Ancient lich

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

ancient lich L
HP	71-144
HD	27
XP	8103
Speed	10
AC	20
EV	10
Will	Immune
Attack1	20 (touch: drain experience)
Resistances	rF+ rC++ rElec rPois+++ rDrown rMiasma rN+++ rTorm
Vulnerabilities	Holy
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Human
Uses	Open doors
Holiness	Undead
Size	Medium
Type	lich, lich
Flags	Evil See invisible Speaks

A lich who, having existed for countless centuries, has grown almost unimaginably powerful through the study of dark magic.

Useful Info

Ancient liches are extremely powerful undead casters with a wide array of resistances and access to deadly attack spells that can deal ridiculous amounts of damage. If you are not confident in your skills, escape is strongly advised.

Ancient liches can rarely be found on the last floor of the Vaults, in the Abyss, the Crypt, the Tomb, and the Realm of Zot. They are a particularly common sight near the orb chamber of Zot:5.

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Corrosive Bolt (3d34)	Wizard flag
Slot2	Lehudib's Crystal Spear (3d48)	Wizard flag
Slot3	Haste	Wizard flag
Slot4	Petrify	Wizard flag
Slot5	Invisibility	Wizard flag

Strategy

Understand that ancient liches are some of the most powerful casters in the game. Don't worry too much about conserving resources; if burning a consumable or two will greatly ease the battle, do so. A hasted ancient lich can deal up to 288 damage per turn, enough to one-round most characters. While max damage is exceedingly rare, ancient liches can still cause huge spikes of damage. Taking 100+ damage in a single turn stings.

As these liches resist most elemental damage, casters should use pure Conjurations or Earth Magic to deal with them. Necromancy users can use Dispel Undead. Melee fighters should lure them around corners. If available, a strong holy wrath or antimagic weapon works great.

Tips & Tricks

• Ancient liches are spellcasters, so are vulnerable to both silence and antimagic. When silenced, all it can do is make weak melee attacks, which are only dangerous to players at low HP. Antimagic-branded weapons and Enfeeble are effective at disabling them.
• Berserk can work well, as liches don't blink. However, ancient liches usually generate in areas you don't want attention (Vaults:5 and Zot:5). Being slowed when an orb of fire comes into view isn't exactly a great situation.
• Like most enemies in Crawl, ancient liches are vulnerable to throwing nets. Throwing a net at the edge of LOS guarantees that you can run away. Nets also allow for stab attempts.

History

• Prior to 0.27, ancient liches could have one of several spell sets. In particular, the Summoning-focused spells were given to the newly-introduced dread liches.
  • Bolt of Cold (3d37), Force Lance (3d27), Summon Greater Demon, Slow, Invisibility
  • Bolt of Draining (3d33), Poison Arrow (3d34), Haunt, Banishment, Haste
  • Bolt of Fire (3d37), Iron Shot (3d44), Summon Greater Demon, Confuse, Invisibility
  • Corrosive Bolt (3d28), Lehudib's Crystal Spear (3d48), Petrify, Haste
  • Lightning Bolt (3d29), Orb of Destruction (9d20), Paralyze, Haste
• Prior to 0.18, ancient liches had randomized spell sets.
• Prior to 0.16, ancient liches would generate with one of four predetermined spell sets.