Dark and Darker is a brutal and challenging game to master in all aspects. Regardless if you delve into the dungeon for the best items to sell on the market, search for glorious combat, or want the best loot, all players will eventually go into the Inferno. Taking a Red Portal will teleport you and your party deeper into the darkness, where stronger enemies lie and wait in exchange for more valuable treasures and gear.
The Inferno is the most brutal area in Dark and Darker thus far, but you must defeat one of the game’s painfully challenging bosses for players who want the best loot. As of recent playtests, there are two bosses in the Inferno and one in the Goblin Cave solo mode. This guide will go over the Lich King boss battle, their mechanics, and tips for defeating them.
Dark and Darker Lich Boss Overview
The Lich is one of the two bosses found in the Inferno; the other being the Ghost King. All recent Inferno maps have a massive boss room located in the center of the map, so if you want to have as much time as possible to fight any Inferno boss, it’s crucial to rush to the center of the map before the ring begins to close.
The Lich is a powerful spell caster who constantly summons undead minions during all stages of the fight. All Dark and Darker bosses have mechanics that are difficult to understand, and most can one-shot any player before they find progress into the fight. Bring lots of healing items or a Cleric build because the Lich has a few unavoidable spells which guarantee you to take damage.
Dark and Darker Lich Moveset
Skeleton Army + Resurrection
Upon starting the Lich boss fight, they will summon six skeletons, which include melee and archer skeletons. Keep the melee skeletons alive, but eliminate the archers as quickly as possible to help avoid a mechanic we will delve into shortly. Keep an eye on where the skeleton falls because the Lich will cast a Resurrection spells during the fight, returning any slain skeleton to life.
Dark and Darker’s Lich King Standard Spells
The Lich has several spells, but they typically cast one quick and one slow spell for the majority of the fight. The fast attack is a short purple lightning spell where the Lich will focus on a single player.
If the Lich targets you, stay on the move, or else the projectile will hit you if you don’t have enough movement speed. The lightning spell is the least damaging spell the Lich casts, but staying on the move is still critical to avoid any damage.
The slower spell is a large purple orb that homes in on one player until it hits something. If the Lich casts the orb, guide the projectile into either a wall or a melee skeleton, or else the projectile will pursue its target until it collides with something.
If the orb is a melee skeleton, it will likely die or be very close to death. Keeping only melee skeletons alive for this mechanic and always eliminating any resurrected rangers is extremely helpful.
Lastly, the Lich has a close-range attack if players are dealing a lot of melee damage. The boss will shout, “Go away!” before performing an AOE knockback to all players in melee range. If you are playing a melee class, weave in and out of melee to avoid this spell.
Related Guide: Detailed Beginners Guide to Dark and Darker
Lich Curses
The Lich has two curse spells. Both are extremely dangerous and must be prioritized over other mechanics.
Curse of Isolation
The Curse of Isolation spawns a swirling blue circle underneath one player, which detonates after five seconds. This circle will deal more damage if additional players or monsters are nearby.
- 1 Player = 35 Magic Damage
- 2 Players or Monsters = 50 Magic Damage
- 3 Players or Monsters = 60 Magic Damage
When a player is marked with the Curse of Isolation, they need to relocate as far away from the group and any skeletons as possible to avoid any extra damage. Both curses are magic damage, so a Cleric’s Barrier or a Blue Potion will not prevent any damage.
Curse of Gathering
The Curse of Gathering is the opposite of the Curse of Isolation. This curse spawns a swirling purple circle underneath one player, which detonates after five seconds. The circle will deal less damage if there are more players or monsters inside the circle.
- 1 Player = 650 Magic Damage
- 2 Players or Monsters = 350 Magic Damage
- 3 Players or Monsters = 100 Magic Damage
- 4 Players or Monsters = 35 Magic Damage
- 5 Players or Monsters = 15 Magic Damage
Having at least three players group up for the Curse of Gathering will lower the damage down to 100 for each player. If you can manage to group any melee skeletons into the circle without taking any damage, it will significantly decrease the damage down to 35.
