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Kel'thuzad, the Lich
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/character.gif)
What a badass.
Disclaimer: This guide was made with DotA 1 in mind, as I do not have a DotA 2 beta key. Having said that, I also do not have a beta key to give away.
I thought of writing a guide for Lich after seeing flamewheel's guide for Anti-Mage, and since I have his permission to follow his template (style? w/e), here I am.
Also, I don't know if this will help you in high level public games, depending on what you consider "high-level" to be, or draft games. This guide was written with soloing the middle lane in mind.
Lastly, this guide may not be as detailed as flamewheel's or Bumblebee's.
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Table of Contents
l. Introduction
II. When to pick?
III. Mentality and Gameplay
IV. Stats, Pros, and Cons
V. Skills
VI. Skill Builds
VII. Item Builds
VIII. Special Tactics
IX. Friends, Foes, and Food
X. Credits and Closing Comments
l. Introduction
II. When to pick?
III. Mentality and Gameplay
IV. Stats, Pros, and Cons
V. Skills
VI. Skill Builds
VII. Item Builds
VIII. Special Tactics
IX. Friends, Foes, and Food
X. Credits and Closing Comments
I. Introduction
Lich is a rather versatile support hero. He can be in a trilane with another support and the carry (more on that laning later), or he can solo both middle and the long lane (top for Sentinel, bottom for Scourge),
although this guide will focus more on the middle lane. He has a powerful nuke (Frost Nova), practically infinite mana (Dark Ritual), a +armor skill that slows the attack speed of melee heroes (Frost Armor)
and an ultimate that may net you many multi-kills during the game (Chain Frost).
Yeah, I'm bad at introductions. But wait, there's more!
II. When to pick?
Unlike carries, where 1 or maximum 2 is recommended, support heroes have no such limits. Hence, in public games, especially if you're playing alone, your teammates will most likely pick one AGI carry.
Okay, fine, hold on.
Do you love being aggressive in lane, while still being able to stay at a reasonable distance in case of ganks? Do you love relentlessly harassing your opponent in lane until they are forced to heal or back to base, or even better, bm?
Does your team lack a support? Do you like to solo?
If your answer is yes to any of those questions, Lich is perfect for you!
Do you want to hide in the jungle and come out 30 minutes later, able to 1v5? Do you prefer to focus on last hitting and denying creeps while laning? Do you want to rice like ZSMJ? (http://www.gosugamers.net/dota/replays/32945)
Do you prefer passive play during the laning phase?
Again, if you've answered yes to any of those questions, please don't pick Lich.
III. Mentality and Gameplay
Frankly speaking, I don't see how someone can play Lich passively at all, unless he's supporting a carry hero in the lane. However, this is a guide meant for solo mid, and to a certain extent soloing the long lane as well.
You need to have this thought while playing: You can freely harass them with practically infinite mana. Can they do the same to you?
I apologise if that sounded arrogant, but this is related to the mindset I have while playing Lich. Stay aggressive, but always keep your distance and don't get overconfident. Remember to click your lane opponent's sometimes,
to take note of his current HP and mana.
Your goal in lane is not to farm. Your goal in lane is to prevent your opponent from farming. This includes not diving unnecessarily for a kill. Picture this scenario:
You dive the tower for that low hp Shadow Fiend. Although you manage to Nova him, he is a few hits away from death. You now have two options,
You can either continue to get that kill and potentially die in the process because of the tower. You get the experience (the gold you lose from dying is almost always similar to the amount you gain from the kill), but at what cost?
Unless it's a First Blood. If it is, I completely support your decision to dive.
Alternatively, you can choose to let him go and heal via Tango, Salve or by going back to the fountain. He loses precious experience and gold, whereas you can continue to last hit and deny safely in lane. Which one would you prefer?
To you, the above scenario may sound unrealistic or may not even happen at all, but all I'm saying is, play safe. You're a relentless harassing machine, but what good will that do for you if you lose experience, gold and whatnot from unnecessary dives?
IV. Stats, Pros and Cons
Lich | Strength: 18 + 1.55 | Agility: 15 + 2 | Intelligence: 18 + 3.25
Starting Hit Points: 492
Starting Mana: 234
Starting Damage: 42-51
Starting Armor: 1.1
Base Movespeed: 315
Attack Range: 550
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Sight Range (Day): 1800
Sight Range (Night): 800
Pros
Above average INT gain
Above average base MS
Above average AGI gain.
