Night Stalker

#42

23 + 3

18 + 2.2

15 + 1.6

Grants the following bonuses per level:
	+66_HP and +0.3_HP regeneration +3 Main Attack Damage
	+0.37 armor and 2.2 attack speed
	+19.2_MP and +0.08_MP regeneration +0.1% base magic resistance

Armor

(813.8 EHP)

26.5%

Magic Resist

(851.7 EHP)

(65 Avg)

Projectile Speed

Melee units have their projectile speed set to 900, if they should ever need it.

150

Attack Range

(600)

100 (118)

Attack Speed

(1.7 BAT)

Attacks per Second is defined as
ΣAS / BAT / 100

0.55 + 0.55

295

0.6

This unit takes 0.175s to turn 180°.

27

Collision Size

24

Bound Radius

800 /

1800

Vision Range

Default

Gib Type

npc_dota_hero_night_stalker

2011-06-11

Released

2004-04-30

(2.60)

Competitive Span

2011-06-11 — Present

Version Control

This article is mostly accurate for 7.40, the last version this hero was changed in.

New interactions that emerged in following patches may have not yet been accounted for.


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
Adjectives	Blue, Flying, NicePecs, Wings Legs `( 2 )`

Upgrades

Aghanim's

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Adds a toggle functionality to the ability that drains max mana per second beyond its debuff duration while active.

Reduces cooldown.

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

The hunter now consumes the unit-targeted creep while restoring some of its max health and mana upon cast.

Talents


-40s Dark Ascension Cooldown	25	+100 Hunter in the Night Attack Speed
+15 Strength	20	+40 Crippling Fear Damage per Second
+20% Hunter in the Night Status Resist	15	+25 Dark Ascension Attack Damage
+5s Dark Ascension Duration	10	-1s Void Cooldown
▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ +2 All / / Attributes

Bio

I feed the darkness and the darkness feeds me.
▶️ Balanar, the Night Stalker

Alias:

NS

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.

Voice:

Tony Todd (Responses)

Innate

Heart of Darkness

Ability

Passive

Affects

Self

Grants Night Stalker health regeneration amplification during nighttime.

Health Regen Amp:

20%

Night Reign

Ability

Passive

Affects

Self

Starts the game at nighttime, with nighttime having a longer duration than daytime.

Nighttime Duration:

315

Daytime Duration:

285

Details

Selecting the facet unlocks this ability.

Has the following Time of Day duration:
- Each cell beneath the day duration represents 15 seconds in-game time.

Time	Pre-Game	Day Duration (10:00 Cycle)
Time	Pre-Game
Regular	-01:30	05:00	05:00
Facet	-01:30	05:15		04:45

- Applies all ability values directly to the Time of Day after the in-game horn starts.

Hero Model

Ability

Passive / Channeling

Affects

Self

Balanar's hero model has the following hidden

innate abilities.

He may only perform or utilize the ability's functions upon a successful channeling, excluding passive innate abilities.

Only Balanar and certain hero models ascends the z-axis upon Dark Ascension cast.

Z-axis Ascend: 150

Grants all

attribute bonuses per level.

This ability automatically levels up at certain levels if all ability points are spent on the hero's respective abilities.

Max Ability Level: 7

Details

Voidbringer

Reduces the all

attribute bonus max ability level upon selecting the facet.

Max Ability Level: 6

Hidden Innate Abilities

Tap on the

innate abilities for more details.

Dark Ascension grants the following hero models all ability effects, except ascending the z-axis:
- Clockwerk ascends 260-distance on the z-axis instead.
- Lina
- Rubick
- Other hero models ascends 150-distance on the z-axis instead, while granting all ability effects.

Abilities

Void

Q

V

Void

▶️

Ability

Unit / Area

Affects

Enemy Units / Self

Damage

Spell / Magical

Creates a damaging void that slows an enemy unit and deals damage.

Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0.47

Cast Range:

525

Max Ability Level: 4

Damage: 80/160/240/320/400

Move Speed Slow: 50%/50%/50%/50%/60%

Attack Speed Slow: 50/50/50/50/60

Slow Duration:

1.25

During nighttime, Void also mini-stuns with a longer slow duration.

Slow Duration:

1.6/2.2/2.8/3.4/4

Stun Duration:

0.1

11/10/9/8/8 (

10/9/8/7/7)

90/95/100/105/105

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

Crippling Fear

W

F

Crippling Fear

▶️

Ability

No

Affects

Enemy Units

Damage

Spell / Magical

Silences and applies damage over time while near the Night Stalker for the duration.

Cast Animation:

0 + 0

Radius:

375

Damage per Second: 25/30/35/40 (

65/70/75/80)

Damage Duration:

3

Silence Duration:

3

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

Crippling Fear is more effective during nighttime.

