Lifestealer stats, abilities and strategy [7.39c]
Infests other units for mobility and strength
Should Lifestealer get close to his prey, there is little that can save them. Travelling within a creep or an allied hero, once he nears a foe he explodes from his host body, surprising enemies and tearing into them with his claws.
Win Rate 52.2%
Pick Rate 9.4%
Attributes
626 +52.8/lvl
255 +21.6/lvl
23 +2.4/lvl
15 +1.9/lvl
15 +1.8/lvl
Stats
Damage:
39 - 45 + 2.4/level (122 - 128 at level 30)
Range:
150
Armor:
3.5 + 0.3/level (15.0 at level 30)
Movement:
315
Roles
Carry
Durable
Nuker
Pusher
Support
Escape
Disabler
Initiator
Patch 7.39
- Base Strength decreased from 25 to 23
- Damage at level 1 decreased by 2 (from 41–47 to 39–45)
Facets
Fleshfeast
Win Rate: 52.2%
Pick Rate: 78.1%
Feast's max HP per hero kill is increased. Open Wounds' cooldown is refreshed if a unit dies while afflicted by Open Wounds.
Gorestorm
Win Rate: 52.0%
Pick Rate: 21.9%
Consuming a creep with Infest drenches enemies in blood which deals damage over time based on the host's remaining health. Infest can be used on Ancient creeps.
Patch 7.39b
- Infest: Remaining Health as Gorestorm Damage increased from 25% to 30%
Patch 7.39
- Infest: Damage over time debuff is now undispellable
Abilities
ABILITY: Passive
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: Breakable
Lifestealer's attacks deal damage and provide heal for a percentage of his target's max health. Allows Lifestealer to attack allied creeps at 75% health. Lifestealer gains permanent max HP whenever he kills a creep or hero.
Works on allies and enemies. Does not affect Roshan.
The heal is independent of the damage.
Amount healed is amplified by Lifesteal Amplification.
Break disables the gaining of new stacks.
Break does not disable the bonuses from existing stacks.
HEAL FROM TARGET'S MAX HEALTH: 2% / 2.25% / 2.5% / 2.75%
MAX HEALTH DAMAGE: 2% / 2.25% / 2.5% / 2.75%
MAX HP PER HERO KILL: 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
MAX HP PER CREEP KILL: 1
FACET: Fleshfeast
Feast's max HP per hero kill is increased.
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +1% Feast Heal and Damage
Patch 7.39
- Heal from Target's Max Health rescaled from 1.5/2/2.5/3% to 2/2.25/2.5/2.75%
- Max Health Damage rescaled from 1.5/2/2.5/3% to 2/2.25/2.5/2.75%
After escaping from his cell in Devarque, N'aix subsisted on flesh and bones of those unfortunate to cross his path.
Rage
PASSIVE: No
Launch into a maddened rage, becoming Debuff Immune and increasing magic resistance. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
DURATION: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%
20 / 19 / 18 / 17
80 / 100 / 120 / 140
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +1s Rage Duration
The madness and brutality of N'aix makes him a vicious and unrelenting foe in combat.
Open Wounds
AFFECTS: Unit
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF: Yes
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.
Open Wounds slows over 8 different steps: 50% / 50% / 40% / 30% / 20% / 10% / 10% / 10%, with the slow decreasing one step per second.
The amount healed is amplified by Lifestealer's Lifesteal Amplification.
DURATION: 7
DAMAGE TO HEALING: 20% / 30% / 40% / 50%
MAX SLOW: 35% / 40% / 45% / 50%
30 / 25 / 20 / 15
100
300 / 400 / 500 / 600
FACET: Fleshfeast
Open Wounds' cooldown is refreshed if a unit dies while afflicted by Open Wounds.
LEVEL 20 TALENT: +25% Open Wounds Lifesteal
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +15% Open Wounds Slow
Fresh wounds and the scent of blood often draw out the scavengers to finish the job.
Ghoul Frenzy
ABILITY: Passive
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: Breakable
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF: Yes
Passively grants Lifestealer Movement and Attack Speed.
BONUS MOVE SPEED: 2% / 4% / 6% / 8%
BONUS ATTACK SPEED: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +50 Ghoul Frenzy Attack Speed
LEVEL 10 TALENT: +3% Ghoul Frenzy Movement Speed
Distant memories of the Vile Council fuel one mind to plotting and the other to more immediate dark ends.
