Kuva Lich Guide in Warframe — How to Create, Convert & Defeat Them

What Is a Kuva Lich?

Kuva Liches are Warframe's nemesis system — personalized mini-bosses that each player creates and hunts across multiple missions. Each Lich has a unique name, appearance (a Grineer warrior empowered by Kuva), and an elemental Kuva weapon that you can claim upon defeating them. They start weak but become progressively more powerful each time they interrupt your mission and you fail to kill them with the correct Parazon sequence.

The Lich system requires completing The War Within quest to unlock. Once unlocked, Kuva Larvalings — small Grineer juveniles that appear during specific missions — can be mercy-killed to spawn a Lich. The weapon shown above the Larvling's head at the time of mercy-kill determines which Kuva weapon your Lich will drop.

Liches 'claim' territories on the Star Chart, reducing resource drops in those nodes by a percentage and occasionally appearing in missions to fight you. Managing your Lich efficiently — farming Murmurs quickly and ending the hunt before too many territory claims accumulate — is the key skill in the Lich hunting loop.

Kuva Lich System At a Glance

Farming Murmurs — The Core Loop

Murmurs are the progress currency of the Lich hunt. Each completed mission in your Lich's controlled territory grants Murmur progress. After accumulating enough Murmurs, one of the three Requiem symbols on your Lich's Parazon screen is revealed. Revealing all three symbols tells you which Requiem mods you need — but not the correct order.

Requiem mods are special mods installed in your Parazon (a special melee blade that executes enemies). There are eight Requiem mods total (Fass, Vome, Netra, Ris, Jahu, Lohk, Xata, Khra), and each Lich requires three specific ones in a specific order. Once all three symbols are revealed, you must try combinations until you find the correct order.

Efficient Murmur farming involves completing missions as quickly as possible in Lich-controlled territories. Capture and Exterminate missions are fastest since they have clear endpoints. Survival can be effective if you need Murmurs quickly and enjoy longer runs. Thralls — special Lich-controlled enemies that appear in these missions — give bonus Murmurs when killed, making them priority targets.

Requiem Mods — Acquisition and Use

Requiem mods are obtained from Requiem Relics, which drop from Kuva Siphon missions, Kuva Flood missions, and Kuva Survival. Crack Requiem Relics in Kuva Fortress Fissure missions (which combine resource collection with relic cracking). Each Requiem mod has three charges — using it in a failed Parazon attempt on your Lich consumes one charge. A Requiem mod at zero charges becomes a blank card that can be recharged or dissolved.

Always keep a stock of all eight Requiem mods. Since you do not know which three your Lich requires until Murmurs reveal them, having at least two or three copies of each mod ensures you are never blocked from hunting. Requiem mods can also be traded between players.

When your Lich's Murmurs reveal all three required symbols, equip those three Requiem mods in your Parazon and begin testing orders. Each Lich encounter allows one Parazon attempt — a wrong order gives the Lich a level-up but also grants bonus Murmur progress. After enough failed attempts, the correct order reveals itself through process of elimination.

Choosing the Right Kuva Larvling for Your Desired Weapon

• When a Kuva Larvling appears in a Grineer mission, approach and down it — do NOT mercy kill immediately. Look at the weapon icon hovering above the downed Larvling.
• Each Larvling displays which Kuva weapon your Lich will carry. If it is not the weapon you want, let the Larvling die naturally (don't mercy kill) and run another mission to spawn a new Larvling.
• The elemental bonus on a Kuva weapon (ranging from 25% to 60%) is randomly assigned at spawn time. Higher percentage bonuses make the weapon more powerful. Some players reset multiple times to find both the correct weapon AND a high elemental bonus.
• The element type is determined by which Warframe you use to mercy-kill the Larvling. Each Warframe corresponds to a specific element: Ember gives Heat, Frost gives Cold, Volt gives Electric, Saryn gives Toxin, etc. Plan your Warframe selection around the element you want.
• Kuva weapons can be leveled after acquisition — infusing them with additional Kuva raises the elemental bonus toward a cap of 60%.

Vanquishing vs. Converting Your Lich

When you finally down your Lich with the correct Requiem sequence in the final confrontation mission, you face a choice: Vanquish or Convert.

Vanquishing the Lich kills them permanently and grants you their Kuva weapon (plus a small chance at an Ephemera cosmetic). The Kuva weapon's base element and percentage are kept as rolled at spawn — you get exactly what was on the Larvling you chose. Vanquish is the standard choice for players who want the weapon.

Converting the Lich instead turns them into a permanent ally who can occasionally appear in missions to assist you. A converted Lich can also be traded to another player — they become a special NPC gift. Converting does NOT give you the weapon. You can also trade converted Liches for another player's converted Lich if you want access to a specific weapon ephemera without farming it yourself.