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Lich
Strength attribute symbol
Agility attribute symbol
Intelligence attribute symbol
20 + 2.1
17 + 2
26 + 3.8
Level 0 1 15 25 30
Health 120 560 1198 1924 2188
+0.5 +2.5 +5.44 +8.74 +9.99
Mana 75 387 1023 1623 1875
+0.75 +2.05 +4.71 +7.21 +8.26
Armor -1 1.83 6.5 11.83 13.83
Magic Resist 25% 27.6% 32.92% 37.92% 40.02%
Damage Block -
Damage

24
33

50
59

103
112

153
162

174
183

Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.69/s 0.85/s 1.04/s 1.11/s
Attack Range Ranged 550 (800)
Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.7s BAT)
Attack Animation 0.46 + 0.54
Projectile Speed 900
Move Speed ▶️ 290 (Nighttime 320)
Turn Rate Takes 0.15s to turn 180°. 0.7
Collision Size 27
Bound Radius 24
Vision Range (G) 1800 (Nighttime 800)
Gib Type Ice
Internal npc_dota_hero_lich
Unleashes a powerful attack that bounces between enemies.
Resurrected by a curious geomancer, Ethreain bewitched his savior with a Sinister Gaze, then promptly made the man his newest sacrifice. Finally freed from the depths of the Black Pool, the Lich returns to wreak icy destruction on the world. Cloaking his followers with a Frost Shield, Ethreain floats across the battlefield to Blast any who cross him. A frozen orb descends on his foes, traveling between foes and Ice Spires until the Chain Frost brings all opposition to their demise.
Frost Blast
Frost Shield
Sinister Gaze
Sinister Gaze
Ice Spire
Ice Spire
Chain Frost
Roles: Support Support Nuker Nuker
Complexity: Hero Complexity
Adjectives: Blue, Flying, Icy, Undead, Nose
Legs ( 2 )


Bio[]

Lich minimap iconEthreain, the Lich
▶️ "And so the dead will bury the dead."
In life, the frost-mage Ethreain (not yet a Lich) had used the threat of destructive ice to enslave entire kingdoms. His subjects, aided by a few desperate magicians, eventually grew bold enough to ambush him. Armed with enough charmed rope to bind him forever, they tied the frost mage to adamant weights and dropped him in a pool known chiefly for being bottomless. It wasn't.

He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enemies were long forgotten by time, so there were none to warn Anhil against imprudence. But he learned the error of his judgment almost immediately, as Lich threw off the shackles and consumed him.

Abilities[]

Frost Blast
Frost Blast icon
Affects
Enemies
Damage
Magical
Blasts the target enemy unit with damaging frost, dealing area damage and slowing movement and attack rates for 4 seconds. The primary target receives both base and area damage.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.93
Cast Range: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 575/600/625/650
Effect Radius: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 200 (Talent 325)
Base Damage: 40/80/120/160
Area Damage: 80/120/160/200 (Talent 205/245/285/325)
Move Speed Slow: 25%
Attack Speed Slow: 30/40/50/60
Slow Duration: 4
Cooldown symbol
 7 (Talent 3.5)
Mana symbol
 110/120/130/140
Partially blocked by Linken's Sphere.
Blocked fully only when primary target.
Particle effects still appear on the target.
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
modifier_lich_frostnova_slow
Frost-mage Ethreain has not forgotten even the simplest of ice manipulation.

  • The targeting reticule must be centered over an enemy unit.
  • Deals the area damage onto the primary target as well for a total of 120/200/280/360 (Talent 245/325/405/485) damage (before reductions).
    • The damage is not summed up into a single instance, meaning the primary target takes two damage instances.
  • Frost Blast first applies the area damage, the debuff, then the base damage.


