Creature Feature #21: Old and cranky and a little dead, the ancient lich and lich lord

[Elyssar]

Yes Virginia, there is a new Creature Feature, and this time the spotlight is on two of the more famous creatures of the game, those denizens of undead old age, the ancient lich and the lich lord.

Spawning exclusively in Khaldun, the ancient lich comes by a number of different names. Almonjin the foreseeing eye, Baratoz the Keeper of the Pit, Anshu the Breath of Life, Maliel the Hand of Fate, and Kaltivel the Lore Keeper. Being older than dirt, these fellows have quite a few tricks up their sleeves for the unwary traveller. Like the skeletal dragon in Ilshenar, he sometimes has the propensity to spawn an army of lesser monsters such as lizardmen and skeletons, to help him take care of anyone who dares disturb him. Then, to add to the mystique, he will sometimes polymorph into one of the monsters he summoned forth.

Ancient liches give 1500 gold, reagents, magic items, and bone armor as well as level 5 treasure maps.

When I first started playing UO, the lich lord was one of the scariest unknown monsters I had ever heard of. I thought surely a lich lord could have killed me with one blow of his staff (and maybe at that time he could have!) But for an experienced player, the lich lord is not so much something to fear as he can sometimes be an annoyance with his huge amount of hit points. Unfortunately, when liches were beefed up they became Mini-Lich lords so anyone who has fought a lich before has fought what is, in essence, a lich lord with much fewer hits. Lich lords have master to sometimes grandmaster magery and extremely high evaluating intelligence.

Lich lords spawn in Fire dungeon level 2 and in deciet level 4 in Britannia. In Ilshenar, they spawn in the Ankh Dungeon, Rock Dungeon, the Sorcerer's Dungeon, Wisp dungeon, the Pass of Karnagh, in the graveyard behind the Humility Hero spawn, in a small valley east of Valor, and along a river near Valor.

For loot, lich lords give 400-800 gold, regs, wands, magic items, scrools, Blackmoor, and level 4 treasure maps.

Lich lords are one of my favorite monsters to play with, though due to their spawn points in Britannia I can only play with them from level 4 and 5 t-maps or in their spawn points in Ilshenar. Lich lords and I have a history of being on an even keel in terms of kills. I kill them, they sometimes kill me!

One of my most memorable run-ins with a lich lord came on a level 4 map on Temple Isle. Two lich lords came up with the guardian spawns, and after my pets were eagerly attacking the spawn I stepped out of my invis. Little did I know that the last lich lord hadn't attacked anything yet, and I presented a nice target to him. Whack! Confused, it took me a moment to notice this highlighted lich lord smacking me with his staff. In the jungle, it was hard to maneuver but I somehow twisted through the vines and grasses, heading at breakneck for the teleporter to the lost lands, the lich lord following me with his jolly laugh all the way. He was having a great time casting on me, which meant I was having a rough time with 0 resist. At 5 hp I hit the teleporter and ended up in t2a. I healed and caught my breath, then decided I'd try to get revenge (and loot) from that lich lord. So I popped back to the island...the lich lord targetted me...

"Thou wilt regret thine actions, swine!"

Once again, the guards of the world beat me out of my revenge. oh well. /php-bin/shared/images/icons/wink.gif

Now it's your turn to reflect on these evil undead foes...

<a target="_blank" href=http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=uotamer&Number=2521153&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&part=>

</a>
<font color=blue>Read the FAQ or the pixie gets it!</font color=blue>

 

[Guest]

My first experience with a lich was as a newbie. My young status had just worn off, and I had no idea what potions, bandages, or recall spells were. I was walking around, and had wandered into the Crossroads of Britannia. I mistakenly assumed that the lich shambling toward me in the evening gloom was a lesser monster. Somehow, I had gotten the idea that all the really hard monsters were confined to the dungeons. He laughed his evil laugh at me, and I didn't like the look of him, so I attacked. Two seconds later, I was poisoned and running for my life. I died off in the woods somewhere with his evil laugh ringing in my ears. To this days liches give me the heebie-jeebies. I'd rather fight titans, daemons, elder gazers, blood elementals - almost anything else - besides liches.

