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2 Votes

Lifestealer - The Bane of Tanks

March 3, 2013 by drakon136
Comments: 10    |    Views: 10202    |   


Build 1
Build 2

N'aix

DotA2 Hero: Lifestealer




Hero Skills

Rage

2 3 5 7

Feast

1 8 9 10

Ghoul Frenzy

4 11 12 13

Infest

6

Talents

14 15 16 17 18

Introduction

Hello, everyone! I'm drakon136, here to bring you my second guide. Lifestealer is a powerful carry and ganker, capable of melting durable heroes such as Tidehunter and Pudge with little effort. Not only that, he is capable of pulverizing skill dependant heroes such as Lina and Crystal Maiden, thanks to Rage.

Pros / Cons

Why exactly would you choose Lifestealer in the first place? What makes him stand out from the rest of the heroes in Dota 2? Here's a list of the pros and cons to N'aix.

Pros:
- Has a built-in BKB
- Very hard to gank with a spell-dependant ganker
- VERY powerful slow
- Built in lifesteal is always good
- Infest is great for regaining HP or ganking with a teammate
- Can jungle!


Cons:
- Very item dependant
- Quite weak early on
- Somewhat slow jungler

Laning

Now that you've picked Lifestealer, there's the matter of which lane to go to.

Easy Lane (bottom for Radiant, top for Dire): Excellent
Mid Lane: No
Hard Lane with teammate (top for Radiant, bottom for Dire): Decent
Solo Hard Lane: No
Trilane: Excellent
Jungle: Decent

Skills & Skill Justification

Rage
Launch into a maddened rage, becoming immune to magic spells and gaining increased attack speed.

Attack Speed Bonus: 30 / 45 / 60 / 80
Duration: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Mana Cost: 75
Cooldown Time: 15


This skill is just ridiculous. As if the magic immunity wasn't enough, it gives a large attack speed bonus as well. It's what makes N'aix so horrifying to go up against for heroes like Lina and Outworld Devourer.

Rage is taken once at level 2, then maxed out after Feast. The single point is taken early to make escaping ganks that much easier.


Feast
Regenerates a portion of the attacked enemy's current HP and deals the same portion of damage per attack.

Life Leech: 4% / 5% / 6% / 7%


On a hero called Lifestealer, it's obvious that at least one of his skills involves lifesteal. However, Feast is a little different from normal lifesteal. Instead of just healing you for a portion of damage dealt on attack, it instead damages the enemy based on a percentage of their current health; for example, if you attack a full-hp Pudge who somehow got enough kills to hit 10,000 health, you'll do an additional 400-700 damage, based on Feast's level.

Feast taken at levels 1, 3, 5, and 7 to give early sustainability and increased damage potential.


Open Wounds
Lifestealer rends an enemy unit, slowing the victim's movespeed and allowing all allies to lifesteal on that unit. All damage dealt will steal life, including damage from spells. The victim recovers movement speed over the duration.

Casting Range: 600
Duration: 8
Movement Speed Slow: 70%
Life Leech: 15% / 20% / 25% / 30%

Mana Cost: 110
Cooldown Time: 24 / 20 / 16 / 12


As with his other abilities, Open Wounds is just godlike; it is one of the most powerful slows, behind Upheaval and Decrepify. Just remember that the target gradually regains their movement speed over time. Open Wounds also grants additional lifesteal to you and your allies when damaging the target, whether the damage is with attacks or spells.

Open Wounds is taken once at level 4, and maxed after Rage. Open Wounds is mainly used for its slow, which doesn't get stronger as it is leveled.


Infest
Lifestealer will infest the body of the target unit, lying dormant and undetectable inside. When he reveals himself, he deals damage to all nearby enemy units. The Lifestealer can gain experience from units that die while he is Infesting a unit. If the unit is a creep, he will devour it first, gaining health equal to the unit's current HP. Does not work on enemy Heroes.

Damage: 150 / 270 / 400
Damage Radius: 700

Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown Time: 100


And here we go, Lifestealer's ultimate. Infest is a powerful ultimate that allows N'aix to hide in any creep or allied hero. If you Infest a creep, you can Consume them to jump out while killing the creep and heal equal to its current health. You cannot hurt allied heroes with this ability. When you jump out, you also do damage to all enemy units in an area.

Infest is taken once at level 6, then maxed after stats. this is because the only part of Infest that scales when you level it up is the damage, and Infest is mainly used to heal and gank.

Items & Item Justification

Coming soon!

Conclusion

Well, that's it for the guide. If you liked the guide, then please upvote it. If you didn't like the guide or think I could improve it, please point out what I could change in the comments section.

Remember, as of yet, the guide is UNFINISHED! Please remember this when commenting or voting!

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