Frost Shield
Frost Shield icon
Affects
Enemies / Allies
(Ice Spire)
Applies a magical frost shield around the target, reducing damage from attacks against you. While the shield is active, ice magic will affect nearby enemy units every 1 second, dealing minor damage and slowing them.
Cast Animation: 0.2+0.93
Cast Range: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 1000
Damage Reduction: 30%/40%/50%/60% (Talent 40%/50%/60%/70%)
Pulse Radius: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 600
Pulse Interval: 1
Pulse Damage: 20/30/40/50
Pulse Move Speed Slow: 20%/25%/30%/35%
Pulse Slow Duration: 0.5
Ice Spire Hero Hit Heal: 1
Shield Duration: 5/6/7/8 (Talent 9/10/11/12)
Talent Health Regen Bonus: 50
Cooldown symbol
 30/25/20/15
Mana symbol
 100/110/120/130
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
modifier_lich_frost_shield
modifier_lich_frost_shield_slow
First conceived of to protect him in his mortal years, the frost magic that Ethreain weaves around himself has only grown colder with time.

  • Pulses in 1-second intervals, starting 0.1 seconds after cast, resulting in 5/6/7/8 (Talent 9/10/11/12) pulses.
    • All pulses together deal up to 100/180/280/400 (Talent 180/300/440/600) damage per enemy (before reductions).
    • Can heal up to 5/6/7/8 (Talent 9/10/11/12) of the Ice Spire's health for the entire duration.
  • The pulses first apply their damage, then the movement speed slow debuff.
  • Successive casts on the same target do not stack but refresh the duration, and reset the pulse interval.
    • Both leveling up Frost Shield and the health regeneration Talent talent do not update the current active instance.
  • TALENT
    The health regeneration Talent talent fully works for ward-type units and buildings as well, except for Ice Spires.
    • Can regenerate up to 250/300/350/400 (Talent 450/500/550/600) health over its full duration.
    • However, it does not update the currently active instance of Frost Shield.
    • The health regeneration bonus applied fully heals ward-type units that require a fixed amount of hero attacks to destroy.
      • Other aspects of the ability fully affects the Phoenix Sun icon Phoenix Sun, but the health regeneration bonus is not applied despite visually regenerating health.


Sinister Gaze
Sinister Gaze icon
Affects
Enemies
(Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. Self)
Damage
Magical
Hypnotizes an enemy unit, causing it to move towards a point between the two of you and drains a percentage of its current mana.
Cast Range: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 600
Distance Moved: 32%/38%/44%/50%
Current Mana Drained per Second: 12%
Max Channel Time: 1.1/1.4/1.7/2 (Talent 1.5/1.8/2.1/2.4)
Creep Damage per Second: 250
Creep Duration Multiplier: 2
With Aghanim's Scepter Radius: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 400
Cooldown symbol
 24/22/20/18
Mana symbol
 50/60/70/80
Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter.
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
Sinister Gaze becomes an Area of Effect ability, affecting units within a radius of 400 in the target area. Sinister Gaze allows Lich to cast other abilities while channeling it.
Partially pierces debuff immunity.
True Sight pierces debuff immunity.
Partially blocked by Linken's Sphere.
Blocked as a unit-targeted ability.
Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter.
Not blocked when turned into an area-targeted ability.
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
modifier_lich_sinister_gaze
Ability Draft Notes
Ability Draft Notes:
Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter.
Allows casting any non-channeled abilities and items during Sinister Gaze icon Sinister Gaze without interrupting it.
Mind the cold...

  • Applies a hypnotizing fear and provides True Sight over the target, forcing it to face and move towards the Lich, and preventing it from acting.
    • Does not provide any form of other visions over the target(s).
  • Certain status effects on the affected target that might cancel other channeling abilities do not cancel Sinister Gaze. This includes the following status effects:
  • In short, Sinister Gaze can only be canceled if Lich's channeling is interrupted.
  • Applies the following effects on the affected target(s) while Sinister Gaze is channeling:
    • Grants the affected target unobstructed movement and does not destroy trees while moving.
    • Unlocks the target's minimum and maximum movement speed limits, then sets the target's movement speed to 32%/38%/44%/50% of the distance between Lich and the target.
      • The set movement speed does not adapt even if target is moved or teleported.
      • When cast at max cast range, this results in a speed of 174.55 (Talent 128).
  • Drains 12% of target's current mana in 0.1-second intervals, resulting in 11/14/17/20 (Talent 15/18/21/24) instances.
    • Can drain up to ≈12.44%/15.55%/18.55%/21.45% (Talent 13.99%/16.55%/19.03%/21.43%) of the target(s)' current mana.
    • The mana gained is based on how much the target actually lose on each interval, enemy targets with higher current mana will restore more mana than using the ability on a target with lesser current mana. If they have no mana left, no mana is gained either.
    • However, if Lich is at full mana, the target still continues to lose mana.
  • Deals 25 damage to creeps based on the same intervals, starting immediately upon cast, resulting in 22/28/34/40 (Talent 30/36/42/48) instances.
  • Destroys trees within a 200 radius around the target at the end of the channeling.


