Dead by Daylight: Best Builds for The Lich (Vecna) (2024)

The Whispered One, The Undying King, Lord of the Rotted Tower – Vecna is known by many names. In Dead by Daylight, he is known as The Lich, a powerful and ancient evil trapped and bound by The Entity. In order to make the most of Vecna’s four magical cantrips in Dead by Daylight, players should find the best builds that work for them.

This guide seeks to help players better understand The Lich by showcasing some of the strongest Dead by Daylight perks available to newcomers and veterans, alike, as well as the best add-ons to use with the Killer.

The Lich: Best Beginner Build (2024)

The beginner build is aimed at people who have just started their Dead by Daylight journey, who only have access to The Lich’s perks and those available to every Killer by default. Pairing Vecna’s Languid Touch with Spies from the Shadows will illuminate the locations of nearby Survivors whilst preventing them from using powerful Exhaustion perks. Meanwhile, Sloppy Butcher will slow down healing speeds and cause interrupted heals to regress, enabling greater pressure around hooked and injured Survivors. Finally, Hex: No One Escapes Death leaves all Survivors vulnerable once the final generator is powered, allowing you to secure more kills in the endgame.

• Languid Touch (The Lich) – Every 20 seconds, when a Survivor startles a crow within 36 meters they are Exhausted for 10 seconds.
• Sloppy Butcher (General Perk) – Basic attacks inflict the Mangled and Hemorrhage status ailments for 90 seconds, slowing down healing by 25% and regressing healing progress when left unfinished.
• Spies From the Shadows (General Perk) – When within 36 meters of a crow startled by a Survivor, you gain a loud noise notification.
• Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk) – After the final generator is completed, all Survivors suffer from the Exposed status ailment and you gain a 4% Haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.

The Lich: Best Build (2024)

As Vecna has all he needs to catch Survivors in the palm of his hand, all he really requires to secure victory is perks that pressure generators effectively. For those with access to other Dead by Daylight DLC Killers and their most powerful perks, this Lich Build aims to slow down generator progress passively while also granting information on the generators being worked on.

As The Plague’s Corrupt Intervention will establish early-game pressure and enable a three-generator setup, Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance and Grim Embrace work their generator regression with each new hook. With Dead Man’s Switch also in play, Grim Embrace will block generators for longer and provide vital information on which ones are being worked on.

• Corrupt Intervention (The Plague) – At the start of the trial, the three generators furthest from the killer's starting location are blocked for 120 seconds or until the first survivor is downed.
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist) – The Killer starts with four tokens. For each different Survivor hooked on a white Scourge Hook, lose one token and explode the generator with the most progress, causing it to lose 25% of progress.
• Grim Embrace (The Artist) – Each time The Killer hooks a new Survivor, all generators are blocked for 12 seconds after moving 16 meters away from the hook. Upon hooking each Survivor once, all generators are blocked for 40 seconds and the Obsession's aura is revealed for six seconds.
• Dead Man’s Switch (The Deathslinger) – After hooking a Survivor, Dead Man’s Switch activates for 30 seconds. Any Survivor who leaves a generator before it is repaired will have it blocked for the duration of the perk.

The Lich: Best Add-Ons

To push The Lich to his limits in Dead by Daylight, investing in the Bloodweb will unlock new add-ons that strengthen his Vile Darkness power. This section of the guide lists some of the best add-ons you should prioritise using, in order of rarity.

Trickster’s Glove

Mage Hand is perhaps Vecna’s most powerful ability in The Entity’s Trials. This Common Vile Darkness Add-On increases the time Mage Hand holds a pallet by half a second, giving you a little more time to secure an injury before the pallet can be used again.

Raven’s Feather

While not as impactful as other add-ons on this list, the Raven’s Feather increases the duration of The Lich’s Fly spell by half a second. When used to close the gap to Dead by Daylight's Survivors, either in loops or across the map, this extra time can come in handy.

Ring of Telekinesis

Perhaps the most powerful add-on on this list, the Uncommon Ring of Telekinesis reduces the time it takes for Mage Hand to lift a pallet by 35%. This makes it so Survivors who try to outrun this power will find themselves more often getting caught before they can reach other loops.

Ring of Spell Storing

Cooldown management is a big part of The Lich’s playstyle, as multiple powerful spells come with numerous lengthy cooldowns. The Ring of Spell Storing simply reduces all of these cooldowns by 4 seconds, giving you access to your various powers sooner.

Potion of Speed

Dungeons & Dragons’ Fly spell has made it into Dead by Daylight as one of Vecna’s four cantrips. While it can be used to cover vast distances at great speed, Fly also allows you to glide over pallets and windows, effectively blocking off loops when used correctly. To land a hit before a Survivor reacts to the spell, the Potion of Speed reduces the fatigue effect after casting Fly by 0.5 seconds.

Staff of Withering

Using Dispelling Sphere in chase is a good way to disable the Magic Items that counter Vecna’s abilities. When used this way, the Staff of Withering – which Exhausts Survivors hit by the Sphere – can make you less likely to encounter Survivor Exhaustion perks like Lithe, Sprint Burst, and Dead Hard.

Pearl of Power

Like the Ring of Spell Storing, the Pearl of Power reduces spell cooldowns. Somewhat like The Shape's Save the Best for Last, with each basic attack any remaining spell cooldowns are reduced by 5 seconds. Though the value from this add-on isn’t as consistently gained as with the Ring of Spell Storing, the Pearl of Power still provides a nice bonus if you find yourself frequently waiting for one of your spells to come back.

Ornate Horn

The Ornate Horn makes using Flight of the Damned a little more valuable, as the extra entity spawned by the Add-On makes the spell a little more difficult to dodge when it isn’t crouched under.

Boots of Speed

Similar to the Ring of Telekinesis, the Boots of Speed buff Mage Hand, making it more effective in a number of loops. Simply put, this Rare Vile Darkness Add-On grants a 5%Haste status effect for 2 seconds following a Mage Hand cast, giving you more speed to catch up to a Survivor.

Dragontooth Dagger

An easy add-on to recommend, the Very Rare Dragontooth Dagger applies the Mangled and Hemorrhage status ailments for 45 seconds to Survivors hit while wearing Magic items. Since this is most people in a Trial against The Lich, the Dragontooth Dagger essentially acts like a weaker Sloppy Butcher, slowing Survivor healing without having to equip the perk.

Vorpal Sword

For players looking for more impactful changes to The Lich King’s powers, the Vorpal Sword takes crown. Hitting injured Survivors with the Dispelling Sphere causes them to scream and inflicts Broken, interrupting their actions and preventing them from healing. Mage Hand also changes significantly; now, instead of having to time Mage Hand to lift a pallet at the right moment, Vecna uses it to smash the pallets, employing the cantrip similar to how The Knight can use his power to zone Survivors away from resources.

Iridescent Book of Vile Darkness

Like the Vorpal Sword, the Iridescent Book of Vile Darkness fundamentally changes how The Lich’s cantrips work, and are therefore not recommended for those getting to grips with how to play him. Nevertheless, this superb add-on makes the Fly spell function similar to The Clown’s Bamboozle, blocking the window as you glide through and preventing Survivors from using it. More significantly, the Flight of the Damned spell spawns closer to the ground, meaning it must be dodged by Survivors and cannot by crouched under. Killers who can accurately predict Survivor movements with both these spells can use this Ultra Rare Add-On to consistently damage Survivors when they otherwise would be unable to.

Dead by Daylight

Platform(s)

PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Stadia , Switch , Mobile

Released

June 14, 2016

Developer(s)

Behaviour Interactive

Genre(s)

Horror , Survival