Lich

Version 0.17: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

lich L
HP	52-107
HD	20
XP	2965
Speed	10
AC	10
EV	10
Will	Immune
Attack1	15 (touch: drain experience)
Resistances	rC++ 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 powerful wizard who has learned to cheat death itself, now existing as a skeletal, desiccated corpse kept intact by a mighty exercise of dark magic.

Useful Info

Liches are extremely powerful casters, some of the nastiest creatures in the game. Their spell sets are heavily randomized, but include extremely lethal Conjurations and Summonings spells that make them always a concern. If the RNG is on their side, they're capable of one-shotting wounded or recklessly low level characters, though this is rare. They can be found throughout the Depths, the Vaults, the Abyss, the Crypt, the Tomb, and the Realm of Zot.

Spells

Unlike most other monsters, liches have random spell sets. A lich gets up to 7 spell slots, and spell sets are determined as follows:

Primary Spell - Liches get one of the following:

• Corrosive Bolt
• Lehudib's Crystal Spear
• Orb of Destruction
• Summon Greater Demon

Buff Spell - They also receive one of these:

• Banishment
• Haste
• Invisibility

Secondary Spells - All four remaining spell slots are filled with randomly selected items from the following:

• Agony
• Battlesphere
• Bolt of Cold
• Bolt of Draining
• Bolt of Fire
• Confuse
• Fireball
• Haunt
• Iron Shot
• Iskenderun's Mystic Blast
• Lee's Rapid Deconstruction
• Lightning Bolt
• Malign Gateway
• Paralyse
• Petrify
• Poison Arrow
• Spellforged Servitor (only a possibility if it knows a Conjurations spell)
• Simulacrum
• Sleep
• Slow
• Summon Horrible Things
• Throw Icicle

Tips & Tricks

• Melee fighters should use corners to lure them next to you, or a scroll of blinking to get into range immediately.
• Their HP and defenses are low enough that a strong offense can defeat one in two or three hits. Weapons of Holy wrath, and Dispel Undead can speed this up even more, particularly while buffed.
• Silence limits the lich to using its melee attack. While this does have a draining effect, it is still preferable to a lich that can cast spells.
• Throwing nets are very useful against liches. Hitting one at the edge of your line of sight with one guarantees it won't be able to follow you for several turns, allowing a fairly safe escape. Hitting one in melee range will make it vulnerable to stabbing attempts, allowing Short Blades specialists to make very short work of them.

History

Prior to 0.16, liches would generate with one of four predetermined spell sets.