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Yep. Pretty much the same, Lifestealer almost has the same background story with Gollum. He has a master whom he obeys, he is a thief--stealer (a LIFE stealer, to be exact), and of course, a compatible in any situation in any war. And they share the same awesomeness, which is very true, because Lifestealer is an awesome hero to play and you won't be disappointed playing with him.
So if you are pretty tired of getting losing again and again, and want to try the sweet taste of being a killing machine, be brave and pick Lifestealer.
--
There are so many good guides for Lifestealer out there, so feel free to follow any of them. If I make this guide even deeper I will just repeat what others have said. In fact, Lifestealer is naturally strong (thanks for his skills), so even if you get one wrong item you will not make such a horrible play.
So in this guide, I will not discuss much about Skill Build or Item Build (since there are so many of them out there), but I will open to you some other stuffs about this little-awesome guy.
Well now, so you are brave enough, cool enough, and ready-to-****-some-heroes enough by picking Lifestealer. You have bought your starting item, and ready to go to... where??
Where should I go?? Many people will say that you should go to jungle. But hey, you are not bad either if you go lane. Let me explain to you.
LANING
- More gold per minute (assuming you are pretty good on last hitting)
- Bigger chance of killing enemies
- Also bigger chance of getting dead.
JUNGLING
- Very minor farming disturbance
- But less gold per minute
- Smaller chance of getting dead.
- You may feel boring (not suited for impatient personality)
As you can see, going jungling is more safer than going lane, but slower in terms of time for getting your core items. But there is a unique fact that whatever path do you take, you are still suggested to bring these items:
STOUT SHIELD
QUELLING BLADE
HEALING SALVE/TANGO
And in any circumstances and whatever path you take, you HAVE TO get your Feast minimum at rank 2. Why? Because, lets say that you choose to go jungling, if your Feast stays at rank 1, you can't fight against HARD Neutral Creep (NC) Camp--even if you are already at level 5.
What about going lane? Generally (and 99% of the case) I will keep Feast at least at rank 2, because in lane there are a lot of more possibilities, more spells, and more situations arise.
I will get in touch with every choice, right on the next chapter.
Item Suggestion: 1 Stout Shield, 1 Quelling Blade, 1 Healing Salve/Tango
Skill Build Suggestion (before level 6): Feast -> Rage -> Feast -> Rage -> Open Wounds
Lifestealer is one of the most famous heroes that can go jungling right after the game starts. This is caused by his life-stealing capabilities, provided by Feast and Open Wounds. His Rage also helps Lifestealer to finish any Neutral Creep Camps faster.
Wait.. Neutral Creep Camps? Explain to me.
Alright. There are 3 types of NC Camps: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Each type of camps consists of different type of NC, and produces different amount of gold. Here you go, a map of NC Camps:
At level 1, you should go first right into RED point. It is the EASY camp, so of course you will not get much gold there. Right after finishing the Easy Camp, go directly to Medium Camp, which is noted by Blue color. It is HIGHLY recommended that you don't jump right onto the Hard Camp (Green), otherwise you will be dead in no seconds, and.. called noobs.
If you find this guy at Hard Camp occasionally, you are in high luck. Satyr and co. is the best NC to deal with. Why? Because they are the easiest Hard Camp and provide highest gold cap of all NC types.
Meanwhile, if you randomly get this guy and co., you will have a hard time. They are the hardest Hard Camp, with regular Hard Camp gold.
note: In the terms of jungling, you will rarely find enemies (if you do find them, you are in a deep ****, they are pro for sure). So, do not hesitate to use Rage whenever possible. You will get your core item faster. Generally, by the end of level 5, you have completed your Power Treads or Phase Boots.
Wait.. What is this camp.. Ancients! What about them? Should I deal with them too?
Nice question.
Believe it or not, Lifestealer can even deal with Ancients BEFORE level 6! But again, there are some pre-requisite stuffs that you must know. There are 3 types of Ancients in Dota 2:
Thunderhide Camp (the one that looks like Rhino)
Dragon Camp
and Large Golem Camp
Lifestealer gives zero ****s when dealing Thunderhide Camp; they are very easy to take down. Dragon Camp is also pretty easy but with some caution on your HP. BUT mind your decision if there are 3 fckin big Golem inside the ancient camp. They are very hard to take down, especially the biggest one (in fact, you will know which one is the hardest by hitting it; they all look the same).
By attacking ancient camp, of course you will gain gold much more faster. But of course you have to be very careful if your HP is below half. You may ask one of your support to help you ancient-time.
Well, Roshan?
