Talion is ready to return to battle.
The highly anticipated sequel to the acclaimed title released in 2014 is finally available for PS4, XBOX One and PC. Middle-earth: Shadow of War players approaching the series for the first time (but also the most experienced) given the myriad of things to do and the extensive skill trees.
Here are some tips to put into practice from the first hours of the game that will help you to better face this new adventure.
1 - Easy Skill Points
Earning skill points in Shadow of War will allow Talion to unlock new skills and access increasingly powerful and useful sets of moves. There are several ways to get them, including eliminating Elite Orcs and completing the Revenge and Nemesis missions, but there are faster and more efficient ones.
The easiest way to quickly earn a point is to purify the three Haedir towers in each region. These also allow you to unlock a convenient place for quick travel. After clearing a tower, use it to locate all the collectibles in the region: as you are venturing around the game world to complete other tasks, it is worth getting the Ithildin symbols, Shelob's mementos, and artifacts right away. Gondor to get another skill point.
Shadows of the Past side missions also offer skill points when bonus or timed objectives are completed.
2 - Read the characteristics of the skills well
As obvious as it may seem, you don't always think deeply about what a skill offers before unlocking it. The skill menu offers a ton of categories and options, but you'll need to carefully choose the ones that best suit your play style. After unlocking a basic skill, you will be able to access one of the three upgrades of the same that will give you further benefits, but in general focus on the primary skills first.
In the "construction" of your skill trees, rely on the approach you prefer the most, without neglecting the rest and therefore trying to balance everything.
3 - Take advantage of the riding skills
These useful skills will allow you to ride Caragor, Graug and even Dragons that can be used to reach your goals faster and fight causing massive damage to enemies along the way.
In particular, these beasts can prove to be very effective against the orc captains as well as being able to scare some of them therefore do not underestimate the abilities of these important travel companions (and battles).
4 - Check your equipment often
Enemy captains and Nemeses always drop random items after defeating them. Open your inventory often and make sure you have equipped the best of your weapons and armor to emerge victorious from combat, perhaps without too much effort.
5 - Dismantle the old equipment
Mirians are one of the most valuable currencies in Shadow of War, and even if you feel rich at first, you'll soon find that there are some downright expensive skills you can purchase. One of the simplest ways to replenish your pockets is to dismantle old and outdated equipment. Unless it's your best weapon or armor and it's not a legendary piece, it's not worth keeping in your inventory.
6 - Complete the equipment challenges
Each piece of rare or epic gear that you get is “accompanied” by a challenge that requires the completion of a particular objective. After completing it and spending the required number of Mirians, you will unlock an upgrade for that piece of equipment. The only limitation of rare and epic items is that they can only be upgraded once.
As for the legendary components, however, Celembribor can upgrade them several times up to the maximum level allowed, offering more interesting and useful bonuses. By equipping a specific armor made up of all its pieces and with all the challenges completed, you will also get a bonus both for wearing it complete and for the challenges.
7 - Unlock the gem slots as soon as possible
Killing captains, knocking down monuments and, more generally, creating chaos in Mordor can result in obtaining gems, which are useful as they provide additional bonuses to Talion. Each piece of equipment has a slot for gems that you can unlock for 1000 Mirians. It might seem like a lot, but actually this currency won't really serve you at least until Act II, so you will be able to set aside a lot of money by completing missions and dismantling old equipment.
8 - Pay attention to the bonuses granted by the gems
By passing over a gem before collecting it, you will have the opportunity to view the bonuses they will give you, so read carefully what they offer and adapt them according to what you want to get. Note that if you associate gems with some objects it will be possible to remove them later without destroying them, so you can interchange them as you wish.
9 - Combine the gems
If you have collected three gems of the same type, you can combine them to create a more powerful one that offers better bonuses. Make use of this opportunity often so that you always have the strongest gems available.
10 - How to easily defeat orc captains
The simplest way to eliminate orc captains (aside from exploiting their weaknesses) is to take advantage of the dangers that the surrounding environment provides to thin out the troops. Use everything you can to cause as much chaos as possible in the outposts and try to isolate the captain if you can. Facing him alone will make your life easier than finding him in the company of his henchmen.
In case you notice that you are being overwhelmed, the enemy AI is quite permissive towards you and you can temporarily flee to regain your energy. Orcs have a relatively low level of attention, so all you need to do is climb to a high spot where they can't see you, wait for them to stop looking for you, and then charge back.
