Dota 2 Night Stalker Guide - Item builds & Skills

In this Dota 2 Night Stalker guide I will talk about the optimal skill build for ganking in early/mid game and, of course, I'll try to give you an answer to the question "what are the best items for Night Stalker in Dota 2?". Veteran Dota players are familiar with this hero because he is one of the most powerful gankers that can be found in the original Dota. Furthermore, this hero is a unique hero for Dota games, he does not have any corespondent in Heroes of Newerth up to this date (for example). He is not a difficult hero to play with, but you need to know him very well until you will own your opponents. The main idea of Balanar the Night Stalker is that he is a very strong during night time, and somewhat weak during daytime (when you usually just farm).

Skill build for Balanar in Dota 2 usually look like this:

1. Void
2. Hunter in the Night
3. Void / Crippling Fear
4. Hunter in the Night
5. Void
6. Darkness
7. Void
8. Hunter in the Night / Void
9. Hunter in the Night
10. Crippling Fear / Hunter in the Nigh
11. Darkness
12. Crippling Fear
13. Crippling Fear
14. Crippling Fear
15. Stats
16. Darkness
17-25 Stats

The skill build for the Night Stalker should look like the one above in most cases. If you encounter enemy heroes that have strong crowd control abilities, you might consider not to max out Void so fast and put one point in Crippling Fear to silence them.

Gank Item build for Night Stalker in Dota 2

Starting items should be the standard regeneration items (Tango and Healing Salve), one Clarity potion for extra mana, Quelling Blade for easier last hits. Before the first night you should have the following items on Night Stalker: Boots, Bottle, Quelling Blade, Gauntlets of Strength. In the mid game you should focus on these core items: Power Treads, Helm of the Dominator, Aghanim's Scepter (must have), Skull Basher. In late game you can focus on Satanic, Black King Bar (especially if you get stunned a lot) or Heart of Tarrasque. Another good item for the Night Stalker is the Urn of Shadows, especially in the early/mid game.

Night Stalker strategy and ganking in Dota 2

The first and more important tip for the Night Stalker in Dota 2 is to gank as much as possible. Don't waste night time on lane farming, just go for ganks. It is crucial to get decent last hits until the first night to be able to buy the items needed for your ganks. The Night Stalker become somewhat useless if you don't make enough frags in the first two nights of the game. Another good tip for this hero is to use your ultimate during the night because it freezes time and you'll get more night time. Note that the Night Stalker has an eight seconds silence spell, so use it on the main enemy nuker or healer.