I'm a couple hours into the game (I have most of the second level upgrades, including the ones from Gollum) and trying to take down the Warchiefs is kicking my ass. What's giving me the most trouble is the tasks like "Kill 20 enemies in 2 minutes," and "Kill 35 enemies," especially in cases within the strong holds where I get overwhelmed by the sheer number of orks, usually with multiple captains, before the Warchief is even summoned. Any tips (besides the obvious "don't forget to counter idiot")?
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Game » consists of 15 releases. Released Sep 30, 2014
An open-world action-adventure game by Monolith, set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
The combat is kicking my ass
I'm a couple hours into the game (I have most of the second level upgrades, including the ones from Gollum) and trying to take down the Warchiefs is kicking my ass. What's giving me the most trouble is the tasks like "Kill 20 enemies in 2 minutes," and "Kill 35 enemies," especially in cases within the strong holds where I get overwhelmed by the sheer number of orks, usually with multiple captains, before the Warchief is even summoned. Any tips (besides the obvious "don't forget to counter idiot")?
Yeah I for the kill 20 enemies and shit like that it's kill 20 enemies, not kill 20 enemies in combat. I stayed in stealth and shot the bees nests and beast cages and shit and let them do the work for me while occasionally shooting dudes with an arrow. For actually fighting the warchiefs, get the intel on them and use whatever weakness they have- if they're scared of something, terrify them then hunt them down. If they can be stealth countered, stealth kill them, etc. If they don't have any of those or you fuck up like i did and fail to stealth kill a dude, if they're not immune to your stun move just stun them and hit them while you can.
For the "Kill 20 enemies in 2 minutes" thing I just get to an area where there's a good amount of orcs around and start sneaking around stealth killing everything I can, shooting any orcs that are off in the distance or that spot me, and shooting campfires with orcs around them.
After clearing out an area like that I had around 13 kills and about 1:20 left to find some more enemies. Straight up combat takes too long.
The timer starts once you kill an orc, so it pays to get in a good position where you can take out some enemies without having to waste too much time travelling.
i lucked out and beat my biggest nemesis when he was walking around alone w/o protection for some reason.
(it was great)
I have trouble with non-standard enemies, i just tried a mission with the ghuls and could not dodge any poison and once i fought the alpha i got murdered quick.
I guess i need to do more story missions, i've got tier 3 unlocked but like 4 moves locked in tier 2 still lol.
Don't forget to spend your money on health, focus, and elf-shot upgrades. Get your combos going and use the auto-execute attack liberally. Also don't get in to situations where you're fighting a ton of guys at once until you're further down the upgrade tree.
Oh, I almost forgot: Don't be afraid to book it somewhere safe when things get dicey. Running away works better than you might think because the enemies lose sight of you pretty easily. Find an herb, take a deep breath and plan your next move.
@yesac2004: like in the arkham games your dodge (double tap Cross/A) is almost overpowered. It takes a while but doging I've a guy and then getting in a slash or 2 can get one out of super tough situations
I had one nemesis. Started at level 5 and he reached level 20. I lost that many times to him. He was a shield and pike guy. Any ways, by the time I killed him he had no weaknesses but the combat finishers one. And he was enraged by all of the environmental attacks, like fire, flies and caragors. The most annoying part was the dude just wouldn't kill me when he beat me. Always just walked away to shame me (it worked.) Anyways, I run into him while cruising around. He's alone. I just go after him all out, I haven't put this much heart into a game in so long. After an epic 5 minute+ fight I finally killed him. I wouldn't rest until it was done right and I was so happy that he was decapitated. My girlfriend was reading beside me and just burst out laughing when I threw my arms up in victory. I was being beaten down by him for 2 days and finally won.
I haven't experienced something this compelling in a game in ages. It's spectacular. It kicks you in the ass, but the reward is great.
One of the best ways to clear a large amount of enemies at the same time is to fire an arrow at an campfire (which results in a huge explosion) or at an grog barrel ( which also explodes). There are also stacks of exploding barrels which also result in huge explosions. There is also an ability skill which makes the explosions even bigger.
One of the best skills in the game is the ability to stun enemies when you vault over them. This skill works exceptionally well on the harder enemies. My usual tactic is to stun one enemy and attack on him until i get an instant execution. Then i just stun the next enemy until the execution mode triggers again. There is a tier 2 skill (at least i think it is a tier 2 skill) which makes flurry attacks (a very fast series of attacks) on stunned enemies which in turn triggers those executions modes faster. The stun works exceptionally well on most bosses.
Archery also becomes pretty strong when you progress in the game. At the moment i can basically kill 7 or 8 enemies when i am in the focus mode with those charged head shots.