<center>

</center>

 

[Crimson Bolt]

I once tried to steal the Lich Lords cane, and he beat me senseless with it, all the time laughing at me. My warrior has a rough time dealing with these things now, they are much harder than before. They are great for resist training though. My bard loves to make the lich lords kill their little brothers, its great fun to hear all of them laughing together. Sometimes though their laugh is so annoying I feel like taking my chair and smashing my computer with it, but then I realize that wouldnt be good for business, hehe.

'Only the Honorable Truely Live'

 

[Vasago]

<font color=red>* shivers *</font color=red> Liches must have the most evil sound in all of UO. First time I ever came across one was on the open roads when I was still rather new. I barely escaped that time, but since then I've both slayed and been slayed by a few liches.

A fun enemy that just glows with evil...

------------------ Explorer 80% - Socializer 60% - Achiever 46% - Killer 13% -------------------

 

[Jaiden]

My first experience was also in yew woods. I had recently created Charleigh and i read here that the woods was a good place to start to find the lesser critters to tame. I was a good little tamer, merrily renaming and releasing. I had no idea that liches spawned in the woods, thinking they only inhabited dungeons, so when i saw " a lich" at the corner of my screen i was most amused.

Thinking it was someones funny joke at renaming a bunny or something, i ran towards it to see what it really was. Around 2 seconds later i was stumbling around trying to find a wandering healer/php-bin/shared/images/icons/biggrin.gif

And to this day i cant stand their creepy laugh, sends shivers up my spine /php-bin/shared/images/icons/wobble.gif

<center>

</center>

<center>Lady Charleigh, Mage/GM Tamer
Mica, Mage/Bard, married to Trompe L'Oeil
Lady Xanthia, Bard/GM Tamer
Darkchild, Bard/GM Archer
Jaiden, Mad axewoman
And introducing Anck-su-namun on Baja</center>

 

[Puppy]

I love taking my dragons up against lich lords--it requires a lot of work for me vetting, even with a well-trained dragon (especially with two or three "lesser" liches also beating on him with their staffs) and there's always a nasty chance of me being targeted and dying horribly. I think my tamer has died more often to lich lords than any other monster. The first time I died to a lich lord I was in the little room in Fire. I got targeted, peaced, but the lich lord retargeted almost instantly and before I knew it I was dead. I used the stuck option to get out and get rezzed. When I got back my first-tamed kirin was dead and my dragon was stuck on the roof of the room. There were lich corpses everywhere and several liches targeted on my dragon. I opened my corpse and it was almost empty! I had to scavenge my stuff from the lich corpses. Those buggers are worse than ratmen for looting your corpse.

I love the lich's evil laugh. It still freaks me out, even though I have a lich statue turned on in my house so I hear it all the time.


<font color=red>Sig under construction</font color=red>

 

[Guest]

Lich Lords are my primary targets for fame/karma, lvl 4 treasure maps and resist training for my pets. A nightmare or anything above can easily solo a lich lord, as long as there's no other pesky spawn around. My favourite place to hunt lich lords is lvl 4 Deceit, considering very few people go there. A lich lord dies every few minutes while I'm there, but most of the time I'm invis, so all I'm doing is grabbing bags and maps, provoke, then going An Lor Xen again /php-bin/shared/images/icons/tongue.gif.

I do love the laugh, though.

I have only destroyed one of the Ancient Liches once, with my Tamer. I had a Zealot of Khaldun on my dragon, as well as Mr. Baratoz. Luckily, my dragon held out well (I had some friends there as well), since Mr. Baratoz didn't seem particularly strong.

