The Lich | |
---|---|
Name | Vecna |
Gender | Man |
Origin | Oerth (D&D World) |
Realm | The Decimated Borgo |
Power | Vile Darkness |
Power Attack Type | Special Attack
(Flight of the Damned) |
Weapon | Afterthought Dagger |
Movement Speed![]() ![]() ![]() |
115 % | 4.6 m/s |
Alternate Movement speed | 173 % | 6.92 m/s (Fly) |
Terror Radius![]() ![]() ![]() |
32 metres |
Height ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Average |
DLC | CHAPTER 32: Dungeons & Dragons |
Voice Actor | Matt Mercer (Voice Actor and Game Designer) |
Cost | 500 Auric Cells![]() ![]() ![]() |
Menu Music | |
Terror Radius Music | |
CharID | K36 |
Vecna or "The Lich" is one of 40 Killers currently featured in Dead by Daylight
.
He was introduced as the Killer of CHAPTER 32: Dungeons & Dragons, a Chapter DLC released on 3 June 2024.
He originates from the 1974 Board game Dungeons & Dragons.
Overview[]

Few dare speak The Lich's true name, for fear that he may hear — or worse.
His personal Perks, Weave Attunement, Languid Touch
, and Dark Arrogance
, allow him to exploit used Items, exhaust those who disturb the Crows, and increase his Vaulting speed.
Difficulty Rating: Moderate
(These Killers require the Player to be comfortable with the basics of the role, though they share common mechanics with easier ones)
Lore[]

The Whispered One. Lord of the Rotted Tower. The Master of Secrets. Few dare speak his true name, for fear that he may hear — or worse.
Even as a young wizard, Vecna’s command of magic was matched by none. While others spent decades committing to and perfecting one school of magic, he effortlessly mastered each one of them. After his mother’s execution for witchcraft, his focus became obsession as he pored the most of his study into the darkest school of magic—necromancy, the magic of life and death.
As his power grew, so did his ambition. Over the centuries, he shed his mortal shell and ascended to lichdom. His power gave rise to a great empire, ruled over from his Rotted Tower.
His thirst for dark knowledge to fill his Book of Vile Darkness led him to many realms and planes. But it was in his own realm one of his servants found something — a spell, perhaps, torn from an ancient tome — written in a language he had never seen. From it he could sense an incredible dark energy. Without any document of the language, he had to spend months painstakingly analysing its syntax, its phonetics, its form. He documented every stroke of every letter, scrutinising and theorising on their meanings, in a massive book hidden in his chambers. When his lieutenants came to him with problems in their domain, Vecna told them to deal with it themselves. He had more important matters to attend to.
Countless nights were spent memorizing the strange script, attempting to make it make sense. Only occasionally would he leave his keep to investigate rumours of people who had disappeared without a trace in the night. At these scenes, he could sense the same foreign magic that emanated from the torn page. He was convinced that whatever was killing these people had also written this strange script.
He was confounded, which made him furious. The scenes, few and far between, had no pattern, no common motive. No sign of struggle, no body, and only a lingering hum of dark energy. To what end did they need these bodies?
One dark night, he had a breakthrough: a word he had been interpreting as “dying” made more sense as “disappearing.” Perhaps these people were not being killed at all: perhaps they were being taken alive. He applied this substitution through his notes and everything seemed to fall into place.
He copied what he had learned to a fresh piece of parchment, written phonetically. He began to speak the words aloud and the room darkened. It filled with a creeping black fog. He felt himself displacing, going somewhere else. Vecna resisted, incanting memorised spells, holding the fog at bay. But as he gazed into the darkness, he felt that alluring energy from it; a despair, an evil he could scarcely imagine. A sick curiosity overcoming him, he dropped his concentration, and let the fog take him. Whatever it was, wherever it was, he understood that the only way to harness it was to submit to it. He knew, in his cold, unbeating heart, that its dark secrets would one day be his.
Load-out[]
Unique Perks[]
The Lich comes with 3 Perks that are unique to him:
Dark Arrogance | When everything is going right, you are an inescapable inevitability.
Increases your Vaulting speed in exchange for increased vulnerability to being blinded and stunned:
| |
---|---|---|
Languid Touch | Your dreadful aura is so suffocating that even terrifying scenes tire your prey.
When a Survivor scares off a Crow
"Submit to me. It is inevitable." — Vecna | |
Weave Attunement | You are so attuned to magical energies that you can sense even minor ripples around enchantments.