I had one nemesis. Started at level 5 and he reached level 20. I lost that many times to him. He was a shield and pike guy. Any ways, by the time I killed him he had no weaknesses but the combat finishers one. And he was enraged by all of the environmental attacks, like fire, flies and caragors. The most annoying part was the dude just wouldn't kill me when he beat me. Always just walked away to shame me (it worked.) Anyways, I run into him while cruising around. He's alone. I just go after him all out, I haven't put this much heart into a game in so long. After an epic 5 minute+ fight I finally killed him. I wouldn't rest until it was done right and I was so happy that he was decapitated. My girlfriend was reading beside me and just burst out laughing when I threw my arms up in victory. I was being beaten down by him for 2 days and finally won.
I haven't experienced something this compelling in a game in ages. It's spectacular. It kicks you in the ass, but the reward is great.
Yeah, but dying to the ghuls and caragors fucking sucks, and that's what kills me the most lol.
Yeah, I've found the combat to be brutal in this game--but that just makes it all the more satisfying when you take down a rival. I've also gotten really good at stealth killing damn near everyone near a chief before I actually engage (I never quite manage to clear everyone out, but still, it makes it easier) and then go as hard as I can on the chief, countering when necessary. Taking down a chief makes everyone else run away, and then I sprint for freedom, and hopefully don't get killed.
Don't forget to dodge as well!
For the elite orcs, I find that combat finishers are key. I've run into very few captains who are invunerable to them (and I've played about 16 hours). The sword upgrade that costs 2500 points is kind of op if you really need some help. It'll take out most elite dudes easily. Also, you'll get skills that make dodging and building up combos easier later in the game. So don't give up and stuff.
Taking on 20+ dudes is going to be really tough until you start getting into the 3rd tier of ability unlocks. At tiers 1 and 2 you won't have enough of the tools or damage to dispatch big crowds of orcs in open combat. Here are a few tips though:
Runes! Take a hard look at what runes you have equipped. Ask yourself what you really find useful in combat. I've found that stuff like 'regain focus' is not helpful to me on the sword or even the dagger because I rarely need it while fighting with those weapons. Health would be much more beneficial as would doing extra damage. Don't forget you can also sell unwanted or duplicate weapon runes.
Money! Doing the Sword/Dagger/Bow Legend missions grants you a couple hundred 'M' each time. Use it to buy the health upgrades and start saving for your ultimate abilities.
Archers! Can't tell you how many archers I made into captains during my early hours because of carelessness. Before engaging in ANY big fight always try to take out as many ranged guys as you can, preferably through stealth. It'll prevent you from being chipped down from above and save your hit streaks from being interrupted. If you find yourself being chain-stunned by archers on the rooftops, whip out your bow and try to quickly take out a few before continuing. Activating Focus will give you some room to breath as well.
Ranged! I always open any engagement with my bow. Try to thin the crowd of dudes around your target before getting into melee. Focus on the tougher enemies like hunters or shield orks as they can really mess up good combos. Don't forget about hazards either. If you feel like things are getting too intense take some potshots at enemies or hazards to thin the ranks a little.
Daggers! Daggers are a really easy way to start your combos or sustain it. They are also great crowd control. No one is immune to daggers (to my knowledge), not even shield guys or warchiefs. You can quickly toss a dagger to stun a dude who you see running up from behind you or buy yourself time to ground execute a fallen enemy. If you happen to get the 'increased knockback with daggers' rune, they become extremely powerful and you can basically keep away and entire mob while building huge hit streaks (perfect for a wraith blast nuke).
Escape! Finally don't be afraid to disengage. Sometimes you'll just get caught in a bad area or somehow all the spearmen have surrounded you. It's very easy to lose a crowd and early in the game not many captains will regain health. Run away, heal up, re engage or just go do something else.
Also, don't forget about the "Shoot to Explode" fire pits. Most of the camps have an open area with fire, and taking any large encounter there should help thin any groups.
Do power struggles, but before you engage in them get the Intel on the captain you're trying to kill. Lower Level captains have vulnerabilities that can take them out in one hit.
Let's say there's a captain doing a trial by ordeal, and he's vulnerable to stealth kills. Just climb above him while he's fighting and drop on his head for an instant victory. No need to fight 20 orcs. Plus the runes are key. Equip a bunch of runes that give health regeneration based on your play style.
I had the fourth tier of upgrades unlocked this way before I even got to the second map.
Once you get chain shadow strike and two executions per combo streak, no crowd of orcs will ever be a problem again.
I'm not very far in (I've been doing the open world thing of doing all the side stuff before any of the main content) so I only have the first tier of abilities unlocked, but here's what I've found:
1. Stealth is your friend, particularly at the beginning. The AI is pretty dumb, so if you get behind a line of guys, you can usually take the whole group out without drawing an alarm.
2. I'd go around the map and find all the symbols and artifacts, since they give you money to buy upgrades.
3. As far as upgrades go, focus on health and extra arrows at first. A couple of health upgrades makes combat significantly easier since it means you won't die after a couple of hits. The arrows are also useful. You get 2 per upgrade and being able to fire more than four at a time is really helpful for setting up fights.
