There’s very little reason to save gear you’ve outleveled unless you’re building a legendary set, so I would definitely scrap most of your extra pieces for cash. Cash isn’t used for much in Shadow of War other than unlocking gem slots or upgrades for your war commander Orcs, but you can use it to buy non real-life-money loot chests in the market. They’re not as good as the ones you pay for, but you’ll get at least some amount of stuff you can use. It’s still a stupid system but if it’s free, you might as well use it.
10. Completed Armor/Weapon Challenges Still Must Be Unlocked
This is a quick one, but many rare/epic items will have some sort of challenge to unlock a bonus perk like headshoting a poisoned enemy or stealth draining three Orcs. The game will tell you once you complete it, but it will not remind you that you actually have to go to the item in your inventory and pay a tiny amount of cash to unlock the perk you just earned. It’s easy, but I have gone hours without realizing I forgot to activate a perk I already unlocked.
Shadow of Warhas been out a few days now, and unfortunately I didn’t secure myself an early copy so I’m not quite finished with it yet. I have been playing about 8-10 hours a day since launch, however, since it is literally my job to do so, which means I do have some advice to share.
Shadow of Mordor was a great game, and if you mastered that, you’ll certainly have a leg up here. But Shadow of War has changed a lot and there’s much to learn in this sequel. I have not reached the very end, but in the time I’ve spent I feel like there have been many lessons I’ve learned about things I missed or skills I wish I’d used earlier.
Here are ten things I wish I knew when I started Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
1. The Game's Lamest Skill Is The One You Must Get First
It bothers me when games have an unlockable skill that really just should have been a core game mechanic in the first place. Shadow of War only does this with one skill, but it’s an annoying one. The ability to pick up items automatically instead of having to hit a button is allllll the way at the end of the Wraith skill tree for reasons I cannot explain. Not only is this to avoid an annoyance in game, but it’s actually pretty necessary, as you’ll often be getting drops in the middle of combat, and stopping to hit R1 in the middle of a fight to try and pick something up can get you killed. But if you don’t do that, the fight may escalate to a point where you have to flee and you may forget to return to the item period. Fortunately this tree is pretty useful regardless, but it’s annoying that you almost have to max it first.
2. Focus On Crowd-Clearing In Combat Skills
Shadow of War likes to tote the fact that now more Orcs can be onscreen than ever before. That’s cool from a technical perspective I suppose, but in practice, that means you will be positively swarmed with Orcs in many battles, and as such, crowd control is a must. One of my favorite skills is the Wraith power-up move that blasts a ring of fire/ice/poison around you, which will do little to bosses, but will melt and disorient grunts. Similarly, I recommend moves like Brutalize that make enemies flee in fear, as it will thin around crowds even if no one dies. Finally, there’s a modifier to the counter skill where perfectly timed counters will auto-kill grunts, and I’ve found that extremely useful.
3. Shadow Strike Still Exists, It's Just Hiding
I was more than a little confused when there was no in-game re-introduction to Shadow Strike, which was one of the core combat mechanics of the original game and one that made combat unique from other titles. It lets you teleport using your bow and insta-kill enemies, and it can also be used as an escape. I thought for sure there would be a side mission to introduce it, but it’s actually another move that’s buried at the end of a skill tree that you manually unlock yourself. Go all the way down the “Ranged” tree and you’ll find it. You can unlock it whenever you have the points, but don’t wait around waiting for the game to hand it to you like I did.
4. Stealth Is Not What It Used To Be
What I’ve found is that the other side effect of having Orcs literally everywhere in Shadow of War is that trying to take on most situations using stealth is now nearly impossible. Yes, there will be some missions that will require you to use stealth, and they are usually mapped out accordingly, but more generally? There are just too many damn Orcs everywhere moving and spawning in unpredictable ways that trying to be stealthy in the overworld is almost impossible. And while a few Captains have a weakness that will let you autokill them with stealth, the vast majority don’t and at best you’ll get a bit of damage in before a full-on brawl breaks out immediately. Worst case, they’re stealth immune or enraged by it, and you’re in hot water. This is why you do your research I guess. Just don’t expect to rely too heavily on stealth this time around.
5. Don't Get Too Attached To Any One Orc
Shadow Of War Fortress List 1
I’ve learned that this game is way too random to reliably keep even your favorite Orcs alive. Early on, I bonded with the first Orc I took over (not Bruz, one after him that you get to pick), and made him my bodyguard. After a series of missions, I was introduced to the fighting pits, where Orcs battled against one another. In one of the very first matches I sent my boy in to fight an Orc four levels below him and he lost, and got butchered. I was devastated, but the more I play, the more I find my Orcs randomly being executed in battles when summoned because you simply have very little control of how many fights shake out. You can have your favorites if you want, but unless you build them into overpowered monsters, expect to lose a bunch of them.