Whenever an Item
|
Prestige[]
Prestiging The Lich will automatically add Tier I of his Unique Perks to the inventories of all other Killers and unlock the ability for their higher-tiered versions to spawn in their Bloodweb.
Prestige The Lich twice more to automatically add Tier II and Tier III respectively into the other Killers' inventories.
Weapon: Afterthought Dagger[]

The Afterthought Dagger is the Primary Weapon of The Lich.
Blade in hand, he fought with ferocity — even when he lost his eye and hand to the one who betrayed him.
Power: Vile Darkness[]
"Bound with the skin and flesh of men, the Book is packed with spells both forbidden and wicked."
SPECIAL ABILITY: VILE DARKNESS
Press and hold the Secondary Power button to open the Spell Selection.
Move the cursor towards one of four available Spells in order to select it:
- Fly
: Grants the ability to fly across the environment for up to 4 seconds and allows The Lich to ignore dropped Pallets
and Windows
.
- Flight of the Damned
: Grants the ability to conjure 5 Flying Entities that can pass through obstacles and damage Survivors in their path.
- Triggers Killer Instinct on Survivors downed by this Spell for 5 seconds.
- Cannot hit crouched Survivors on level terrain.
- Dispelling Sphere
: Grants the ability to cast a moving invisible Sphere that reveals Survivors through Killer Instinct and disables their Magic Items for 60 seconds upon contact.
- Causes the specific type of Magic Item to become visible to The Lich on the Survivor HUD while they are disabled by the Spell.
- The Cool-down duration of Magic Items is indicated to all Players with a timer on the Survivor HUD.
- Mage Hand
: Grants the ability to create a Magical Hand that lifts dropped Pallets back upright in 0.5 seconds or blocks already upright ones for 4 seconds.
Each Spell is on its own independent cool-down.
SPECIAL TREASURE CHESTS: MAGIC ITEMS
6 Treasure Chests containing special Magic Items for Survivors to equip spawn in the environment.
These include Boots or Gauntlets
of:
- All Magic Items reveal the Aura
of The Lich for 1.5 seconds, when he casts their associated Spell.
- The Skyguard
: Reveals the Aura
of The Lich during Fly.
- This effect lingers for 0.25 seconds.
- The Nightwatch
: Reveals the Auras of the Flying Entities during Flight of the Damned.
- The Archivist
: Turns the Dispelling Sphere visible.
- The Interloper
: Reveals the Auras of Pallets affected by Mage Hand.
- Grants a +7 % Haste
Status Effect for 3 seconds.
- Grants a +7 % Haste
Beware of Mimics though, they may bite.
Survivors can have both a Boot and a Gauntlet equipped at the same time.
Unlucky Survivors may only find a regular Item inside a Treasure Chest that is either depleted or half-depleted.
SPECIAL ITEMS: HAND & EYE OF VECNA
Rarely, Treasure Chests contain either the Hand of Vecna or the Eye of Vecna.
Healthy Survivors can use those Items to gain a special ability at the cost of a Health State and triggering Killer Instinct after use:
- Hand of Vecna
: Rushing into a Locker
teleports the Survivor to a different Locker that is at least 10 metres away.
- Triggers a Loud Noise Notification on the target Locker and Killer Instinct on them for 5 seconds.
- Eye of Vecna
: Rushing out of a Locker has the following effects for 12 seconds:
- Suppresses their Aura, Scratch Marks, Blood Pools and Grunts of Pain.
- Grants them complete invisibility.
- Grants +25 % Haste.
- Triggers Killer Instinct for 3 seconds after becoming visible again.
SPECIAL INTERACTION: RECOVER ARTEFACT
Survivors attuned to the Eye of Vecna or the Hand of Vecna with an accumulated 2 Hook Stages are vulnerable to The Lich recovering his Artefact from them.
Press the Attack button while standing over the downed Survivor to execute them on the spot, performing a Mini-Mori.
Power Trivia[]
Movement Speeds:
- Main Article
- Charging Spells: 4.0 m/s
- Post-Casting Spells: 3.68 m/s for 2 seconds
- Post-Fly Cool-down: 2.3 m/s for 2.5 seconds
- Walking: 4.6 m/s
- Flying: 6.92 m/s
All Spells:
- Charge time: 0.2 seconds
- How long it takes to charge a Spell before it can be cast.