Good nuke that slows and has minor AOE damage with relatively low cooldown
Has a low cooldown, low manacost skill that buffs allied heroes and slows attacking melee heroes.
One of the best lane controllers in DotA, if not the best.
Not item dependent.
Cons
Requires zero creeps around for his ultimate to be used to its fullest extent
Below average STR gain (Not sure, could be just average)
Ultimate has a rather high manacost (500 when maxed)
I could have missed more Cons, feel free to add on in the comments!
V. Skills
Bold letter in the skill name indicates its default hotkey.
All times are in seconds.
Frost Nova | Active
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/skill-0.jpg)
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Manacost: 125/150/170/190
Cooldown: 9.25/9.25/9.25/9
Cast Range: 600 at all levels
AoE: 200
Target: Single target, enemy units
Slow Duration: 4
(number) indicates the AoE damage it does
Damage: 50+(75), 100+(100), 150+(125), 200+(150)
Hence, at level 4 Nova, the target will be hit with 350 damage, whereas enemy units in a 400 AoE near the primary target will be hit with 150 damage. However, all units hit will be slowed.
Cooldown: 9.25/9.25/9.25/9
Cast Range: 600 at all levels
AoE: 200
Target: Single target, enemy units
Slow Duration: 4
(number) indicates the AoE damage it does
Damage: 50+(75), 100+(100), 150+(125), 200+(150)
Hence, at level 4 Nova, the target will be hit with 350 damage, whereas enemy units in a 400 AoE near the primary target will be hit with 150 damage. However, all units hit will be slowed.
This is your only nuke (I doubt Chain Frost counts with its long cooldown), and your main tool for harassment and main source of your opponent's annoyance. Unless you are waiting for Dark Ritual to cooldown or saving mana for Chain Frost, always make sure that
you Nova your opponent the moment it cools down. This will often force your opponent to stay out of your cast range, and as a result, loses chances to last hit or deny. creeps.
Frost Armor | Active
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/skill-1.jpg)
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Manacost: 50 at all levels
Cooldown: 5 at all levels
Cast Range: 800
Buff Duration: 40
Slow Duration: 2
Target: Single target, allied units
Can be set to autocast
Armor Added: 3/5/7/9
When melee heroes attacks units buffed with Frost Armor, their movement speed will be slowed by 30% and attack speed by 20%
Cooldown: 5 at all levels
Cast Range: 800
Buff Duration: 40
Slow Duration: 2
Target: Single target, allied units
Can be set to autocast
Armor Added: 3/5/7/9
When melee heroes attacks units buffed with Frost Armor, their movement speed will be slowed by 30% and attack speed by 20%
To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of this skill. It's extremely useful, with that +9 armor when maxed, but I much prefer stats instead. If anyone wants to add on to this, feel free and I'll add it to the post.
Note: Dragon Knight is another one of my favorite heroes, so I don't dislike this because of the armor buff.
Dark Ritual | Active
http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/skill-2.jpg
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Manacost: 25 at all levels
Cooldown: 35/30/25/20
Cast Range: 400
Target: Allied, non-hero units.
Converts 15%/30%/45%/60% of the unit's current HP to mana.
Note: The manacost is applied after you gain the mana you converted. e.g. Your current mana is 300/350. You convert a creep for 40 mana. Your mana will be (300+40-25) 315.
It will also count as a deny in your stats, and enemy heroes will gain zero experience from it.
Cooldown: 35/30/25/20
Cast Range: 400
Target: Allied, non-hero units.
Converts 15%/30%/45%/60% of the unit's current HP to mana.
Note: The manacost is applied after you gain the mana you converted. e.g. Your current mana is 300/350. You convert a creep for 40 mana. Your mana will be (300+40-25) 315.
It will also count as a deny in your stats, and enemy heroes will gain zero experience from it.
Some people may disagree with me on this, but I consider Dark Ritual to be Lich's most important and signature skill. Not Chain Frost its fancy bounces and crazy amount of damage it does, not Frost Nova even if it's
your main harassing skill, and definitely not Frost Armorw ith its... armor buff. This is the skill that allows Lich to be one of the best lane controllers in DotA.
