Lich
In life, the frost-mage Ethreain (not yet a Lich) had used the threat of destructive ice to enslave entire kingdoms. His subjects, aided by a few desperate magicians, eventually grew bold enough to ambush him. Armed with enough charmed rope to bind him forever, they tied the frost mage to adamant weights and dropped him in a pool known chiefly for being bottomless. It wasn't. He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enem…
Hero lore
In life, the frost-mage Ethreain (not yet a Lich) had used the threat of destructive ice to enslave entire kingdoms. His subjects, aided by a few desperate magicians, eventually grew bold enough to ambush him. Armed with enough charmed rope to bind him forever, they tied the frost mage to adamant weights and dropped him in a pool known chiefly for being bottomless. It wasn't. He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enem…
Compact stat and ability fields shown here were checked against patch 7.41e where this model represents the changed field. Talents and full mechanics remain in the official notes.
Lich abilities
Blasts the target enemy unit with damaging frost, dealing area damage and slowing movement and attack rates for 4 seconds. The primary target receives both base and area damage.
Applies a magical frost shield around the target, reducing damage from attacks against it. While the shield is active, ice magic will affect nearby enemy units every 1 seconds, dealing minor damage and slowing them.
CHANNELED - Hypnotizes an enemy unit, causing it to move towards a point between the two of you and drains a percentage of its current mana.
Creates an Ice Spire at the target spot, slowing enemies around it. Can take 4 hero hits or 8 creep hits and when destroyed it will create a Frost Blast around it. Chain Frost can be cast on the Spire and can bounce to the Spire and damage the spire by 1 hero…
Sacrifice an allied creep to convert its current health into mana for Lich and give Lich its experience bounty. Begins the game on cooldown and with no charges.
Unit Target
Releases an orb of frost that bounces between nearby enemy units up to 10 times, slowing and damaging each time it hits. Each bounce increases the damage for the subsequent bounces. Chain Frost lingers on its last target if it fails to bounce and can bounce a…
Popular items by game phase
OpenDota professional-match aggregate as of Jul 21, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC. Popularity rows are independent phase totals, not a coherent build, sequence, or win-rate advice.
Starting
6 items- 1
Iron Branch154 selections · 20.8% - 2
Tango101 selections · 13.6% - 3
Blood Grenade92 selections · 12.4% - 4
Observer and Sentry Wards70 selections · 9.4% - 5
Smoke of Deceit69 selections · 9.3% - 6
Sentry Ward65 selections · 8.8%
Early
3 items- 1
Boots of Speed90 selections · 68.2% - 2
Tranquil Boots41 selections · 31.1% - 3
Arcane Boots1 selections · 0.8%
Mid
6 items- 1
Aghanim's Shard34 selections · 20.2% - 2
Glimmer Cape31 selections · 18.5% - 3
Staff of Wizardry22 selections · 13.1% - 4
Blink Dagger19 selections · 11.3% - 5
Force Staff15 selections · 8.9% - 6
Pavise14 selections · 8.3%
Late
6 items- 1Blink Dagger40 selections · 31.3%
- 2
Aghanim's Scepter31 selections · 24.2% - 3Glimmer Cape12 selections · 9.4%
- 4Force Staff10 selections · 7.8%
- 5
Solar Crest8 selections · 6.3% - 6
Aeon Disk6 selections · 4.7%
More heroes to explore
All heroes →
Lich — frequently asked
What are Lich's abilities in Dota 2?
Lich's abilities are Frost Blast, Frost Shield, Sinister Gaze, Ice Spire, Sacrifice, Chain Frost. It is a Intelligence ranged hero played as Support, Nuker.
What is Lich's primary attribute?
Lich is a Intelligence hero, starting with 20 strength (+2.1/lvl), 17 agility (+1.7/lvl) and 28 intelligence (+3.4/lvl), and a base move speed of 290.
What do the popular Lich item phases mean?
The saved OpenDota aggregate is dated 2026-07-22. The phase lists summarize professional-match item popularity; they are not one coherent build, a recommended sequence, or win-rate advice.