Soul Steal
The Lich will only cast Soul Steal if a player dies in the arena. The Lich will use Soul Steal on a player’s soul to cast a protective barrier that absorbs 250 damage.
High Roller
In High Roller Mode, the Lich gains two extra abilities, which make the boss fight even more challenging. On top of a flat 50% damage increase, the Lich gains the following spells:
Death Swarm
The Lich casts a purple Death Swarm with a safe zone in the middle. Standing outside the safe zone inflicts magic damage per second. Additionally, any skeletons standing in the Death Swarm gain the Frenzy buff.
Frenzy
The Frenzy buff grants all skeletons in the Lich’s arena 50% movement speed and 25% attack speed. Frenzy also increases all skeletons’ damage by 20.
Related Article: How to Defeat the Cave Troll Boss in Dark and Darker
Fighting the Lich in Dark and Darker
Bring lots of healing potions, bandages, and a Cleric for this encounter. At the start of the fight, quickly eliminate all skeleton arches, and keep the melee units alive. Stay on the move when fighting the Lich to avoid their quick spell cast or any swings from the melee units. If a player is targeted with the slow-moving orb attack, guide the projectile either into a wall or a melee skeleton.
As a ranged class, keep your distance from the Lich and any extra skeletons while rotating either clockwise or counterclockwise to avoid any spells and unnecessary collisions. Stay in the backline if you are targeted with the Curse of Isolation. If you have the Curse of Gathering, you must group up with your team to you will be one-shot by the spell. Also, prioritize any resurrected skeleton rangers after Lich’s Resurrection spell.
For melee classes, weave in and out of the melee range of the boss while keeping track of nearby melee units. If the boss targets you, immediately start rotating clockwise or counterclockwise away from the boss to avoid their quick or slow attack.
If you are lucky and the Lich prioritizes your ranged teammates, keep an ear out for their voice line for the melee wind-up, which only punishes players sticking close to the boss for too long.
More Tips and Tricks for Defeating the Lich in Dark and Darker
- Ranger builds are especially great for headshots, enemy skeleton rangers, and slowly whittling down the Lich.
- Wizards are great for their haste spell, which makes repositioning for Curses significantly easier, or helps deal lots of damage. The Wizard’s Magic Missile Spell is great for eliminating skeleton archers or dealing tons of boss damage.
- The Cleric can make fighting any boss significantly easier. Any healing spell Clerics have will also help immensely. The Sanctuary Spell can help replenish any health lost from the Curse of Gathering spell. Cleric Buff spells like Divine Strike or Bless will also allow other classes to deal a lot more damage.
- Barbarians can use the Savage Roar ability to fear all skeletons at the start of the fight, whenever enemies get too close, or after the Lich’s Resurrection spell.
- Rogues can damage the Lich with the Backstab Perk because the boss will turn and track players when casting a spell, exposing their back. Check out our detailed assassin rogue build in Dark and Darker to maximize your single-target damage.
- Always communicate when the Lich is casting, if a Curse is being inflicted, or if someone has the purple orb following them.
- If you are playing on High Roller, try eliminating more skeleton adds so they don’t benefit from the Frenzy buff during the Death Swarm.
- If you have a Fighter build or a Cleric with a large shield, you can block a melee skeleton’s attacks while stacking in the Curse of Gathering spell to reduce the magic damage down to 35 per person.
Conclusion for Fighting the Lich Boss in Dark and Darker
That’s our breakdown of how to defeat the Lich boss in Dark and Darker. The Lich boss is tough and adds a lot of mechanics typically seen in MMOs like Final Fantasy 14, World Of Warcraft, or Destiny 2, which brings an interesting perspective to these fights since the rest of Dark and Darker doesn’t have these mechanics.
The Lich is undoubtedly a brutal fight, which requires a lot of add management, proper positioning, and good RNG to avoid any spells from overlapping.
If you enjoyed our guide on Dark and Darker and successfully defeated the Lich, check out our plethora of class guides or our dive into Dark and Darker’s trading economy.
For now, Good Hunting!