6. The Best Skills For 1v1-ing Super Orcs
I talked about crowd control earlier, but obviously killing Captains and Warchiefs is a huge part of the game as well. There are a few skills that I’ve found very much necessary for 1v1 fights. The first is the Wraith move that turns your stun into a total freeze, which you can follow up with a flurry of strikes that will usually get you close to max Might. I flip over Orcs, freeze them from behind, then cut into them. Repeat. This works on a lot of Captains. Also, I highly recommend pinning in the Ranged tree where you shoot an enemy in the foot to freeze them in place. Locking an enemy to the ground is hugely useful as it gives you time to clear lesser troops with them immobilized, and you can wail on them when they’re locked in place in a way that you may not be able to do otherwise. And of course it’s great for ensuring cowardly Orcs can’t flee (which they will often try)
7. The Collectibles Are Actually Worth Hunting Down
I know, I know, collectibles in open world games can really suck, but in Shadow of War, they’re A) pretty easy to get and B) definitely worth getting. Thanks to Talion’s insane movement abilities, unlocking the vision towers and finding the items they reveal is pretty easy and definitely worth it. On each mini-map area, you will get one skill point from getting all vision towers, one for all relics, one for spider memories, one for ancient codewords plus that will open a door to one piece of Legendary loot on each map. And you can get one skill point per little Celebrimbor minigame you find on the map as well. All of that really adds up, and even if it’s busywork, it’s rewarding busywork.
8. Gems Can Be More Valuable Than Gear Itself
The gem slotting system is pretty basic in Shadow of War compared to other games, but you should definitely not ignore it. Routinely hunt down the Orcs with item symbols over their heads, which will appear as white arrows on your map. Sometimes they’ll drop cash, but other times they’ll drop gems. Like Diablo, you can combine these gems into better gems for big bonuses. Huge lifesteal on weapons or damage boosts. Tons of health on armor or XP boosts. More health or damage for Orc followers. The higher level gems will almost be better than the actual gear upgrades you’re getting, so many sure you stay on top of combining gems.
9. Remember To Scrap Gear You've Outgrown
There’s very little reason to save gear you’ve outleveled unless you’re building a legendary set, so I would definitely scrap most of your extra pieces for cash. Cash isn’t used for much in Shadow of War other than unlocking gem slots or upgrades for your war commander Orcs, but you can use it to buy non real-life-money loot chests in the market. They’re not as good as the ones you pay for, but you’ll get at least some amount of stuff you can use. It’s still a stupid system but if it’s free, you might as well use it.
10. Completed Armor/Weapon Challenges Still Must Be Unlocked
This is a quick one, but many rare/epic items will have some sort of challenge to unlock a bonus perk like headshoting a poisoned enemy or stealth draining three Orcs. The game will tell you once you complete it, but it will not remind you that you actually have to go to the item in your inventory and pay a tiny amount of cash to unlock the perk you just earned. It’s easy, but I have gone hours without realizing I forgot to activate a perk I already unlocked.
Bonus: Don't Reward This Loot Box Nonsense, You Don't Need Them
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Yes, I just said you can buy the in-game currency loot boxes but only because they’re free and there’s not much else to do with your money. But the paid ones? Just…don’t. Granted I have not reached the endgame of Shadow of War, but from my experience so far, there has never been a situation where I’ve felt like I needed to buy them. Yes, I’ve died multiple times in hard fights, but that’s what’s supposed to happen in this game because of the Nemesis system. The devs said they designed game balance without loot box drops in mind, and I think that shows. If you want to see less BS like single player loot boxes in video games, please, do not buy these. They’re not just bad and greedy, they’re not even worthwhile.
Shadow Of Mordor
That’s all I’ve got for now, but I might be back with more tips once I fully beat the game.
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Monolith have announced some free DLC for Middle-earth: Shadow of War, offering Infinite Shadow Wars for players who can’t get enough of its orc-stabbing antics. Now you can stab the green gits forever.
For more on Middle-earth, here’s why Kirk thinks Shadow of War has more problems than its loot boxes.
The free update will arrive alongside Shadow of War’s first paid DLC – the Slaughter Tribe. The news was announced during a livestream, clipped below:
If you’re wondering what a Shadow War is, it is essentially Shadow of War’s endgame content, in which you have to defend your fortresses from attacking orc tribes. If you mess it up, you have to retake your base.
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