- Cool-down Charge threshold: 0.1 seconds
- Buffer that prevents any cool-downs from applying by accidentally tapping the button.
- Initial Cool-down duration: 15 seconds
- Applies at the start of the Trial, starts after the initial camera pan is completed.
- Regular Cool-down duration: 38 seconds
- This cool-down is applied individually to each Spell after casting and not shared.
- Cancellation Cool-down duration: 1 second
- Applies after cancelling a Spell after charging it, instead of casting it.
- Spell Cast Cool-down after casting: 2 seconds
- Fly is an exception with an increased Cool-down duration of 2.5 seconds
- Spell Cast Cool-down after cancelling: 1 second
- Magic Item Aura-reveal duration: 1.5 seconds
- The time the Aura of The Lich is revealed to a Survivor wearing a Magic Item that matches the cast Spell.
- For the Fly Spell, the Aura-reveal lasts for the entire duration of it.
Dispelling Sphere:
- Activation time: 0.75 seconds
- The time between The Lich casting the Spell and the Dispelling Sphere launching.
- Trajectory Previewer Distance offset: 1.75 metres
- The distance the Trajectory Previewer of the Dispelling Sphere is placed in front of The Lich.
- Trajectory Previewer length: 10 metres
- Trajectory Previewer width: 0.4 metres
- Trajectory Previewer height offset: 1 metre
- Movement speed: 11 m/s
- This is the maximum speed the Dispelling Sphere could move at with Add-ons (currently not obtainable).
- Lifetime: 25 seconds
- The Sphere despawns over 2 seconds after travelling for that duration.
- Initial radius: 0.07 metres
- This is used for the mini-sphere while The Lich is charging the Spell.
- Eventual radius: 6 metres
- Killer Instinct duration: 3 seconds
- Disabled State duration for Magic Items: 60 seconds
- This is indicated as a timer on the affected Survivors' HUD Portraits.
Flight of the Damned:
- Activation time: 0.25 seconds
- The time between The Lich casting the Spell and the Flying Entities spawning.
- Summoning time: 0.5 seconds
- How long it takes for the spawned Flying Entities to go from inactive to active and start flying.
- Maximum Flight speed: 9 m/s
- Maximum Flight length: 22 metres
- Flight height: 1.4 metres
- The height above the ground that the Flying Entities spawn and travel at.
Survivors located below this height (i.e. when crouched) cannot be harmed.
- The height above the ground that the Flying Entities spawn and travel at.
- Despawn time: 2 seconds
- Distance offset 4 metres
- How far in front of The Lich the Flying Entities spawn.
- Trajectory Previewer length: 10 metres
- Trajectory Previewer width: 0.45 metres
- Trajectory Previewer height offset: 0.7 metres
- Survivor Aura-reading distance: 2 metres
- This refers to the maximum range at which Survivors can see the Auras of the Flying Entities.
- Killer Instinct duration when downed: 5 seconds
Fly:
- Flying Movement speed: 6.92 m/s
- Speed Curve Transition time: 1 second
- This refers to how long it takes The Lich to reach his maximum Flying speed and also to go back zero after ending the Fly Spell.
- FOV Transition time: 1.5 seconds
- Maximum Flying time: 4 seconds
- Flying can be interrupted at any point by pressing the Attack button.
- Collision-Loss linger duration (Vaultables): 1 second
- This applies to the collision with Vault locations, not the one with Survivors, after The Lich ends the Fly Spell.
Mage Hand:
- Range: 16 metres
- Survivor Highlight range: 8 metres
- This refers to the highlight indicating to a Survivor that a Pallet is affected by Mage Hand
- Pre-Block Wait time: 0.35 seconds
- This is how long the Mage Hand waits before blocking an upright Pallet.
- Block duration: 4 seconds
- Pre-Lift Wait time: 0.5 seconds
- This is how long the Mage Hand waits before lifting a dropped Pallet.
- Lift duration: 0.5 seconds
- Post-Lift Block duration: 0.15 seconds
- This applies only when the Pallet was lifted.
Add-ons for Vile Darkness[]
Icon | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Crystal Ball | Used by spellcasters for centuries to scry upon friend and foe alike.
| |
Raven's Feather | A material component most typically used by the Fly spell
| |
Tattered Headband | An enchanted accessory once owned by a powerful summoner. It still carries a whisper of its former magic.
| |
Trickster's Glove | A glove once belonging to an archane trickster whose mastery of Mage Hand clings to its fibers.
| |
Glass Eye | A material component used to cast spells of detection.
| |
Lantern of Revealing | Even those who evade your attacks cannot evade your gaze.
| |
Potion of Speed | A curious concoction that downgrades the rules of physics to mere suggestions.
| |
Ring of Spell Storing | A magical ring that rewards those who are well-prepared.
| |
Ring of Telekinesis | Its arcane energy crackles to life when its user manipulates objects from afar.
| |
Boots of Speed | A simple click of their heels grants their wearer incredible pace.
| |
Cloak of Elvenkind | Its colours are constantly shifting, making you more difficult to detect from afar.
| |
Ornate Horn | Once used to rally troops to battle, its very presence brings great armies to bear.
| |
Pearl of Power | Its shimmering face energises mages who hold it, allowing them to cast more spells.
| |
Staff of Withering | Its necrotic power brings its targets closer to death.
| |
Bag of Holding | The realm itself bends to its astounding capacity, populating trials with even more to take.
| |
Cloak of Invisibility | A powerful magic item, envied by rogues and the conflict-averse alike.
| |
Dragontooth Dagger | Made from the actual tooth of a dragon, its edge is jagged and cruel.
| |
Robe of Eyes | When worn, none can escape its bearer's unyielding gaze.
| |
Iridescent Book of Vile Darkness | The ultimate compilation of cruelty, wickedness and depravity.
"What chance do you have against my centuries of preparation?" — Vecna | |
Vorpal Sword | A powerful magical artifact whose blade has severed many a head from its accompanying body.
"Only one has ever crossed me and lived to regret it." — Vecna |
Achievements[]
There are 3 Achievements related to The Lich:
Icon | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Adept Lich | Playing as The Lich, achieve a Merciless Victory using only his 3 Unique Perks: Weave Attunement, Languid Touch, and Dark Arrogance |
![]() |
Battle Caster | Playing as The Lich![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
Rightful Owner | Playing as The Lich![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cosmetic Options[]
Players can choose from a variety of Cosmetic options to customise The Lich:
Default[]
Prestige[]
Perk Charms[]
Prestige Level 7 Reward | Prestige Level 8 Reward | Prestige Level 9 Reward |
---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
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A keepsake gained upon mastery of a particular skill. |
Alternatives[]
DLC[]
Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Blade of Mayhem | ![]() |
Common | He searched for power across the multiverse with his blade by his side, leaving chaos in his wake. |
Rift[]
In-Game Store[]
Thumbnail
Contains
Name
Collection Name
Release Date
Price
![]() Description
Only one deity was powerful enough to successfully invade the floating city of Sigil.
⇓ Expand ⇓
|
DLC[]
The Lich is part of 1 DLC:
Change Log[]
Patch 8.0.2[]
- Nerf: increased the SFX volume for spawning Flight of the Damned skeletons to provide better auditory awareness to Survivors when using the Spell.
- Reversal: increased the Pallet-Lift time for Mage Hand from 0.35 seconds to 0.5 seconds, reverting it back to its PTB value.
- This nerf was motivated by the Spell being considered a bit too oppressive with the live build also having considerably increased the Movement speed of The Lich during the Cool-down phase that follows casting the Spell.
Patch 8.1.0[]
- Undocumented Change: added a new Lobby animation for The Lich.
- Undocumented Reversal: reverted The Lich's Layer 3 Terror Radius to be the same as it was in the PTB.
Patch 8.4.0[]
- Buff: reduced the Cool-down time of Fly from 38 seconds to 25 seconds.
- Buff: reduced the Cool-down time of Dispelling Sphere and Flight of the Damned from 38 seconds each to 35 seconds each.
- Nerf: increased the Cool-down time of Mage Hand from 38 seconds to 40 seconds.
- Nerf: increased the Cool-down time after cancelling a Spell Cast from 1 second to 1.25 seconds.
- Nerf: reduced the time Magic Items stay disabled for after passing through the Dispelling Sphere from 60 seconds to 45 seconds.
Trivia[]
- The Lich is the third Killer to not physically interact with the environment or Survivors, relying solely on his magical forces and conjurations to manipulate the environment.
- The Lich's Prestige order was reversed compared to other Killers, with Prestige 4 granting the bloodstained headpiece instead of the bloodstained weapon. This was reverted back to the default order with the Patch 8.4.0.
- While rare, it is possible for a Survivor to be hit with two Flying Entities at once, resulting in an instant down.
