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 are scary in their own way:

• They can summon multiple greater demons, which can quickly spiral out of control. Fiends can freely torment you without affecting the summoner.
• They also can inflict paralysis, which is a very dangerous effect. Being next to a fiend for 2-5 turns can outright kill you. See the table below for how much willpower you'll need under normal conditions.

Dread liches resist most elements and have infinite will themselves. Blaster casters should use pure Conjurations or Earth Magic, Necromancy specialists can use Dispel Undead, and hexers can try disabling it with Enfeeble. Melee fighters should lure them around corners, or use scrolls of fog, to limit the amount of summons. Holy wrath and antimagic work well as brands.

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 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.
• Like most enemies in Crawl, 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.
• Absurdly dangerous in Tartarus, a realm which halves willpower. Even at max will, it has a 27% chance to paralyse you.

Paralysis Spell Table

For the Paralyse spell (and no other source of paralysis), willpower can resist the effects. Stronger monsters are generally harder to resist. The following amounts of willpower give a 100% chance of resisting - that is, a 0% chance of being paralysed.

Willpower & XL required for 0% paralysis against common monsters

Monster	Will	Human (+3 Will/XL)	Oni (+4 Will/XL)	Mummy (+5 Will/XL)	Felid (+6 Will/XL)	Spriggan (+7 Will/XL)
Orc sorcerer	135	XL 19 + Will++ External Will+++	XL 14 + Will++	XL 19 + Will+ XL 11 + Will++	XL 16 + Will+ External Will++	XL 20 XL 14 + Will+
Ogre mage	139	XL 20 + Will++ External Will+++	XL 15 + Will++	XL 20 + Will+ XL 12 + Will++	XL 17 + Will+ External Will++	XL 20 XL 15 + Will+
Vampire knight	143	XL 21 + Will++ External Will+++	XL 16 + Will++	XL 21 + Will+ External Will++	XL 24 XL 18 + Will+	XL 21 XL 15 + Will+
Fenstrider witch Sphinx	154	XL 25 + Will++ External Will+++	XL 19 + Will++	XL 23 + Will+ External Will++	XL 19 + Will+	XL 22 XL 17 + Will+
Dread lich	172	External Will+++	XL 23 + Will++	XL 27 + Will+ XL 18 + Will++	XL 22 + Will+ External Will++	XL 25 XL 19 + Will+

Reading the table:

In-game, willpower is measured by pips of "Will+". But willpower is actually a number from 0-200, with each Will+ adding +40. Every level, you gain a small amount of will dependent on your species. This is relevant when you're trying to reach 0% success - just having Will+++ may not be enough.

A Human requires XL 19 and 2 rings of willpower (or any 2 sources of Will+ beyond level bonus) to reach 0% against an orc sorcerer's paralyse. A Human at XL 19 that displays Will++ in the % screen does not fully resist a sorcerer. Some cases of low XL are omitted for brevity; Humans technically require XL 5 with external Will+++ to fully resist orc sorcerers.

For absolute safety, make sure to x v a monster to make sure that a given spell actually has 0% success. As Tartarus halves willpower, Paralysis is impossible to prevent completely. The max willpower (before halving) is 200, not enough to prevent the effect.

History

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