Decker

Got my Gold Edition today from Target. Damn, that's fast shipping. Would have preferred an Xbox One copy for the XBX but hey, for $48, I can live with a PS4 version. Looking forward to trying this one out soon.

LorenzoL

I finally started playing this game yesterday. My familiarity with the control setting and gameplay is helping me. I'm only 2 hours in and still at Minith Inthril (I believe).

Early impressions so far of this game...
- I like how the skills tree is set up even though it took me a few minutes to figure out how to unlock the different skills set.
- I'm so used to Talion being powered up from the last game, that I was tackling head on big groups of orcs. I quickly needed to change that strategy.
- I agree with Rob V. assessment that the gameplay is repetitive but I'm enjoying it so far.
- I really don't know if I like the gearing and the gems aspect of the game yet.
- I haven't unlocked the branding aspect of the game yet. I think that's story based in which you unlock the skill.

I believe that you need to be at Level 60 to tackle to Fort attacking and defending in Act IV. Have you guys reach that stage yet? Do we need people to play online for this part? I'll be up for it on a PS4 if you guys need people to play this.

davidh777

Yeah, it took me some time to figure out the skills tree as well as the gems system. Still not sure I'm maximizing my weapons, but whatever. I do like grabbing the gems on the battlefield.

Actually the skills tree is where I figured out my problem with branding was. It turns out that branding is a toggle that I accidentally switched off, probably because I saw I could gain elf shot or something like that when I dominated an enemy.

I conquered a fortress in the second region and went back to the first one to clean up some achievements and build up my army, but I got killed a surprising number of times. I'm starting to get back on track, though.

I'm sure I'm not at level 60, but I did unlock something about attacking and defending against other players. I ignored it for now, as I had just gone through a bad experience of trying to avenge someone through an online vendetta and getting killed. I'm playing on Xbox, though.

Michael Corvin

I finally started earlier. The opening cinematic was beautiful...as was Shelob. It's amazing how easy it was to slip back into this world and start kicking ass. I played for a couple hours, and died a couple times already but it's still a blast.

I haven't paid much attention to the gems & skill tree either. I'll get to that eventually.

LorenzoL

It also took me a while to realize that I have to make it into a "full map" view to move from Minith Inthril and Cirith Ungol.

I have completed all of the Lost Artifacts, Ithildin and Shelob Memories collectibles. Also destroyed all of the Dark Monuments on Cirith Ungol too.
However, how the heck do you open the Ithildin Door? Would somebody like to tell me please?

I have unlocked all of the skills set to ride all of the beasts even the Drake but I love killing the Captains that I encounter, riding a Graug.

Sorry, I wasn't talking about branding but the dominating skill: making the Orcs and Captains to fight for you. I haven't progressed far enough into the story I think. Doing all of the side missions, vendetta and collectibles, I have been able to acquire enough skill points to unlock most of the main skills with the exception of 3. I haven't unlocked any of the side skills yet but at least, my character is starting to get stronger.

Is there a limit of how much gear you can have? I'm selling most of the white ones, but the rare and epic gear are piling up.

I'm progressing slowly in the story and have enjoyed my time playing this game. Heck, I didn't even watch football yesterday, playing this game all afternoon.

Booo!

Rob V

How do you take down those statues? I'm assuming with the Rancor monster thing? Is there no other way? Finding those in the wild has been pretty rare.

Michael Corvin

I did this last night. The door in the first realm is to the North East. Once you find the area (it's underground), enter Wraith world to see the door. Walk through and walk up to the Elven writing on the wall and trigger the puzzle. (it's R1 on PS4). Then you have to solve the poem. Each line is missing a word, and you put each word that you found into the phrase. Be prepared to fight on your way out. I had a Caragor kill me and upon restarting had an Epic Captain.

It gave me some Legendary armor.

lopper

Climb to the very top of the statue and you'll get a prompt (R1 on PS4 I think).

davidh777

Yeah, first you find the six Ithildin clues, then you find the door. On the map it looks like it's on top of the mountain but you have to go inside as Michael Corvin said.

Yep, lopper is correct. They're generally smack in the middle of forts or outposts, but generally the enemies will run after you smash it, so you're not immediately attacked afterward.

on the cross-nerd Rancor reference.

davidh777

Even better: Eating them.

Haven't sold anything and haven't hit a limit yet, so we'll see. I hope that it tells me I can't pick something up rather than just wasting it.

