Shadows of Mordor

Bought this last night, and played all day yesterday. Despite that I haven't advanced the story much mostly been doing side mission and killing Captains.

Is Level 20 the max for a Captain/Warchief? Trying to farm epic runes, I am assuming that there is an even greater chance when they are Level 20.

So far so good, I bought it from GMG with the 20% discount check out the Hot Deals thread before you buy!
 
A legit way within the game to pretty much get a never-ending combo streak...

In this video he gets to over 400 in about 15 minutes and gives up even though he could have easily kept going it seems. :eek:

http://youtu.be/PxA6J-0EWbQ

Christ, I have enough trouble with basic stuff, nevermind trying this trick.
 
Limahl said:
A legit way within the game to pretty much get a never-ending combo streak...

In this video he gets to over 400 in about 15 minutes and gives up even though he could have easily kept going it seems. :eek:

http://youtu.be/PxA6J-0EWbQ

Christ, I have enough trouble with basic stuff, nevermind trying this trick.
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Wow nice rune. I want this not for the super combo of the video but just for having more time.
 
vault stun+flurry+wraith finisher= largely unstoppable. enemies cannot hit you during the wraith finisher animation so you just cut through armies. almost makes the game too easy. 8)

loving the matrix music ripoff as well, entirely fitting
 
10 hours in and just unlocked the Brand ability. The second area looks great, such a nice change of pace from the Black Gate and it's gorgeous to boot. The hunting quests were incredibly fun. I really like design of the main missions. They all feel just unique enough to not get dull. The optional objectives are done well too and don't feel like a chore to accomplish (unlike say Assassin's Creed). Hopefully I'm far enough along in the story to have unlocked all of the optional missions. I want to get those done while branding some captains and getting ready to take on the rest of the Warchiefs.
 
Well, I killed my first Warchief. Since then the game has gotten stupid difficult. It isn't even like Dark Souls where you can contemplate every movement. I just get completely gang banged from all sides.

Meh. Gonna stop playing for awhile.
 
aeonrevolution said:
Well, I killed my first Warchief. Since then the game has gotten stupid difficult. It isn't even like Dark Souls where you can contemplate every movement. I just get completely gang banged from all sides.

Meh. Gonna stop playing for awhile.
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If you arent careful in roaming around, I've found that you can easily wander smack into stuff you've got no way in hell of beating. So I've learned to run.... far and fast, and go back later or snipe what I can to even the odds.

I've had much better luck playing this like a Thief game than trying to run in and toe to toe with anything. Been planning to load up on the skills for more arrows and more bullet time to help with that. Hope it works out in the long run.
 
Limahl said:
If you arent careful in roaming around, I've found that you can easily wander smack into stuff you've got no way in hell of beating. So I've learned to run.... far and fast, and go back later or snipe what I can to even the odds.

I've had much better luck playing this like a Thief game than trying to run in and toe to toe with anything. Been planning to load up on the skills for more arrows and more bullet time to help with that. Hope it works out in the long run.
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vault stun+flurry+wraith finisher, and then combat drain as well. turns into DMC... theres a sword mission in a gladiator pit to kill 50 enemies, bonus is for 100x streak. matrix courtyard stuff

until you can afford those skills, use stealth and do the weapon missions to save money. stealth kills are incredibly effective in this game, level that dagger up. and the brutalize unlock is helpful too
 
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Hamateer said:
vault stun+flurry+wraith finisher, and then combat drain as well. turns into DMC... theres a sword mission in a gladiator pit to kill 50 enemies, bonus is for 100x streak. matrix courtyard stuff

until you can afford those skills, use stealth and do the weapon missions to save money. stealth kills are incredibly effective in this game, level that dagger up. and the brutalize unlock is helpful too
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I'll have to look for those. I havent been able to play more than about 2 hours so far total, and I think I've missed a lot of stuff too. Need to check my map and clear out all those white icons.

Thanks for the info!
 
Limahl said:
I'll have to look for those. I havent been able to play more than about 2 hours so far total, and I think I've missed a lot of stuff too. Need to check my map and clear out all those white icons.

Thanks for the info!
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I just hope I dont regret pumping the arrow qty and bullettime skills. I love using the bow too damn much.
 