Okay, enough, I'm like Artosis and Nestea when it comes to Dark Ritual, I know. Possibly worse. But this skill is awesome.
Dark Ritual converts any friendly creep into mana. This includes your ally Chen's Persuaded creep, or a creep you Dominated with Helm of the Dominator(lol).
Chain Frost | Active
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/hero/92/skill-3.jpg)
(number) indicates its damage per bounce after being upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter.
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Manacost: 200/325/500
Cooldown: 145/115/60
Cast Range: 750 at all levels, 850 with Aghanim's Scepter upgrade
AoE*: 575
Damage per bounce: 275(370)/370(460)/460(550)
Slow Duration: 2**
* - distance that it can bounce
** - Unconfirmed, sorry.
Chain Frost bounces 7 times, which means it can deal a total of (7*550)3850 damage at Level 3 with Aghanim's Scepter
Enemy units hit will have its movement speed slowed by 30% and attack speed by 20%
The target will be ministunned by the first bounce! Use it to cancel teleporting opponents or opponents using a Channeling skill.
Cooldown: 145/115/60
Cast Range: 750 at all levels, 850 with Aghanim's Scepter upgrade
AoE*: 575
Damage per bounce: 275(370)/370(460)/460(550)
Slow Duration: 2**
* - distance that it can bounce
** - Unconfirmed, sorry.
Chain Frost bounces 7 times, which means it can deal a total of (7*550)3850 damage at Level 3 with Aghanim's Scepter
Enemy units hit will have its movement speed slowed by 30% and attack speed by 20%
The target will be ministunned by the first bounce! Use it to cancel teleporting opponents or opponents using a Channeling skill.
For maximum effectiveness, use this skill when there are no heroes around. This will force any gankers to split up or keep at a distance from one another, because even at level 1, Chain Frost
will do (7*275)1925 total damage. Unfortunately, like all powerful ultimates except for a select few (I'm looking at you, Viper and Spiritbreaker with Aghanim's Scepter), it has a high cooldown until Level 3,
so you must know when to use and when not to use it. More on this in the Special Tactics section.
VI. Skill Builds
FN - Frost Nova, FA - Frost Armor, Dark Ritual - DR, Chain Frost - CF, Attribute Bonus(stats) - AB
If anyone's confused by the builds, I'll redo it without the abbreviations.
The most common one (I think):
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1. FN
2. DR
3. FN
4. DR
5. FN
6. CF
7. FN
8. DR
9. DR
10. FA
11. CF
12-14. FA
15. AB
16. CF
17-25. AB
2. DR
3. FN
4. DR
5. FN
6. CF
7. FN
8. DR
9. DR
10. FA
11. CF
12-14. FA
15. AB
16. CF
17-25. AB
Personally, I think the above is total crap and does not fit my aggressive style at all, even if Nova is maxed first. I prefer either of this 2, as both allow you to stay in lane indefinitely whereas your opponent can't:
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1. FN
2. DR
3. DR/FN
4. DR/FN
5. DR*
6. CF
7. DR
8. FN
9. FN
10. FA
11. CF
12-15. AB
16. CF
17-22. AB
23-25. FA
* - At level 4, you should have Level 2 Frost Nova and Level 2 Dark Ritual. At level 5, you will have Level 3 Dark Ritual.
2. DR
3. DR/FN
4. DR/FN
5. DR*
6. CF
7. DR
8. FN
9. FN
10. FA
11. CF
12-15. AB
16. CF
17-22. AB
23-25. FA
* - At level 4, you should have Level 2 Frost Nova and Level 2 Dark Ritual. At level 5, you will have Level 3 Dark Ritual.
Reasons: At level 7, you will have 481 base mana. This build allows you to harass with Frost Nova much more often, because you get roughly 160 mana from a melee creep compared to 330 at Level 2 and Level 4 Dark Ritual respectively,
and this is before considering the manacost of Dark Ritual. 160 mana is hardly enough to cover the 190 manacost of Level 4 Frost Nova, whereas 330 mana is enough for 2 Level 2 Novas, and it covers the manacost of Dark Ritual!
The Frost Armor at level 10 is entirely situational, as you can swap it with Stats instead if there aren't many melee DPS heroes on the opposing team. But I dislike Frost Armor, so that's just me.
or
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1. FN
2. DR
3. DR/FN
4. DR/FN
5. DR*
6. CF
7. FN
8. DR
9. FN
10. FA
11. CF
12-15. AB
16. CF
17-22. AB
23-25. FA
* Again, you should have level 2 Nova and level 2 Dark Ritual by level 4.
