Sando's Guide to Night Stalker

k bro good to know

Assault Curi***? Are you kidding me?

This Night Stalker is NOT a tank... He is a strength semi-carry, tri-lanner and roamer.

Look at this skill "Hunter in the night", does this makes him a tank?

Desolator is not effective in late game as well as Vladimir's offer is, because everyone knows that Satanic is superb.

And other items are effective for carries... aaaand... all Night Stalker needs is team's picks.

hello
dear sando! i like all of your guides, but i partially dont agree on a few points in this one, the guide for my favorite hero, so, what i dont agree?
1.taking crippling fear at level 2!!!!!!!-i think hunter in the night is way better, i like to go Q-E-Q-E-Q build
2.MID?????- as you said, mid is very hard for NS, i dont agree he has no escape in the offlane, his movement speed lets him escape, and by the way, HE doesnt need a escape his ENEMIES need a escape, because he starts roaming around level 3 or when its nighttime
3.agh's isnt perfect for NS, its utility is good! BUT the time you get it.....carries are online and ganks happen rarely, teamfights, pushes.... in short your time finishes
these were my notes! i hope to see you in game playing with my favorite hero, my love, NS, soon!

This information is still not changed in this guide...

+1 This..

By the first night, you should hold on to a skill point, while going for that gank.. If the situation demands it (defensive supports that could mess up your gank), skill the silence.. If not, go HITN..

Just a thought for you people out there, this is what I do.

I always max void, but I hold my skill point at level 2 (and level 4). If I need the silence (to guarantee a kill, to escape, etc.) then I skill the silence. Otherwise, I put both points into HITN by the first night.

Hmm Kyphoid making reasonable points, whatever next...

Sanvitch...I think we were already on the same page. It's not always easy to show in static build orders, but the guide does explicity state:

"Hunter in the Night should be maxed second. It gives substantial bonuses at each level. At least one early value point is essential before the first night time."

I'm not sure I can make it much clearer than that. I'd generally recommend getting the Silence at 2 because it can still have utility. If you don't think you'll have time to hit level 3, sure skill HITN.

Support Night Stalker doesn't HAVE to go Aghs/Gem. Yes, it's common, especially in pro circles but there are other utility avenues open depending on the game. Again, I'd definitely recommend a Gem if you go Aghs, hence why they're together in "map control" under support build.

Thanks for taking the time anyway.

Nit-picks let's go;

I think you should really recomend taking Hunter at 2 and not 4;

If you are a core, you a rarely going to need the silence before night, and it is still possible to get zoned out before you hit 4, and if you are support there is no garuntee you'll be 3 before the first night. And you need Hunter more than you need the silence to be effective at night. Especially because you still want nuke at 3 on a support because it's a lot of damage.

Sure, it's a point that doesn't do anything till 4 mins, but it still matters.

Other nitty picky stuff; Gem is not situational on Support NS. It is core as long as Ag's is core, because the entire point of it is that you get vision dominance through dewarding the entire map and leaving it black for the rest of the game. Thus why Octarine is legit as well.

It's better to build utility (Stuff like AC and Shiva's) than damage after that unless your team really needs it, or you've basically become core due to balling.

Otherwise looks good.

That was the first thing i was about to comment on.
Use it in day, especially to roll over into nights. Bye bye day time.
If you are going aghs, you are definitely going utility. Consider going octarine as well.

10 second day. Nuff said

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Add Tidehunter to heroes that NS needs to watch out for.
that Kraken Shell m8.

Jukers and kiters are also to be given a good mention: Visage, Razor], Meepo. Especially, meepo because Night stalker cant silence the damn rats all at once.

Dangit! Sneaky Icefrog, changing stuff while I'm spending time digging out old half complete sections of guide :). Well thanks for the correction guys, should be in shortly, and for the comments of course.

Not sure about the Octarine Core - would rather see some proper damage on him, but it's hard to say what's legit on a support NS, it's still a relatively new thing :)

Heart of Tarrasque is fine, you have the speed to duck and dodge in and out of fights, but I'd tend to go for a Satanic if I had enough damage. Either way, you generally want the game to be over or ending by the time you're thinking about that kind of item.

If you really want to have some fun, you should go for Aghanim's Scepter + Octarine Core, as it basically gives darkness 100% uptime and really allows him to have total map control. I think it might have either at the TI5 qualifiers or MLG season 2 (I can't recall) where someone ran this scepter+core ns and it worked out.

Gimmicky, maybe, but it is something to bear in mind.

Great guide.

One change, however. I don't think Darkness works like you mention anymore. IIRC, it was changed recently, so it turns day into night, and extends nighttime if it's already night. So, it's best used at daytime, in its current state.

Apart from that, I'd love to see a Heart of Tarrasque in luxury items. A Night Stalker with Phase, Urn, BKB, Heart can be really scary even late game.