With my treasure hunter, I hate lich lords with a passion. I have no eval int, and if a lich lord is the last one there... I can't kill it. The bassid has way too high resist. I usually just lead it away, finish up, mark a rune, recall out then come back with my Tamer to finish it off (I will never leave spawn from one of my treasure maps alive, be it Skeleton or Daemon). Recently I have started to really hate Lich Lords, after one incident on Skull Island (east of Buc's Den). A bit laggy, as I usually am, I was being chased by a Lich Lord over a dense jungle region (you know the types). The thing about Skull Island is, well, it has giant serpents. By the truck loads. So here was me, being chased across this island with 300 ping by a Lich Lord and 8-10 giant serpents, frantically trying to provoke them off with my awesome 57ish provoke. Inevitable, I lag and die. After 5 minutes (wandering healers abound, thankfully), I've looted my corpse, led the snakes away, and convinced Mr Ogre Lord to give Mr. Lich Lord a BIG HUG. Lesson learned: bring friends when hunting in jungles. Especially Skull Island.

<font color=006400>Thaqui, Grandmaster Tamer (15/4/01 4:56 NZT)</font color=006400>
<font color=red>Catskills</font color=red>

<a target="_blank" href=http://user.tninet.se/~prv247p/hatt/hatten.swf>Click here to reply to this post</a>

 

[Guest]

Man I haven't hunted LL's in months!

What we used to do was go in packs (3-4 warriors &1-2 mages/provokers) and go into the lich lord room of deciet, and well we cleaned house, hehe.
Yeah one or two would die if they got fs'd 2x in a row but hey that's life (or undeath) at the races /php-bin/shared/images/icons/smile.gif

Now I just use my tamer and go solo, my pure *cough, i said PURE* white wyrm can take care of them np.
Rog.
/php-bin/shared/images/icons/magic.gif-"vas ort flam" /php-bin/shared/images/icons/spam.gif-"grrrrr I'm a big mean golem!"
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.geocities.com/rogal_26/Wolf.html?>http://www.geocities.com/rogal_26/Wolf.html?</a>

 

[Blackwell]

Hmm...I was a little disappointed with the lack of information provided in the creature feature on the rarely visited Ancient Lich. Not to rag or downplay on your Feature, but I just think it could have been a bit more informative with some nifty tidbits and info for us tamers...this is the tamer forum right? Well, I took the liberty to write my own creature feature that I figured some might enjoy. Take a look....

<a target="_blank" href=http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=uotamer&Number=2597367&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&part=>Blackwell's Creature Feature: The Ancient Liche</a>

 

[Guest]

The Ancient lich is mighty powerful creature.
Now , even an unskilled dragon can kill it, but only with a lot of healing.
they have tremendous hit points and there melle attacks have been likened to those of a balron.
best to fight with a mare ( a trained one as an untrained has no chance) . this is because they also create a spawn of creatures around them (lizard man, orcs and sometimes zombies/skeletons.) they also often transform into one making it harder to spot them!
this spawn is very annoying and when using a dragon , this and the other heavy spawn of khaldun diistract your pet.
your best bet is to paralise the ancient lich then lead away the other spawn then come back.
now dismount from your mare and attack!
make sure it targets the mare because otherwise, your in trouble.
you will have tto heal the mare well and irecomen you cure poison with magery rather than waste a bandage.
the loot has been taken down a bit since old times but you still hear of the occasional invul piece of plate armour *winks*

/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gif/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gif/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gif

Me , Scam?
Never!
I take advantage of stupidness!
they see me /php-bin/shared/images/icons/flash.gif on the screen, /php-bin/shared/images/icons/flash.gif off the screen and they get /php-bin/shared/images/icons/angryfire.gif

 

[WolfZbane]

Don't Ancient Liches mass curse as well?

<center>WolfZbane decides to defend the newbies</center>
<center>

</center>
<center>WolfZbane - Spammus Maximus</center>

 

[Well =P]

Don't Ancient Liches mass curse as well?
Yes they do -13

And another thing about Ancient Liches. When u use the Animal Lore Skill on them they come up as Masters of Magic heeh but my mare can take em!

