Battling Liches

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I'm in SOA (but have TOB installed)

Apart from the fake talk/leave room strategy - how can i take down a Lich?

Breach doesnt seem to dissipate his greater mantle- I cast it thrice. No dice on dispel magic. Even the +3 weapons dont make a dent on him. I also tried summoning insects/miscast magic on him. Same results.

Any suggestions?

 

Which Lich?

Improved mantle lasts 24 seconds I think. A good thing to use is the improved mace of disruption, if you have it. I believe it ignores improved mantle etc.

What party do you have? I'd recommend being able to cast at least level 7 spells before taking a lich on.

A cheesy tactic is have a thief hide behind the lich. Liches usually talk before they attack, and in that time you can usually get a fatal backstab in because they dont actually have much health.

 

Mantle, Improved Mantle and Absolute Immunity and Absolute Immunity all grant protection from normal and magical weapons up to +3/+4/+5 weapons respectively. If you have a weapon of an enchantment that is higher than this then keep bashing, if not wait out the 4 rounds (or rather run away, regroup and rebuff).
Some general Lich fighting tips:

-Use magic immune summons, Skeleton Warriors work well because on they're high magic resistance.
-You know where the lich is going to appear, so setting traps is a definite option
-if you see him cast mislead, then negate it by a divination spell such as true sight (Priests and Inquisitors get these cheap)
-use decoys, while a spider spawn may only last 1/2 a round, it's better that these take then hits than you. Kepp only one summon in view of the lich at any one time to avoid Death Spell from taking them all out in one fell swoop. (then move one into view after one dies)
-protect your protagonist - If he/she gets mazed/imprisoned/insta-killed its game over, so use something like improved invisibility or spell turning (even if its just a minor one) to prevent the 1st one from taking you out.
-Regular liches are immune to spells below lvl4, so don't bother casting them on him.
-Barbarian/Beserker rage protects against imprisonment - make use of it.
-Make use of Melf's Minute Meteors for your mage - its likely to be far more effective to throw between spells that your default weapon.
-Improve Haste on your best warrior will make them strike at double their normal rate, this can be helpful if your doing damage, just not very fast.
-protection from evil 10" radius (priest spell) will keep any gated demons from causing too much damage to your party.

 

Send one character to face it wearing the Cloak of Sewers. Morph to Mustard Jelly and sit there for awhile soaking up his entire spellbook (be careful to try and avoid the Pit Fiend he'll probably gate). Once he's got almost nothing left rush in with the rest of your party and pound him out!

 

Easiest way?

Azuredge and Mace of Destruction. Critical hit explodes the lich. Period. Blows right through all protections.

Granted, you may need to reload if you don't get a crit in the first round or two....

 

I'm at the second tomb in the Kanaxx ( i cant remember the name) quest. This is the one where you need to assemble his body. I used haste/prayer/strength of one in addition to summoned nymph and berserker warrior. Direct attacks did no good. The highest weapon i had was +3. I backed off when he did the timestop/summon fiend and let the fiend attack him for awhile. Breach didnt drop the mantle.

I'll try the skeleton/trap/backstab plan since I know exactly where he appears and see how that pans out. Thanks for the advice folks

 

easiest way to kill a lich is to set a bunch of traps on a spot where he appears (yoshimo is perfect for that) - as soon as the lich goes hostile, the traps engage and kill him instantly

another tactic is to summon a nishruu near the lich (they are immune to magic), and let him absorb all the punches, while you dispel his protections - you just need to be careful of his death spell which destroys summoned creatures

regardless, i recommend you keep your party well away from the lich (use summons) until his protections are removed, then rush him with fighters

essential spells for lich hunting: true seeing (removes invisibility/mislead), ruby ray (take care of his spell trap/mantle/turning) and breach (dispels a bunch of protections in one go) + all the defense your cleric can think of

here's the typical lich fighting scenario:

1. cast true seeing, and summon a nishruu close to a spot where lich appears
2. the lich appears and goes hostile, enables his protections
3. lich casts time stop and throws all his spells onto a nishruu
4. if the nishruu blows, cast another one or if you don't have another one, cast SOMETHING (use the cleric/druid)
5. during that time, he will have already lost his invisibility, so use your 1st mage to cast ruby ray/pierce shield on the lich, then follow up with the second mage with a breach spell
6. if done properly, this will leave the lich defenseless so you can rush in your tanks and kill him

there are different types of liches though ,and each one has his own assortment of spells (some are more offensive, some are summoners)

 

Problem with summoning a nishruu is that they destroy magical items the thing you are attacking has.

 

Kangaxx... it's all about berserker state from either Korgan or Minsc. Then, a +4 or 5 weapon. Due to the absence of these in SoA, I have often been left with no alternative but to temporarily ditch a party member for Keldorn + Carsomyr, just so I can kill Kangaxx. There are plenty of other ways, but that's the way I figured out so I've always done it that way.

By the way, you can also pick-pocket Kangaxx for the Ring of Gaxx before you kill him (so you have 2)... although I've never done this, as i don't see the point. You may as well just use ShadowKeeper or CLUA to cheat, if you're that way inclined.

