This guide is a look at how to unlock the Lich Subclass of the Wizard Class in Card Quest. This Subclass is the easiest to unlock from the Wizard Class. The guide includes detailed information on how to build your character to complete the unlock, as well as how to deal with particular monsters you will encounter.
Wizard Lich Subclass Unlocking Guide
Setup for Unlocking the Lich Subclass
The Lich Subclass is the easiest to unlock of the Wizard Class. It can only be unlocked by completing the City of the Undead. Unfortunately, the Dragon Whistle cannot be used as a Trinket to save time by heading straight for the Cathedral for the final battle, but the challenges you face are minor with the particular build I developed here using the required components.
The image above shows you the setup you need to use. Below is then an explanation of why you should choose these particular items as opposed to others as well as the basics of the card function. You should be familiar with how the cards work at this point, so I will not be as detailed as my Electromistic builds for the Wizard Class (see separate guide).
Style: Necromancy School
This is the Style required for this unlock and perhaps my favorite in terms of what it does, though my Electromist build is far superior.
Dark Ritual may seem foolish to use but it’s essential to increase a generally low card-draw rate and for its SOULS regeneration ability and 2-card draw. With the HEALTH you drain from enemies that -4 HEALTH cost won’t matter.
Soul Armor is not as effective in terms of STRIKEBACK damage as Lightning Charge is (see my Electromistic and Storm Master Subclass guides), dealing only 1 per card used, but in a CHAIN it costs far less and it does provide ample defense in many cases.
Wraith Collector is a great card for masses of enemies and for SOULS regeneration. In a chain, it has a very low cost but the damage remains the same. Life Drain you’ll be using quite a bit. It is UNDODGEABLE, a boon, and it drains 2 HEALTH from any enemy you strike regardless of how much they have left.
So, for example, if you kill an enemy with 1 HEALTH, the 2 HEALTH bonus still applies. Even using Dark Ritual you’ll restore your HEALTH quickly with this card. It’s a primary attack for this build and also initiates a CHAIN.
Primary: Book of Dread
You could also use Book of the Dead here but I found the Revenant attacks to be too costly and too minimal in terms of damage. It’s possible to work it but Book of Dread is more powerful, though it may not seem that way at first glance. Soul Blast is great for STUN, eliminating DODGE on enemies by proximity, and its corrupting effects.
Black Curse, which is UNDODGEABLE, unlike Soul Blast, has a similar corrupting effect and at very little cost, 1 STAMINA in a CHAIN. When you stack these first two cards with this build’s overall corrupting effects monster HEALTH diminishes at a rapid rate. Soul Drain is another UNDODGEABLE card, that deals damage regardless of ARMOR, and in a CHAIN deals a straight 5 instead of 3. Unlike the other two, it comes with a single card draw.
Life Drain is the same card as the one that appears with your Necromancy School deck, so that’s another reason you should choose this Primary, it gives you double the rate of the draw so you can use it as a frequent method of attack.
Secondary: Guardian Scrolls
Scrolls of the Damned can also be used in this slot, but I don’t recommend it. Soul Shield is the primary defensive card in that set and it provides minimal defense against stronger monsters. Guardian Scrolls, by contrast, are much stronger.
This set only features 2 cards, but they draw almost equally and both are useful. Guardian Protection is your primary defense and in a CHAIN it nets a total of 6 points blocked, which is extremely useful. Further, the Undead Guard it summons deals 4 damage to an attacking target outside of a CHAIN, 6 when in one. Guardian Riposte works in a similar fashion except the Undead Guard deals far more damage in a CHAIN (a total of 12 points).
Note also this card is a CHAINBREAKER, so it’s best to leave it during your defensive phase for last unless you have nothing else to use. Both of these cards also draw 1 card whether or not they’re part of a CHAIN, another useful feature. You’ll find many times you draw another for defense when you think you’re about to take a hit.
The UNDEAD GUARD generates regularly enough that you should have no problem keeping that number stable, but note it does have a cost. The great thing about these cards, however, is they require no STAMINA at all! So they’re perfect for defense. You can use all of your STAMINA before your defensive phase and still never take a single hit.
