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StrengthStrength · Melee

Lifestealer

Infests other units for mobility and strength

CarryDisablerDurableEscapeModerate to play
Lifestealer portrait

Win rate

51.4%

A across all ranks

Pick rate

13.8%

of public matches

Public picks

467.7K

in the sample

Pro scene

14

20 bans · 64% win rate

Win rate by rank

  • Herald1Herald50.3%
  • Guardian2Guardian50.5%
  • Crusader3Crusader50.8%
  • Archon4Archon51.3%
  • Legend5Legend51.8%
  • Ancient6Ancient51.9%
  • Divine+7Divine+51.2%

Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 7.2K · Guardian 27K · Crusader 58.6K · Archon 105.3K · Legend 133.4K · Ancient 81.2K · Divine+ 55K.

Last 6 days

51.4%

Popular item build

Starting items

Bought before the horn

  1. 1

    Gauntlets of Strength

    140g
  2. 2

    Quelling Blade

    100g
  3. 3

    Iron Branch

    55g

Laning

The first minutes

  1. 1

    Boots of Speed

    500g
  2. 2

    Chainmail

    500g
  3. 3

    Phase Boots

    50%1,450g

Mid game

Core items

  1. 1

    Radiance

    51%4,700g
  2. 2

    Armlet of Mordiggian

    53%2,500g
  3. 3

    Manta Style

    55%4,650g
  4. 4

    Sange

    56%2,100g

Late game

The full build

  1. 1

    Manta Style

    55%4,650g
  2. 2

    Abyssal Blade

    6,250g
  3. 3

    Assault Cuirass

    5,125g
  4. 4

    Demon Edge

    2,200g
  5. 5

    Aghanim's Blessing

    5,800g
  6. 6

    Ultimate Orb

    2,800g

Most-bought items for Lifestealer in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,777 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Lifestealer bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Lifestealer’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.

Best win rate by purchase time

Bought ≤ 12 min

  1. Sacred Relic

    371 games

    69%
  2. Phase Boots

    2,264 games

    50%

Bought 12–15 min

  1. Radiance

    499 games

    71%
  2. Sacred Relic

    1,241 games

    55%

Bought 15–20 min

  1. Sange

    150 games

    71%
  2. Yasha

    564 games

    68%
  3. Armlet of Mordiggian

    523 games

    66%

Bought 20–30 min

  1. Assault Cuirass

    84 games

    80%
  2. Platemail

    124 games

    74%
  3. Hyperstone

    221 games

    72%

Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.

What these items do

  • Gauntlets of Strength

    140

    • +3 Strength
  • Quelling Blade

    100

    Active: Chop Tree: Destroy a target tree.

    Full description

    4s

    Active: Chop Tree. Destroy a target tree.

    Passive: Quell. Increases attack damage against non-hero units by 8 for melee heroes, and 4 for ranged.

    • Effects of multiple quelling blades do not stack.
  • Iron Branch

    55

    • +1 All Attributes

    Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.

  • Boots of Speed

    500

    • +45 Move Speed

    Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Chainmail

    500

    • +4 Armor
  • Phase Boots

    1,450

    • +50 Move Speed
    • +4 Armor

    Active: Phase: Gives 20% increased movement speed on melee heroes, and 10% on ranged heroes, and lets you move through units and turn more quickly for 3 seconds.

    Win rate when bought49.7% · 2,300 games

    • ≤ 12 min50%2.3k
    • 12–15 min–15
    • 15–20 min–13
    • 20–30 min–8
    Full description

    8s

    Active: Phase. Gives 20% increased movement speed on melee heroes, and 10% on ranged heroes, and lets you move through units and turn more quickly for 3 seconds. Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Radiance

    4,700

    • +55 Damage
    • +25% Evasion

    Toggle: Burn: When active, scorches enemies for 60 magical damage per second. Illusions deal 35 magical damage per second. Radius: 650

    Win rate when bought51.4% · 2,147 games

    • ≤ 12 min–26
    • 12–15 min71%499
    • 15–20 min48%1.4k
    • 20–30 min18%180
  • Armlet of Mordiggian

    2,500

    • +15 Damage
    • +25 Damage
    • +6 Armor
    • +5 Health Regen

    Toggle: Unholy Strength: When active, Unholy Strength grants +35 damage, +25 strength and +4 armor, but drains 45 health per second.

