Wrath of the Righteous Power Builds: Lich Wizard

This is second in the series of Wrath of the Righteous power builds. This is designed to be competitive on Unfair difficulty, and will readily conquer on easier difficulties. This is an arcane caster build, with some added martial power. This build features 10 levels of Exploiter Wizard and 10 levels of Eldritch Knight, with variants including Brown Fur Transmuter or Sylvan Sorcerer. I will give a briefer description than my last power build, but I’ll include the essentials. What all three Lich builds have in common is the tremendously powerful ability to combine spellbooks with the Lich Mythic Path. Recall from my previous post that merging increases your caster level by stacking with mythic levels, so at the end game you can reach caster level 30. This is beautiful because Lich damage spells have no level cap. It also gives access to higher level spells earlier. This allows a character to cast spells beyond the usual limitations of its class level.

The Lich path is extremely powerful. There are also some terrific story-line events and opportunities that occur only for Lich-path PC’s. I have a new death knight lich build if interested.

You also have the option of building a Brown Fur Transmuter, which moves into Eldritch Knight at level 10 instead of level 6, but the build is virtually identical. BFT’s get the cool Powerful Change and Share Transmutation abilities, and that build gives fantastic spell support, but BFT’s have drawbacks too. This build is viable as a Sylvan Sorcerer with no levels in EK, who has a great pet (dog), and SS can leverage their Charisma for spell casting as well as applying the Lord Beyond the Grave ability twice! I’ve seen SS/Lich builds with a Charisma as high as 55 and nearly 600 hit points, the tradeoff being lower melee capabilities. Click here for a list of changes to the wizard class for the video game, and here for changes to the sorcerer class.

4/6/25 UPDATE: I have made some significant changes to this build that I believe are a straight upgrade. I will cross out the earlier recommendations as this will only apply to the Wizard Exploiter build, but they are visible if you don’t want to change anything. I will also add spell recommendations. Check out my complete guide to rule changes and power builds here.

Build Progression

1:  Human Exploiter Wizard, background Healer so we can use Intelligence for Lore skills. There is also the reliable Pickpocket as well, you have options.

• Str 14, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 8, Cha 14 (Cha 19 instead of Int for SS build)
• Skills:  Knowledge and Lore skills, Perception, and Athletics, UMD
• Feats: Martial Weapons Proficiency, Spell Focus Conjuration, Greater Spell Focus Conjuration
• Exploit:  Potent Magic
• If going evil I recommend Urgathoa for deity as you get some bonus dialogue throughout the game, but it’s up to you. (Updated build: Alignment must be Lawful Evil)
• Spells:  Grease, True Strike, Shield, Reduce Person, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person. Just spam Grease all the time

3:  Shake it Off; Combat Reflexes

• Spells:  Glitterdust, Mirror Image

4:  Increase Intelligence every four levels.

• Spells:  False Life, Sense Vitals

5:  Combat Reflexes, (Metamagic Bolster Spell if Exploiter); Improved Initiative, MM: Heighten Spell

• Exploit:  Wooden Flesh
• Spells:   Haste, Heroism, Stinking Cloud

6:  Eldritch Knight Prestige Class. Feat: Seize the Moment (if Exploiter. Update:  consider Back to Back instead as StM does not stack with Outflank anymore) Weapon Focus: bardiche

Lich Mythic Path:  Ascension Ability: Danse Macabre, Abundant Casting

7:  Outflank (Seize the Moment here if SS, and Imp Initiative bloodline feat), continue Exploiter

• Spells:  Greater Magic Weapon, Vampiric Touch, Greater False Life (stacks with False Life), Greater Invisibility

9:  Improved Initiative (Outflank if SS); Power Attack

10:  Weapon Focus Falchion or another weapon of your choice, such as Fauchard (nothing for SS) Dazzling Display, on the way to Shatter Defenses

• Spells:  Echolocation; Geniekind

11:  Improved Critical Falchion Bardiche (Bolster Spell if SS)

• Spells:  Stoneskin Communal, Animal Growth unless someone else can cast it

12:  Spells:  Greater Heroism, Transformation (but only use when you don’t want to cast spells)

13:  Spell Focus Necromancy (and bloodline feat Dodge if SS) Shatter Defenses, beautiful with your fear aura

• Spells:  Hellfire Ray

14:  Feat: Weapon Spec: Bardiche

• Spells:  Legendary Proportions, Firebrand

15:  Greater Spell Focus Necromancy, Greater Weapon Focus Falchion (if Exploiter) Skill Focus: Arcana, important to qualify for Loremaster PrC

16:  Loremaster Prestige Class. Secret: Cleric Spell: Divine Power. At this point the DP spell will be going for 24 hours at a time.

• Spells:  Seamantle, Frightful Aspect, both important spells

17:  Weapon Specialization Falchion (Imp Critical if SS). Stay with Loremaster and take Arcane Armor Training, paving the way for a third PrC

18:  Loremaster again. Secret: either Combat Feat: Cleaving Finish or Rogue Secret: Opportunist, I lean toward Opportunist

• Spells:  Heroic Invocation, Foresight, both great buffs

19:  Up to you, Power Attack could work here though (Lightning Reflexes a nice second feat with SS) Hellknight Signifier Prestige Class. Now we can cast in mithral full plate along with some other benefits.

