Sequel Middle Earth: Shadow of War Confirmed

Will I enjoy this game more then the first one? I had fun with the first one, but the gameplay got bland pretty fast due to the repetition.

Is there more to this game, and is the enviroment a bit more interesting? Or is it just more of the first game?
 
Will I enjoy this game more then the first one? I had fun with the first one, but the gameplay got bland pretty fast due to the repetition.

Is there more to this game, and is the enviroment a bit more interesting? Or is it just more of the first game?
Its the first game with a bigger map and more complex Nemesis system.
 
I got that reward just by randomly trying my first Online Conquest. I've read reports that you earn more from doing Conquests by tanking your elo rating. Tank it down to near zero then you get easy fortresses to attack for 4-5 times.

How did you guys go about levelling....? Did you blow through the missions to get to rank 50 or so, or did you putz around in each area before moving on? I ask because I'm 26hrs in and only just conquered my second fortress.

That will earn you more spoils of war but, as far as I'm aware, you won't increase the level of the other chest. At some point you'll obviously want to switch over to tanking it to having it be fully loaded because there's no point to doing it otherwise.
 
This is the first game I've had where I can use Ansel (...or remembered that it existed) and it's pretty damn cool. Took a 1gb 360º screenshot that was pretty cool and a few others. Just hit ALT+F2 at any point during gameplay and you can move the camera in and out in the area with a number of other options for DOF and whatnot.

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Definitely going to toy with this a lot more. As if I needed any further reason to load the game up when I hit 72 hours tonight which is almost 20 more than my two playthroughs of SoM combined. Hit level 60, got betrayed twice and lost a fortress then won it back in stage 10 of Shadow Wars. Some of these bastards are getting really difficult to fight.
 
I guess I've been playing this wrong. I putzed around in my first two fortresses FOREVER. I think I'm level 38 with about 30hrs in.

I hit a point in Nurnen where I had every single captain on my side and like 6 of them betrayed me all at once. Is there a mechanic that attempts to stabilize the game if you get too many captains?
 
75 hours and I got the final ending. The lootbox controversy with this game, specifically, is one of the most overblown "issues" in gaming I've seen in a bit. Yes, they're available. No, you absolutely do not need to use them. People have no problem dropping hundreds of hours & dollars into an F2P game that banks on endless grinding but a game with a story somehow gets shunned for giving you something to do.

I suspect I'll get to 100-150 hours of play with this out of the base game. For reference I played 64 hours of Shadow of Mordor in two playthroughs and never got to purchasing the DLC.

The things that need to be addressed, in my opinion:

1 - Reduce the frequency/length of enemy captain callouts during conquests if they can't be skipped.
2 - Remove the gap after these call outs/enraged/etc where the player can't move but is still fully vulnerable to attack----this is phenomenally frustrating.
3 - Add FOV option so I don't have to run an external program.
4 - Prevent captains climbing walls from instantly dying if the wall gets destroyed during a siege.
5 - Make Legendary sets useful. They need an overhaul in their entirety because only a couple of the set bonuses are actually of any use whatsoever.
6 - I don't know if it happens yet but continue Shadow Wars perpetually. One or two fortresses under siege provides direction and objectives which basically means you'll get sidetracked doing a bunch of things to help yourself.

I'm wondering what will be patched/added over the coming months. Fucking awesome game.
 
75 hours and I got the final ending. The lootbox controversy with this game, specifically, is one of the most overblown "issues" in gaming I've seen in a bit. Yes, they're available. No, you absolutely do not need to use them. People have no problem dropping hundreds of hours & dollars into an F2P game that banks on endless grinding but a game with a story somehow gets shunned for giving you something to do.

I suspect I'll get to 100-150 hours of play with this out of the base game. For reference I played 64 hours of Shadow of Mordor in two playthroughs and never got to purchasing the DLC.