Infest
AFFECTS: Unit
DAMAGE TYPE: Magical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
BUFF: Yes
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 a neutral creep, he can take control of the unit's ability to move and attack, and the creep loses a portion of their max hitpoints over time. Does not work on enemy heroes. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Lifestealer gains experience while under the effects of Infest.
Creeps that are controlled while Infested gain Infest's movement speed bonus.
Does not trigger spell reflect.
Infesting an enemy hero with Aghanim's Scepter will deal Gorestorm damage based on all damage that Lifestealer dealt to the host during the Infest duration.
DAMAGE RADIUS: 700 / 700 / 700
DAMAGE: 150 / 275 / 400
MOVEMENT SPEED: 15% / 20% / 25%
HEALTH BONUS: 400 / 800 / 1200
SELF MAX HP REGEN: 3% / 4% / 5%
CREEP MAX HP LOSS / SEC: 1.5% / 0.75% / 0%
80 / 65 / 50
100 / 125 / 150
150
FACET: Gorestorm
Consuming a creep with Infest drenches enemies in blood which deals damage over time based on the host's remaining health. Infest can be used on Ancient creeps.
Aghanim's Scepter
Increases cast range and reduces cooldown to 20s. Infest may target enemy heroes for a short duration, attacking them from the inside while increasing Lifestealer's regeneration rate.
Aghanim's Shard
Infest explosion applies a 50% duration Open Wounds to enemies in the damage radius.
LEVEL 20 TALENT: +15% Infest Target Movespeed/Health
Patch 7.39
- Creep Max HP Loss / sec decreased from 2/1/0% to 1.5/0.75/0%
With this infestation, N'aix consumes the life blood of the host, restoring him back to full unholy power.
Consume
PASSIVE: No
Lifestealer eats the host body from the inside out, exploding from within.
Talents
+1s Rage Duration
+1% Feast Heal and Damage
+ 1.1%
+25% Open Wounds Lifesteal
+15% Infest Target Movespeed/Health
+ 0.2%
+15% Open Wounds Slow
+50 Ghoul Frenzy Attack Speed
+ 5.2%
+3% Ghoul Frenzy Movement Speed
+ 1.9%
+4 All Attributes
Win Rate
Pick Rate
Strategy
Right-click opponents as much as you can on the lane for extra damage and sustain from Lifestealer's Feast passive. Also, make sure to secure last hits and denies to get free max HP from the passive.
Orb of Corrosion is great at harassing enemies in the laning stage and works well with Lifestealer's spells.
Consider investing a point in Rage early on if there's a need for dispel or spell-immunity.
If the enemy has no way to cancel Rage and 
Town Portal Scroll, be more aggresive on sides lanes and use the opportunity to teleport out.
You can save an ally by using Infest on them, instantly granting them a health bonus
Lifestealer doesn't farm quickly before getting his first farming item, such as 
Radiance, but after that, he becomes a strong hero to fight with in the mid-game
If you have gap-closing ally you can choose to Infest him to be able to get on top of opponents quickly.
Orchid Malevolence, 
Skull Basher and 
Scythe of Vyse are problematic. Adjust your playstyle and itemization accordingly.
You can slow siege opponents' building by damaging it during Rage and then backing away.
Lifestealer becomes very difficult to kill in lane once he reaches level 6. In most cases, your opponents will struggle to stay in lane against you after this power spike and might leave you alone. Take advantage of this by staying in lane as long as possible to maximize your farm before picking up your first major farming item
Counter Strategy
Chip damage doesn't work against Lifestealer as he is able to recover with Feast. If you manage to bring him below half HP it will be hard for him to feast as he risks dying
Buy boots early against Lifestealer as he is a fast hero who often buys
Orb of Corrosion and rushes 
Phase Boots
Items and spells that go through spell immunity are effective against Lifestealer
When you gank Lifestealer he will Rage and teleport out on first signs of trouble. Make sure you disable him before he rages if you do not yet have a disable that goes through spell immunity
Lifestealer's main spell in fights is Rage. Play around it by disabling him or by saving heroes he is chasing
Lifestealer tends to have evasion due to his
Radiance Look to counter it by getting true strike items
Keep in mind that Lifestealer might be infested in the initiating hero or that he can use Infest to escape