Does anyone know if there are any visual upgrades to your equipment over the course of the game? I was told that at one point, completing all of the side missions for your Sword, Bow, and Dagger would mean some sort of upgrade. "Build the legend of X" missions would lead to something besides simply currency to unlock rune slots and the like. Is this accurate? Now, maybe I'm too early, bt so far I've not seen this visual change.. Also, is there a part of the main story you have to reach before these changes become apparent or anything? For what it is worth, I don't mind that there isn't much visual "loot" (ie runes are pretty much it, along with XP and money-based upgrades), but it would be nice if your weapons visually improved along the course of the game somehow. Not having it do so at all feels a bit off putting.


Next, can anyone explain to me exactly how the game comes up with what kind of rune you get for killing captains? Is it the "last hit" that registers? The "first hit"? Also, there seem to be some kind of bonus for "exploiting vulnerabilities" or whatnot, but how does this work? Does it mean you have to have the identity of the captain plus unlock their Intel on strengths and weaknesses no matter how you kill them? Or does it mean you have to kill them via a particular weakness of theirs? How is this underrstood in the case when the weaknesses are only "takes damage from combat finishers" or whatnot, as opposed to the "is instantly killed by X" type?

I'd like to have a better grasp upon what is going on and what governs certain rewards. Thanks!
 
If the captain and especially the warchief has a vulnerability to say stealth finishers or combat finishers it means they take extra damage from those moves. If you use that vulnerability against them as the killing blow it increases the likelihood of a higher quality rune dropping and even more when they have been issued a death threat by you. I got a level 25 epic rune against the last warchief (The Defender or whatever his name was) in the first half of the game when he was level 20 and the poor bastard never even hit me, hah.

I actually just completed half of the weapon missions for the bow and dagger, with both receiving a visual upgrade. The dagger is no longer broken, for instance, and actually looks like a fresh, effective weapon instead of the busted to hell I-thought-it-was-the-shards-of-narsil dagger.

I can certainly see later iterations of the game including more aesthetic options, which would be nice. Regardless, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. The camera is a serious bitch sometimes and not nearly as good as Arkham City, especially in confined areas when you're in combat. But I have no other complaints, which is pretty fucking amazing for any game these days.
 
You increase the chances of better runes by exploiting their weaknesses.

You can also increase the chance of getting an epic rune via issuing a threat before you take them on.

You can find their weaknesses by intel and then use them or you can get "lucky" and do it without if you are lucky.

The level of the rune is dependent on the power level of the captain.
 
Wait, you can issue threats? What. lol.

I'm seriously debating restarting a new campaign. Somehow I ended up with 4 warchiefs at 10, 8, 10, 12................but there are two captains at lvl 20 and the rest aren't far behind.

This one lvl 20 captain has Combat Master or something so I can't do any finishing moves. He only takes damage from fire and finishing moves.

*sigh*
 
Well the year isn't over and its too early to call GOTY when games like Dragon Age Inquisition, The Evil Within and others have yet to come out - but Shadow of Mordor and Dark Souls 2 are my favorite games so far this year. Wouldn't even want to choose between DS2 and SoM since they're so different and it would be like choosing between beer and pizza. Destiny isn't even a contender because at the 10 or 12 hour mark I couldn't wait for it to be over.

SoM is the ultimate in chilling out on the couch and killing lots of baddies more or less arcade style, incredibly addicting formula - it gets the gameplay and fun factors right. Sure, the combat style was inspired by Batman Arkham series, but Batman was content to just clink a couple heads together and leave the bad guys tied to a mailbox and call it a night. SoM is much darker and more serious in tone and takes revenge killing to an artform - its practically ballet.

I keep fantasizing about ways they could expand the game. Like adding a Hard or NG+ with tougher enemies, higher level runes, smaller parry/dodge/reaction windows, more orcs taking swings simultaneously rather than one or two at a time while the rest politely wait their turn, less forgiving stealth killing that only works from back, new map areas, more types of beasts and enemies. Pretty much anything they can add to expand SoM's LoTR universe beyond just orc killing would be great. Can't wait to see what's in store with the expansion DLCs since the studio said they haven't sat still since finishing the game. I hope this game continues financial success so we see much more content, maybe a sequel with co-op elements, etc.
 