The things that need to be addressed, in my opinion:

1 - Reduce the frequency/length of enemy captain callouts during conquests if they can't be skipped.
2 - Remove the gap after these call outs/enraged/etc where the player can't move but is still fully vulnerable to attack----this is phenomenally frustrating.
3 - Add FOV option so I don't have to run an external program.
4 - Prevent captains climbing walls from instantly dying if the wall gets destroyed during a siege.
5 - Make Legendary sets useful. They need an overhaul in their entirety because only a couple of the set bonuses are actually of any use whatsoever.
6 - I don't know if it happens yet but continue Shadow Wars perpetually. One or two fortresses under siege provides direction and objectives which basically means you'll get sidetracked doing a bunch of things to help yourself.

I'm wondering what will be patched/added over the coming months. Fucking awesome game.

They're going to expand Shadow Wars to allow you to keep doing defenses as a free update.
 
I love the Captain introduction lines. I do agree that they should have an optional skip feature though. I've ran into a handful of the same ones twice.


On a side note.... I forgot to take a screenshot, but Bruz pissed me off so much that on his final fight I shamed him. Then I kept seeking him out. He is now a level 1 deranged version of Bruz who just keeps muttering something along the lines of, "I never wanted the fort! Keep it! Please, I really don't want the fort!"
 
I just captured the 4th fortress. I kind of wish I hadn't recruited all the warchiefs for the fights. All the fortress fights were incredibly easy. I think I'm level 42. Sitting at around 38hrs.

Everything I've read from people say not to rush through the rest of the missions, but to level up as close to 50 as you can get before you start Shadow Wars.

Anyone know if that is a good plan?
 
They're going to expand Shadow Wars to allow you to keep doing defenses as a free update.

Awesome!

I love the Captain introduction lines. I do agree that they should have an optional skip feature though. I've ran into a handful of the same ones twice.


On a side note.... I forgot to take a screenshot, but Bruz pissed me off so much that on his final fight I shamed him. Then I kept seeking him out. He is now a level 1 deranged version of Bruz who just keeps muttering something along the lines of, "I never wanted the fort! Keep it! Please, I really don't want the fort!"

Haha, check post 189 :D

I just captured the 4th fortress. I kind of wish I hadn't recruited all the warchiefs for the fights. All the fortress fights were incredibly easy. I think I'm level 42. Sitting at around 38hrs.

Everything I've read from people say not to rush through the rest of the missions, but to level up as close to 50 as you can get before you start Shadow Wars.

Anyone know if that is a good plan?

In my last set of Fortresses to defend I had to fight against a few 65s and each Warchief had 2-3 captains with him. Shit gets hectic pretty fast.

If you want to make it more challenging for yourself then yeah, get to 50 and then start with the fortress defense. Depending on a few factors (gear, your orcs, etc) it can be easy or pretty goddamn difficult.
 
I just captured the 4th fortress. I kind of wish I hadn't recruited all the warchiefs for the fights. All the fortress fights were incredibly easy. I think I'm level 42. Sitting at around 38hrs.

Everything I've read from people say not to rush through the rest of the missions, but to level up as close to 50 as you can get before you start Shadow Wars.

Anyone know if that is a good plan?

Yes. You want the wind at your back.
 
Sorta off topic but 13,000 people mistakenly entered a raffle to win Shadow of Mordor (the 1st game) today, lol.


Meanwhile, an actual Shadow of War giveaway has less than 600 entrants.
 
https://steamcommunity.com/app/356190/discussions/0/1484358860945061457/

I had a variation of this glitch happen to me. The door never opens, he gets "stuck", he's lying on the ground in a funky way and then it acts like he's either died or fast traveled and the next thing you know you're seeing that scene when he walks into the territory.

For me it's at Sergerost Mystic Castle.

Anyone else have any problems like these?

Have you got v-sync enabled or disabled? Sometimes frame rate can do some funky stuff with physics & clipping etc.
 
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I've got some potentially good news for at least some of us and something to be aware of:

When I updated my Nvidia drivers to 388 it installed Ansel. When the game starts I was getting the "press alt-d2 to use Ansel." I had not see that before updating my driver. (I was 381. whatever)

On a lark I disabled Ansel entirely. My glitch is now gone. This game is clearly very intolerant of any third party/outside overlays. Anyone having any glitches: Disabling any/all overlays of any kind is an easy first step. Try it! :)
 
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Shadow of War’s $40 ‘Expansion Pass’ now has a release schedule and more details about its contents...there will be four releases in total; two new Orc tribes for the Nemesis system, and a pair of separate story campaigns...