2. DR
3. DR/FN
4. DR/FN
5. DR*
6. CF
7. FN
8. DR
9. FN
10. FA
11. CF
12-15. AB
16. CF
17-22. AB
23-25. FA
* Again, you should have level 2 Nova and level 2 Dark Ritual by level 4.
Reasons: The only difference would be at level 7. By level 7, you will have level 3 Nova, level 3 Dark Ritual and level 1 Chain Frost. This gives a good balance between the mana you use on Nova and the mana you get from Ritual.
At level 10, it's completely up to you.
You can also choose to add AB at 10, and max Frost Armor from 12-15.
Alternatively, you can add DR at level 1 and FN at 2 instead. Thanks to:
+ Show Spoiler +
On November 06 2011 20:22 Phelix wrote:
I think that with Lich, you should always start with the deny skill so that you can deny 2 creeps before the creeps engage with the 30 sec cooldown. This allows you to push the lane towards your own tower, which is what should happen if you face a 1vX lane.
I think that with Lich, you should always start with the deny skill so that you can deny 2 creeps before the creeps engage with the 30 sec cooldown. This allows you to push the lane towards your own tower, which is what should happen if you face a 1vX lane.
and the others who recommended Dark Ritual first
VII. Item Builds
Starting Items
If you're buying a courier:
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/29/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/34/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/24/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/23/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/22/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
If you're not buying a courier:
... what?
No, seriously. If you randomed it, buy a
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/19/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
instead of the You get decent stats and you can get the Magic Wand later with those branches. Tangos and salve for survivability. The clarity is actually optional, but it's up to you.
Core:
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/94/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/16/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/64/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/121/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/30/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
The Magic Wand gives stats and a nice burst heal, and it can last you throughout the whole game if needed.
The Point Booster gives HP and mana, and it can be upgraded to an Aghanim's Scepter if you want to farm.
I'll talk about upgrading the Boots of Speed later.
The Mekansm was, in a way, made for Lich, with his Dark Ritual. You should be the one to get this in your team.
The Scroll of Town Portal is a must-have item for any hero (except Furion and those with Boots of Travels >_>) at just a measly 135 gold.
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/91/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
, ![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/66/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
, ![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/763/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
or ![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/92/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
?All of the above are good choices for Lich. Power Treads gives you extra hp or mana, but has the provides the least MS out of all the upgraded boots and you don't really need the attack speed.
Boots of Travels saves you an inventory slot and +95 MS, but the recipe costs a whopping 2200 gold that you don't really need to farm yet.
Phase Boots was the most obvious choice before its components were changed, but early game either this or Arcane Boots are preferred early game. Phase is extremely useful for chasing, and Arcane Boots gives you even more mana to spam Frost Nova with, and you get Replenish Mana.
tl;dr: no to Treads, get either Arcane Boots or Phase Boots, sell either for Boots of Travels if the game drags long enough.
Luxury:
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/101/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/106/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/99/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/120/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
Eul's Scepter of Divinity should only be bought if your team lacks a disable, but the +25 MS is always useful, especially so if you bought Phase Boots.
Aghanim's Scepter, something to upgrade your Point Booster to. Also, nice cosmetic effect when you get it.
Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse Again, get it if the game continues long enough and you have the gold.
Khadgar's Pipe of Insight Situational. Don't get it if their team consists of mainly DPSers.
Honorable Mentions:
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/14/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/110/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/772/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
Items that may sound good in theory, but aren't:
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/111/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/100/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://media.playdota.com/items/103/icon.jpg){kind=icon}
VIII. Special Tactics
Coming soon, I'm going to need help with this.
IX. Friends, Foes and Food
Coming soon, posting this first so it's easier to add images.
X. Credits and Closing Comments
flamewheel for inspiring me to make my own guide on TL, and allowing me to follow his template (style?)
PlayDotA.com for the images
A friend of mine for giving me tips while I was doing this
Possible TLers for helping me refine this
The spoiler tag. I have an unhealthy obsession with it.
Still a WIP, so any comments to help while I continue to work on this will be appreciated.
