Brandon's Guide to Solo-Middle-Lich, I died writing mini-guide (-.-+) Options

[Eozm]

Eozm's Guide to Lich

For complete details about Lich and his skills, click here.

Updated for 6.56

Best viewed in DotA-Allstars Skin

Skill Build

Frost Nova - 2/4/5/7
Frost Armor - 10/12/13/14 (Delay until level 17 if necessary)
Dark Ritual - 1/3/8/9
Chain Frost - 6/11/16

Dark Ritual at level 1 is taken for easy denies. Spam it early game so that you can out-farm your enemy. Last hitting at level 1 can be easily done with normal attack. Nova is maxed as it is Lich's basic nuke. Ritual is then maxed for mana. With this, Lich won't need other mana regeneration source. Armor is maxed for armour and slow. You can actually have all your allies buffed with Frost Armor.


Item Build

Core
Courier/Mekansm/Boots/2xBracers/Wards

• Bracers -> Health
• Mekansm -> Armor and heal for you and your allies
• Courier/Wards -> Map control and further support

Luxury
Dagger/Travels/Shiva's/Guinsoo

• Travels -> Mobility for offense and defence
• Blink Dagger -> Engaging tool for easier Chain Frost or chasing/escaping tool.
• Shiva's -> Armor and Arctic Blast for AoE affect
• Guinsoo -> Disable and stats

Key Strategies

Fog and Chain Frost
This is very important for Lich, especially when you are planning to use Chain Frost on a hero who is jungling. You must make sure that your enemy won't spot you. In addition, you can hide into the fog, let your enemy chase you, go into a neutral camp and cast Chain Frost. You can do this on a hero and one creep. Always cast Chain Frost when there are around 2~3 units when you are aiming for 1 hero.

When casting Chain Frost on two lone heroes (without creeps), aim for the one with lower health as Chain Frost will hit that target 4 times. Now assuming that the Nova is maxed, you cast Nova immediately on the hero with higher health as Nova damage is greater than Chain damage. However, somtimes it might be wise to Chain Frost and Nova on a hero who has full health if the other hero has relatively low health.

Don't forget you can always blink in to surprise your enemies so prevent them from seperating.

Health/Mana Manipulation
Lich can easily gain mana via Ritual, hence he can easily pull off a mind game. Just play around with your health and activate Mekansm at the important time to finish off a hero or two. You must also manage allies' health.

Communication and Courier/Wards
When you are dead, you should always be communicating to your allies. Tell which heroes are missing, when a hero will revive, etc. Also manage your courier; transport items, scout for runes, etc. Don't forget that Flying Courier has shield and burst. Wards are a must to escape counter-ganks and spotting runes, etc.


Gameplay

Early
Go solo to middle lane. Use Dark Ritual whenever possible. Nova should hit more than one unit when you are using it during early game. When your enemies come up to last hit or deny, cast Frost Nova so that the Nova also hit other units as well. You can use this to last hit creeps yourself and out farm your enemies as well as harass them. Rush Mekansm. Lich has good attack animation, hence it is easy to last hit and deny. Dark Ritual should be spammed for easier denies. Note that the denies by Ritual won't give enemies any experience.

Middle
Spread wards and gank with your allies. Aim for two enemies at once and at their presence, try to clear the creep wave and cast Chain Frost in order to kill both. Don't forget to support using Mekansm. Try not to use Chain Frost against one hero. Use Dark Ritual frequently as you'll be ganking and using your mana often. Try to obtain your Dagger as soon as possible.

Late
Again, clear creep wave and cast Chain Frost at the presence of your enemies. Don't hold back because Chain Frost provides slow that is needed by your allies. Frost Armor your team and spam Frost Nova whenever possible. You must ward if your teammates need them. If you got Shiva's, then spam it for clearing creep wave and/or slowing your enemies. If you got Guinsoo, cast it on enemy carry/tank.


Replays

 Lich_solo_middle.w3g ( 799.87k ) Number of downloads: 179

Replay by Ingolf, who plays using same strategy as I do. Aghanim's is gotten as Ingolf's team was owning and there was Shiva's and Guinsoo carrier in the team.

This post has been edited by Eozm: Oct 14 2008, 03:46 AM

[Keritzel]

Just to point out a small mistake, you added more than two images. ^^

[Eozm]

@Keritzel
Right. Okay. Fixed.

[nekdolan]

Nice... will watch the replay and think about it.

This doesn't sound right:

However, the denies won't give enemies any experience.

I'm still a dagger fan since Chain Frost is so God damn slow before the first hit.

This post has been edited by nekdolan: Sep 4 2008, 03:26 AM

[Eozm]

@nekdolan
I fixed it.

Dagger doesn't help your allies very much, which is why I didn't add it to my build. You can easily go up to your enemies if you have Shiva's Guard arctic blast or something, or, simply manipulate the fog.

