The New Lich

 Ah yes, we seem to be on a bit of a spree of powerful undead big bads, because we've come to what I might argue is the most iconic creature in all of D&D, the Lich. More or less built to be the evil mastermind, the dark lord behind all manner of villainy and secret plots, the Lich is, most typically, both reprehensible and dangerous.

Now, I must confess, I've never actually used the 2014 Lich. When my party in my Ravnica campaign had their (first) major boss fight against the Lich that is essentially the second-biggest-bad of the campaign (the true big bad is Elesh Norn, who will be some kind of custom stat block, and actually a multi-phase fight in which she merges with the idea of Yawgmoth to become a true god) I used Flee, Mortals! version of the Lich, customizing it a little to make it legendary (my plan as it currently stands is to use FM's named "villain" lich for the second fight against him).

There are two major problems with the 2014 Lich.

The first is its hit points: it only has 135, which means that by high levels - even still within tier 3 - one or two single-target-focused characters could potentially take the thing down in a single round. There are spells they can use to keep attackers at bay, but casting those spells takes up valuable turns.

The second issue is that they're deeply non-obvious in how to play them. They are really built to have the spell slots of an 18th level Wizard, and so you have a ton of resources to track and tricky choices to make in terms of what you actually use your actions for.

Now, I don't get the new Monster Manual until tomorrow (and only the digital version - the physical one will still be a few weeks). However, thanks to Alphastream, I've got a screenshot of the full new Lich stat block to peruse. How do we like the new version? Has it solved the old issues?

First off: the Lich now has significantly more HP - it's up to 315, which is over twice what it had before. While 315 isn't an enormous amount of HP for a CR 20+ creature, it at least makes it more likely that you'll have a few rounds to do something. Again, I think that the Lich still should play defensively, but this means that if the party gets within melee of them for one round, the fight isn't already over.

Now, what do they actually get to do on those rounds.

Here, I'll register a bit of disappointment: I had assumed the Lich would have a multiattack that included a use of their spellcasting feature, much as we've seen with high-level dragons. Instead, it's an either/or. The Lich has a multiattack that can use either their Paralyzing Touch (which now Paralyzes on a hit with no saving throw - definitely a buff - also it has the same hit bonus as with the spells, a +12) or Eldritch Burst, which is a melee/ranged spell attack that does 4d12+5 force damage. They can do three of these attacks, mixing them up as they prefer. Generally I'd probably have them use Paralyzing Touch if they have an enemy in melee until it hits, and then get away from that foe once the target is paralyzed.

Alternatively, they can use their Spellcasting, and here I think you're going to still have some challenges vis a vis picking the best spell for the job. They have 1/day options for Power Word Kill, Chain Lightning, Finger of Death, and Scrying. Naturally the last one is not for combat, but I think the likely best order of operations is to start off with a Chain Lightning on the first turn if they can hit as many targets as possible, followed by a Finger of Death on a weaker foe, and then a Power Word Kill on round three.

However, they also have some other spells if they're still going after this point - several 2/day spells are more utility-based, like Animate Dead (though I really wouldn't limit a Lich's ability to have undead minions by this spell) as well as Dimension Door and Plane Shift. The latter two are both good escape spells.

Now, what about Counterspell? I will say that, using the new rules, Counterspell is not going to wreck a Lich as much as the old version would, given that they have a +10 to Con saves and legendary resistance. But, as someone with a Sorcerer in his party who uses the old version (I didn't feel I could force anyone to update to the 2024 rules) it does mean that a Lich of this sort will be vulnerable to having entire turns invalidated by a 3rd level spell and a good spellcasting ability check.

However, there are things that the Lich can do the help with this - the biggest being that one of their legendary actions (and one that is not limited in times per round) is a 60-foot teleport that also damages foes left behind. That can get you beyond Counterspell range, thankfully.

Now, they also have a number of at-will spells, including 5th level Fireballs and Lightning Bolts (both 10d6 at that level, or 35 average damage).