 
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I'm starting to see this game get more "GOTY shortlist" type chatter and all told I'd have to agree with it. I'm not saying it's GOTY outright. Jury is still out but I daresay it's probably on my shortlist. This is a helluva good game.
 
I've got some potentially good news for at least some of us and something to be aware of:

When I updated my Nvidia drivers to 388 it installed Ansel. When the game starts I was getting the "press alt-d2 to use Ansel." I had not see that before updating my driver. (I was 381. whatever)

On a lark I disabled Ansel entirely. My glitch is now gone. This game is clearly very intolerant of any third party/outside overlays. Anyone having any glitches: Disabling any/all overlays of any kind is an easy first step. Try it! :)

Weird, I've had no issues whatsoever. Ansel is pretty damn awesome, too.

I'm starting to see this game get more "GOTY shortlist" type chatter and all told I'd have to agree with it. I'm not saying it's GOTY outright. Jury is still out but I daresay it's probably on my shortlist. This is a helluva good game.

I haven't played much in the way of new games this year (uh...aside from this, none?) but I'm extremely impressed by this overall. Now if they just updated that graphics engine, too...
 
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So does it make any sense to just run around killing the captins/orcs in the 1st act?

I ended up trying to clear them all out last night for the hell of it and more and more kept reapearing randomly on me
 
So does it make any sense to just run around killing the captins/orcs in the 1st act?

I ended up trying to clear them all out last night for the hell of it and more and more kept reapearing randomly on me

Don't do more than you have to, and esp. in Act 1. Once you can flip people to your side, do so. Just because you see an icon on the map doesn't immediately obligate you. The game has a lot of "OCD traps." ;)

This end game grind is no joke. 10 stage of defend your forts from some high caliber attacks.

This is where if you wanted to save yourself a little effort you could use your already earned in game Mirian towards the silver boxes and get yourself some extra Orcs for your army. $0.

But you don't have to! :)

If you disassemble old gear and you have just been playing the game and enjoying yourself you're taken care of.

I'm basically a "combat brand" nut. It goes a long ways. If I see "broken" above anyone and anything it's mine. That pays off. ;)
 
I gotta admit I've actually been really enjoying "the grind" of Act 4. Killing off the common dregs in your army by sending them to the pits to fight against each other is great entertainment. Then leveling up the epic & legendaries in the pits... It's awesome fun seeing them in action. The execution animations are fantastic :D

With all the Mirian saved from the main campaign, it was a lotta fun popping open a bunch of war chests all at once! I was able to completely fill all my regions armies with epic and legendary orcs in no time at all, with zero real world money spent on loot boxes. In all fairness, the overall gameplay is so fun that I don't even consider orc hunting a grind at all.

I'm up to stage 6 of the Shadow Wars with 63 hours logged total. Definitely feel like I've gotten my moneys worth out of the game and it was everything I was hoping it would be.

So far definitely my GOTY.
 
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It's a helluva game overall. I'm very happy with it. Definitely on my "top games of the year" list. I haven't decided yet what my outright GOTY is. ;)
 
for anyone who's played, I think Horizon Zero Dawn wrapped that up awhile ago...

I am leaning in that direction.

So far as this game goes and the ending:

I did the grinding and saw the full ending. I guess this is it for Talion. Interesting how they tie him in as one of the Nazguls during the Lord of the Rings events and then he either gets free or dies after that's all done?

I'm guessing the DLCs will deal with Celebrimor and that side of things and wrap that up. Last game in the series? If it is, Monolith has done a great job and I hope Nemesis system and other ideas show up in future games from them and others.
 
Game is 40% off today only on Fanatical (aka Humble Bundle). There's also another 10% off code BLACKFRIDAY10. Definitely worth it!
 