Armor: Necromancer Robes
This is required for the unlock, plus, they increase your HEALTH and SOULS by 5, which is a great benefit to any build should you use them. When used once, though a CHAINBREAKER, the Necromancer Robes provide 6 SOULS and 2 STAMINA at the cost of 1 HEALTH.
Don’t worry about that, because with Life Drain (discussed above), you’ll make that back in no time. It has a single use but recharges in one encounter, so you’ll use this every battle.
Trinket: Spider Ring
The Death Ring can also be used here, but for this build, it’s practically worthless. We are not using UNDEAD abilities, so the generation of those points is wasted. Further, Trinket provides no card draw at all.
The Spider Ring, however, offers a 1-card draw for each use, in addition to 6 SOULS when used at the cost of 1 HEALTH. It also increases SOULS by 2 and has 3 uses. Each user only needs a single encounter to recharge as well.
Bag: Vampire Familiar
The Homunculus is another option here but it will do absolutely nothing for you. It decreases the cost of Necromancy Spells but to use it for its other benefits requires ARCANE CHARGES, which are nowhere in this build! The Vampire Familiar, however, attacks a random target for 4 damage and STUN (if the target it strikes is not STUN immune).
When used, it generates 1 HEALTH, 3 STAMINA, 3 SOULS, and a single card. It can be used 3 times, but note that it takes two full encounters for one recharge so be careful how you use it!
Max Level Perks
I’ve tried different layouts of perks for this unlock, but the following, in order of selection, is what I found works the best.
Choose the following perks as you level, starting from those provided at Round 4: Clarity of Mind (+1 STAMINA), Necromantic Expertise (+2 SOULS per turn), Necromantic Affinity (max SOULS increase by 5), Magical Vitality (+2 max HEALTH), Necromantic Affinity again, Necromantic Mastery (spells cost -5 SOULS for first 3 turns), Magical Vitality again, Necromantic Expertise again, and finally Magical Vitality again.
These perks are meant to maximize your necromantic abilities to their fullest extent. Now that you understand the basic setup I will go through the recommended path with a full explanation of the monsters you can encounter.
First Level: High Town
You’ll find this unlock moves rather quickly, and this is the easiest level to choose for that purpose, though you could choose one of the other two. This is the simplest, in my opinion, so go with it. Most of what you face has been found in encounters all through the City of the Undead.
I’ve presented here explanations of every possible appearance, in alphabetical order. At the end of this section, I describe the potential purchases you’ll have after completing the High Town.
Big Revenant
A fairly common monster after the more common Revenant (see separate entry below). The Big Revenant, which comes in two varieties, is simply a stronger version of the Revenant with more damage and HEALTH. But, you should not find them a problem.
They’re easily put in STUN and destroyed. There is no difference between the two, either, it’s simply a different look.
Crawler
The Crawler is simply the living remains of a Revenant (see separate entry below) after you reduce its HEALTH to 0, provided it has an exclamation point at the bottom. Once you kill a Revenant in its base form it can turn into this if that’s the case.
They start out SLOW and do less damage so you should have no problem with them. If you have 2 Soul Shield cards armed they’ll die upon contact in your defensive phase. They come in 3 different looks, but there is no difference in abilities. They appear as half of the body they were as a Revenant so that look determines how they appear as a Crawler.
Draugr
These monsters are big and pack a lot of HEALTH, along with decent damage, but as you can see they start out SLOW and are not immune to STUN. Generally I would suggest saving them and working at the lesser monsters first to reduce the number of attacks you have to defend because Draugrs appear in groups and it’s best to save your defense entirely for them whenever possible.
Festering Revenant
You should think of these as mid-range in-between a regular Revenant (see separate entry below) and the Big Revenant (see separate entry above). The difference is that the Festering Revenant has STRIKEBACK damage, but since you’re not directly attacking them this won’t matter. They can also vomit when DISTANT but we’re not working the DISTANT angle at all so also not a problem. They’ll be wiped out quickly with the build. A single Life Drain will eliminate one of these, note.
