Liches are powerful undead magic-users that can be very dangerous to an under leveled or unprepared party.
Abilities[]
Most lich immunities are dervived from two undroppable items they have equipped. There are some overlap between the two. The InfoBox breaks these down.
- All liches are immune to non-magical weapons and spells & effects between levels 1 through 5.
- Some liches can See through invisibility by script, but not all.
- Immune to Poison and Poison damage.
- 100% resistant to Cold damage and Electricity damage.
- Unaffected by Disease effects.
- Unaffected by Level drain.
- Unaffected by Hold creature or Paralyze effects.
- Immune to Sleep or Unconscious effects.
- Immune to Stun effects.
- Can't be made Confused or Berserk.
- Cannot be Charmed or affected by Domination effects.
- Immune to Panic or Morale break.
- Cannot be Petrified.
- Unaffected by Polymorph Other effects.
- Immune to Disintegrate effect, or Slay.
- Immune to being Webbed or the Entangle effect.
Being formidable spellcasters, liches have access to level 9 spells and typically open battles with Protection From Magical Weapons, Stoneskin and Spell Trap to make themselves nigh invincible. They can also cast powerful crowd control spells like Time Stop, Symbol, Stun and Symbol, Fear.
As undead, liches are vulnerable to Anti-Undead weapons such as Mace of Disruption, Azuredge, The Burning Earth or Daystar.
Almost all Liches are equipped with two undroppable items, one in each Ring slot. These items are used by the game engine to provide the lich with various protections and immunities to status effects, spells, specific damage types, weapon enchantment and other factors. The last item is the Lich's touch attack melee weapon. These items are:
- RING95.ITM For general undead protections.
- LICH.ITM For specific lich protections.
- LICH02.ITM is the creatures +2 enchanted touch attack melee weapon which deals piercing damage and may cause a Paralyze effect.
Lich spell casts[]
The info box may show all the spells which are memorized and assigned to the creature file, and the numbers of each memorized. However, the unmodified game really does not utilize this memorized spell list exactly and may only use some of them. A Lich's choices of spells are driven by the assigned AI script file. It will cast spells and launch contingencies based on the script alone, and often will not utilize all the spells listed in the Info box and may use spells that are not even memorized. It all depends on the script files.
Lich combat actions[]
These creatures only conduct melee touch attacks as a last resort. They are not a high threat in this style of combat, unless playing a solo character and getting paralyzed. Their THAC0 is not good enough to hit most opponents consistently.
It is more likely that a Lich will continue spell casting at point blank range in an unmodded game, rather than engaging in close quarters combat.
The modified SCS liches utilize Melf's Minute Meteors or Energy Blades (wizard) attacks as their combat option.
Locations[]
Named liches[]
Several liches in the game have unique names:
- Nevaziah - this undead, encountered during Edwin's quest, is referred to as a "lich" in dialogue, but is actually quite weak and bears none of the other liches' "trademark abilities". He lurks in the Lower Tombs in the Graveyard District.
- Shangalar, a member of the Twisted Rune, hidden behind a magical doorway in the Bridge District.
- Kangaxx is both a powerful lich, and then later also a demilich - whose body has been broken into pieces and hidden around the city of Athkatla by his enemies.
- Deirex, the resident of Deirex's Tower in Ust Natha.
- Lagole Gon - Deril's aide during the final confrontation in Deril Estate in Athkatla Government. This encounter is part of Cernd's personal quest.
- Odamaron - a lich in Sendai's Enclave, in a room that includes the Eye of Tyr, the Skull of the Lich, and the Heart of the Damned.
- Vongoethe is a lich in Cave of the Dead in Amkethran who has a personal feud with Marlowe.
- Azamantes guarding the Watcher's Keep Final Seal.
- Alchra Diagott is imprisoned in soul entrapment device in Underdark.
- Gurn Coldhearth encountered at the apex of his transformation in the Repository of Undeath.
- Zhadroth, a lich pulled from its imprisonment into the Prime Material Plane in Kanaglym, by spending one of three charges of the Spectacles of Spectacle.
- Korkorran, a lich who is part of Hexxat's ToB questline.
Unnamed liches[]
- Two unnamed liches guard the parts of Kangaxx's body for the Restore Kangaxx's body quest:
- One is the Elemental Lich (Bridge District) is found in the basement of the House of the Elemental Lich in the Bridge District.
- The other is the Shade Lich found in the Lair of the Cult Outcasts area in The Old Tunnels of the Temple District Sewers.
- An unnamed lich (GRVLCH01.cre) guards the Daystar behind a secret door in the Crooked Crane Inn at the Athkatla City Gates.
- An unnamed lich will spawn from the globe machine on the Watcher's Keep Final Seal level the fourth time the purple button is pushed.
- An unnamed Demilich (Watcher's Keep) is in a crypt connected to the Watcher's Keep Githyanki Encampment.
High level spawns[]
If Gorion's Ward has an experience of at least 2,000,000 points, liches, each time accompanied by two skeleton warriors and two greater mummies, will spawn at the following locations:[1]
- Ghoul Town – lower tier (
AR0206|794.988) - Temple Ruins – just after entering (
AR1401|2228.811). Note that with SCS installed there are two Liches and accompanying undead in this ruined temple, depending on the game difficulty selection. One is in the "Undead room" adjacent to the Lava Pool chamber, and another is further in at the Hallway juncture of the "Tile Room". - Temple Ruins – in the room right after the central lava pit (
1647.1807) - Spellhold Bodhi's Hunt Level 2 – at the southern T-junction (
AR1513|2133.1764).
Strategy[]
Since liches are highly dependent on spell casting, they can be effectively neutralized by using a Protection from Magic scroll on them at the start of the battle. The clone trick (a cheesy exploit as well) can be used to avoid "wasting" these extremely rare scrolls. Two scrolls are provided by the game only in BG2. Making more of them by exploit unbalances game challenge.