4. If you are in a stronghold, the environmental stuff is really great for causing chaos and taking some heat off of you. I'd pick the flies before the Caragor bait though, since the Caragor might end up chasing you. Unless you have the ride Caragor ability.
5. Knowing Captain weaknesses is kind of essential. If I run into an unknown captain, I almost always run, especially if there are other dudes around. The ones I don't know have a tendency to end up being the (Immune to melee + immune to ranged + immune to stealth + extra range + extra damage + horde) assholes.
I haven't experienced something this compelling in a game in ages. It's spectacular. It kicks you in the ass, but the reward is great.
Man I so agree. I hope and predict that a lot of developers are taking a long look at this game and how they can implement similar innovations into their next open-world.
Also... I was getting my ass kicked but I can feel my combat flow getting better and better every time.
I had one nemesis. Started at level 5 and he reached level 20. I lost that many times to him. He was a shield and pike guy. Any ways, by the time I killed him he had no weaknesses but the combat finishers one. And he was enraged by all of the environmental attacks, like fire, flies and caragors. The most annoying part was the dude just wouldn't kill me when he beat me. Always just walked away to shame me (it worked.) Anyways, I run into him while cruising around. He's alone. I just go after him all out, I haven't put this much heart into a game in so long. After an epic 5 minute+ fight I finally killed him. I wouldn't rest until it was done right and I was so happy that he was decapitated. My girlfriend was reading beside me and just burst out laughing when I threw my arms up in victory. I was being beaten down by him for 2 days and finally won.
I haven't experienced something this compelling in a game in ages. It's spectacular. It kicks you in the ass, but the reward is great.
Here's my story:
As soon as a began roaming Mordor I ran into a group with three captains and a small army of nameless Orcs. There was one whose name I don't remember, Barrel-Scratcher, and Iron Beard. I would come to call them The Three. I took down most of the nameless Orcs but eventually fell to one of the captains. I returned again and again, basically training them on how to kill me, Barrel-Scratcher even found promotion.
I wised up a bit and planned my revenge more carefully. My next strike would be in my favor. I stalked one of them, the one whose name I don't remember. He was the weakest. I waited until he was in a small, isolated group in the remains of a small fort. I killed his archer, then picked off a guard. He must of smelt me hiding in the bush then because my stealthy approach had failed. He and a small group of Orcs chased me out of the fort and into a valley. I held my own here, taking cover under a bridge when I needed, using guerrilla tactics to pick off his men. It was him and just a guard or two left when Iron Beard came from the west to lend aid. I might have stood a chance against Iron Beard one-on-one, but certainly not while also fighting another captain. But this was my chance to take one of The Three down, and I couldn't miss it. I stood and fought. I fell, but not without bringing the weakened captain with me. Iron Beard's power grew during our fight, but I had learned his weakness. Maybe his large iron helmet - his namesake - blocked his vision, because he didn't see it coming when I later dropped from that very bridge and buried my dagger deep into his throat.
Barrel-Scratcher and I had many fights. Most ended with one of us fleeing to safety, a few times I fell the dark warrior, but he managed to pick his pieces together and stitch himself back together. Our gruesome duels left their mark on him. Once only mildly ugly by Orc standards, Barrel-Scratcher soon wore a patchwork of rotten skin and scars on his face. White eyes either by blindness or possessed by the evil that returned him to the world so many times. I never got my satisfaction with that warrior. As he rose through the ranks he became a bigger target, not just to me, but to his brothers. He was eventually slain by The Twin.
While I can never say that Barrel-Scratcher was a friend, I did hold respect for him. Even when we defeated each other, we do so with honor. "I've been beaten by a fellow warrior," he claimed after I defeated him for the first time. It was then that it became clear that we needed each other as much as we hated each other. Two opposing forces. Like the sea needs the beach. It's not revenge that I now seek on The Twin, but rather a fulfillment of sorts. I know Barrel-Scratcher would not have fallen easily, and I must now meet the warrior who did what I could not, or kill the coward who didn't deserve his place.
@hatking: That was truly beautiful. What other game has people telling stories like this right now? The greatest part is everyone else playing it knows the feeling because they have their own rivalries. Early on I disregarded this game as something that would be LOTR video game trash. And it quickly rose into my top games of the year. Amazing stuff.
Funny you mention this mission. First time through I got like 18/20 kills, mostly from freeing the caged caragors in the area. But it didn't reset the area after the initial attempt -- all the caragor cages were now empty and there were less enemies to kill. Then I realized the two minute timer doesn't start till the 1st kill. So my plan was to have a guard notice me on purpose so he could sound the alarm for reinforcements. I was running through the stronghold like crazy, vaulting over everyone and not killing anyone until I had this massive train of orcs chasing me. It looked like Pac-Man Championship Edition.
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment