The Dread Lich is the occult specialist among Malignus's four bosses. Its official UI shows Occult 10, a soul counter, bound skeletons and an eight-node upgrade tree that includes Deep Reservoir, Necrotic Aura and Phylactery.
Dread Lich at a glance
Confirmed
- The official boss panel shows Battle 5, Hunt 5, Occult 10 and Cruelty 8.
- The Dread Lich reaches level 5 and has a 0/5 soul counter in the press-kit UI screenshot.
- Bound skeletons fight alongside it in official screenshots.
- The upgrade tree is arranged as a wide set of five nodes plus a three-node chain below.
Not announced
- The exact effects of seven of the eight named upgrades are unpublished.
- How souls are gained and spent is not described in public material.
- The bone-plating, aura and bolt values are unknown.
- Whether the phylactery prevents death, stores souls or does something else is unconfirmed.
Compiled from official screenshots and store copy. Balance and UI values can change during Early Access.
Confirmed stats
The official boss panel shows Battle 5, Hunt 5, Occult 10 and Cruelty 8 at level 5. The boss-select screen also highlights Occult 10, Cruelty 8 and Battle 5.
Abilities and signals
Not every entry below is a named in-game ability. The status label matters: “Official UI” means the name appears in a published interface screenshot; “Official media” means the behavior is visible in official footage or a screenshot caption; “Named only” means the name is confirmed but its effect is not published.
Souls
Official UIThe level-5 Dread Lich panel shows a 0/5 soul counter. Deep Reservoir explains that the lich can hold 5 souls instead of 3, so the base capacity is 3. What souls are spent on is not shown in the published screenshot.
Bound skeletons
Official mediaOfficial screenshots show skeletons bound to the Dread Lich and fighting adventurers inside its necrotic circle. The UI does not publish a summon count, duration or cost.
Necrotic Aura
Named onlyNecrotic Aura is an upgrade node in the Dread Lich tree. The name and node are confirmed; its numeric effect is not visible in the screenshot.
Phylactery
Named onlyPhylactery is an upgrade node and appears beside the throne in official art. The published build does not explain what it does, so do not assume a respawn mechanic from other games.
Upgrades
| Upgrade | What is confirmed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Reservoir | The lich can hold 5 souls instead of 3. This effect is written in the official UI. | Effect confirmed |
| Necrotic Aura | Node name confirmed. Effect not published in the screenshot. | Effect unannounced |
| Bone Plating | Node name confirmed. Effect not published in the screenshot. | Effect unannounced |
| Twin Bolt | Node name confirmed. Effect not published in the screenshot. | Effect unannounced |
| Phylactery | Node name confirmed. Effect not published in the screenshot. | Effect unannounced |
| Shared Vitality | Node name confirmed in the upgrade chain. Effect not published. | Effect unannounced |
| Deeper Drain | Node name confirmed in the upgrade chain. Effect not published. | Effect unannounced |
| Fuller Host | Node name confirmed in the upgrade chain. Effect not published. | Effect unannounced |
How to play Dread Lich
The advice below is editorial. It uses confirmed stats and official visuals, but it is not a recorded playthrough or a tested tier list. Treat it as a planning framework for the current build.
Protect the occult engine
Occult 10 is the lich's clear standout. The Dark Arts screen gives Occult duties and spell research their own place in dungeon life, so a lich run naturally points toward a lore- and ritual-heavy dungeon. The public material does not say whether boss Occult directly boosts spells, so treat the link as a design direction rather than a confirmed multiplier.
Build around the soul cap
Deep Reservoir raises the soul cap from 3 to 5. That is the one upgrade with a written effect. If you plan to rely on souls, taking it early is the least speculative choice. The published UI does not reveal how souls are generated, so the right time to take it will only become clear in play.
Give the skeletons room
Bound skeletons need space to meet adventurers before the lich does. The official screenshots show them fighting inside the necrotic circle while the lich holds the center. A throne room with a wider approach and a second line of traps fits that presentation better than a narrow dead-end.
Do not bank on the phylactery yet
Phylactery is a confirmed upgrade name and a visible object beside the throne, but no public source explains its rule. Planning a whole run around an assumed resurrection would be building on air.
What we still don't know
- The exact effects of seven of the eight named upgrades are unpublished.
- How souls are gained and spent is not described in public material.
- The bone-plating, aura and bolt values are unknown.
- Whether the phylactery prevents death, stores souls or does something else is unconfirmed.
If you find a newer official source, send it through the contact page. We update boss pages when the developer publishes data, not when a speculative tier list goes viral.
Related pages
Sources
Sources for this page
- 01Malignus press kit and fact sheet — Mossbomb
Fact sheet, development history, feature list, character and creature art, screenshot captions, and permission for press and content creators to use the kit's media in coverage of Malignus.
- 02Official Malignus interface screenshots — Mossbomb
The press kit's 'Screenshots with the interface' set documents the New Dungeon flow, boss select, minion stats, duties, grumbles, behavior settings, trap build menu, wiring, Dark Arts, boss upgrades, prisoners, altar and overworld map. Used for observations that are not spelled out in the store copy.
- 03Mossbomb — the studio making Malignus — Mossbomb
Developer site. Confirms the November 13, 2026 Early Access date, $19.99 Early Access price, $29.99 planned 1.0 price, monthly updates, demo status, platforms, co-op and headline features.
- 04Malignus on Steam — Valve / Mossbomb
Store description, Early Access Q&A, tags, supported languages, features, system requirements and the storefront's November 12, 2026 date display.
- 05Malignus — Demo Launch Trailer (2026) — Mossbomb
Official trailer used only for visual observations such as the Cinder Demon's fire effects and the Sunken Horror's tentacles.
Accessed 1 November 2026. Full source log and verification notes: Malignus Wiki sources.