Lich ( Oblivion ) Liches are powerful undead enemies found in the northern regions and in dungeon s . It is the most powerful undead in , relying on magic instead of using a bow or melee weapons like other undead . A Lich can be summoned by a Master - level conjurer . They walk with heavy steps when idle and float around rather slowly when alerted . Liches usually carry a staff leveled to the Hero . They can summon other undead such as skeletons and zombies . Even lower level Liches have high resistance to magical attacks . Liches are the result of mages who , by seeking immortality , subject their soul and body to black magic s . Liches , although capable of slowly rotting away , lose none of their former minds , and can still think sharply and cast powerful spells as they did in life . During a quest in , it is mentioned that as part of the process of becoming a lich , requires some life force to be transferred back to their bodies . The Dragon Priest s of Skyrim achieved this by demanding that their servants gave them energy after their deaths , with the exception of Hevnoraak , who got some life force back by transferring blood to his body . General stats . Drops : Dispositions . Liches are members of their own Lich faction instead of the standard Undead faction . The disposition modifiers for the factions ensure that Liches will not fight other undead and , conversely , that other undead will not fight Liches . The primary difference between the Lich faction and the standard Undead faction is the relationship to Necromancers and Vampires : standard Undead will happily cohabitate with Necromancers and Vampires , but Liches hate them and will immediately attack ( in these cases the faction modifiers ensure that members of the Necromancers cult and Vampire faction also attack Liches ) . One other implication of the special Lich faction is that Liches do not like each other . If two Liches spawn near each other in a dungeon , they are very likely to start fighting each other . Strategy . Liches are notoriously difficult to deal with in battle . They have high health , frequently employ devastating magic , are capable of summoning a leveled undead to aid them , and possess staves which are often problematic . As with all conjuring enemies , it is recommended that the summon is ignored and the Lich attacked directly , since killing the summon will only prompt the Lich to summon another . They will often try to put distance between themselves and the player , as they have no exclusively close - range attacks . This can be used to the player ' s advantage , if they are somewhat decent with any form of melee combat . If the player is NOT talented in close range , a bow is usable , though it will consume a large amount of arrows . If magic is to be used , Fire is recommended . Liches have a natural weakness to said element , as do most undead . Liches are immune to Frost , and have a 25 % resistance to all forms of magic , thus making Fire the only reliably effective element presented in the game . It is always a good idea to keep a few Healing Potions or Healing Magic handy while dealing with Liches as , due to their high health , a battle can drag on if the player is relatively low level . It seems that , if the Lich is disarmed by removing its staff , it will be unable to move , and Magicka regeneration seems to be stunted until they can reclaim the staff . With this in mind , if a player disarms a Lich and takes its staff before the Lich can reclaim it , the Lich will be effectively incapacitated , save for an occasional spell every now and then , allowing the player to combat any nearby enemies without worrying about the Lich itself . Variations . Liches have two known variants :