Dread lich

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

dread lich L
HP	71-144
HD	27
XP	5119
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	Weapons & armour Starting equipment Open doors
Holiness	Undead
Size	Medium
Type	lich, lich
Flags	Evil See invisible Speaks

A lich who has made terrible pacts with demonic forces to augment its dark magic

Useful info

Dread liches are powerful undead summoners with a wide array of resistances.

Spells

Spell set I
Slot1	Summon Greater Demon	Wizard flag
Slot2	Paralyse	Wizard flag
Slot3	Haste	Wizard flag
Slot4	Invisibility	Wizard flag

Strategy

While not as immediately threatening as an ancient lich, dread liches can summon multiple greater demons, which can quickly spiral out of control.

Don't forget about paralysis, which is always very dangerous. Being next to a fiend for 2-5 turns can outright kill you. It takes 168 willpower in order for it to reach 0% success. A human needs 3 external stacks of Will+ (that's Will+++++ at XL26-27, Will++++ below that) to fully resist paralysis.

These liches become absurdly dangerous in Tartarus, a realm which halves willpower. Even at max will, it has a 27% chance to paralyse you.

Tips & Tricks

• Dread liches can be silenced, preventing them from casting any spells. However, silence does nothing to any existing demons. If you need to silence, do so early in the fight.
• As liches resist most elemental damage, combat casters should rely on pure Conjurations or Earth Magic. Necromancy specialists can deal brutal amounts of damage with Dispel Undead, though it requires getting to and staying in point-blank range. Of the Hexes, only Enfeeble has any practical effect.
• Melee fighters should lure them around corners, use scrolls of fog, or use Translocations magic to limit their attacks as much as possible, lest you get swarmed by summoned demons or paralysed. Holy wrath and antimagic work well.
• Throwing nets are very useful against dread liches. Throwing a net at the edge of LOS guarantees that the lich won't be able to follow you for several turns, allowing a fairly safe escape. Nets distract monsters, granting any player multiple chances to attack for free; Short Blade users may take particular advantage of this strategy.
• As always, remember that killing a summoner destroys all its summons. If you are confident you can finish off a dread lich before its summoned fiends can tear you to pieces, go for it. If you aren't confident of that, consider what safe escape routes you have available.

History

Dread liches were added in 0.27 as a summoning-focused version of the ancient lich.