Feed Me Bread Crumbs!

 

[Guest]

My first experience with a lich was when I first started. *thinks back to the days of only fel* For ME those days were hell. I couldn't walk 10 steps without lagging out, as my computer sucked very large and versitile nads. When I was finally able to reset my computer enough to log back on I would be either: A) Dead. or B) Poisoned and dying. But I have to admit, the mass daemon summoning to raise magery/resist was very fun to watch.

Anywho, I don't even remember what that character was, but I was at the graveyard, outside of the gate, looking at the spider's silk (I was collecting reagents off of the ground because I was a mage and didn't know you could buy them in mass amounts), looking at the monsters in awe. Well I also didn't know that you had to target a monster or hit it for it to start casting on you, so I seen this bald ugly guy and started to run back to town very fast. Well, a skeleton targetted me and I died.

Anywho.. that was my experience with a lich.. Only place I've seen lich lords outside of a dungeon is Ilshenar, but Ilshenar is like one huge dungeon..

Ancient liches are fun! Except for the jerks in Khaldun. They mass curse a lot, I hunt them with a newly tamed White Wyrm. So far, Ancient liches (to my knowledge) ONLY polymorph into skeletons, but they will only do this when they do this summoning skeletons thing

So I think I did more babbling than anything else, but if you hunt Ancient liches, I suggest bringing a friend -AND- strength potions. /php-bin/shared/images/icons/smile.gif

Lich Lords, I like hunting them, just not in trammel or felluca. Ilshenar for Lich Lords.. Because of the silver serpants in Deciet and people who call me a "n3wb t@m3r" and other things... anywho.. time to go

<center>

</center>

 

[Seeker (PAC)]

age as a warrior. Then in the not so distant past, they have also taught me suffucient magic resist to make me a grand master in that art.

I shall forever try to rid the world of their kind, yet am thankful that they carry their money with them when first passed into our world.

For those that perished in the attacks, Rest in Peace. For those that survived, God Bless. For those that hijacked the planes, may you burn in hell. For those that trained and supported you, may you join your comrades soon.

 

[Dragondeva]

<font color=9A32CD>Lich[be it old young or inbetween]x me= OooOooOOoo*heehee* There can be 20 people hunting one and that darn lich will find me every time......

<font color=purple><center>/php-bin/shared/images/icons/love.gifIn all things do no harm/php-bin/shared/images/icons/love.gif

/php-bin/shared/images/icons/rainbow.gifSonoma Shard/php-bin/shared/images/icons/rainbow.gif
/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gifOceania Shard/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gif

</center></font color=purple>
<center><font color=purple>Explorer 80%..Socializer 73%..Achiever 33%..Killer 13%</center></font color=purple>

 

[gizzard]

creatures seek out the weakest party member
i think this is to do with your ar
take 2 warriors 1 wearing gm plate the other wearing studed
the one wearing studded almost always gets targeted first
ya see this most oftern at the bone knight room

 

[Dragondeva]

<font color=9A32CD> And here I thought it was because I was so cute.....another fantasy shattered *giggles*....Really tho my char always wares inv. leather armor. She is an archer/tamer so wares leather for the dex.

<font color=purple><center>/php-bin/shared/images/icons/love.gifIn all things do no harm/php-bin/shared/images/icons/love.gif

/php-bin/shared/images/icons/rainbow.gifSonoma Shard/php-bin/shared/images/icons/rainbow.gif
/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gifOceania Shard/php-bin/shared/images/icons/spin3.gif

</center></font color=purple>
<center><font color=purple>Explorer 80%..Socializer 73%..Achiever 33%..Killer 13%</center></font color=purple>

 

[WolfZbane]

I know liches (and other monsters) prefer to attack people with low health.

Ever ressed someone while you were fighting earth ellies with your frenzied? If I ress someone, the earth ellies immediatly retarget and kill the poor sob. Same with liches, especially after a peacemake. Peacemake a second before the guy gets ressed and watch the liches instantly retarget the newly ressed.



