edstein

I just picked up this game again. It was only $12 with games with gold sale this week.

K&AJones

Well...I think I'm sitting in a good situation. Got up this morning to do a few things and ended up getting two more Captains Branded. So as it stands I have....

15 of 20 Main Missions done...
8 of 10 Sword Missions done...
9 of 10 Bow Missions done...
9 of 10 Dagger Missions done...
8 of 10 Hunting challenges done...
9 of 10 Survival challenges done...
All the Attributes unlocked...
All the Abilities unlocked...
37 of 42 Artifacts found...
22 of 24 Outcast Missions done...

And of Sauron's Army I have...
(1) Captain spot vacant
(5) Captains killed
(5) Captains not branded
(8) Captains Branded
(1) War Chief Branded
(2) War Chiefs with one supporter not Branded
(2) War Chiefs with no supporters not Branded

K&AJones

I went back in the first area to do some collecting I didn't get and saw all the new Captains and War Chiefs. Last two days I've got (3) War Chiefs Branded and have about (6) Captains. I did lose three today but gained one. I have seen two of the Blue Missions pop up that say something like 'Waiting For Your Command" and it just shows one of the Branded guys there. I'll probably go after he other two in the old area and see what happens once I have all the War Chiefs under my control

james2025a

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

K&AJones

Funny you mention this as the other day I did a search for Monolith Studios and see what they were up to.....hardly anything on them period except old news with Shadow of Mordor. I feel the same...if and when...which with the success of this one would think just a trickle of something out there. The game released almost a year ago (November).

If there would be one thing I'd like to see....maybe two-player co-op added and some type of Horde Mode. I hope they continue with this LotR theme as it's really been fun to see and play along with the lore part of it.

mattysemo247

I bet we see a sequel announced at the Video Game Awards in December.

Osiris3657

Alright, this is annoying the shit out of me. I just started the game and I'll be fighting some random Uruks when I happen to clash with a captain as well. Had no idea there was one in the area. While focusing on the captain, I will soon be attacked by 2 or 3 other captains. What the fuck, where did these assholes come from? They always seem to come while I'm fighting a captain, which makes the fight more difficult. Of course I die and they become stronger

Why So Blu?

Had you encountered the captains before? If you did and ran off and they just happen to be in the proximity of the current capatin you're fighting they'll join in.

Osiris3657

Yea, the names look familiar, but it feels like wherever I go, they show up (as soon as I start fighting a new captain). Maybe they are tracking me, I don't know.

I think I need to take my usual approach to these open world RPGs: do side missions/collectibles first to significantly upgrade my character's stats, abilities, and weapons, then tackle the missions and go after captains.

Why So Blu?

Just be mindful of the proximity. If they catch you slipping then the whole brigade will pounce on you.

davidh777

The captains in the early stages are the biggest PITA in the game. I had a couple who would always show up at the end of battles and kill me. Even when I tried to avoid them by going to the opposite side of the map, they'd still pop up and kill me again.

As you said, your best bet is to roam and build your skills for a while. If you can isolate some captains who are vulnerable to ranged or stealth, you might be able to take them out.

K&AJones

yea...as mentioned the captains are a PITA early one especially if your skills haven't been leveled up. I had the same thing happen to me a lot...go after one Captain and then out of no-where a second or even a third would pop up. Best thing to do is run and hide preferably to higher ground. This is where you look for the Caragors as they can become your best friend...they and Orcs do not get along. The distract with the Bow becomes a very useful tool through out the game.

When I would die it would be like 7-8 changes in the Captain Ranks but sometimes it would result in a duel. This is a great opportunity to get Two For The Price Of One....let them duel and then widdle down the other side before going after the remaining Captain. Again...Caragors can become your best friend here especially if it's five or more. Let them fight and just pick off a few with the bow and then come in and clean up. And don't forget or under estimate the intel on the Captains. It can make a huge difference on just how you approach, isolate and confront them using the surroundings.

davidh777

If you get intel on a captain, you'll see that some have as a "strength" the ability to pop up out of nowhere. This helps you NOT AT ALL, of course, but that's why it happens.

When I said I tried to go to the opposite side of the map, that's because I had set one of the most annoying ones as my target, and the map told me he was in the far right region. So I went to the far left, and of course he pops up and kills me again. The worst thing was that he had spears so he would always hit me from far away while I was fighting other guys. What an asshole. Getting the anti-poison rune did help somewhat, then I was finally able to kill him when he was on a red mission and I managed to get him alone and knife the hell out of his ass.

Osiris3657

I'm about 20 hours in and about 88% complete. Some of these dagger missions are a real bitch since it seems like all the last ones require you to complete a task without being detected.

Through all the collectible and side quests, I've been able to accumulate enough currency to get all the abilities and upgraded weapons. I have not seen any point to going after captains or warchiefs unless the story mission calls for it.

Still, I've had a blast with the game, and when Talion is fully upgraded he's a total badass in battle.

K&AJones

Know any friends who might think or like the game, it's on sale in the Playstation Store this week. The normal one is $18.00 while the GOTY Edition is $24.00

Yep...some of those dagger missions being un-detected can be a real pain. But I found using Brand actually helps a lot just as much as stealth kill. Unless you kill one and throw their body over the cliff or edge, they can be discovered and an alarm go off. Depending on the location I'll either work my way in a circle just Branding one after another shrinking the area or concentrate in one area slowly expanding. Branding instead of outright killing them seems to give me extra space to move around, scout and blend in. And of course the first thing I look for are the archers and just do a Shadow Strike...and I almost always Brand them. Then you can lure one here and there to the outside and either brand or stealth kill.

davidh777

Just started the Lord of the Hunt DLC.

K&AJones

I'm just trying to finish the game and may have time for it or at least mess around a bit. Mix bag of results last night including one sort of funny....I lost three Branded Captains but got three back and got two Warchiefs Branded. And the funny part is while doing one of the Sword Missions I feel asleep & died and woke up when all the changes were happening in the Captain screen. A White captain got promoted, two White Captains did a Duel, one Orc I Branded became a Captain, a unknown became a Captain and two Branded Captains got promoted....which actually was a good thing.

So I have three Warchiefs and about (10) Captains Branded, (5) Dead captains and the rest White Captains. The two Warchiefs remaining are the Legendary and the one in the story part which I'm showing two left; the last Hunt and this.

mattysemo247

I tried the first mission in that DLC last weekend and was having a difficult time since you can't alert anyone. Were you able to find an easier way doing it?

davidh777

Sorry I missed your question before. Which one was that? I did have difficulty with a couple but managed to work through them and have just one left.

Osiris3657

Beat the game tonight with 100% completion. Fun game, definitely down for a sequel. Going to start the 2 DLCs now with Lord of the Hunt.

K&AJones

Good going on finishing the game.....

I've got four main missions, one Bow and Dagger mission left.....have four War Chiefs and (11) Captains already Branded hopefully wrapping it this week. Yea, it's been a real pleasant surprise and a fun game. Out a year ago and still somewhat shocked no announcement of a follow up.

davidh777

Finished Lord of the Hunt last night. I got quite a bit of play out of it, and it had some new wrinkles over the basic game.

Osiris3657

Beat Lord of the Hunt and The Bright Lord DLC over the weekend. Found both more challenging than the main game.

Last mission of The Bright Lord DLC was chaotic. You have to fight Sauron, then you fight 5 warchiefs and regular Uruks all at once, then Sauron again.

Will check out what achievements I have left and if there's nothing too difficult I'll try and get those.

davidh777

I agree about the difficulty. I just started The Bright Lord, and it felt like going back to the beginning and getting killed by multiple captains. I think part of it is the fact that my health and arrows are back to normal levels, and the uruks are now more numerous and heavily armored, plus one captain killed me and got upgraded to level 25! WTF? Then I had one dead to rights and was gradually branding him when I got the bright idea of summoning some followers, who immediately began whaling on him. That wasn't going to work for branding so I killed them off and resumed branding when, of course, a bunch of other uruks including a captain appeared and killed me. I think more than the original game, this part has an epic feel of large companies battling. When my blue guys are charging into a fight, I try to wade in and help them, though what often happens is my guys all get killed off and I have to flee.

Osiris3657

Speaking of branding uruks, there's one mission that was a real pain. You have to keep at least 10 uruks branded for 2 minutes (timer resets if it drops below 10) while you're being attacked from all angles by an unending stream of uruks (especially those bastards with the shields). Feel like the branded ones would get killed really fast.