davidh777

Yeah, just fighting will unlock XP, but missions and stuff will unlock (M) for upgrading, and fighting captains will unlock (P), which will unlock new tiers of skills. While you're roaming around, look for the ithildin and artifacts, and those help too.

I've finally gotten the hang of taming caragors, and am getting a kick out of riding those into battle, especially with other caragors. I also FINALLY killed off the captain who'd killed me probably a dozen times, usually when he popped up at the tail end of a battle. I invaded one of his activities and caught him alone, and it just took a couple headshots and numerous daggers. I just unlocked branding, which is pretty awesome.

I haven't figured out how to kill flying creatures, though.

Rob V

Branding and quick taming Caragors is critical to wiping out the tribe chiefs... or at least making it much easier.

LorenzoL

After almost a year, I'm finally playing this game. I'm liking it a lot. Mind you, as stated by other people, it "borrows" heavily from other games like Rocksteady Batman, AC and heck, it even took a page from Red Dead Redemption. As soon as I started picking the herbs or doing the hunting challenge, I thought it reminded me of another game and it was RDR. I'm pretty good with the fighting controls thanks to Batman and the climbing and stealth kills is AC for sure.

I'm a few hours into the game but I'm pretty sure that I will be trying to complete this game 100%.

james2025a

A sequel to this game will be a day one purchase for me.

mattysemo247

I think I'm about halfway through the story missions. I still like it a lot, although it doesn't seem like there is a lot of variety between the missions. Just figure out the best way to kill a bunch of orcs.

I've been trying to decide what to spend upgrade points on. Is anything going to help out more than the other later on in the game? Or against higher ranked enemies?

redbill

I am shocked we haven't seen 3 sequels yet. Because of its success, it was primed for over-saturation.

K&AJones

I've got a lot on my plate still...Diablo III, Dying Light, some Far Cry 4....but I see this at Best Buy for $29.99 and that's the Game of the Year edition. About how long or average is this? My next game(s) are Star Wars and possibly COD Black Ops III both in November.

redbill

I got 100%/Platinum, in probably 40 hours.

davidh777

Branding really does change the game against the captains. Earlier, I'd tried taking out a whole stronghold Die Hard-style, but gave up because I figured I'd never run out of Uruks. But taking one over via stealth branding seems a lot more do-able, as long as I can keep them from setting off alarms. I sure miss Arkham's grappling hook for getting myself out of trouble, though. And unlocking the new region really feels like starting a new game. Same basic missions, of course, but new terrain and strongholds.

I'm not sure what you have already, but my top priority has been health. I use the daggers and stealth branding a lot, and the runes can really help if you get the right ones. Anti-poison was big for me since that's what my nemesis used. Honestly, I have a hard time keeping some of the combo bonuses straight since I haven't played a lot of fighting games.

It's pretty long, though that can be kind of what you make it since you can choose which side missions to tackle. You'll probably need to do at least some of them to build up your skills to fight the tougher villains.

redbill

you can use that stealth long range attack to target someone far away and you'll "fly" over to him.

K&AJones

I went by BB and picked up their last copy. With the Gamers Club + Tax it came to $26.25....so in my book for the GOTY edition not bad. I've only seen some in-game footage but any tips when I start out?

LorenzoL

Buzz, if you played the Batman games, you should be very familiar with the combat control especially the counter. You have the choices of different missions on the map. The Yellow are for the story, red for the captains/chiefs and white for artifacts/ithaldrin/weapons upgrade. You choose what you want to do. I suggest doing a little bit of everything since the upgrade is very beneficial to your character encounter with the orcs.

davidh777

That's not a bad idea, but sometimes I just want to get away quickly and not have to target someone and then maybe confront him. Jumping up walls is what I usually do since Talion has an incredible vertical leap, but sometimes I find the controls a little clunky when I try that.

K&AJones

Yep...I played the Batman games and loved them both. I just want to smack & slash Orcs...much like how we do in Diablo. So a blend of Story, Bosses and Artifacts off the bat? Should I lean one way or another and I'm guessing definitely stay on the story more than the others?

Decker

Nah, the other stuff is WAY more fun than the story missions in this game.

K&AJones

Got around playing quite a bit last night but didn't get far as I spent most the time hiding in bushes and testing the combat stuff. I think I did two sides and the first story one (The Slaver).

Like the combat style as it's not complicated and bogged down getting a series of buttons in the correct order. The Block, Attack and Roll work good and simple. The finishing moves are cool to watch and nice they vary quite a bit.

Using the "Wraith" is a bit confusing as to when to use. I've got the Drain part as to fill up Elf-Shot but getting one of the Green Intel guys without killing him as been a chore. They're always in a pack and cannot isolate to grab them. I get them down, then fight off the others and when they get back up one or two blows they're dead.

In terms of upgrading is it better to spread it all over....sword, bow and dagger along with resources like health?

james2025a

Even though i completed the game a long time ago i still go back to this quite often just to run around hacking the crap out of large numbers of enemies. A couple of times i have gone through and branded every captain in the game so they are all under my command. Take a bit of doing as one always seems to get involved in a big brawl and come out dead on the other side. The changing mechanics of the captains really adds a lot to this game and the need for revenge when someone kills you is pretty strong. Surprised more games have not picked this addition up.

Well i am still into Mad Max and that game plays a lot like this one. Very similar games indeed. I think its gonna take me a while to wade through all the stuff in that game, but pumping plenty of hours into it. Next up MGS and i need to get that done fast as the next few months will be busy with Battlefront, Black Ops III, Fallout 4, and Just Cause 3 (i must have spent over 300 hours on part 2....so this is gonna be a massive time consumer). A load more potentially great games also due out before years end, so a busy gaming time.

slop101

Now that I think about it, the new MGS is a lot like Mordor, only with guns and a nutty story.

davidh777

It's often hard to leave the intel guys for last when they're in a pack. I had the same problem in Arkham. I was trying to brand my fifth chieftain yesterday and ended up killing him instead--oops.

I spread it fairly evenly, but honestly I probably don't use the bow as much as I should, more for triggering and detonating than killing. But it's a bummer to run out of elf shot so it's good to upgrade. I thought the runes for the dagger were a little more useful.

mattysemo247

What is this branding ability? Is it something that unlocks during story missions or do you have to unlock it using points? I started the new area a couple days ago and haven't run into that perk yet.

james2025a

You brand an enemy by grabbing them and possessing them. From that point on they are under your control. They will fight alongside you if you want or you can send them to fight other people to stir up some shit. Its a good way to even a large fight or to get a quick win over a strong foe if the odds are against you.

davidh777

I'm pretty sure branding unlocks during a story mission so keep playing those in the new area.

It's very satisfying to just take a game break for 15 minutes and brand a couple captains. Since I still need to brand one more warchief, I'm hoping that one of the guys I already control will be promoted into that position.

K&AJones

When and how does the Branding ability unlock?

james2025a

I love it in this game when a tough situation suddenly gets worse. I have gone after war chiefs and found that I have to take them on, their troops and 4 or 5 captains at the same time. It's such a blast.

davidh777

Keep playing the story missions and you'll get it.