Protection From Undead scrolls are also very powerful against Liches, because they prevent them from attacking the protected character and will often also mean they can't cast offensive spells against that person. However, this protection can be removed if the character is hit by Remove Magic.
Liches are fond of using Disintegrate, Imprisonment, Power Words and Symbols. Counter these spells by using Death Ward and Spell Immunity: Alteration (stops Disintegration), Conjuration (stops Power Words and Symbols) and Abjuration (stops Imprisonment, as well as Dispel and Remove Magic, which they tend to use to make your party more vulnerable, and to rid the party of Protection From Undead.)
Getting past the lich's defenses is hard, as it will be immune to Breach, Lower Resistance, and Greater Malison. Players should use Pierce Magic, Pierce Shield and Ruby Ray of Reversal to get rid of the spell protections instead. Removing the combat protections via a spell is impossible, however, as there is no high-level equivalent of breach. Instead, the party should rely on Arrow of Dispelling or Carsomyr (which has a dispel magic on hit) for the combat protections that these individuals will have. Additionally, being a + 5 weapon, Carsomyr is unaffected by spells such as Improved Mantle. IF you are high enough spell casting level, then you can always remove the Lich's underlying combat protections with a Remove Magic.
In Baldur's Gate 2, an inquisitor's Dispel Magic (which is considered an innate special ability with power level 0) works on liches and is often enough to undo most of the combat and specific protections afforded by the initial spells casted by a Lich. However, even an Inquisitor's special ability does not affect a spell protections, such as Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Deflection, Spell Turning or Spell Trap, because these spells are not affected by Dispel Magic effects, no matter what the source.
Liches are immune to spells and abilities between levels 1 to 5, but not to those with level 0 (ex. Oil of fiery Burning, The Victor) or higher than level 5 (ex. Necklace of Missiles has level 9.) While they may not be enough to kill the lich, they are useful to interrupt the lich from spellcasting, like when waiting out 4 rounds of protection from Magical Weapons before you can attack the lich.
The Level 7 Clerical spell Sunray is effective against liches, dealing (LVL)*d6 damage to undead and forces them to save or be destroyed. As an AoE spell sunray is not affected by their Spell Protections such as Spell Deflection or Spell Trap. Other, less useful damaging spells, include Sol's Searing Orb, False Dawn and Bolt of Glory. Pay attention to the combat information screen to observe what spells the lich as buffed with. If the lich is protected from fire damage then Oil of Firey Burning is a poor choice, or Sol's Searing Orb. If the lich has Protection From Magic Energy in force, then Sunray and Bolt of Glory won't do any damage. Time your attacks when the lich is vulnerable.
For liches that appear after some explicit action is taken (such as interacting with their sarcophagus), a thief can prep the area ahead of time with spike traps which will likely kill a lich the moment they appear due to sufficient magical energy damage. Even a normal Thief Traps can damage a lich with missile damage. It is up to you and your play style as to whether you consider placing traps ahead of time in in the exact area where a Lich will spawn and enter the map. Consider if your party would feasibly know where this spawn point would be if you have never encountered the Lich before, but because of prior playthrough knowledge, you are able to select the exact trap set location. In gaming parlance, this is known as "cheesing" the game. In the end, it's your game and play time, so enjoy it as you see fit.
Gallery[]
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Mods[]
Installation of Sword Coast Stratagems Mod will improve a Lich's AI noticeably over the basic and unmodded EE versions of the creature. If the SCS "Smarter Mages" component is also installed, a Lich will be even more formidable, in that it will utilize triggers, sequencers and contingency abilities. This component also works with the game difficulty settings, and this could mean that a Lich will also have access, and use, Mage High-level class ability. Most SCS liches can see invisible creatures, and this cannot be blocked or dispelled. The exception is the Lich Nevaziah in the Lower Tombs as part of Find the Nether Scroll for Edwin questline. Whenever a new SCS install occurs, liches get a randomly assigned specialist mage kit. It will be either a Conjurer, Enchanter, Invoker or Necromancer.
SCS Liches gain a "Fear Aura" ability, an innate power they may use with a fairly large area of effect. A saving throw with penalty negates the Panic effect, but it is unaffected by spell level protections and magic resistance. The aura tics frequently by script (nearly continuously).
SCS will also increase the accompanying creatures present with a spawned Lich as part of the High-level spawns (as mentioned above in the main article). There will probably be additional Giant Skeleton Warrior archers and a Bone Golem if the PC is at or above 2M XP. At the highest difficulty a lich spawn is accompanied by Greater Mummy (×2), Bone Golem (×2), Skeleton Warrior (×1) and Skeleton Warrior Archer (×2).
SCS adds a Fire Lich to Yaga-Shura's Keep. SCS adds an apprentice lich with Odamaron in Sendai's Enclave.
If the SCS More Consistent Breach component is installed, a level 5 Breach Spell can target a Lich, which it cannot in an unmodified game. However, SCS changes Breach to be blocked by all of the Spell Protection options such as Spell Shield, Spell Deflection, Spell Turning and Spell Trap.
Installing Spell Revisions will change the Liches spells to the SR versions. This is compatible with SCS by design. With SR, several of the "standard" favored mage and lich dueling tactics will differ, as there is no Spell Immunity option (it's now replaced by a "Dispelling Screen"). Both the AI and the party will have more options available to conduct a spell "chess match" with this mod installed.
The Improved Asylum mod adds a lich to Spellhold Bodhi's Hunt Level 2. If the protagonist has 2M XP, the High-level spawn lich will also be present, right across the hallway.
The Quest Pack mod adds a lich to the Western Tunnels in the Underdark.
Gallery[]