Ghast
Essentially this is a stronger and more annoying version of the standard Ghoul (see separate entry below). The primary difference to note, along with more damage, HEALTH, and getting initiative at the start of any encounter in which they appear, is that the Ghast has FURY and will attack twice in its turn. So make sure you have enough defensive cards to handle them. A Mulligan or two will fix that, as necessary, but because of how quickly this build regains HEALTH a few shots from one of these won’t make much of a difference in the long run.
Ghoul
A standard monster from various Levels in the City of the Undead. They have low HEALTH but note that they get initiative so you should have defensive cards ready for the start of any encounter where they appear. One is sufficient because they only attack a single time.
High Necromancer
This is the boss of the High Town, and he’s super easy. Basically, it’s a stronger version of your standard Necromancer (see separate entry below). He simply has FURY (attacks twice), more HEALTH, and can summon far more Dead than the typical Necromancer.
However, this depends on how many slots are open on the screen. Usually when he starts to summon he calls upon too many Dead and you’ll see them die repeatedly in an explosion of gore when this occurs. For the most part, the High Necromancer summons Revenants (see separate entry), and later Big Revenants and Festering Revenants if you haven’t killed him soon enough.
Though he’s immune to STUN like many bosses, just focus on tearing the High Necromancer down with corrupting attacks and have your defense ready for the defensive phase and you’ll make short work of him.
Necromancer
These monsters are more annoying than anything else because they start DISTANT and Raise Dead on their turn, unless in STUN. The DISTANT effect doesn’t matter because all of the attacks with this build work at any distance, but to save time you want to stop the Necromancers from summoning. When they do they summon 1 Revenant (see separate entry below) if there is enough room in the playing field. Otherwise, they’ll attack you with a corrupting spell that can POISON if it strikes you. Very easy to defend against, though note that the Guardian Scrolls won’t do any damage to a Necromancer. They are immune to its attack, but not its defense. If you focus on them with Soul Blast you’ll keep them in STUN and they’ll rapidly die from the corrupting effects of other cards you use.
Revenant
The most common monster in the High Town. They appear in 3 different looks, as you see above, but it is no different in abilities. Slow and weak, it’s unlikely you’ll get hit by them much and even if you do their damage is low. They’re great to use Life Drain on to destroy them and still net the +2 HEALTH bonus. Otherwise, take them out with the corrupting effects of the build or other direct attacks. They can turn into a Crawler (see separate entry above) as well, but only if you see an exclamation point at the bottom of their feet. If not, they simply die. A number of Revenants appear as HIDDEN ENEMIES in this Level, please note.
Starving Ghoul
A slightly more powerful version of the standard Ghoul (see separate entry above). The only difference between the two, other than looks, is that the Starving Ghoul has FURY and will attack twice. It’s unlikely they’ll ever have the chance, however, or when one attacks an Undead Guardian card will wipe them out.
High Town Purchases
These are your potential purchases after completing the High Town. Depending on how much GOLD you have at this point, which varies, I would recommend the Miracle Medicine and Whiskey Flask.
The Healing Potion is nice, but don’t make it a priority because this build has such a high HEALTH regeneration feature it’s unlikely that 2 extra HEALTH is going to matter much. If you only have enough GOLD for one purchase,
Choose Miracle Medicine for your final encounter with The Arch Lich, when POISON effects can be removed with it to clear that status.
Second Level: Roofs
Roofs is the best option for the second level. It’s considerably easy, provided you don’t get hit by enemies repeatedly due to their FURY feature. The monster set in this Level is rather small in comparison to others, but you should understand how they all work. I’ve presented here explanations of every possible appearance, in alphabetical order as you found in the last section of this guide. I also have included purchase available after completing the Roofs at the end of this section.
Blind Hunter
This is a rare appearance in Round 3 or 4 of the Roofs. The Blind Hunter can be considered a weaker version of the boss, the Vampire Matriarch (see separate entry below). It has less HEALTH but similar features. In particular, it can go DISTANT and HIDE, as well as summon Palebats (see separate entry below).
It hides when it reaches 30, 20, and 10 HEALTH, so have defense ready for 2 attacks, if possible, once it leaves HIDE. At 20 HEALTH it also summons 4 Palebats. But, since it works similarly to the regular Vampire (see separate listing below), you can treat it as such.