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aeonrevolution said:
Wait, you can issue threats? What. lol.

I'm seriously debating restarting a new campaign. Somehow I ended up with 4 warchiefs at 10, 8, 10, 12................but there are two captains at lvl 20 and the rest aren't far behind.

This one lvl 20 captain has Combat Master or something so I can't do any finishing moves. He only takes damage from fire and finishing moves.

*sigh*
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so get him down in one of the tent areas and keep blowing up fires and grog. i had a special mission where the only damage i could deal to the boss was with drain... was a nightmare. fought him (and 5 or 6 captains) for over an hour
 
aeonrevolution said:
Wait, you can issue threats? What. lol.

I'm seriously debating restarting a new campaign. Somehow I ended up with 4 warchiefs at 10, 8, 10, 12................but there are two captains at lvl 20 and the rest aren't far behind.

This one lvl 20 captain has Combat Master or something so I can't do any finishing moves. He only takes damage from fire and finishing moves.

*sigh*
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Take down combat masters by branding his minions. At least thats what I remember doing. I sneaked behind him and branded all his minions and they basically destroyed him.
 
Xaeos said:
Does anyone know if there are any visual upgrades to your equipment over the course of the game? I was told that at one point, completing all of the side missions for your Sword, Bow, and Dagger would mean some sort of upgrade. "Build the legend of X" missions would lead to something besides simply currency to unlock rune slots and the like. Is this accurate? Now, maybe I'm too early, bt so far I've not seen this visual change.. Also, is there a part of the main story you have to reach before these changes become apparent or anything? For what it is worth, I don't mind that there isn't much visual "loot" (ie runes are pretty much it, along with XP and money-based upgrades), but it would be nice if your weapons visually improved along the course of the game somehow. Not having it do so at all feels a bit off putting.


Next, can anyone explain to me exactly how the game comes up with what kind of rune you get for killing captains? Is it the "last hit" that registers? The "first hit"? Also, there seem to be some kind of bonus for "exploiting vulnerabilities" or whatnot, but how does this work? Does it mean you have to have the identity of the captain plus unlock their Intel on strengths and weaknesses no matter how you kill them? Or does it mean you have to kill them via a particular weakness of theirs? How is this underrstood in the case when the weaknesses are only "takes damage from combat finishers" or whatnot, as opposed to the "is instantly killed by X" type?

I'd like to have a better grasp upon what is going on and what governs certain rewards. Thanks!
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I haven't see anything visual improvement to the game and I finished like half of the story missions.

For the rune, I think the captain give low rune and war chief high rune.
 
Xaeos said:
Does anyone know if there are any visual upgrades to your equipment over the course of the game? I was told that at one point, completing all of the side missions for your Sword, Bow, and Dagger would mean some sort of upgrade. "Build the legend of X" missions would lead to something besides simply currency to unlock rune slots and the like. Is this accurate? Now, maybe I'm too early, bt so far I've not seen this visual change.. Also, is there a part of the main story you have to reach before these changes become apparent or anything? For what it is worth, I don't mind that there isn't much visual "loot" (ie runes are pretty much it, along with XP and money-based upgrades), but it would be nice if your weapons visually improved along the course of the game somehow. Not having it do so at all feels a bit off putting.


Next, can anyone explain to me exactly how the game comes up with what kind of rune you get for killing captains? Is it the "last hit" that registers? The "first hit"? Also, there seem to be some kind of bonus for "exploiting vulnerabilities" or whatnot, but how does this work? Does it mean you have to have the identity of the captain plus unlock their Intel on strengths and weaknesses no matter how you kill them? Or does it mean you have to kill them via a particular weakness of theirs? How is this underrstood in the case when the weaknesses are only "takes damage from combat finishers" or whatnot, as opposed to the "is instantly killed by X" type?

I'd like to have a better grasp upon what is going on and what governs certain rewards. Thanks!
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Yes, the bow, sword, and dagger quests change the appearance of the respective weapon, twice, once you complete the 5th and 10th quest for each weapon. Not sure if there is any benefit besides the aesthetic, and achievement.

