When Ranger Talion and his family die at the forces of Sauron, he is revived by the great Elven smith Celebrimbor in his quest of exacting vengeance against the Dark Lord. In Shadow of Mordor, Talion and Celebrimbor use their unique talents in a one-man crusade against the seemingly-unbeatable Uruk-hai, wreaking havoc amongst their forces and forcing the ever-powerful Uruk-hai Captains and Warchiefs out of their camps.
Alongside the unique Nemesis System, prayers are given multiple opportunities to forge rivalries with enemies they face, spicing up combat and making things considerably difficult in their playthrough. However, for the player who wants an edge in their Shadow of Mordor experience, just what other ways should they use to level up faster?
Know What Side Quests Are There
Similar to other open world RPGs, Talion and Celebrimbor are able to explore much of Mordor anyway they want, with the option to return to the Main Story only there if they plan on completing the ranger’s tale. However, aside from having just an ordinary set of side quests, Shadow of Mordor offers a wide variety of side quests for players. Knowing what each kind of mission implies can help players prepare for what sort of counters to expect, which can then help them become more economical when it comes to prioritization:
- Outcast Rescue Missions: These are marked with a clenched fist. Although optional, slaves and people rescued in this quest may be able to help Talion in the long term, especially when it comes to information gathering.
- Challenges: These are often tagged with Swords, Bows, and Daggers all over the map. Approaching each would yield different missions with different parameters, and often act as challenge levels for Talion. Completing them are optional but they do net a lot of Gold and range from 300 to 550 EXP per drop, which can be plentiful when done in sequence.
- Power Struggles: These are random encounters tagged with a red mark. Encounters like these often Elite Orcs and trigger the game’s famed Nemesis System, where Talion may create memorable enemies. Defeating Elite Orcs will grant Talion some Power, which he can use to raise his Abilities (as opposed to Mirian, which helps Talion raise his Attributes).
Wealth Gems Are Best Friends
Players who are particularly keen on getting as much EXP as they could in their Shadow of Mordor playthrough should consider looking into Wealth Gems. In contrast to damage-boosting Potency and life-boosting Vitality Gems, it’s Wealth Gems that boost the EXP players earn after defeating enemies in combat.
An ideal strategy here is to farm for identical Gems as often as possible and upgrade them until they’re of Perfect quality. That gives the best bonus to EXP earned. With a lot of side missions often giving players room for identical Gems, being able to spam upgrades early on should be a breeze for players who often find themselves in combat.
Speedrun Captains, Warchiefs With Weaknesses, Vulnerabilities
Thanks to the Nemesis System in Shadow for Mordor, no two (2) Uruk Warchief or Captain are alike, and all of them come with a wide range of traits. Players need to be wary of Hatreds (these Enrage them), Invulnerabilities (these are attacks that don’t hit), Passives (innate bonuses), and Abilities (special skills).
However, players up for speedruns to a lot of EXP might want to look into the other side of the coin, which are Fears (what Terrifies them and makes them leave the battlefield), Weaknesses (what damages them more), and especially Vulnerabilities (things they are more prone to). In particular, players should pay close attention to Warchiefs and Captains that can be damaged by combat and stealth finishers as well as explosions, and especially those who can be instantly killed with specific finishers. These can reduce difficult encounters into a decisive moment, which can net a lot of EXP on the get-go.
Take Note Of Unfinished Businesses
The Nemesis System remains a notable aspect of Shadow of Mordor for how unique it makes the gameplay loop, especially when it comes to rather “repetitive” fights. Part and parcel to this are Unfinished Businesses, or quest types that involve the player exacting revenge on an enemy unit that kills them. These often happen when players die at the hands of an Orc, but might come in different forms. Most notable of these revenge missions come in how this affects the gameplay, as the Orc that kills the player often gets promoted, being more powerful and therefore having more of that juicy EXP that players can grab when they exact revenge.
Another aspect of this gameplay that players can take note of are breaking swords, which might happen if players get killed by Ologs or the troll-folk. When this happens, players exact revenge against the Olog that killed them, with the prize being an upgraded form of the broken sword. Players in higher levels can spam these sword-breaks to secure gear that exceed the Level 60 Gear cap.
Get Smart With Death Threats
Players who regularly fight Orcs in Shadow of Mordor can do a wide variety of social interactions with them, especially Death Threats. When Talion death-threatens an opponent, this immediately boosts the level of said opponent without players having to die in their hands. While this drastically scales up their strength, players who know how to do Death Threats properly can use this to their advantage.
First and foremost, players may want to death-threaten ordinary Captains. While they don’t give as much EXP even when at max level, they at least regularly respawn. Players should do this to captains vulnerable to attacks fit for their gameplay to make the loop easier. Likewise, while Outpost Missions give a lot of EXP when death-threatening their Captains, these Captains don’t respawn, so players need to take note of how often they do this.
Capitalize Sieges For Stronger EXP Gains
Sieges remain an active part in the peripheral of Shadow of Mordor gameplay, especially in how they visually illustrate an active effort in undermining Sauron’s forces in the region. However, while killing Defenders and its assigned Uruk-hai Overlord already gives players high EXP, players can raise their rewards even further with a couple of deaths here and there.
To do this, players should ideally die at the hands of the Overlord during the final part of the Siege. That way, players unlock an Unfinished Business mission that is simply a replay of that previous battle, albeit with more EXP rewards given the Overlord’s raised level. Spamming this a couple of times should raise the Overlord at max level, which also drasticallyb boosts the EXP earned by both killing the Overlord and finishing the mission.
Raise Hell With Detonate, Ride Caragors
With the way how environments in Shadow of Mordor are mostly open, Talion and Celebrimbor have a lot of ways to approach encounters. This is especially the case when executing kills in crowds, as Talion doesn’t always have to approach an Orc camp and wreak havoc. In fact, certain Abilities allows Celebrimbor, through Talion, dish out more damage without necessarily risking Talion’s life in close combat. Moreover, this makes group kills much easier to accomplish, and therefore net EXP much faster.
At its core, it’s extremely useful for players to raise Tier 1 abilities such as Detonate and Ride Caragors as soon as possible. Detonate forces barrels and fires to explode upon being shot. Meanwhile, Ride Caragors lets Talion mount the creatures if he jumps from above them. An ideal strategy here is to look for clusters of Orcs near fires and light ‘em up, and then jumping on a Caragor to wreak havoc during the chaos. This usually ends up with Talion only having to kill a few Orcs left in the aftermath.
Exploit A Spammable Explosion Area
Players who want to practice with their explosive kills might want to check about a particular low area between the East Garrison and the West Garrison in Shadow of Mordor. Every now and then, players can spot two (2) campfires and a large set of barrels here, all of which make for the perfect group kill setup. What players should do is to provoke the Orcs in this area and force them to raise the alarm, and dodge as much as possible while reinforcements arrive.
After this moment happens, players should try circling the area until much of the Orcs are near the barrels. Through the Detonate Ability, players can release an arrow and trigger a huge explosion that should take much of those Orcs out without dealing damage to Talion. This will trigger another round of reinforcements, which players can lure once again to a set of barrels. If players do this strategically, they can only force a few of the barrels to explode at a time, giving them more time to spend spam-killing the Uruk reinforcements.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was released in 2014 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.