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Shadow of War PC Patch Notes v1.06
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ - MonolithAndy

Free Updates and Features (Included in the patch)
  • Endless Siege: Defend your fortresses against Sauron’s forces as the Dark Lord tries to reclaim Mordor in the Endless Siege.
  • Rebellion: Crush the Rebellion that sweeps Mordor as your followers band together and try to overthrow you.
  • Enhanced Photo Mode: Capture every battle and siege and apply new filters, frames, and textures with the Enhanced Photo Mode update.

Slaughter Tribe Nemesis Expansion DLC (Now available for purchase)
The following content and features will be added to your game upon purchase of the Slaughter Tribe Nemesis Expansion DLC. Please note that if you currently own the Expansion Pass, this content is included with your pass.
  • Slaughter Tribe: The Uruks and Ologs from the Slaughter tribe are coming, bringing their own unique weapons, fighting style and a new fortress theme to Mordor.
New Slaughter Tribe Missions
  • Tribal Showdown: Face down Captains from the Slaughter tribe in Tribal Showdowns, with each showdown bringing unique challenges to complete.
  • Tribal War Band: Aid your ally and defeat your nemesis when facing off in the new Tribal War Bands quests as Captains from the Slaughter tribe bring their own forces to clash.
  • Legendary Gear Set: The Slaughter tribe brings their own Legendary gear set with new upgrade challenges. Accomplish these and bring your power to new levels!
  • Blood Ambush: Repel Captains from the Slaughter tribe in a Blood Ambush as they’ve learned that safety in numbers provides quite an advantage.

Additional Fixes
  • Fixed a number of issues where the player could encounter an infinite loading screen.
  • Addressed a number of instances where Talion could get stuck within specific objects, which would force the player to have to restart the game.
  • Fixed a few issues where Talion could fall outside of the environment, which would force the player to have to restart the game.
  • Fixed a few issues where a message that reads “Invalid ID” could appear in specific instances.
  • Fixed an incorrect tutorial message for poisoning a nearby barrel that would ask the player to hold the button rather than press the button.
  • Followers will no longer die from bleed out if they are on a fortress wall that gets destroyed; they will now safely teleport to the ground.
 
I want to pick it up but man, it seems like WB game prices drop like flies soon after release. At this rate, it might be $15-$20 during the Christmas sales.
 
I made the mistake of playing AC Origins before playing this; can't help but find the combat annoyingly repetitive. Mash X and hit Y times infinity. Love Shadow of Mordor even though it was paper thin and the button mashing became tiring. This one is fast becoming a chore.
 
Lootboxes aside, this is one of the most fun games I've played this year. Even though the combat can be kind of repetitive, once you have all the skills there's a lot you can do - and for whatever reason it never really gets boring to me. Chaining executions is satisfying every single time.
 
Lol. I don't understand the game. I never got out if the first level despite trying. First game I recall this happening. I just keep getting swamped. It's ok though. Not my style of game really.
 
Middle-earth: Shadow of War drops limb-severing Online Fight Pits in free update
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™
Just under three weeks ago, WB Games announced Middle-earth: Shadow of War would receive five free updates before the end of the year. Scenarios in Endless Siege and Rebellion arrived on November 21, alongside its Enhanced Photo Mode. Today marks the arrival of Online Fight Pits—Gladiator-esque combat arenas wherein players can train their followers.

Cue rivers of blood, tortured screams and the occasional flash of dismemberment. Meet Ar-Gul the Merciless:


"This is the reigning champ," says the narrator-cum-ring announcer above. "He's risen through another player's army, gaining new skills and stats with each pit victory. He's bloody, he's hungry, from the Slaughter Tribe: Ar-Gul the merciless."

Ar-Gul goes to toe-to-toe with Bork the Destroyer there, but when you're playing online it could be any other orc by any other name (with the exception of Mozû the Blight—as Tim will tell you, that asshole orc is dead).

"Online Fight Pits allow players to train up their Orc followers by pitting them against Uruks and Ologs from other gamers’ armies around the world," so says WB Games in a statement. "Through this ultimate fight to the death in the arena, players can earn powerful rewards and upgrades that can be used to improve their army and continue the battle for Mordor. "

Middle-earth: Shadow of War's Online Fight Pits update is available free-of-charge today.
 
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