Lich, gonna have your mana! **UPDATED**

Funny, I was just playing against a level 25 Lich with a Mek, Pipe, Agh's, Boots of Travel and 31 kills. :(

Good guide +1

I think it is worth mentioning that sacrifice removes all exp. like the creep never existed. This will slowly under level your opponent.

For times not to pick if your team is a ganking and roaming team I would avoid Lich. Lich is best as a lane support but when the leaning phase ends at 5 minutes sacrifice will lose lots of value. In a gank he can only slow and nothing else.

I have not read your guide yet, but i will do that soon-ish..

Thus being said, Sacrifice should be used the same way that Demonic Conversion is used: Deny the ranged creep in mid lane from the start. If you are part of the safe lane, deny the ranged creep of the mid lane, so your mid laner gets an advantage over the enemy mid laner before they even meet. If you are the mid laner yourself, the same principle applies, because this way, you get to be level 2 after first creepwave and the enemy is not. Which means that you can harass with ease. If you are solo offlaning you might want to sacrifice your own ranged creep, but if you are dual laning on the offlane you should use it on the mid ranged creep. Any momentum applicable to your mid lane can make the difference, especially if your mid laner is a hero like Shadow Fiend who starts really weak and gains momentum within the first couple of minutes (although that fast level 2 is not that important for him).

Thanks for the comments guys, I have actually been trying sacrifice at lvl1 and it works great like you both suggest, changed the skill progression for this!

Also how did I forget Faceless Void as an ally? Derp moment!

Actually, i would argue that it is MORE important in pub games to take it at level 1. The reason being that if you don't know who you are playing with... you could possibly have a lane pushing (auto attacking) noob (in which case keeping the lane back as much as possible while trying to correct them is the correct move) or you can have someone who understands the laning stage well enough to last hit, in which case you still get added benefit from the lane control by allowing yourself to get more levels quickly and your partner to get more levels and gold quickly with less risk to both.

Yeah, you've got to get Sacrifice at level 1 under pretty much all conditions - that lane control and denying the enemy experience is such an important part of Lich's effectiveness. While you do want to level it, and max Frost Blast ASAP, occasionally it can be worth getting an early level in Ice Armour if the enemy lane has melee heroes and you're worried about your carry.

Oh, and add Faceless Void to useful allies - Chronosphere is perfect for Chain Frost.

Other than that, nice guide, well presented.

Yeah I've seen players take Sac at lvl 1 and your reasoning is justified, could perhaps be situational though due to pub-games etc. I'm possibly going to re-order some of the skill orders anyways! :D

I disagree with every one of the skill builds, for one reason.

Sac should be level 1. Not because it is awesome and you need the mana level 1, but because if you are off-lane/mid, you sac a ranged creep on the first wave, making it impossible for your opponent to stop the wave from pushing towards you. If you are on the safe lane, assuming you have competent opponents and they block, the same concept applies.

Witht he ability to harass heavilly by level 2 (expecially since your harass can and usually does having an AoE, push the lane) having such powerful lane control is important.

Other than that I really have no issues.

Hi Peppo, thanks for your comment! Yeah I kinda agree with the Aghanim's Scepter pickup being more of a late-game item I think I'll change that :)

Thanks again for your constrictive comment :)

You know what? This is a great guide with good tips and visually appealing, but I don't really like that Aghanim's Scepter on the first build: I know, in pubs even supports get farm somehow, but I wouldn't teach new players to save money for an item worth ~4000 gold. Instead, a Ghost Scepter, Drum of Endurance, Force Staff or any of the items between your "Midgame optional/situational" list would be a good choice; I would leave Agh's between the late-game items.

Thanks for the comment, Lich is great fun and I hope you like him :)

Great guide for someone wanting to try Lich, such as myself. Do i need to say anything more? +1