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