Big no, no. Get your *** off. There isn't much heroes that could take Roshan all alone before level 6, and Lifestealer is NOT one of them.
Source: http://bit.ly/13hyopi
[You, as Lifestealer, going lane]
"Wait, naix dont go top."
"He is jungling."
You: "I am not jungling guys"
"Wait wut @@"
"GG"
"Noob"
"life please go jungle ffs"
Well, laning is clearly not a famous option for Lifestealer, although I and some other players do this option quite often, and the result has been being satisfying. So it's time to prove to those noobs that Lifestealer can do very well on any lane.
And why I can say that with confidence? This is because Lifestealer has a good basic stats and his skills are naturally built for jumping into battle.
ITEMS
For starting items before going to any lane, you can buy just the same when you want to go to jungle. Stout Shield, Quelling Blade, and Tango/Healing Salve. Stout Shield, clearly, is for reducing incoming damage--not big, actually, but still it will be helpful. Quelling Blade is helpful for last hitting (together with his good basic damage, you will find no trouble for last hitting). And last, Tango/Healing Salve is very good for prolonging your presence on lane.
And as you will see, you will use your spells more often than when you are inside jungle. There are many cases where your enemies will try to shut you down with their spells and force you to activate your Rage. Therefore, a good last hitting and farming is a must, because you will buy Clarity Potion quite often to replenish your sorry mana.
If you and your friend want to be aggressive, buying an Orb of Venom is considerably a good choice. It is very cheap (300), and its slow effect helps you to chase your foes. And another question is..
Power Threads or Phase Boots?
The answer is simple: Both is good, and you can pick one of them. My basic guide is if you want to play a little bit defensive and stay longer on lane, you can choose Power Threads; meanwhile you can consider to buy Phase Boots if you want to chase and take down enemies as soon as possible.
SKILLS
On some guides you will find that maximizing Rage is the number one action, and on others it is shown that Feast is more important to be maxed out first. Once again, I remind you that playing Lifestealer leaving you to your own freedom: you may build your own style. Let me explain a little bit more:
Feast -> Rage -> Feast -> Rage -> Open Wounds
This is normal build, making Feast on 2 ranks, Rage on 2 ranks, and Open Wounds on 1 rank. The plus side of this build is that you can play aggressive or defensive, regardless of any situations that may arise.
Feast -> Rage -> Rage -> Feast -> Rage
As you can see, you take Rage on 3 ranks, leaving it on fullest possible potential before reaching level 6. Logically, use this build if your enemies on your lane giving so much hard spells, such as Lina, Keeper of the Light, or Drow Ranger (you can use Rage to release her frost-arrow-effect), or even you are ganked so often.
Feast -> Open Wounds -> Rage -> Rage -> Open Wounds
As you see, you will have each skills by level 3, and this build is mostly used when you play more aggressive--more kills means more fun, right? Rage and Open Wounds have higher rank than Feast because they give more tools (attack speed, spell immunity, and slow) to ensure your enemy down.
And note that it is highly recommended to take Feast on level 1; it is very rare case for picking Open Wounds on 1st level. Only take Open Wounds on 1st level if you and your friends want to gank the enemies directly as the game begin, and you are pretty sure that with your Open Wounds you will get the First Blood.
Choosing Your Laning Partner
It is a must that you go laning with at least one partner. NEVER GO ALONE. You will find troubles for farming, you can't go aggressive on any heroes, even you will find a hard time for escaping. And last, you will be called noob.
So choosing laning partner is a good thing to know, and Lifestealer and his skills work well with any heroes. But choosing laning partner depends on which style do you want: aggressive or defensive.
If you play aggressively, you can go with heroes with spells that can lock down enemies (stuns or slows), such as:
Spirit Breaker. Oh, how I love Spirit Breaker and how they synergy each other. SB can easily chase enemies from distance, boost your movement speed, and his bash.. is terrifying.
Venomancer. A good user of Venomancer will place his poison well, and combined with your Open Wounds, your enemies will say, 'omfg, pull me! I cant move my legs!'
Crystal Maiden. Her Frostbite does hurt, and she has Crystal Nova, dealing damage and slow. Perfect combination, beautiful hero.
Lion. You have slow. He has stun and hex. What do you expect more to lock down your enemy?
Earthshaker. A good user of ES will block the path of your enemy, and voila, it turns out t be a party for you and your friend.
Otherwise, if you want to play safe, it is a simple logic that you go with heroes that can heal, such as:
Necrolyte
Omniknight
Dazzle
Keeper of The Light (heal your mana)
Well, that's all for now, I will give you much more about Lifestealer, and I am writing about it. Just wait for the next story, and be glorified with Lifestealer.
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