What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
264 buys
2ndSecond most
72 buys
3rdThird most
70 buys
4thFourth most
45 buys
5thFifth most
42 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Lifestealer
Melee · Strength
- Win rate
- 53.0%
- Pick share
- 1.8%
- Matches
- 846,497
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryDurableEscapeDisabler
NeedsSupportInitiatorBurstTower damage
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 50 min + — that is where this hero measures best, at 50.8% over 1,055 matches.
- You are playing around Archon — its strongest medal, 53.2% over 174,744 picks.
Avoid
- Doom is on their side — this hero wins 31.1% of 61 matches against it.
- Phoenix is on their side — this hero wins 38.9% of 144 matches against it.
- Alchemist is on their side — this hero wins 34.9% of 63 matches against it.
264 buys72 buys70 buys45 buys42 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Lifestealer took at each level.
QRage
Launch into a maddened rage, becoming Debuff Immune, increasing magic resistance and gaining movement speed.
No Target · Instant Cast
WOpen Wounds
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.
Unit Target
EFeast
Lifestealer's attacks deal damage and provide heal for a percentage of his target's max health.
Passive · Physical damage
RInfest
Lifestealer infests the body of a target unit, becoming undetectable, and healing for a portion of his max hitpoints every second while inside.
Unit Target · Magical damageMax Order
EQW
Max E first, then Q, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QRage
- WOpen Wounds
- EFeast
- RInfest
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QRage | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WOpen Wounds | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EFeast | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RInfest | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Lifestealer performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
106 opponents · public matches40%60%Lifestealer's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
If this happens, use this
- They are running away
Something that holds them still, or closes the gap yourself. Matched on “slow”.
- I am being jumped
A way out, a way to shrug the debuff, or something to eat the burst. Matched on “dispel”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “creep”.
- Stay in lane
Healing, regeneration or lifesteal — not having to walk back. Matched on “healing”, “lifesteal”.
By medal
- Herald51.9%13,912
- Guardian52.4%56,281
- Crusader52.9%111,940
- Archon53.2%174,744
- Legend53.2%200,755
- Ancient53.2%142,695
- Divine52.6%99,770
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min45.7%4,104
- 20–30 min49.3%10,383
- 30–40 min50.4%6,625
- 40–50 min50.3%2,617
- 50 min +50.8%1,055
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Lifestealer
Abilities
Rage
No Target · Instant CastLaunch into a maddened rage, becoming Debuff Immune, increasing magic resistance and gaining movement speed. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Open Wounds
Unit TargetLifestealer 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.
Feast
Passive · Physical damageLifestealer'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.
Ghoul Frenzy
Passive · HiddenPassively grants Lifestealer Attack Speed.
Infest
Unit Target · Magical damageLifestealer 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
Base attributes
- Strength
- 23 +2.4
- Agility
- 15 +1.9
- Intelligence
- 15 +1.8
- Move · range
- 320 · 150
Talents
- 4Feast Heal and DamageRage Duration
- 3Infest Target Movespeed/HealthOpen Wounds Lifesteal
- 2Infest DamageAttack Speed on Open Wounds Target
- 1+4 All Attributes+20 Movement Speed
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Infest
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
Changes Infest
Consuming a creep with Infest drenches enemies in blood which deals damage over time based on the host's remaining health.
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.