- The Lich is only the second Killer since The Nurse
who floats and glides across the floor instead of walking.
- In a similar manner to her, he uses telekinesis to interact with Props instead of his own hands.
- The image used on the Vorpal Sword iridescent addon, is in fact the Sword of Kas and not the actual Vorpal Sword from D&D.
Mori[]
- The Lich is the third Killer to have two entirely different Moris.
- The Lich's default Mori features him summoning skeletons from a circle of purple flames all around the Survivor, lifting the Survivor up with his magical powers, and having the skeletons remove all of the Survivor's flesh, leaving only the bones, which then drop to the ground.
- The Lich's Recover Artefact interaction features him conjuring large crystal spikes, impaling the Survivor.
Skeletons then rise up from the ground, grab them, and pull them further onto the spikes before disappearing.
- The Lich is the third Killer with a Mini-Mori ability.
Mark of Negation[]
- The Lich has a magical Sigil below the back of his neck, which is called the Mark of Negation.
- This Sigil was placed by The Entity
, and limits the powers of Vecna and prevents him from leaving the Realm.
- Without this Sigil, Vecna could potentially rival the powers of The Entity, as both he and The Entity are god-like figures in their respective Lore.
- This was demonstrated by the fact that The Lich was able to prevent The Entity from taking him at first.
He was only able to be captured by The Entity when he willingly submitted to The Fog in order to learn its dark secrets.
- This was demonstrated by the fact that The Lich was able to prevent The Entity from taking him at first.
- This Sigil was placed by The Entity
Voice Actor[]
- The Lich is voiced by Matthew Mercer, a prolific voice actor who is also known for serving as the Dungeon Master in the Dungeons & Dragons themed web series Critical Role.
- Mercer has also voiced Leon Scott Kennedy
and Levi Ackerman in their respective source materials (though not in Dead by Daylight).
- Mercer has also voiced Leon Scott Kennedy
Voice Lines[]
- Vecna is the seventh Killer to actively speak during Trials.
Voice Line | Audio |
---|---|
Idling in the Menu | |
"This place is unfamiliar..." | |
"Strange powers at work." | |
"I shall make this place mine." | |
"What secrets does this realm hold?" | |
"I will ascend." | |
"I will play my role... for now." | |
"All part of the plan." | |
"Run as they might, I always find my quarry." | No audio. |
"Run." | No audio. |
Joining a Lobby | |
"Another plane to conquer." | |
"I will not be denied." | |
"This shall be their resting place." | |
"This place... intriguing." | |
"There will be no escape." | |
"All according to plan." | |
"The wheels are in motion." | |
Hooking a Survivor | |
"A suitable sacrifice." | |
"Your life slips away..." | |
"Your time draws near." | |
"Only a little longer." | |
"I require a sacrifice." | |
"All things end." | |
"Die by my hand." | |
Killing a Survivor | |
"Join me in death." | |
"You will make a lovely plaything." | |
"Your tale ends here." | |
"Perish." | |
"Enough games." | |
"Farewell." | |
"This is the end." | |
Opening the Spell Selection Menu | |
"Decisions, decisions..." | |
"Perhaps this will do..." | |
"This one." | |
"Yes... perfect." | |
"I have just the thing." | |
"Ah, here it is." | |
"Wonderful." | |
"What tool to unravel them?" | |
"By which to watch them wither?" | |
"Let us test their constitution." | |
Selecting a Spell | |
"Arcane secrets..." | |
"Cursed flame..." | |
"Of many eyes..." | |
"From the dark..." | |
"Impossible geometry..." | |
"Beyond the fold..." | |
"Buried beneath..." | |
"Endless arcana." | |
Casting a Spell | |
"Be my eyes..." | |
"Dispel..." | |
"Aid me..." | |
"Join the hunt..." | |
"To the skies..." | |
"Like the crows..." | |
"Manipulate..." | |
"Hold them..." | |
Retrieving a Vecna Item | |
"How dare you." | |
"That belongs to me." | |
"Brigands..." | |
"That is not yours..." | |
"No!" | |
"You will pay for this." | |
"You’ve made a huge mistake." | |
"I will make you suffer for that." | |
"Fool, you know not what you carry." |
Gallery[]
In-game assets[]
-
The Lich
-
The Lich (Portrait render)
-
The Lich (Background image)
Screenshots[]
-
Memento Mori
Official art[]
-
Promo Artwork for The Lich