Self-sustainability is one of the biggest priorities for a player who carries the game. If one has no abilities that restore one’s HP or heroes who can restore a large portion of a carrier’s health pool, the match can easily roll downhill. The questions that pop up are: how does a carry heal himself in the middle of a fight? How does he restore large portions of HP once the enemy starts dealing damage?

The solution is found in a couple of items that provide lifesteal – an ability that allows a hero to heal for the portion of the damage he deals with to his enemy. All he has to do is to land some punches, and lifesteal will restore his health or at least some portion of it. A late-game carry without a source of lifesteal is just cannon fodder, so to prevent you from feeding the enemy in the near or distant future, a list is prepared, ranking lifesteal items from the least good to the best!

8. Possessed Mask

A nice little mask for the nice little early game levels. Although completely useless once the early game phase is done with, the player will benefit from the modest effects it carries within. It wasn’t made to be an item that will pull the player away from the edges of death but a nice tool to put some ease to early-game farming. Heroes with built-in lifesteal that transition from lane to the jungle, such as Wraith King or Lifestealer, can pull out the most utility from this item. Surely, it brings joy to anyone who acquires it timely. It’s always calming and satisfying to see that lifesteal animation while hitting.

• Restores 7 HP to the bearer on each hit and adds +7 points to the bearer’s primary attribute;
• Good for the early game jungle farm because it’s the only time this small lifesteal provision can have an effect;
• It will stack with other sources of lifesteal, so a player that farms his Morbid Mask early will have combined lifesteal from both items.
• You don’t have to pay for it.

Possessed Mask is a Tier 1 Neutral item which is available from 7th+ min and has a 14% chance of dropping from Neutral camps or 42% from Ancient camps, respectively.

7. Paladin Sword

This sword was stripped from its owner’s scabbard on the day of his execution, and it somehow ended up in an outlaw camp, somewhere deep in the woods of DOTA world. Even though it can prove useful, by the time it’s acquired even if it drops, you’d most likely already have a richer source of lifesteal. Still, it gives the bearer some fine stats, considering that it’s a Neutral item and a carry who wields it will greatly, as this sword is probably the best Neutral item for your carry. Not the best source of lifesteal overall, but a very good, must-have item for your carry. A small memo that the lifesteal it provides also stacks with other, more solid sources. Anyhow, this item is not something a player should hope for, as these Neutral items drop at random, and there are 12 of them.

• 16% lifesteal will stack nicely if there are other sources to stack its effect with;
• +16 attack damage is a nice addition to your overall damage;
• Many carries will find it useful even if there are no other lifesteal sources;
• An icon that pleases the eye of the bearer.

Paladin Sword is a Tier 3 Neutral item available from 27th min + that has a 10% chance to drop from Neutral camps, or a 30% chance from Ancients, respectively.

6. Morbid Mask

Imagine if someone wearing this mask were approaching you, one thing would be certain – this person will most likely try to take your life. Almost the same thing ancient lore says about it: a mask that drains the energy from those caught in its gaze. The cheapest of all the purchasable lifesteal items, it’s a top priority early-game investment, as its lifesteal value is pretty high considering its price, compared to other lifesteal items.  Providing 18% lifesteal of the damage dealt and half of it if it’s done to creeps, it can suffice for heroes such as Ursa to take down Roshan single-handedly or provide a nice health restoration to Phantom Assassin through Coup De Grace.

• 18% lifesteal is a nice stat and many carries benefit from the mask alone;
• Serves as an upgrade for all of the stronger lifesteal items;
• Good for both lane and jungle players;
• Cheap and available at any moment.

Morbid Mask sits in the miscellaneous section of the base shop, under the Basics items tab, and costs 900 gold.

5. Vladimir’s Offering

A fallen vampire’s mask brings hope to one in need of healing while spilling blood. It’s not an item that you’ll see on a pro carry so often since the game mechanics has changed a lot from the time this item was among the top priority. Still, it can be used as a stepping stone toward building some stronger items that use Vlad’s as an ingredient. The bearer is provided with 20% lifesteal, 18% bonus damage, 1.75 mana regen, and 3 armor to nearby allies. But, carries that desperately need lifesteal such as Phantom Assassin, for example, won’t go for this item anymore because Vlad’s aura affects creeps and can’t be toggled off, thus revealing PA’s presence if she has an active Blur.

• Good for early mid-game carries that hit fast but have low hp;
• Good for late-game supports because it provides a lifesteal and damage aura;
• Good for pushers as the creeps and other units also benefit from Vlad’s aura.

