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Animal Courier
Observer Ward
Mantle of Intelligence
Tango
Null Talisman
Arcane Boots
Null Talisman
Observer Ward
Arcane Boots
Mekansm
Null Talisman
Null Talisman
Arcane Boots
Mekansm
Null Talisman
Null Talisman
Aghanim's Scepter
Orchid Malevolence
Assault Cuirass
Force Staff
Necronomicon
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Lich
Lich is an intelligence hero who excels at harassing and controlling the enemy with continuous, high-powered nukes. He is best known for his Chain Frost ultimate which is by far one of the best ultimates in the entire game, but we'll get to that later. Lich is played as a strong support but can deal out plenty of damage and get plenty of kills himself. He can be played mid but this guide is aimed at playing support in either top or bottom lane.
Frost Nova: Frost Nova is Lich's main damage source. It is a single target powerful nuke that scales damage at 50/100/150/200 and slows the enemies movement speed by 30% and attack speed by 20% for 4 seconds. Though single target Frost Nova has a small 200 range AoE effect, damaging for 75/100/125/150. Level this first alongside Sacrifice as it can be spammed if you keep your mana up.
Ice Armour: Ice Armour is a support spell which grants an allied unit (Lich,Allied Creeps and Allied Heroes) an armour buff for 40 seconds. This buff scales at 3/5/7/9 which makes it very useful in team fights, especially for allies with low armour. Additionally, any melee units that attack an Armoured unit will have their movement speed slowed by 30% and their attack speed by 20%. Ice Armour cannot be stacked on itself but using it on the same ally will refresh the duration. I tend to leave this skill until last but picking up a point early wouldn't hurt.
Sacrifice: Sacrifice is a useful utility spell which kills an allied creep and converts their health into mana for Lich. This skill scales at 15/30/45/60% of a targets health. This skill is useful early game to keep Lich's mana up and remove the need for a Clarity(s), another useful thing about this skill is that by using it you rob your opponents of 25% experience per wave. This skill does have a long cooldown so it cannot be spammed, it is best to use it whenever you have it even if you have full mana. It is also best to use this on melee creeps as they have a larger health pool. Level this alongside Frost Nova a.s.a.p
Chain Frost: This is the daddy of all ultimates, one of if not my favourite in the entire game. Chain Frost sends out an orb of ice which deals 280/370/460 damage and mini-stuns the target. Impressive, but it gets better! The orb will then bounce up to 7, count them 7, times for full damage. That's a total of 3220 damage off ONE ultimate. It is upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter to increase the cast range by 150 and increase the damage to 370/460/550 (3850 total). Can it get better? Yes it can! Chain Frost also slows movement speed by 30% and attack speed by 20%. Can it get better?! Yes it can!! Chain Frost will follow a target for an infinite duration as long as it has already been fired. Despite the awesomeness of this ult is does have certain drawbacks:
1) The jump range between targets is 575, if they move out of range of an ally before it has bounced it will stop dead at its last target.
2) Chain Frost targets any enemy unit, creeps included, so if there's tons of creeps about it will most likely bounce to them instead of other heroes.
3) Though Chain Frost will track if it has already been fired I'm not sure what can cancel it out. Pesky skills like Blink or turning invisible may be able to negate it but I haven't encountered this yet, be wary.
4) Chain Frost is an ulti designed for team fights, using it on a single target is next to useless as it has nothing to bounce to.
5)I'm not sure if this is mechanics or a glitch but I've had times where I've fired a Chain Frost, it's tracked perfectly, but then its suddenly negated by Fog of War (this mainly occurs on mid lane steps). Any information on this would be most helpful.
Note: Chain Frost will bounce to someone with Black King Bar activated. No damage will be done but it will continue its bounce. Nifty eh?
Starting
Animal Courier: Your the support, pick up the courier, it's your job. If another support picks it up, replace this with another Mantle of Intelligence.
Observer Wards: Your the support, pick up the wards, it's your job. Again if another support picks them up replace with a Mantle. Pick these up throughout the game to provide constant vision at rune spots, Roshan etc.
Mantle of Intelligence: Provides an early game Intelligence boost giving you damage, mana and mana regen. Upgrade to Null Talisman.
Tango: Lich doesn't have a large health pool so keep it topped up with Tangos.
Early Game
Null Talisman: Upgrade your Mantle into a Null by getting a Circlet and the Null Recipe. If you have two Mantles upgrade them both as they provide decent boosts to all stats.
Arcane Boots: These boots are useful in keeping mana levels high for you and allies in your area. Pick these up as soon as possible, if your at 30 minutes and you dont have your boots, something's gone wrong.
Mid Game
Null Talisman: See Early Game
Arcane Boots: See Early Game
Mekansm: This is another item useful for your team as it provides additional armour and heals you and your team. This can be built in parts so you don't need to worry about paying for it all at once, it is a bit pricy though.
Late Game
Null Talisman(s): See Early Game
Arcane Boots: See Early Game
Mekansm: See Mid Game
Aghanim's Scepter: Aghanim's will benefit you greatly. It will upgrade the damage of Chain Frost as well as its cast range, plus stat boosts.
Orchid Malevolence: I don't pick this up often enough due to most games being over before I can build it and during that time and I've focused on other items but I pick it up whenever possible. It's a good item to pick up as it boosts your intelligence (damage, mana and mana regen), mana regen, damage and attack speed. The active will also silence a single target and apply 25% bonus damage to them as magical damage. Anyone who says that this isn't a good item for any intelligence hero is a bloody fool.