    Win rate when bought53.1% · 1,048 games

    • ≤ 12 min–27
    • 12–15 min26%42
    • 15–20 min66%523
    • 20–30 min40%456
    Full description

    Toggle: Unholy Strength. When active, Unholy Strength grants +35 damage, +25 strength and +4 armor, but drains 45 health per second. You cannot die from the health drain when Unholy Strength is activated, nor from the strength loss when Unholy Strength is deactivated.

    • The strength change will affect both maximum and current HP, but you cannot die from the change.
    • The strength change occurs over 0.6 seconds.
    • Activating or deactivating Unholy Strength does not interrupt channeling.
  • Manta Style

    4,650

    • +10 Strength
    • +26 Agility
    • +10 Intelligence
    • +15 Damage
    • +10% Move Speed

    Active: Mirror Image: Creates 2 images of your hero that last 18 seconds. Melee images deal 33% damage, while Ranged images deal 25%. Illusions take 300% damage.

    Win rate when bought55.1% · 890 games

    • ≤ 12 min–0
    • 12–15 min–4
    • 15–20 min80%30
    • 20–30 min54%856
    Full description

    34s125

    Active: Mirror Image. Creates 2 images of your hero that last 18 seconds. Melee images deal 33% damage, while Ranged images deal 25%. Illusions take 300% damage. Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • Has a 0.1 second cast time during which you are invulnerable.
    • Many effects are removed upon using Manta.
    • Yasha based movement speed bonuses from multiple items do not stack.
  • Sange

    2,100

    • +16 Strength

    Win rate when bought56.2% · 911 games

    • ≤ 12 min–5
    • 12–15 min–5
    • 15–20 min71%150
    • 20–30 min53%751
  • Abyssal Blade

    6,250

    • +35 Damage
    • +30 Strength

    Active: Overwhelm: Stuns a target enemy unit for 1.6 seconds. Pierces Debuff Immunity.

    Full description

    35s75

    Active: Overwhelm. Stuns a target enemy unit for 1.6 seconds. Pierces Debuff Immunity.

    Passive: Bash. Grants melee heroes a 25% chance on hit to stun the target for 1.2 seconds and deal 120 bonus physical damage. Bash chance for ranged heroes is 10%.

    • The stun is melee range.
    • Does not stack with other bashes, and does not grant bash to Clones and Tempest Doubles.
    • Multiple sources of damage block do not stack.
    • The following heroes cannot trigger Bash on this item: Spirit Breaker, Faceless Void, Slardar, and Kez while in Sai mode.
  • Assault Cuirass

    5,125

    • +30 Damage
    • +10 Armor

    Passive: Assault Aura: Grants 30 attack speed and 5 armor to nearby allied units and structures, and decreases nearby enemy unit and structure armor by -5. Radius: 1200

  • Demon Edge

    2,200

    • +40 Damage
  • Aghanim's Blessing

    5,800

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.

  • Ultimate Orb

    2,800

    • +15 All Attributes

Abilities

Rage

21 / 20 / 19 / 18s80 / 100 / 120 / 140

Launch into a maddened rage, becoming Debuff Immune, increasing magic resistance and gaining movement speed. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel

DURATION
3 / 4 / 5 / 6
MAGIC RESISTANCE
80%
MOVESPEED BONUS
6 / 9 / 12 / 15%

Open Wounds

30 / 25 / 20 / 15s90

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.

DURATION
7
DAMAGE TO HEALING
20 / 30 / 40 / 50%
MAX SLOW
50%
  • 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 Health Restoration Amplification.

Feast

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.

HEAL FROM TARGET'S MAX HEALTH
1.45 / 2.05 / 2.65 / 3.25%
MAX HEALTH DAMAGE
1.45 / 2.05 / 2.65 / 3.25%
MAX HP PER HERO KILL
10
MAX HP PER CREEP KILL
1
PERMANENT MAX HP
0
  • Works on allies and enemies. Does not affect Roshan.
  • The heal is independent of the damage.
  • Break disables the gaining of new stacks.
  • Break does not disable the bonuses from existing stacks.

Ghoul Frenzy

Innate

Passively grants Lifestealer Attack Speed.