Vladimir's Offering is forged by combining Buckler, Ring Of Basilius, Morbid Mask, and Blades of Attack through a recipe, with all of the mentioned available in the base shop, costing 2450 gold.

4. Wraith Pact

This fine upgrade for a supporter that already has Vlad’s in his inventory, once active, can place a 25-second lasting Wraith Pact Totem, which reduces the enemy’s damage by 30% while dealing 30 damage per second. None of these are beneficial for core heroes, but for supports that sit in the back lines, it can significantly affect how the fight will end. Pugna, for example, will have great use from Wraith Pact to further decrease the enemy’s damage, as it stacks nicely with his ability to Decrepify. Still, there are better items that hold the same price, but creepy- spectral – devilish support heroes such as Pugna and Visage are, can have great usage from this item.

• Good for supports that can maintain control of the totem, as the aura already provides additional benefits;
• Will be more useful once the enemy’s BKBs durations are low or if there aren’t any;
• Greatly impacts utility of heroes that rely on heavy bursts of damage;
• Chaos that ensues once teams start fighting makes it difficult to focus the totem and kill it since it requires 5 hero attacks to be destroyed.

Wraith Pact is made by combining Vladimir’s Offering and Point Booster (from the secret shop) and costs 4050 gold.

3. Helm Of The Overlord

The crucial aspect of this item is that allows Helm Of The Dominator Upgrade. Once it becomes Helm Of The Overlord, it can dominate ancient creeps, which get a significant boost from this choice: Movement speed is set to 400, maximum health is set to 1800, +80 base attack damage increase, 12 health and 4 mana regen, as well as additional 8 armor. This item is perfect for pushers that control other units, such as Chen, Lycan, Beastmaster, or Enchantress. Chen can gather a big army of creeps to follow him on his quest, so Helm Of The Overlord will add a madly boosted ancient creep to lead the army as a personal tank or carry, and it perfectly fits with Vlad’s aura effect on this small army. Lycan’s wolves also benefit from Vlad’s aura and heal at an even higher rate, and the big creep removes them from the focus until it gets killed.

• Good for pushers that rely on micro control;
• Once dominated, some creeps can provide useful abilities which help in team fights;
• Dominated creeps are significantly stronger;
• Provides an additional unit to stack camps.

Helm Of The Overlord consists of a combined Helm Of The Dominator and Vladimir’s Offering through a recipe, with all of the mentioned available in the Base shop for 6175 gold.

2 . Mask Of Madness

Currently, a top pick for carry heroes, Mask Of Madness got its name for a reason: once active, you start hitting like a madman! Providing 110 attack speed and 30 movement speed, an early mask of madness is a perfect item for farming. Even with an 8-point reduced armor and a 6 seconds silence once the mask is active, the lifesteal provided will be more than enough to cover it. You can even see offlaners such as Magnus go for MOM because it works so well with Empower, or Slardar, who breaks the game when combines this item with Bash of the Deep, where other heroes like Sniper or Phantom Assassin will find it useful while switching to the jungle to hasten their farming.

• The best cost-to-utility ratio in the game for carry players because of attack speed;
• Hard hitters benefit from the lifesteal effect greatly (heals for 24% of the damage dealt to heroes, or 12% to creeps respectively);
• Can be disassembled and the remaining parts can and will be used as ingredients to build stronger items.

Mask Of Madness consists of Morbid Mask and Quarterstaff, under the Basics tab of the base shop with a price of 1775 gold.

1. Satanic

The strongest of all the lifesteal sources, it provides the bearer with 30% lifesteal, 25 strength, and 38 attack damage. But this item is just ridiculous once you activate it: its lifesteal percentage is increased from a basic 30% to a colossal 175% that lasts for 6 seconds. Lifestealer, Chaos Knight, Morphling, or Phantom Assassin, for example, sing songs about Satanic, as 2 hits can fill their full health pool if it dropped to a critical value, and maintain that heal for another 4 seconds which is often just enough to survive a lethal attack or kill most of the living entities around them. Cleave attacks, armor reduction and bigger damage further increase the lifesteal effect. This is without a doubt the number 1 item in terms of self-sustainability. 68.52% win rate on public matches is a big thing to consider.

• Good for all carry heroes, needed by the most, especially those with no lifesteal abilities;
• Perfect synergy with BKB to prevent disables and heal fast;
• One of the strongest if not the strongest late game item;
• Unholy rage instantly removes almost all of the debuffs, including slows and silences.
• More utility is provided with defensive items that give Effective hit points.

Satanic is built from Claymore and Morbid Mask from the Base shop and Reaver from the secret shop with a total cost of 5050 gold.

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