Damage Duration:

4.5/5/5.5/6

Silence Duration:

4.5/5/5.5/6

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
Adds a toggle functionality to the ability that drains max mana per second beyond its debuff duration while active.

Reduces cooldown.

30/25/20/15 (

25/20/15/10)

50

The max mana loss per second is affected by mana loss manipulation sources. Drains mana in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second beyond its original debuff duration.

6% × Max_{MP / second}

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

Hunter in the Night

E

G

Hunter in the Night

▶️

Ability

Passive / Unit

Affects

Self / Units

Damage

Instant Kill

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

Max Ability Level: 4

Move Speed Bonus:

16%/22%/28%/34%/40%

Attack Speed Bonus:

15/35/55/75/95 (

115/135/155/175/195)

Status Resist Bonus:

(

20%)

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade
The hunter now consumes the unit-targeted creep while restoring some of its max health and mana upon cast.

Cast Animation: 0 + 1.07

Max Health as Heal:

(

25%)

Max Mana as Mana Restore:

(

25%)

(

35)

(

50)

The hunting prowess of Balanar improves as the night beckons.

Dark Ascension

R

Dark Ascension

▶️

Ability

No

Affects

Self

Grants Night Stalker flying movement, unobstructed vision and bonus attack damage during his ascension.

Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0

Attack Damage Bonus: 50/100/150 (

75/125/175)

Flying Vision Factor: 1

Duration: 30 (

35)

140/135/130 (

100/95/90)

125/175/225

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

Recent Matches

Main Article: Night Stalker/Matches

Date	Tier	Tournament	Score
January 10, 2026 - 16:05 CST	Qualifier	OQ2 ESL Challenger CN	0 : 1	+ Add details
January 10, 2026 - 12:00 SGT	Qualifier	SEA CQ DreamLeague S28	0 : 1	+ Add details
January 9, 2026 - 20:00 CET	Qualifier	WEU CQ DreamLeague S28	1 : 0	+ Add details
January 9, 2026 - 12:00 SGT	Qualifier	SEA CQ DreamLeague S28	1 : 0	+ Add details
January 7, 2026 - 17:45 CET	Qualifier	WEU OQ2 DreamLeague S28	1 : 0	+ Add details

Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

Version

Description

7.40
(2025-12-15)

Attribute Bonus
- The Voidbringer facet no longer reduces ability max level by 1.
Heart of Darkness no longer applies a 20% health regeneration reduction during daytime .

Talents:
LVL 20 +20 Crippling Fear damage per second increased to +40.

7.39b
(2025-05-29)

Reduced Void nighttime slow duration from 2/2.5/3/3.5/4 to 1.6/2.2/2.8/3.4/4.

7.39
(2025-05-21)

Void
- Increased movement speed slow from 50% on each level to 50%/50%/50%/50%/60%
- Increased attack speed slow from 50 on each level to 50/50/50/50/60.

Talents:
LVL 20 +20 strength reduced to +15.

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.

Night Stalker's 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

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 Gary 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 File:Void Demon mapicon dota2 gameasset.png [[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.

Warcraft 3 similarities:
- In DotA, Night Stalker uses the model of Tichondrius, a campaign-only variant of the Undead Dreadlord hero.
- Crippling Fear is based on the Firelord's Soul Burn, a single target silence that deals damage over time.

Gallery

Day model
Night model
Concept art
Low Violence model
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
Old game clock modifier
Bone Harvest sprite - alive
Bone Harvest sprite - dead
Monster Hunter Hero Atlas Illustration

v e Night Stalker Equipment
Sets	Frightful Revelries Black Nihility Legends of Darkheart Pursuit Twilight Legions Unfettered Malevolence Darkness Wailing Origin of the Dark Oath Feasts of Forever Dread of Night Spring Lineage Unfettered Malevolence
Arms	Shadow of the Dark Age Golden Shadow of the Dark Age Shadow of the Dark Age of the Crimson Witness
Taunt	Taunt: Party Monster

Night Stalker

Contents

Facets

Upgrades

Aghanim's

Talents

Bio

Innate

Heart of Darkness

Night Reign

Details

Hero Model

Details

Abilities

Void

Crippling Fear

Hunter in the Night

Dark Ascension

Recent Matches

Recent Changes

Dota Plus Progress

Equipment

Trivia

Gallery

General

Specific

Night Stalker

Facets

Upgrades

Aghanim's

Talents

Bio

Innate

Heart of Darkness

Night Reign

Details

Hero Model

Details

Abilities

Void

Crippling Fear

Hunter in the Night

Dark Ascension

Recent Matches

Recent Changes

Dota Plus Progress

Equipment

Trivia

Gallery