Lich is an undead intelligence hero whose main qualities are an instant AoE spell and a very strong ultimate.Spells:Frost Nova 
"Blasts enemy units around a target enemy unit with a wave of damaging frost that slows movement and attack rate.
The power of the frost nova increases with each level."
Frost Armor
"Creates a shield of frost around a target friendly unit. The shield adds armor and slows melee units that attack it. The duration and power of the armor increase with each level. The slow duration listed in the chart reflects both heroes and units."
Dark Ritual
"Sacrifices a target friendly Undead unit to convert its hit points into mana and life for the Lich. The amount returned increases with each level."
Ultimate: Death & Decay
"Damages everything but buildings in its AoE by a percentage of its base hit points per second. The damage and area of effect increase with each level."
[For exact numbers take a look at the
Footmen Frenzy Wiki]
Skill Build:This is the common skillbuild for Lich:
Level 1 Frost Nova
Level 2 Frost Armor
Level 3
Level 4 Nova, Armor
Level 5
Level 6 Death & Decay
Level 7 Nova, Armor
Level 8 Dark Ritual
Level 9
Level 10 Nova, Armor
Level 11 Death & Decay
Level 12
Level 13 Nova, Armor
Level 14
Level 15
Level 16 Nova, Armor, Death & Decay
Level 17 Dark Ritual
Level 18 Dark Ritual
Supporting Tech Race:Undead is the common tech to support your Lich, so you can benefit from "Dark Ritual". However if a team mate of yours is playing the tech, you can not use Dark Ritual on his units.
Supporting Heroes / CombinationsLich is a hero that can be played in various combinations which support him really well:
of course there are the
undead combos:
Death Knight or Cattle Bruiser for heal (death coil)
e.g. Crypt Lord, Death Knight, Lich
Then there are the
nuker combos:
those who are specialized on killing heroes by using banish:
Edge, Nfa (Bloodmage, rarely used in those comobs)
e.g. Edge, Mountain King, Lich
and there are the
ultimate combos:
those combos that work well together with Lich's ultimate, Death & Decay:
Farseer: Earthquake, making it almost impossible to move out of D&D
Nfa: Torpidity, stun in a huge AoE works great with D&D
Naga Sea Witch: Tornado of Fire slows down movement speed by 80% on all levels
and offers the possibility to toss an enemies hero into the air, making it almost impossible to
stop death & decay.
Some other spells can help your lich, especially when casting Death & Decay:
Masda: Feather Shell to protect your Lich
Death Knight, Cattle Bruiser: healing your Lich by using death coil.
Falcon (and many others): prevents your Lich from being interrupted by using soulburn and hex on other disablers.
ItemsIn general, Lich does not need many items. But because of his low HP pool at least one
Belt of Giant Strength should be necessary (350 gold). Always have a TP in your inventory and a healing and mana potion
are usefull as well.
To maximise your ultimates power, buy an Amulet of Spell Shield which blocks one negative
spell in 2 minutes (500 gold).
An other disadvantage of your Lich: he is terribly slow. so unless you have a hero with endurence or unholy aura in your team,
you can buy Bark's Nikes to increase your movement speed (500 gold)
If there is a paladin that harasses you, you might concider spending 1400 gold on Runed Bracers (reduces spell demage by 33%)
General StrategyEarly Game:
Cast your frost nova on low health units and try to stay in range of the Archvault for mana regeneration.
If an allied hero or creep is being attacked you can cast your frost armor on him/it. Spamming your frost armor on footies
can also support your army.
Mid Game:
...now you can look for an effective way to use your ultimate. you can do so by sneaking into the corner of an enemies base. just buy a keldyn in the creep shop to make yourself invisible before.
casting death & decay into two fighting armies can be very effective as well.
Late Game:
at this point of game, you should be level 16 or higher and have either tier 3 or 4 units. try to wipe out your enemies troupes by casting death & decay into their base from which the units cant escape. Take care of heroes with disable such as falcon and try to prevent him from interrupting you. Finish the enemies base with your army, if you need it you can buy a Tank Token and a scroll of Roaaar.
Good To Know:
Lich is one of the very few heroes that can counter the penguins summoned by a Talisman of the Gods! Death & Decay deals percentaged damage vs penguins and is a counter that can save your base.
How To Counter:Lich is an undead hero and has a low hp pool. So the most obvious way to counter a lich is with a Paladin.
Any hero with an disabling spell is usefull to interrupt his ultimate. if you dont have such a hero in your team,
buy Roots of Entangling from the shop in your base.
If you are trying to basekill the Lich with penguins, make sure he is dead or use Rod of Envy.
Additional Information:tournament replay and audiocomment by 100g Dosensuppe (in german)