[Memnarch406]

What's your take on necronomicon? It's usually my first item after mek.

[Dky]

good stuff but no necro as luxury is wierd imho

it can even replace meka in early game because sometime it's important to rush it!

[Chammer]

The post has 615 words according to http://www.wordcounttool.com/, so you still have some buffer '-'

This post has been edited by Chammer: Sep 4 2008, 04:56 AM

[Eozm]

@Memnarch406
I don't like the idea of getting Necronomicon for Lich. I think there are better heroes such as Dazzle or Lion who benefits more from the item than Lich.

@Dky
So you're saying that you don't like the idea of Necronomicon, but I should rush it?

@Chammer
Good. Okay. Thanks!

[Dky]

No, I'm saying that you should add necro as an option in late game (ie. luxury) and / or also add it as a possible replacement of meka because it must be rushed sometimes...

[Memnarch406]

I find that Necronomicon's benefits are great on Lich. 4s Slow lets the melee minion smash face, and the hp boost is something that helps lich be less fragile, since he has an armor boost skill already. Lastly, the movespeed aura helps with landing nova/chain in the first place.

Although getting necro3 after like 40 mins into the game is pretty weak, so if you ward a ton I can see choosing not to get necronomicon.

[nekdolan]

@nekdolan
I fixed it.

Dagger doesn't help your allies very much, which is why I didn't add it to my build. You can easily go up to your enemies if you have Shiva's Guard arctic blast or something, or, simply manipulate the fog.

No I don't think it's easy. When I meet opponents in the forest they usually scatter, like pigeons when you toss rock at them.

[Eozm]

@Dky
I see you point.

@Memnarch406
If you are aiming for Necronomicon, you must rush it. However, Lich is one of the best Mekansm carriers, hence it would be wiser to get Mekansm, meaning you'll need the 2 Bracers incase your enemies focus on you. This means that your Necronomicon will be delayed quite seriously, especially if you are warding for your team. At that point, it just might be simpler to buy Guinsoo or Shiva's Guard and let other person get Necronomicon (if applicable).

@nekdolan
I am guessing you have never read any of my other guides. If you have, you have clearly not read my introduction. I only play pubs, and every now and then IH games with my friends. They are not pros. Anyways you can always gank with an ally or do what I do: constantly press the Chain Frost hotkey incase you spot your enemies. Cast right away and slow the faster one. Otherwise just go with your ally and pawn. In most cases, you won't meet your enemies in the forest because you'll have wards.

This post has been edited by Eozm: Sep 4 2008, 02:51 PM

[vic9812]

Justin taught me Ritual at 3 was good for mana purposes but nova should be 4, 5, 7. It just works out well since you need that mana early, but it's good for a while after.

[Eozm]

@vic9812
Nova is 2/4/5/7. What are you talking about? It helps way more with denying as the cool down gets shorter and provides more mana.

EDIT: I see. I'll fix that right away.

This post has been edited by Eozm: Sep 4 2008, 02:54 PM

[nekdolan]

@nekdolan
I am guessing you have never read any of my other guides. If you have, you have clearly not read my introduction. I only play pubs, and every now and then IH games with my friends. They are not pros. Anyways you can always gank with an ally or do what I do: constantly press the Chain Frost hotkey incase you spot your enemies. Cast right away and slow the faster one. Otherwise just go with your ally and pawn. In most cases, you won't meet your enemies in the forest because you'll have wards.

You don't have to be a pro to run away, when you see a Lich. I mean even I know that Chain Frost screws me, if I am too close to a team-mate . I played Lich in IHs and pubs long before the dagger mania. The reason why dagger was good back than was, because you could net more kills with it, and Lich didn't need any mana regen (so he could buy it). I'm not saying you should buy it, just try it. It's fun.

Mekansm Shiva and Frost armor seems a little overboard for me, when I look at Lich's armor. By the way I newer understood why Mekansm was basic for Lich... probably, because I never tried it

This post has been edited by nekdolan: Sep 4 2008, 09:16 PM

[boez114425]

Thank you so much this is just the guide I needed. T-up

[Eozm]

@nekdolan
I tried it, but I didn't find the need for it that much. Mekansm is gotten for Lich mainly because he usually has the mana for it. He can always add a quick mana using Dark Ritual in order to heal instantly. Anyways, you can always go Guinsoo if you think Shiva's is an overkill.

@boez114425

[Dark Rogue]

Good guide. Nice builds and everything. You could use some more item strategy, and some more comments on Nova. But, pray tell me, why are you getting Frost Armor so early? Stats is much better, since armor is really not important that early in the game. And, you're obviously not going to use it on yourself...

[Eozm]

@Dark Rogue
I was thinking of a way to put it into "alternative" as in, raise it if you need to, otherwise take stats first. I don't know how I should organize it though. Anyways, I will add a strategy using Nova and Items effectively.