 

i've never had this problem - nishruu can drain a few charges off magical items but that's it, it doesn't destroy items

furthermore, liches drop no useable items when they die anyway, so it doesn't matter - i usually try to do them something really ugly, like petrify or disintegrate

 

This works, but is quite lame.

-Have your party gather around your mage/sorcerer.
-Buff the party as you wish, but totally buff 1 character with every protection spell you have. The person I buff will have a +4/+5 weapon, either Jaheira with Bone Blade, Anomen with Imp. Mace of Disruption (regular MoD works okay) or Keldorn/paladin PC with Carsomyr.
-Have everyone cast Protection from Undead from scrolls. Minsc may need an intelligence booster.
-Mage/sorcerer casts Invisibility 10' radius.
-Turn off auto attack.
-Send heavily buffed person with +4/+5 weapon up to open the coffin.
-Lich should appear and be buffed up.
-Wait for his spells to go away, then attack him.

I probably missed a step or few. It's been a year since I played BG2.

EDIT: For a dispel spell, try Khelban's Warding Whip.

 

Spell immunity Abjuration err or Alteration, which ever one Imprisonment is, everyone else, protection from Undead. the lich will only see the one character who is under spell immunity, and cast spells at them while the other characters, who are in effect, invisible to him, to quote Alexander Anderson from Hellsing "crush his unholy body, and salt the earth with his dust"


though this does not work for "smarter Liches" component of the tactics mod, they somehow can figure it out.



It not so much liches I have a problem with, It's demi liches with Inprisonment, Kangaxx, and that one in WK.

 

ok -Lich dead

Started off by casting traps in the area he appears and then hid in the shadows. He shows up gets a few minor damage points from the traps. They were clearly not in the right spot. Plan B- backstab failed as well. Fortunately the three traps interfered with his first 3 spells - he got the mantle in place though. He then cast melf's meteors but since I was right next to him, he was down to "injured" status. I was then making a run for it and then decided to go back and dual sword him (I had the daystar -which didnt work on him before). Surprise!! - carved him up pretty good = Dead Lich.

Looked pretty bad initially with my Plan A+B failures but I guess karma balanced it out. Whew

 

The Backstab failed because lich's are able to see the invisible and are thus immune from the effect.

[Edit] 1000th post for me - jee that went quick.

 

You can make liches spend their more dangerous spells on summons. (like Horrid Wilting which hurts just too much!) Sure, they have Death Spell but they can cast it only once or twice, tops. After that, if they are surrounded by lowly summons (even hobgoblins from monster summoning or wild dogs from animal summonings work wonders!) they will cast their high lvl, deadly spells on them gladly. Just be sure your party is away and safe AND keep summoning! Wands of monster summoning are sure handy here!

As a note, Breach does not work on liches. Ever. Dispel Magic does, but you need to be very high lvl to beat their caster lvl. Most liches are lvl 25 conjurers so a lvl 13 Inquisitor may dispel their protections. (%55 chance, IIRC)

Ofcourse such tactic does not work on mod liches, particularly IA liches are way too smart and deadly for such cheap tricks. This, however, is another subject completely.

 

So.. to sum it up:

1. Liches are immune to all spells level 4 and below: so, I can't damage them with Magic Missiles, Lightning Bolts, etc?

2. Since liches are immune to spells of level 4 and below, if I want to take down their spell protections, the earliest spell I can use is the Pierce Magic (level 6)? I tried Secret Word (level 4), but it didn't seem to take effect.

3. Silverstar says Breach does not work on liches, ever - so the only way to remove their combat protections is with Dispel/Remove Magic? Would Dispel/Remove Magic work if the lich had a Globe of Invulnerability up?

4. Liches can see through invisibility, so no backstabbing. Can they see through Sanctuary?

5. What minimum level of weapon enchantment will I need to hit a lich? +3?

So.. it seems to me the best way to take down a lich is to use summons to soak up his crazy spells, try to get as many attacks in as possible to remove his Stoneskin and hope a Dispel/Remove Magic hits, then just hope your melee attackers hit him hard and fast enough before we all die?

 

Liches are immune to all spells of level 5 and below. That's why Breach fails.

 

My cheesy tactic for those tomb liches is to nail them with multiple Sunrays. Daystar and Helm of Brilliance both give one and cleric(s) some more, if needed. Timing the spells correctly can be somewhat tricky, since the casting should be complete after the lich appears, but before it starts casting spells. Double or triple Sunray usually does the trick.

 

Liches are immune to 5th or lower spell levels but dispel/remove magic works. If your caster level is greater than 25, that is. Bards are lucky here as they can reach those uber levels way faster, hence becoming suprisingly useful against liches. Ofcourse, a lvl 13 or higher Inquisitor will do so much better, nevertheless.

You may try casting multiple Death Fogs. It disrupts their spell casting every round and does nice damage. If they have pro from acid, it still disrupts their spell casting which saves you lots of headache.

 

Okay, that's good to know, thanks all.

How about weapon enchantment then? Do I need a minimum level of weapon enchantment to hit a lich? Like say, +3?