Be aware of its DODGE and FURY, but the corrupting effects of this build will make short work of it in a few turns at most.
Ghoul
An uncommon appearance in the Roofs, the Ghoul you face here is exactly the same as those on the previous Level, so refer back to that section of the guide as needed.
Palebat
This monster appears in large numbers in the Roofs, but they’re easy. They often appear as HIDDEN ENEMIES as well as summons via two other monsters (the Blind Hunter and Vampire Matriarch, see separate entries above and below), but they still pose no challenge for this build.
2 Soul Armor cards armed will wipe them out come your defensive phase, but if you have Wraith Collector it will kill every single one present because it is UNDODGEABLE. Sometimes you’ll encounter a mob of only Palebats, and I suggest trying a Mulligan or three until you receive a Wraith Collector card.
Vampire
This is a primary enemy at this Level and you’re going to face a lot of them in differing numbers. Vampires have DODGE and FURY, which can make them tricky if you don’t have enough defense and too many of them are ready to attack.
Luckily with this build you should find the corrupting effects and STUN via Soul Blast takes care of them. When there are lines of them using Soul Blast to remove the DODGE makes it easy to STUN a few before your defensive phase.
By then you’ll likely have at least 1 Soul Armor armed, if not 2, and the Undead Guardian will finish them off if any are left alive. Even if you take any damage Life Drain will replenish your HEALTH quickly, as you already learned from the previous Level.
Vampire Matriarch
The boss of the Roofs. The Vampire Matriarch is just a more powerful Vampire (see separate entry above) when it comes down to it, and very similar to the rare monster the Blind Hunter (see separate entry above).
However, she is STUN immune and can attack from DISTANT. This is not a problem for this build, however, as one defensive card will ignore that when it happens. Every turn she also summons 2 Palebats (see separate entry above) and when she reaches 15 HEALTH she summons 4 and goes into HIDE mode.
Note that she will not do this immediately, but upon her next turn. She can also use an attack called the SONIC BOOM, which cannot be defended directly, but does minimal damage. If you have 2 Soul Shield cards active it will block immediately. With the corrupting effects of this build, which her HIDE cannot stop, you should find this boss dies quickly.
Purchases after the Roofs
The purchases available after the Roofs are limited in scope but cheaper so you should have enough GOLD to buy them all. The Miracle Medicine is by far more important because of its ability to cure any ailments, including POISON, which is great for the final boss,
The Arch Lich. The Bandage is fine if you have the GOLD to spend, but it only heals 1 HEALTH per Bandage and the healing properties of this build should make them superfluous.
Buy them if you can afford them, however, because there is nothing else to use GOLD on in the City of the Undead after this point. The final Level, The Cathedral, should provide little challenge for you. Let’s move on to it.
The Cathedral
You’ve likely already played through The Cathedral with other builds, but as before I will go over all monster appearances in this Level alphabetically. These encounters are surprisingly fast with this build in comparison to other playthroughs I’ve done with other Classes, and once you complete it you’ve unlocked the Lich Subclass!
The Arch Lich
This is the boss of The Cathedral. It has FURY and POISON, but your defense should keep that away for the entire battle. Though it can attack when DISTANT, it will come up immediately on its first turn so there’s no reason to worry about this.
Focus on The Philactery first (see separate entry below) and note that The Arch Lich can summon 3 Wraiths (see separate entry below) per turn if there is enough space for them.
Since there are a few Undead Guards (see separate entry below) at the start of this battle, keep them there as long as possible to keep the number of Wraiths low since they have DODGE and FURY and the Undead Guard does not.
Kill The Phiactery first and then focus your attention on The Arch Lich, applying STUN or corrupting effects to the Wraiths as needed. You should find this encounter rather easy with this build, and it will only take a few turns for it to be over to complete the Lich Subclass unlock. Congratulations!
Cultist Death Master
This is a rare appearance in Round 3 or 4. You won’t know he’s there until he appears from the middle of a group of Undying Cultists (see separate entry below). The Cultist Death Master is a more powerful version of an Undying Cultist with more attack and HEALTH and upon dying turns into the Wight Death Master.
