The Kuva Lich Showdown is Pretty Neat

I haven’t had a Kuva Lich for ages. But with the Sisters of Parvos update, we got some new Kuva weapons. So I grabbed my trusty Kuva Bramma and Kuva Twin Stubbas and started a new hunt. After only two Cassini capture missions, I created a new Lich with a new weapon. I was expecting this new Kuva Lich fight to be a slog, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Well, pleasantly surprised isn’t the best term to use. But hunting my Kuva Lich wasn’t too bad.

As of writing, I haven’t done any Sisters of Parvos Queenpins, but they kinda need their own article anyway. Today, I’m just talking about Grineer Kuva Liches.

Murmur progress is way faster now.

I think this must be the second or third time that they’ve made murmur gains faster. And, honestly, that’s a damn good thing. Because grinding for Thralls is a kinda tedious process, due to where they spawn. I’ve noticed quite a few Thralls spawning behind the squad, but we’re normally fast enough to zoom back and clean up.

Either way, the process is way faster and no longer feels like a slog.

Thank heavens for the new starting point.

Sounds weird, but the whole showdown thing isn’t the best change. That title goes to the new starting point for Liches. When you get a Lich, instead of taking over a random planet, Kuva Liches all start on Earth. This means you’re way more likely to be matched into a squad, rather than having to do Defense and Interceptions solo. Having more matchmaking available is just all-round more fun anyway.

And because Liches (and Queenpins) have better matchmaking, this means you can earn Murmur faster. No matter whose Lich appears, a full squad is going to benefit from increased Murmur gains, not to mention extra Requiem relics and Kuva. Not only do you get progress from other people stabbing their liches, but you just get more Kuva Thralls overall.

You still need to find the combination before the final showdown

But this is where the tedium sneaks back in. You still have to do the standard stabbing before your Lich flees to a Railjack mission. And that… might take a while. Sure, the murmurs are all filled up much quicker, but you don’t know the right order. So you could have all three Requiem mods, but you can’t go straight to the final node to fight them. The Railjack mission ONLY appears when you get the combination right.

It’s not THAT bad, but it can get annoying if your Lich decides they don’t want to spawn. So you’re still clearing nodes, just hoping for one to spawn. We do now have Requiem Ultimatums, which force a Lich to spawn, but those are in limited supply, and there’s a good 6 combinations you need to try to find the right order.

However, the final confrontation is pretty damn cool. As you race in to face your Lich, they give you some smack talk. You also only need to make one stab, rather than having to go though the requiem relics again.

As a squad, the battle is even cooler, but I think they missed a trick here. We should have been able to fight 1-4 Liches all at the same time, and maybe have Liches work together. Currently, you only ever fight them one at a time, alongside their Thralls and Grineer grunts. Then again, Toxin liches exist, and they’re a pain in the ass with their radiation procs.

Overall, a better experience.

Sure, we have a whole extra step of the railjack mission, but that’s what we all wanted, right? A guaranteed place to fight our Liches. While it’s a little annoying that we need to find the correct combination before the node unlocks, it’s way better than doing random missions in the hopes one will spawn.