BONUS ATTACK SPEED
0

Infest

Ultimate80 / 65 / 50s100 / 125 / 150

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

DAMAGE RADIUS
700
DAMAGE
150 / 275 / 400
MOVEMENT SPEED
15 / 20 / 25%
HEALTH BONUS
400 / 800 / 1200
SELF MAX HP REGEN
3 / 4 / 5%
ENEMY DURATION
0
ATTACK RATE
0
CREEP MAX HP LOSS / SEC
1.5 / 0.75 / 0%
  • 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.
  • Infest can be used on Ancient creeps.

Aghanim’s ScepterInfest may target enemy heroes for a short duration, attacking them from the inside while increasing Lifestealer's regeneration rate.

Aghanim’s ShardConsuming a creep with Infest drenches enemies in blood which deals damage over time based on the host's remaining health.

Talents

+1% Feast Heal and Damage

25

+1s Rage Duration

+12% Infest Target Movespeed/Health

20

+25% Open Wounds Lifesteal

+175 Infest Damage

15

50 Attack Speed on Open Wounds Target

+4 All Attributes

10

+15 Movement Speed

Base stats

Attributes

  • StrengthStrength23+2.4/lvl
  • AgilityAgility15+1.9/lvl
  • IntelligenceIntelligence15+1.8/lvl

At level 1

Damage
46–52
Attack time
1.7s
Attack range
150 (melee)
Move speed
320
Armor
3.5
Magic resistance
25%
Health
626 (+2.6/s)
Mana
255 (+0.8/s)
Vision day / night
1800 / 800

Recent changes

latest 12 patches
  1. 7.41f
    • Rage:Cooldown increased from 20/19/18/17s to 21/20/19/18s
    • Infest:Aghanim's Scepter Enemy Duration decreased from 5s to 4s
    • Talents:Level 10 Talent Movement Speed decreased from +20 to +15
  2. 7.41a
    • Base Damage decreased by 3
    • Damage on level 1 decreased from 49–55 to 46–52
    • Ghoul Frenzy:Bonus Attack Speed decreased from 5 per level to 4 per level
    • Rage:Movespeed Bonus decreased from 9/12/15/18% to 6/9/12/15%
    • Feast:Max HP per Hero Kill decreased from 10/15/20/25 to 10
  3. 7.41
    • Base Damage increased by 10
    • Damage at level 1 increased from 39–45 to 49–55
    • Base Attack Speed increased from 100 to 120
    • Base Movement Speed increased from 315 to 320
    • Ghoul Frenzy:Reworked into Innate ability. Passive
    • Provides Lifestealer with 5 bonus Attack Speed per level
    • Rage:Now also provides 9/12/15/18% bonus movement speed while active
    • Open Wounds:Mana Cost decreased from 100 to 90
    • Max Slow increased from 35/40/45/50% to 50%
    • Feast:Now is a basic ability
    • Heal From Target's Max Health rescaled from 2/2.25/2.5/2.75% to 1.45/2.05/2.65/3.25%
    • Max Health Damage rescaled from 2/2.25/2.5/2.75% to 1.45/2.05/2.65/3.25%
    • Max Health per Hero Kill increased from 10 to 10/15/20/25
    • No longer increases deny health threshold to 75%
    • Infest:Now can be used on Ancient creeps by default
    • Aghanim's Shard upgrade reworked
    • When consuming a creep, enemies also take damage over time equal to 30% of the creep's remaining health. Damage duration: 3s. Has no effect when bursting out of enemy heroes
    • Talents:Level 10 Talent +3% Ghoul Frenzy Movement Speed replaced with +20 Movement Speed
    • Level 15 Talent +15% Open Wounds Slow replaced with 50 Attack Speed on Open Wounds Target
    • Level 15 Talent +50 Ghoul Frenzy Attack Speed replaced with +175 Infest Damage
    • Level 20 Talent Infest Target Movespeed/Health decreased from +15% to +12%
  4. 7.39e
    • Feast:Hero Creeps no longer count as heroes for Lifestealer's permanent Health bonus

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 madness and obeyed the disembodied voice that filled its skull, which had only the one thought: To escape. In that moment Lifestealer was born. The creature cast its mind into dungeon guards and soldiers, compelling them to open locks and cut down their companions, opening an unobstructed path to freedom while feeding on their lives. Lifestealer still wears the broken shackles as a warning that none may hold him, but on the inside remains a prisoner. Two minds inhabit the single form--a nameless creature of malevolent cunning, and the Master whose voice he pretends to obey.

Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.