This is a more powerful version of the Wight (see separate entry below) with DODGE and FURY. Due to the power of this build and its corrupting effects, not to forget its largely UNDODGEABLE attacks, he’ll pose no challenge at all. Eliminate the enemies around him first and then finish him off. He’s harder to deal with as the Wight Death Master if multiple monsters remain.
Draugr
These are exactly the same as you faced in the High Town. Deal with them the same way and refer back to that section as needed.
Festering Horror
A rare appearance in Round 5, the Festering Horror deals MIASMA damage every turn that cannot be defended against. Its STRIKEBACK feature is nothing to worry about with this build and you should find it harder than other monsters, but not a problem should it appear.
Ghast
These are exactly the same as you faced in the High Town. Deal with them the same way and refer back to that section as needed.
Ghoul
These are exactly the same as you encountered in the past 2 Levels, so deal with them the same.
Holy Relic
If you get the right mob with the right Tomb (see separate entry below), this will appear when it’s destroyed. The Holy Relic provides 1 HEALTH regeneration but is more important for its ability to remove all negative effects like POISON. This makes it useful for The Arch Lich (see separate entry above).
Necromancer
These are exactly the same as you faced in the High Town. Deal with them the same way and refer back to that section as needed.
The Philactery
This target only appears when finally facing the boss, The Arch Lich (see separate entry above). The Arch Lich cannot be killed without first destroying The Philactery. When this encounter begins, you should put all of your focus into eliminating it first. It deals no damage but has decent ARMOR.
Revenant
These are exactly the same as those encountered in the High Town (see separate section of this guide as needed). You’ll only encounter them if a Necromancer (see separate listing above) has time to summon them. They will, in that case, appear 1 per turn per Necromancer.
Starving Ghoul
These are exactly the same as you faced in the High Town. Deal with them the same way and refer back to that section as needed.
Tomb
The Tomb is an uncommon appearance in The Cathedral. They appear in pairs in Round 5 or 6. Ignore them because they’ll eventually open on their own, revealing an Undead Guard (see separate entry below) in most cases. Sometimes, however, you will find one that contains an Holy Relic (see separate listing above).
Undead Guard
You’ll face a number of these. They have high ARMOR as well as POISON but since they have no DODGE they’re easy to STUN. Since they lack FURY you should find your defensive phase easy even with a lot of them. When killed, they turn into a Wretched Undead Guard (see separate listing below).
Undying Cultist
The Undying Cultist is weak, though they can POISON, but upon being killed they turn into a Wight (see separate listing below). In some mobs they appear as multiple HIDDEN ENEMIES, as well, but you should find little difficulty with them. If you corrupt them enough they can deal no damage and skip an attacking phase, please note. They tend to appear in large numbers.
Vampire
These are exactly the same as you faced in the Roofs. Deal with them the same way and refer back to that section as needed. Note that you should consider these a priority because of their DODGE and FURY.
Wight
This is what comes from an Undying Cultist (see separate entry above) when killed. The Wight has POISON but not much else to worry about. STUN what you can if they appear in large numbers and use your corrupting attacks and defensive cards to lay waste to them. Sometimes they appear on their own without first starting as an Undying Cultist.
Wraith
Wraiths have DODGE and FURY, but most of your attacks are corrupting and UNDODGEABLE so by the time they attack you’ll likely have 2 Soul Armor cards utilized and one Undead Guardian card will eliminate them after the first attack, if they’re not already dead. Their attack from DISTANT does not matter for this build because they’ll never appear as such.
Wretched Undead Guard
The Wretched Undead Guard is the crawling remains of the Undead Guard (see separate entry above). They have less ARMOR and less damage, but can still POISON so be aware of this. Deal with them just like the Undead Guard.
So that is it for today. You guys can bookmark our page for more crazy and amazing guides. Officially written and produced by Deaf Sparrow. I hope it helped you guys and made your day.
Once again, thank you for reading this guide. I hope that it has been a valuable resource for you and that you are now equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to dominate your opponents in Card Quest. Good luck, and happy gaming!
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