Ice Spire icon
Affects
Enemies
Creates an Ice Spire at the target spot, slowing enemies around it. Can take 5 hero hits or 10 creep hits and when destroyed it will create a Frost Blast around it.

Chain Frost can bounce to the Spire if there are no other enemies in range.

Lich can cast Frost Shield on the Spire. Each Frost Shield tick will heal the spire by 1 hero attack.
Passive Component
Damage Radius: 200 (Talent 325)
Damage on Death: 80/120/160/200 (Talent 205/245/285/325)
Cast Range: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 750
Radius: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 750
Hero Attacks to Destroy: 5
Non-Hero Attacks to Destroy: 10
Move Speed Slow: 25%
Duration: 15
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Cooldown symbol
 25
Mana symbol
 150
Does not proc any on-cast effects when cast.
Cast Event Notes:
Frost Blast released upon destruction does not proc any on-cast effects.
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
modifier_kill
Death
modifier_magic_immune
Death
modifier_lich_ice_spire
Death
modifier_lich_ice_spire_debuff
Undispellable
modifier_lich_frostnova_slow
Ability Draft Notes
Ability Draft Notes:
Frost Blast icon Frost Blast must be drafted as well for it to get applied.
Upgradable by Aghanim's Shard.
Requires drafting Chain Frost icon Chain Frost to be unlocked.

Ice Spire
Lich Ice Spire model
Summoned Ward
10
+0
This unit has no mana.
Level 4
Duration Ability Duration 30%
Armor Armor 0
Magic Resistance 0%
Status Resistance 0
Collision Size 36
Bound Radius 16
Vision Range (G) 800
Bounty Gold 20
Experience 20
Abilities Spell Immunity old icon Spell Immunity

  • Deals 80/120/160/200 (Talent 205/245/285/325) damage (before reductions) within the damage radius, sourced to Lich, based on the current level of Frost Blast icon Frost Blast centered on the Ice Spire's location upon its destruction.
    • The Frost Blast applied is independent of the ability and does not cost any mana.
    • Frost Blast notes fully apply. If it is not learned, it is not applied.
  • Frost Shield icon Frost Shield applies all its ability effects and heals the Ice Spire for 2 health.
    • Always heals for the full amount per instance, regardless of how much damage the targets actually take.
  • Chain Frost icon Chain Frost can bounce on, but cannot be directly targeted on Lich Ice Spire icon Ice Spires.
    • It may only bounce to the spire if no other valid targets are within its bounce distance.
    • The bounces still fully count toward the bounce limit.
    • Can only bounce on ally Ice Spires, enemy spires are ignored.
    • If multiple spires are within range, it chooses one at random.
    • Can bounce back and forth between multiple spires if no enemies are within range.
  • Ice Spire gains its spell immunity through a buff, so it is possible for enemies to check the buff and Ping the remaining duration of the ward.