Likely the biggest upgrade is that they have a reaction to cast at-will Shield or Counterspell. Shield will put their AC up to 25, which is high enough to even cause a lot of high-level players to miss their attacks, but of course this reaction is still just once-per-round.

The Lich is, I think, going to be easier to run and feel like a real threat than its 2014 version was. However, if you were hoping the monster would more or less run itself if you followed the obvious chain of logic, I don't think it's going to be quite like that. You will still need to think tactically and both move and pick spells carefully.

Because we have the actual stat block, we have an exact XP value, which is 33,000 or 41,000 in their lair. Being in their lair gives them a 5th legendary resistance (up from 4) and a 4th Legendary action. Notably, of their legendary actions, only the teleport can be used multiple times per round, so being in their lair really just makes them more evasive (the teleport does do damage, but only 2d10).

So, if we want to use a Lich as a solo monster, for 5 players, it uses up 6600 xp of budget outside its lair and 8200 within. We'll ignore the lair version. At level 14, the Lich on its own is a bit north of High difficulty. It's a bit north of moderate difficulty at level 16. And then it's just north of low difficulty at level 20.

However, I think that a Lich really ought to have minions. While having it flanked by a pair of Death Knights now gets complicated due to the fact that those are also now legendary (and I generally try to avoid having more than one legendary creature in a fight at a time) there are some higher-level undead in the new Monster Manual who could work as minions, such as Death Knight Aspirants. Having minions who are good at grappling foes will be very helpful for the Lich.

A Lich could serve as the final boss of a level 20 campaign, but if they do, you'll want to load up a ton of minions, and ideally have some creatures that can heal or otherwise defend the Lich. Still, given that their biggest spells are still limited to once-a-day, you'll need to think tactically and get the most use out of them.

Now, if the Lich is still around after shooting off Chain Lightning, Finger of Death, and Power Word Kill, the question becomes AoE versus single-target. A 5th level Fireball or Lightning Bolt does an average of 35 damage, with half of that damage guaranteed (barring resistances and immunities - my party has two Storm Sorcerers, who will both have full immunity to Lightning damage by the time they face my Lich again). Meanwhile their Eldritch Burst multiattack does an average of 31 damage per hit, and they get three attacks. If you can get two targets with your Fireball or Lightning Bolt, you're looking at 35/17 damage doubled to 70/34 overall. If you can get three targets, you're looking at 105/53. If Eldritch Burst hits three times, it's 93 damage on average, so it might be better for you if the party is spread out. Now, if you can get off a Paralyzing Touch against a target first, dealing 3d6+5 (15 average) cold damage, and then you're more likely to hit with Eldritch Burst, each hit (in melee) dealing 8d12+5, or 57 damage, you get two of those attacks, so that's 114 on top of the 15 from the Paralyzing Touch, so 129 damage. However, this requires getting that first hit and being in melee.

Actually, if you're worried about Counterspell, you could use a legendary action to teleport to the target, then unload Paralyzing Touch and these Eldritch Bursts to burn that counterspeller down (again, Storm Sorcerers can retaliate by knocking them back, but the Lich will be resistant to the damage).

One last note, and this is a kind of general thing: Liches, like many high-level legendary monsters in the new Monster Manual, have Expertise in Initiative, meaning that their Initiative Score is 27. This means that you'll, in all likelihood, get the drop on the party, letting you hit with that initial Chain Lightning while they're all grouped up at the room's entrance. Frankly, I love this design trend, as it really lets boss monsters do something cool before the players get in and mess them up.

So, will I use this version of the Lich? I'm still unsure. Given that this character is meant to be the boss they defeat in order to hit level 20, I want the encounter to be a high difficulty one, which means that I'd likely need a significant force of minions. (The fight will take place at the core of New Phyrexia, so some horrific abominations of melded-together flesh would be fitting minions here, likely using CR 10-15 aberrations like Thought Stealers or the like). I still think that "High Mage Vairae" from Flee, Mortals could suit my purposes better.