You can threaten captains with the death threat ability which gives them a 40% chance to drop a epic rune. I have acquired dozens of epic runes this way. My Talion is a beast.





 
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I've died like 5 times so far, and I'm only 3 hours in having done just the first main story mission. That stronghold area has two captains that killed me twice so far (Pushrkimp and Lugnak). It's not that the captains are hard, it's all the minions that come out of the woodwork to anally rape you...

Game still kicks ass though :D.
 
I'm thinking of picking this up. I have a 4GB 670; think I'll be able to max it out and use ultra textures?
 
Bankie said:
I'm thinking of picking this up. I have a 4GB 670; think I'll be able to max it out and use ultra textures?
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Yes. I have two 4 GB 670's running in SLI and I was getting an average of about 40 or 50 Average FPS when running the benchmark on just a single card if I recall correctly. I'm getting an average of 80 in SLI Mode. That is full Ultra settings and the Ultra HD texture pack on a 1920 X 1200 resolution.
 
You should be fine. I've got it all on Ultra with a 7950 and my average fps is 63. Your 670 is pretty similar to my 7950 if I remembe rright.
 
SilverSliver said:
Ultra textures needs 6gb, so you can't use those.
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I know the game text states that, but I've played this game over 30 hours and it's been set at Ultra the entire time according to my settings. So, is my computer lying to me?

F76EC515D38142B187287F8DCE0668A94A509F21
 
I think it is like someone mentioned way back, your system will utilize hard drive space to make up for what isn't on your video card. If you have an SSD you might not notice it, I guess?

I'm mostly guessing. At least for me that must be it. I don't get any hitching or fps drops.
 
*deep breath* Here we go again.

Bankie said:
I'm thinking of picking this up. I have a 4GB 670; think I'll be able to max it out and use ultra textures?
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SilverSliver said:
Ultra textures needs 6gb, so you can't use those.
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Wrong. He *can* use Ultra textures, but at anything over about 900p with 4GB of video memory, you *will* see some occasional hitching as the game swaps textures into memory.

gn0me said:
I know the game text states that, but I've played this game over 30 hours and it's been set at Ultra the entire time according to my settings. So, is my computer lying to me?
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Do you have the HD textures (DLC) installed? If not, you're just running High textures.


Also...goddamn work! I got Uruk's to slaughter!
 
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^ this guy.

I will say though that on a 42" @ 1080 I can't really notice a difference in the HD texture pack.

*shrugs*

I'm starting to wonder if it is more for the people with monster displays.
 
Parja said:
Do you have the HD textures (DLC) installed? If not, you're just running High textures.
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Yes, I have the HD texture pack installed... as I stated in a post just a few minutes before the huge picture of my Ultra settings.

Mordor%20HD.jpg
 
DPI said:
Well the year isn't over and its too early to call GOTY when games like Dragon Age Inquisition, The Evil Within and others have yet to come out - but Shadow of Mordor and Dark Souls 2 are my favorite games so far this year.
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I bet this will easily be Dark Horse of the Year at minimum for a lot of people and review outlets.

It's a triumphant return for Monolith. This is a game a lot of people including myself really didn't give a hoot worth of attention to until a week or so before its release. Suddenly the videos went out, early reviews going out, Twitch... and it was like "holy shit, where did this come from?"

A very pleasant surprise.
 
This is getting hard and if I had a correct frame rate with some major drop that I was able to deal with now it look like the frame rate don't pass 15 on a region of the second map. And on this region(south) there is mission that I need to complete to continue the story. (One of the chief to capture.) I'll try to lower the graphic and see if the frame rate get better.

Also this is getting very hard, 50 Uruks with archer, spearman, double axes, wooded shield all around. This is nearly impossible and maybe I should try to only kill the chief and forget the guard?

Another question is about the max sword power. It say that I need to murder to kill in one shot for 20 seconds? What is murder?
 
I've spent a ton of time murdering orc captains (in fact, there are none left on my screen right now, just the warchiefs)

I never get these awesome epic runes I see in some of the screenshots.

I haven't done that much of the story line (just enough to kill 1 warchief and replace him with ratbag) and 2 or 3 in the gollum story line.

Is it later on in the main story that these types of runes become available?
 
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