Lifestealer
In the dungeons of Devarque, a vengeful wizard lay in shackles, plotting his escape. He shared his cell with a gibbering creature known as N'aix, a thief cursed by the Vile Council with longevity, so that its life-sentence for theft and cozening might be as punishing as possible. Over the years, its chains had corroded, along with its sanity; N'aix retained no memory of its former life and no longer dreamt of escape. Seeing a perfect vessel for his plans, the wizard wove a spell of Infestation and cast his life-force into N'aix's body, intending to compel N'aix to sacrifice itself in a frenzy of violence while the mage returned to his body and crept away unnoticed. Instead, the wizard found his mind caught in a vortex of madness so powerful that it swept away his plans and shattered his will. Jarred to consciousness by the sudden infusion of fresh life, N'aix woke from its nightmare of…
Hero lore
In the dungeons of Devarque, a vengeful wizard lay in shackles, plotting his escape. He shared his cell with a gibbering creature known as N'aix, a thief cursed by the Vile Council with longevity, so that its life-sentence for theft and cozening might be as punishing as possible. Over the years, its chains had corroded, along with its sanity; N'aix retained no memory of its former life and no longer dreamt of escape. Seeing a perfect vessel for his plans, the wizard wove a spell of Infestation and cast his life-force into N'aix's body, intending to compel N'aix to sacrifice itself in a frenzy of violence while the mage returned to his body and crept away unnoticed. Instead, the wizard found his mind caught in a vortex of madness so powerful that it swept away his plans and shattered his will. Jarred to consciousness by the sudden infusion of fresh life, N'aix woke from its nightmare of…
Compact stat and ability fields shown here were checked against patch 7.41e where this model represents the changed field. Talents and full mechanics remain in the official notes.
Lifestealer abilities
Launch into a maddened rage, becoming Debuff Immune, increasing magic resistance and gaining movement speed. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Lifestealer rends an enemy unit, slowing the victim's movement speed and allowing all allies to regain health for a percentage of the damage they deal to that unit. The victim recovers movement speed over the duration.
Lifestealer's attacks deal damage and provide heal for a percentage of his target's max health. He gains permanent max HP whenever he kills a unit.
Passively grants Lifestealer Attack Speed.
Passive, Hidden
Lifestealer infests the body of a target unit, becoming undetectable, and healing for a portion of his max hitpoints every second while inside. He can then explode from the host body, dealing damage to nearby enemies. If the infested unit is an enemy creep or…
Lifestealer eats the host body from the inside out, exploding from within.
Hidden, No Target, Instant CastPopular items by game phase
OpenDota professional-match aggregate as of Jul 21, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC. Popularity rows are independent phase totals, not a coherent build, sequence, or win-rate advice.
Starting
6 items- 1
Gauntlets of Strength187 selections · 35.3% - 2
Iron Branch92 selections · 17.4% - 3
Quelling Blade91 selections · 17.2% - 4
Tango49 selections · 9.3% - 5
Faerie Fire43 selections · 8.1% - 6
Magic Stick38 selections · 7.2%
Early
6 items- 1
Boots of Speed100 selections · 29.3% - 2
Chainmail98 selections · 28.7% - 3
Phase Boots97 selections · 28.4% - 4
Bracer34 selections · 10% - 5
Helm of Iron Will4 selections · 1.2% - 6
Talisman of Evasion2 selections · 0.6%
Mid
6 items- 1
Sacred Relic94 selections · 12.4% - 2
Radiance94 selections · 12.4% - 3Talisman of Evasion90 selections · 11.9%
- 4
Blade of Alacrity82 selections · 10.8% - 5
Yasha72 selections · 9.5% - 6
Ogre Axe67 selections · 8.9%
Late
6 items- 1
Skull Basher49 selections · 12.5% - 2
Aghanim's Scepter42 selections · 10.7% - 3
Abyssal Blade32 selections · 8.1% - 4
Sange27 selections · 6.9% - 5
Hyperstone24 selections · 6.1% - 6
Demon Edge23 selections · 5.9%
More heroes to explore
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Lifestealer — frequently asked
What are Lifestealer's abilities in Dota 2?
Lifestealer's abilities are Rage, Open Wounds, Feast, Ghoul Frenzy, Infest, Consume. It is a Strength melee hero played as Carry, Durable, Escape.
What is Lifestealer's primary attribute?
Lifestealer is a Strength hero, starting with 23 strength (+2.4/lvl), 15 agility (+1.9/lvl) and 15 intelligence (+1.8/lvl), and a base move speed of 320.
What do the popular Lifestealer item phases mean?
The saved OpenDota aggregate is dated 2026-07-22. The phase lists summarize professional-match item popularity; they are not one coherent build, a recommended sequence, or win-rate advice.