• Feats:  Gr Weapon Focus Bardiche.
• Order:  Order of the Gate

20:  HS PrC for the Arcane Armor Mastery bonus feat

Mythic Progression

1:  Close to the Abyss for the extra attack, Abundant Casting

2:  Improved Abundant Casting

3:  Merge Mythic Spellbook (Wizard); Enduring Spells Greater Abundant Casting; Skeletal Marksman; Fear Control

4:  Greater Abundant Casting Elemental Barrage, just casting Geniekind and Firebrand to activate it–though if you’d rather take Enduring Spells earlier, take that here instead; Skeletal Fighter, Shatter Defenses; WF Longbows, WT Bows

5:  Greater Enduring Spells, or Elemental Barrage if you didn’t take it yet

6:  Up to you from here on, Improved Critical Mythic: Falchion; Greater Enduring Spells; Weapon of Death (or Deadly Magic)

7:  Elemental Barrage (this is easy to proc with Geniekind and Firebrand spells); Ever Ready

8:  Power Attack Mythic, Skeletal Cleric (for Divine Favor/Divine Power, channel negative energy also)

9:  Archmage Armor; Deadly Magic (or Weapon of Death); With a skald in the party take Mythic Charge and Death Rush to maximize Pounce damage; with no skald Last Stand or Mythic Charge, but liches are very hard to kill

10. Mythic Weapon Spec, Mythic Improved Crit; Skeleton Inquisitor or Magus

Standout Lich Spells

3:  Power from Death, absolutely awesome, and you can increase its duration through your abilities; Mastery of Flesh is also excellent

4:  Vampiric Blade, incredible damage bonus and heals you at the same time, it’s nuts

5:  Deny Death, an outstanding buff that can save your life; Exsanguinate is an awesome offensive spell, and it doesn’t really matter if the enemy saves or not–couple this with the Devouring Lust rod; Repurpose is awesome, cast it, kill an enemy and it raises as your slave. Do it even to unique named enemies. Just make sure to loot the body before combat ends

6:  Bone Shield is a flat upgrade to the Shield spell; False Grace pimps out your entire party

7:  If you thought the earlier spells were great, just wait. Feast of Blood is Exsanguinate on steroids, spam it as much as you can; Blessing of Unlife grants every party member undead immunities–bye bye mind-affecting spells! Your party also gets healed from other spells like Negative Eruption or Harm. This spell changes the game in that you don’t need to have undead companions, just keep BoU up all the time.

8:  This is not a great spell level for Lich spells, all of them are either relatively weak or have drawbacks. Just prepare Feast of Blood Heightened or Bolstered.

9:  Okay, it’s nuke time. Negative Eruption my friend. You will be able to do up to 300 damage, even with a save that’s amazing, and that’s not counting using an Empower metamagic rod. But wait, we’re not done, because it also heals all of your party members too! There’s even more, this spell is pure gold. Corrupt Magic is a more powerful version of Greater Dispel Magic, and it debuffs the enemy for every magical protection you strip away.

10:  Yep, level 10. Absolute Death is insta-kill, though on Hard and Unfair you’ll need to debuff their saves to make it work. What’s beautiful is that whether they save or not they still take untyped, unstoppable damage anyway.

Equipment/Gear (Updated to include DLC and EE content)

Weapons:  Several options here. Glaives are great in the early game as they provide reach. Bardiches are wonderful, including special ones like Death’s Consonant or Decimation. Quarterstaff of the War Mage is also cool for spellcasting. Remember you can cast spells on them such as Greater Magic Weapon, Crusader’s Edge, Weapon of Death, you can give it the Holy quality, etc.

Head:  Headbands of Intelligence, culminating in Draven’s Hat, and later headbands of mental perfection and Darkness Caress

Eyes:  Glasses of Undeniable Truth (from Treasure of Midnight Isles DLC) , Goggles of Piercing Gaze are also good

Neck:  Vellexia’s Magnifying Amulet, earlier in the game amulets of natural armor or the rare amulets that increase initiative are great

Armor:  Haramaki of Divine Guidance–no dex penalty; ultimately Mithral Full Plate

Chest:  Robe of Determination, Robe of the Seven Sins (from Midnight Isles DLC)

Belt:  Display of Power give a nice bonus and reduces others’ will saves. Belts of Perfection are always great, just remember after the Lich transformation in ch 5, constitution no longer matters to us

Gloves:  Gloves of the Ambassador if you want to enhance skills, Fencer’s Gift if you want to enhance your weapon damage, Embroidered Gloves are great, as are Gloves of Twisted Temptation

Boots:  For every build under the sun, Ronneck’s Sacrifice is what will always go here. If you love charging, Boots of the Stampede, and there are also Abyss Walkers.

Bracers:  Eventually this will be your phylactery, before that stick to the Engraved Lucky Bracers or Bracers of Armor

Rings:  Ring of Evasion is terrific, Ring of Luck is nice to help saves, Ring of Imminent Demise is also cool

Cloak:  Bound of Possibility is terrific for Liches, as is Cloak of the Darkest Rites. The Wrath of the Undead can be equipped on your undead companions

Consumables:  Greater Quicken MM rod or Skeletal Finger rod,, Grandmaster’s Rod (in ch 5), Devouring Lust rod. Greater Empower Rod to pimp out Negative Eruption. With an Extend rod along with Greater Enduring spells, even buff spells that last 1 round/level now last 24 hours. Jharsygax is always nice as well.

That’s it for this build, feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. I’ve covered two powerful caster builds thus far but no worries, next up is a martial build.