machine(like Mortred) or a perma basher(like Faceless Void). Fear to me is great late game for obvious reason.

Early onI prefer you go solo in a lane, Top lane for Scourge and Bottom for Sentinel. This time, just sit back and relax. Play normal, get creep kills and deny. Your main goal early game is to earn gold for Boots, a bottle, and bracers. Don't bother harassing your lane opponent because later on, he'll be dead. Avoid being harassed to death. If it is 1 on 1, pretty easy, but if its 1 on 2, pretty hard. If your lane opponent is a melee, then good for you. Keep on last hitting and deny until you're level 6. If your lane opponent has a great lane control like Viper, you better call for help.

Good NightAs the night strikes, its time for you to grab some kills(don't just sit there and farm). Apply what you've learned. Choose an easy target (check his items, skills, level, etc.)and tell your ally that your coming for a gank, don't be afraid to charge him at his tower as long as you know what you're doing. Just be smart and calculate if you can kill it and be alive after that(don't charge him if you know two of you would be dead, its worthless). Else if you can't, retreat. Even if you don't get a kill, you can still do it next time. Try to dominate the map. After you killed your target, go to your next target. Don't forget to get some runes, it helps you gank. Try to get as much kills as you can in the first night and don't waste the time. Be a night stalker. Remember that a good night stalker is scary. If you got kills, this makes the opposing team fear you. But if you don't, you can still make them fear you by scaring them or applying pressure to them. NA makes fear. Usually an experienced opponents don't farm and will tower hug. Don't stay on a single lane. You need a strong map awareness. You must be roaming around without being notice by the opposing team for kills. This makes them even fear you keeping them down. Hunting is all about timing, don't charge a full health enemy on his tower if you know you'll be dead, you better attack an enemy at his worst situation. If you noticed almost your opponents are hiding at night, then its time to check the jungle or get some wards. Be aggressive at night.

Bad DayAt the end of the night, just farm like a normal hero. Daytime is your weakness. And this time usually there will be an incoming gank for you. But don't be afraid for incoming ganks for as long as you have your Darkness, this makes your enemies failed to kill you. Your weakness doesn't even exist for you can extend the night like forever.

Later onLater on, team battles occur frequently during pushes usually in the mid lane, by that time you will be a feared individual. In team battles, decide which target to take out first, check enemies' items, health, skills, level etc., play your role, help your team(don't just think of you and your enemies), use your abilities and get kills in team battles. After the team battles, keep pushing until your opponents are alive(push as much as possible). And when they're alive, go home when you're out numbered. Else stay and be ready for the next battle.

Balanar's List

These are the heroes that makes you lick your lips.

ConclusionWell to me, Balanar is a great hero to play with. The reason why my guide has no screenshots at all is because there's no need for me to show what I'm exactly talking about. I want to focus this guide more on strategy. If you want to improve in playing Balanar, then play more games with Balanar. I hope I encouraged you to play Balanar and I hope you've learned something out of my simple guide. Comments please! Thank you.

Thank youTo all my friends.To all who read this guide and commented it.To all mods and to the Dota-Allstars community.

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