Michael Corvin

I've sold everything thus far so so I could unlock the gem slots. What else is money used for?

Also I haven't seen a single "pay-to-play" loot box or any prompt telling me to spend real money. I thought that was a big pre-release gripe, but I haven't seen shit, so to that.

LorenzoL

Unfortunately, as david777 and lopper said, you can't destroy the monument unless you climb on top and activate R1 (this is on the PS4).


Thank you! It took me a while to figure out that it was located inside the cave at the side of the fort. I collected the six clues and was wondering where the heck the door was.

Once you unlock the gem slots, save your money as you will need them in order to buy upgrades for the siege weapons for attack and defense I believe.

davidh777

Yeah, the complaints concerned me as well, but it's not bad. On the character menu where you can select army, quests, character, or inventory, there's a market tab. I opened it and cashed in the chests I was already given but haven't done anything else. I could get extra orc captains or something, but I haven't needed them so far. Occasionally on that character screen you'll see a promo for a Friday sale or stuff like that. It was mentioned upthread that it'd be more useful for multiplayer, which is kind of what I expected. Even if I do end up trying multiplayer (I usually don't), I already forked out for the gold edition so I'm not paying for any in-game transactions.

Michael Corvin

Messed around in the market and have been doing Online Vendettas. Very cool.

However, what's up with only being able to issue a single Death Threat? I seem to recall giving the entire orc army death threats in the first game. Is it "opened up" a bit more later in the game or is it always just one?

davidh777

I haven't issued any death threats in the new game. Do we do it to get better drops from battles?

I failed in my attempt to defeat a third overlord, so I went back to Minas Morghul to clean up some side goals. It was obvious that that was before I unlocked domination because it was full of bad captains. I was converting some of those when I got the bad side of the nemesis system: getting killed by the same guy four times in a row. (Not all my fault, as I had him dead to rights a few times but he was iron-willed.) After taking a break on some other guys, I encountered him again and was almost killed again, but was saved by my bodyguard. It was so sweet I wasn't even sorry to miss out on the kill.

Rob V

edstein -- if you're reading this, I avenged you online yesterday! lol

Michael Corvin

They gain a level so yeah, better drops and I assume a tad more XP.

Rob V

I made it to Act II last night... loving the hell out of this game. Despite the repetitive nature of the gameplay, the leveling up and getting new abilities keeps it fresh and the Online Vendetta thing is really cool. The end of Act I was so intense, I thought that perhaps I was at the end of the game already. I suspect there are 3 acts in total so I guess I have a long way to go.

Edit: 4 acts total but Act II looks like it's the most jam packed with missions while 3 and 4 have maybe one mission? This is based on a quick look over at IGN.

Michael Corvin

I too finished Act 1 the other night and thought I was at the end of the game.

james2025a

I ordered the Gold Edition of this game mid October from Amazon, not realizing at checkout that it was via seller on Amazon and not Amazon direct. Fast forward to today and after emails to the seller, calls to Amazon and a package thats lost in the mail (Tracking has said its being delivered today for the last 2 weeks and the last day for expected delivery was Nov. 13th) i get a refund from Amazon (i opted for the immediate Amazon credit instead ow waiting 2 weeks for the refund). Good news is that i saved $30 on the game on reordering today and i used that money towards a copy of Destiny 2 as well. The seller said i had to give it 25 business days for delivery which is just ridiculous.

Anyway, i am deep into Assassins Creed Origins at the moment, so having an extra week to pump into that before this arrives is good. But i am REALLY looking forward to playing this. The first game was amazingly addictive and this looks more of the same and bigger and better.

mattysemo247

Well thanks to Walmart's price mistake, I ended up getting a Gold Edition code for XB1 for $9.99. Now I gotta decide whether to stick with that or the Gold PS4 version I already got from Target. Has anyone noticed any huge issues running on the original XB1? I'm sure it runs like butter on the XB1X.

Rob V

No issues on XB1 for me... Haven't tried it on my X1X yet.

davidh777

My XB1 seems fine.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about with regard to Act 1, etc., but rather than trying to figure it out, I'll just keep playing.

LorenzoL

Me too. I’m trying to do as many of the sidequests too.

Rob V

So I played the hell out of this game over the weekend and keep plugging away... just when I think that the game is hella good, I get to over-throw a stronghold and, holy shit!!!! That was amazing. Then you get to do it online???!!! This game just keeps getting better and better.