Lich ( Warcraft III ) During his mortal life as the Warchief of the Orc ish Horde of Draenor ; Ner ' zhul commanded a number of Orcish Warlock s and Shaman s . Yet , when these wicked sorcerers were captured by Kil ' jaeden and the Legion after the destruction of Draenor , they were transformed into twisted aberrations of their former selves . These Liches possessed tremendous magical powers , yet their immortal , undead bodies were bound to the iron will of Ner ' zhul . Since the Liches showed unswerving loyalty to their master , Ner ' zhul granted them control over the furious elements of the cold north . Now , Liches wield frost magic along with their own considerable necromantic spells . Hero names . Ordin Frostbane , Ras Splinterspine , Morbent Fell , Rage Winterchill , Araj the Summoner , Kali ' naj Dethknell , Rak Coldskull , Din Frostfire , Calis Wraithson , Venim Iceblade , Naze the Eternal , Ras Frostwhisper , Coldreaver , Cho ' Nammoth , Kryptikk Soulslayer , Alandil Lieng . Information . The Lich is the least used Undead Hero , partly because it is difficult for beginners to use him properly . The Lich is a great first or second Hero mainly for his Frost Nova ability . Frost Nova is one of the uber abilities in the game , especially when combined with the Archmage ' s Brilliance Aura , Mana Potions , or Dark Ritual . Frost Armor can be useful on allied Heroes , Abomination s , or Frost Wyrm s . Dark Ritual is rarely used but is very powerful in a skilled player ' s hands . Dark Ritual works very well with Necromancer s because the Lich can sacrifice Skeleton Warriors . Death and Decay can be used to attack tightly packed enemy buildings or towers . The Lich is a very fragile caster like the Human Archmage . He can easily and quickly be killed . You can attempt to counter that by casting Frost Armor on him or healing him with Death Coil . The most common way to protect him is to do a lot of running away and never get close to enemy ranged or melee units whenever possible . It ' s usually not difficult to kill the Lich with Hero Killers or by surrounding with melee units or focused fire with ranged units . Spells and Abilities . Frost Nova . People pick the Lich just for the Frost Nova ability . It is a very powerful ability that is up there with Chain Lightning . Frost Nova can take a chunk out of enemy units and destroy low hit point units such as ranged units and spell casters . The second benefit of Frost Nova is that it slows enemy units so it ' s great to use when they are trying to run away . Use Mana Potions to cast Frost Nova more often . Use Dark Ritual so you can get more Mana to cast Frost Nova . Frost Armor ( Auto Cast ) . Frost Armor is useful for protecting allied Heroes and the Lich Itself . You can also cast Frost Armor on powerful units such as Abomination s , Frost Wyrm s , Knight s , Tauren , and Bears to allow them to last longer . The slow ability is also useful because enemy units attacking a unit with Frost Armor will be slowed for 5 seconds . Frost Armor only slows units that attack the unit with a Melee attack . Frost reduces movement by 50 % and attack speed by 25 % . Dark Ritual . Dark Ritual is rarely used but very powerful because it can make the Lich have almost unlimited Mana for Frost Nova . It ' s best to use Dark Ritual on Skeleton Warriors . Death and Decay ( Ultimate ) . Death and Decay is useful for attacking enemy towns when they have packed their buildings very tightly . You can then destroy a lot of buildings and greatly damage the enemy . Death and Decay is also useful against people who build a lot of towers . Death and Decay can be used to clear away trees . This spell must be maintained to get the full effect . If the spell is interrupted , it will not reach its full power . The caster must not move while casting . Attack the Lich and force him to move which will cancel the Death and Decay . You can interrupt this spell with spells such as :