Situational/Luxury
Assault Cuirass: Now I admit that this is a bit out of the box but Assault Cuirass can prove useful if you have heavy melee hitters in your team (like Nightstalker or Anti-Mage). While the armour boost and attack speed are no doubt useful, you only really want to buy this for the armour decreasing de-buff that it gives the enemy. Buy if you have an absurd amount of spare gold and get rid of one of your Null Talismans.
Force Staff: Force Staff is incredibly useful for getting out of tough spots and saving you or your team mates when things go south. Though listed here under luxury pick it up whenever if you feel the need to. Replace one of your Null Talismans with this item.
Necronomicon: Buy this item because it's fun to say "Necronomicon"....I'm kidding, Necronomicon will give you decent intelligence and strength buffs giving you a bit more beefyness and survivability. Also it produces minions for you to use at your discretion which can help with team fights or pushing a lane.
Early Game
In the early stages of the game focus on harassing the enemy heroes to allow your lane mate to farm easier. Don't over-extend too much else you may get caught between their creep wave and the enemy which can spell big trouble for you. Use Frost Nova sparingly, don't use it for the sake of using it save it for when your partner wants to try for a kill or to deter them from an attempted attack. Use Sacrifice whenever its up but try to use it on fresh creeps that are just arriving to rob your opponents of precious exp. When you've leveled Frost Nova a bit you can be more aggressive, throw it at the weaker of the two enemies to utilize it's maximum effectiveness. When you get a chance, normally if your lane is pushed or before the fighting truly starts, drop your wards at rune spots to grant vision to your team. When you hit level 6 the fun can begin.
Mid Game
When you have your ultimate its time to start looking for kills and ganks. Again, don't overdo it, the key to using Chain Frost is timing and a lot of luck. Try to wait until there's no creeps there to attract the bounce, you can get away with one or two but a full wave should be avoided. If your team mates have a multi-target disable (like Sand-King or Jakiro) wait until they have been caught in that then throw Chain Frost. All going well it will bounce between the two heroes and easily pick you up one if not both kills. The temptation to throw Frost Nova straight away will be there but hold your trigger finger until the slow of Chain Frost and your partners disable wears off. At level 6-10 Chain Frost will take off huge amounts of health even if they manage to survive so Frost Nova can pick off any survivors. If team fights start kicking off make sure your there to support with Arcane Boots and Mekansm and your never-ending supply of slows. Keep the wards topped up to give your team the added vision.
Late Game
By this point, both teams will be roaming in groups and team fights will become a lot more prominent. Use Ice Armour whenever it's off cooldown to give your team and yourself some additional tankyness. While wards are important they don't need to be your main concern at this point, if you have the time replenish them do so however. If you've had a good game and managed to get some decent items don't forget to use items like Orchid Malevolence, using it on the strongest enemy can help bring them down a lot quicker. Most of the time, thanks to your Chain Frost, you will be the first target in a team fight so they can remove your deadly ulti from the equation so stick at the back of the group so they can protect you. Even though you are supporting them you are a crucial cog in the machine, they need you and you need them. If you have Aghanim's take advantage of the additional range applied to Chain Frost and always remember to pick your moments, a botched Chain Frost can lose you a team fight and possibly the game.
With a little practice and help from Lady Luck you can get some real fun games out of Lich even if you lose.
Friends
Undying: Lich/Undying will DOMINATE a lane. Thanks to Undying's heal and your items (eventuallly) you can pretty much stay in lane and never be forced out of it. Undying is a strong hero in his own right so pairing him with Lich makes a deadly combination.
Clinkz: Clinkz makes up for Lich's lack of speed thanks to strafe and his agility. That combined with Searing Arrows and Frost Nova can take a squishy target down with relative ease. Also thanks to Skeleton Walk you don't need to worry about protecting him.
Chaos Knight: Thanks to Chaos Knight's stun and Rift, combined with your Frost Nova, trapping single targets has never been simpler. Chaos Knight's illusions can also help force a lane extremely quickly.
Magnus: Reverse Polarity, Chain Frost, Shockwave, Frost Nova. No more need be said.
Any disabler: Anyone with a stun/disable/slow will help Lich get off good Chain Frosts and pick up kills. Notable heroes include Sand King, Enigma and Jakiro.
Foes
Silencers: For obvious reasons, silencers can turn you from extremely useful to absolutely useless. Be wary of Silencer, Drow Ranger and Disruptor.
Lifestealer: Lifestealer is a real pest to Lich. If he catches you he will tear you to shreds, not only that he make himself magic immune which leaves you totally defenseless.
Storm Spirit: Storm Spirit is a pain in general but his Ball Lightning can mess up your Chain Frost in a big way. Let your team deal with him if possible.
Bloodseeker: If you can keep Bloodseeker away from you all will be well, but if he gets a Rupture on you its never going to end well. If you move, you die, if you stand still, you die.
Pros
Lich is a very strong support, able to deal plenty of damage in his own right.
Chain Frost can wreck an entire team if your lucky with the timing and bounces.
Once you have Sacrificed maxed and Arcane Boots your mana is pretty much self sufficient. Picking up an Orchid will leave you with a near unlimited supply.
Lich is amusing, he has plenty of cheesy ice-based puns.
Lich is quite uncommon in pub matches, on the Europe server at least, so it's nice to see a new face.
Cons
Lich is very squishy.
Chain Frost will make you a target in team fights, expect to die at least once.
Chain Frost is an All-Or-Nothing spell, it does really good or horrifically bad.
Good items for Lich can be quite pricy, making obtaining them difficult.
Lich is kind of like Invoker, when you play him people expect you to do well, if you fail a lot expect to be flamed.
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