About the Lich Lord: lich lords are (at least with a decent dragon) toast. They're not incredibly strong, though in some places hunting them can prove extremely dangerous. The most important place: the Deceit Lich Lord room. Not because of his lords, but because of their most powerful pet: the silver serpent.

<center>WolfZbane decides to defend the newbies</center>
<center>

</center>
<center>WolfZbane - Spammus Maximus</center>

 

[Potato]

First time i remembered i met one.........
it was out in the open
" Hey A LICH!" -Me

" Get away from there !" - some other guy

2 secs later i was lying there on the floor

hehe at that time u could insta res n take penalties on skills n i was kinda new so i insta ressed n died to a mongbat ^^

ahhhh ------ 3 years ago

 

[Alchem]

I have never had any trouble fighting any variety of liches HOWEVER ancients are a pain in the ASS!!! I always see to go when it is the one in the pit renderign my dragon/wyrm useless. They arent so bad on my tank tho pretty easy for anyone really blade spirits work wonders =P... and if you ever get attacked by one of those pk bands run back a little get 1 alone they almost always noobs and theyre easy to kill =) I had to do that once when i was at the Harrower (also a pain in khaldun) luckily the harrower retargeted one and he didnt notice so the number went from 5 to 4 in all of 2 seconds /php-bin/shared/images/icons/smile.gif well im out there my 2gp now that im a tamer i can afford that 2gp =P

 

[Kylie Nightangel]

how about a new creature feature? perhaps the walrus?

 

[WolfZbane]

Check this:
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showflat.php?Cat=2&amp;Board=uotamer&amp;Number=2648982&amp;page=0&amp;view=collapsed&amp;sb=5&amp;o=&amp;fpart=

 

[Kylie Nightangel]

agh, ok... too bad, I really like those things...
thank you

 

[Guest]

liches have never scared me really

all i think of when i hear that laugh if the 300+ gold at the end of it &gt;

but then again, most monsters are easy with a 14-30 ping ^_^

and the only reason liches and other stuff target newly resses is that a new target pops up and for sum reason monsters hate that and decide to hug em

not bad at all when im on my looter tho....

 

[Serpentine]

As a thief that enjoys dungeoning, especially in Khaldun, I've seen a lot of tamers and their pets fight the Ancient Lich. I've seen, and sometimes been indirectly responsible for, the deaths of many a dragon or nightmare at the hands of the locals. Here is some information to help prevent this from happening to you:

The Ancient Liches aren't very hard for a competent tamer with a trained dragon, Vet skill, and a lot of bandages. The lesser monsters they spawn are more a distraction than anything if you have good control, or high enough Magery to just kill them all.

The biggest problems fighting the Ancients come from both a lack of experience fighting them and from the normal dungeon spawn. 3 Zealots and the Ancient can quickly cut down any dragon or wyrm, no matter how well-trained. I see a lot of people using mares to fight the Ancient. This generally results in the death of the mare, especially if there's anything else around it hitting it at the same time. Also, I've seen instances where a tamer will have his dragons (Usually 2, may be more on times when this happens) attacking the Ancient, and ignore the lesser spawn dragged up by thieves, looters, and other unsavories that lurk Khaldun occasionally. Spectral Armors, the 4 Unique Cursed, and Zealots can quickly dish out more damage than you can heal to a dragon. And with that much targetting it, getting it out can be an adventure.

Quick Tips:

1) Only fight Ancients with mares if you have a lot of Vet and a lot of bandages
2) Make sure you can control your pet with some regularity so you can escape if need be
3) Be prepared to heal, and often! Ancients and the surrounding spawn can deal a lot of damage in a few seconds if you're not paying attention. This is not the time to go answer the phone or go get a snack.
4) Beware of other players, most of whom will single you out as a target. If you see a suspicious person approach, then suddenly run off in the direction they came, leave the area - They probably went to lure a few nasties in your direction.

Hope you find this information useful.