Chain Frost icon
Ability
Target Unit
(Talent Passive)
Affects
Enemies
(Ice Spire)
Damage
Magical
Releases an orb of frost that bounces between nearby enemy units up to 10 times, slowing and damaging each time it hits. Each bounce increases the damage for the subsequent bounces.
Passive Component
Talent Number of Casts on Death: 1
Talent Search Radius: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 750
Cast Animation: 0.3+1.03
Cast Range: Affected by Cast Range bonuses. 750
Bounce Distance: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 600
Number of Bounces: 10 (Talent Infinite)
Bounce Delay: 0.2
Initial Damage: 250/400/550
Damage Increment per Bounce: 15/20/25
Move Speed Slow: 65%
Attack Speed Slow: 65
Slow Duration: 2.5
Flying Vision Radius: Affected by AoE Radius bonuses. 800
Cooldown symbol
 100/80/60
Mana symbol
 180/300/420
Upgradable by Aghanim's Shard.
Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:
Grants the Ice Spire ability.
Partially blocked by Linken's Sphere.
Only the first instance of the cast is blocked.
Blocked upon impact.
Does not stop bouncing or increase in damage when blocked. The blocked instance still counts toward the number of bounces.
Talent
The passive cast can be fully reflected.
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
modifier_lich_chain_frost_thinker
Undispellable
modifier_projectile_vision
Undispellable
modifier_lich_chain_frost_ondeath
Undispellable
modifier_lich_chainfrost_slow
Almost universally considered the ultimate in frost magic, Ethreain's orb of frozen death strikes fear into those who dare stand against him.

  • Chain Frost initially travels at a speed of 1050, and continues traveling at a speed of 850 after bouncing off the primary target.
  • The projectile bounces with a 0.2-second delay.
    • The projectile stops providing vision and stops playing a sound upon hitting non-hero units when bouncing more than 60 times.
  • Can bounce on the same unit multiple times, but only when another target was hit between the bounces.
  • Chain Frost fully affects Roshan icon Roshan only when the first instance is cast on him.
    • Otherwise, the projectile can bounce on, but neither damages nor applies its debuff.
  • Chain Frost first applies the debuff, then the damage.
  • Leveling up the ability immediately updates all currently active Chain Frost projectiles.
  • For how much damage (before reductions) Chain Frost deals up to the 10th stack, please refer to the chart below.
    • Can potentially deal up to 3575/5500/7425 damage total if all bounces hit.
  • The projectile has an 800 range flying vision. The vision is provided after the 0.2-second bounce delay.
  • TALENT
    The Chain Frost on Death Talent talent cast Chain Frost based on its current level passively and instantly from Lich's death location whenever he dies, prioritizing the nearest unit.
    • The search range can be increased by cast range bonuses.
    • The passive cast on death does not trigger the ability cooldown and work while on cooldown, and does not cost mana. It is also displayed on the HUD as a buff.
    • They do not proc on-cast effects either.
    • Does not trigger with Reincarnation sources.


Chain Frost Calculations[]

Level Chain Frost icon Chain Frost Damage at nth Bounces
Initial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Level 1 250 265 280 295 310 325 340 355 370 385 400
Level 2 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600
Level 3 550 575 600 625 650 675 700 725 750 775 800

Talents[]

Hero Talents
Chain Frost icon Chain Frost Unlimited Bounces25Frost Shield icon Frost Shield Provides +50 HP Regen
+4s Frost Shield icon Frost Shield Duration20Chain Frost icon Chain Frost on Death
-3.5s Frost Blast icon Frost Blast Cooldown15+0.4s Sinister Gaze icon Sinister Gaze Duration
+125 Frost Blast icon Frost Blast Radius and Damage10+10% Frost Shield icon Frost Shield Damage Reduction

Recent Changes[]

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore
Version
Description


Recommended Items[]

Starting items:

  • Tango icon Tango sustains Lich's health so that he does not get harassed out of lane; he can also use it to heal allied carry as well.
  • Clarity icon Clarity supplies mana for Frost Blast, keeping enemies from touching the creep waves.

Early game:

  • Magic Stick icon Magic Stick and later Magic Wand icon Magic Wand grant burst healing and mana, keeping Lich going longer in fights or ganks.
  • Tranquil Boots icon Tranquil Boots help sustain Lich's health, while using clarities to regen mana. It also helps Lich kite melees in lane with wind lance build up.

Mid game:

  • Aether Lens icon Aether Lens gives Lich much-needed mana and allows him to cast his abilities from a safe distance, while letting Sinister Gaze displace enemies further.
  • Force Staff icon Force Staff helps manipulate allies' and enemies' positioning to set up Lich's spells or escape in a pinch.
  • Glimmer Cape icon Glimmer Cape grants cheap magic resistance and invisibility to foil gank attempts and escape from bad situations.
  • Urn of Shadows icon Urn of Shadows gives some cheap armor and mana regen, along with a useful heal or damage-over-time as long as Lich keeps ganking. Can be upgraded to Spirit Vessel icon Spirit Vessel to break down bulkier enemies.

Late game:

  • Blink Dagger icon Blink Dagger helps Lich get the jump on enemies with his disables or Chain Frost.

Situational items:

  • Refresher Orb icon Refresher Orb massively increases Lich's teamfight damage with a second Chain Frost cast, but takes a severe toll on his mana supply.
  • Scythe of Vyse icon Scythe of Vyse gives a powerful disable and solves Lich's mana problems, though it comes at a prohibitively high price.
  • Ghost Scepter icon Ghost Scepter provides Lich attributes and ethereal to counter physical damage, letting him survive against farmed carries.
  • Mekansm icon Mekansm can be used to support allies with burst healing in the mid-game before upgrading to Guardian Greaves icon Guardian Greaves, though the heal taxes Lich's mana pool.
  • Rod of Atos icon Rod of Atos gives an efficient attribute boost along with a long-range root for leading ganks.
  • Solar Crest icon Solar Crest helps allies in ganks with a slow and armor debuff, protects allies that are focused down in teamfights, and helps soften up Roshan.
  • Pipe of Insight icon Pipe of Insight is a useful utility item against nuke-heavy teams and synergizes well with Frost Shield.

Dota Plus Progress[]

Main Article: Hero Challenges

Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

Relics Voice Lines
Relic Rare icon
Multi-Hero Frost Blast icon Frost Blasts
Relic Rare icon
Frost Blast icon Frost Blasts Leading To Kills
Relic Rare icon
Chain Frost icon Chain Frost Triple Kills
Relic Rare icon
Chain Frost icon Chain Frost Bounces
Relic intelligence icon
Slow Duration
Relic intelligence icon
Magic Damage
Relic intelligence icon
Allies Glimmer Cape icon Glimmer Duration
Relic intelligence icon
Triple Kills
Relic intelligence icon
Dominating Kill Streaks
Relic intelligence icon
Dust of Appearance icon Dusts Leading To Kills
Relic intelligence icon
Enemy Observer and Sentry Wards icon Ward Kills
Relic intelligence icon
Observer and Sentry Wards icon Wards Placed
Relic intelligence icon
Kill Assists
Relic intelligence icon
Kills
Plus Hero Badge 1
Bronze
Plus Hero Badge 2
Silver
Plus Hero Badge 3
Gold
Plus Hero Badge 4
Platinum
Plus Hero Badge 5
Master
Plus Hero Badge 6
Grandmaster

Equipment[]

Trivia[]

  • Lich's voice actor, Gary Schwartz also voiced the Heavy and Demoman classes in "Team Fortress 2", another title by Valve.
  • In the first iteration of Invoker minimap icon Invoker's abilities (Pre 6.18), when the order of his three orbs determines the Invoke icon Invoked ability, Crystal Nova icon Frost Nova was one of his abilities and functioned almost identically as the current Frost Blast icon Frost Blast, and was mapped to Quas Quas Exort.
    • Crystal Maiden minimap icon Crystal Maiden also had the same Frost Nova ability with small differences in numbers.
  • Lich is almost entirely based on a Warcraft III hero. His title and name, "Lich, Kel'Thuzad" and all of his basic abilities except the ultimate are the same as the original Warcraft 3 hero,[1] although entirely rebalanced around Dota.
    • In his transition to Dota 2, he kept his title (Lich), but his name got changed due to copyright reasons since Kel'Thuzad is a notable character from the Warcraft universe.[2]
    • Lich's response ▶️ "Dead man drifting." is a reference to the line ▶️ "Dead man walking." spoken by the Warcraft 3 hero.[3]
  • Anatomically, Lich's cranium has no visible sutures, another proof of his age.
  • ▶️ "And so the dead will bury the dead" is a reference from Bible (Luke 9:59-60), where Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead," in response to a disciple who wanted to bury his father before committing himself to the Lord.

Gallery[]

References[]

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