Middle Earth: Shadow of War

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Blackhawk
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Blackhawk »

I'm the same way. For me it is continuity. I want to see the parts of a story together, not six months later when the majority is no longer fresh in my mind.
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Jag
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Jag »

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Oct 06, 2018 12:24 pm I just finished this a few minutes ago. I think I'm getting too old for reflex-based boss fights! I had a lot of fun with it, although it dragged at the end and I was ready for it to be over.

Now comes the question: I have both DLC. I was getting burned out on the base game by the end. Do I play the DLC?
Wow. So funny. I just finished it today as well! And I am also facing the DLC issue. If the DLC was more story based gameplay, I would consider it, but is it just kill more stuff with another character. So I'm done. I haven't uninstalled yet though. It's on my big drive, so I have space to let it sit for awhile.

I hate leaving so much content unplayed, but I hate my gaming backlog more. This game, Arkham, Assasin's Creed, etc. I have left so much unfinished content behind me, but I have learned to live with it.

Enjoy Grimrock. It's a fun game. Bard's Tale 4 plays very similar, but it's not yet ready for prime time.
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Blackhawk
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Blackhawk »

Jag wrote: Sat Oct 06, 2018 3:47 pm This game, Arkham, Assasin's Creed, etc. I have left so much unfinished content behind me, but I have learned to live with it.
That's also funny! As it would happen, the remastered Arkham and Assassin's Creed: Black Flag were the two I was considering. I loaded up my old Black Flag save to see if it would appeal, and I immediately realized that I'd just traded orcs for pirates. All three games are pretty much the same.
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Smoove_B »

AWS260 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:25 pmthe spider-lady looks like she's ready for goth prom
I just started and this was by far the craziest string of emotions I've felt in a game. Fear is building, then the actual horror of seeing giant Shelob creeping out, then...not so much. I am far from a Tolkien scholar so I read up on how this could have happened (as I didn't recall it in the movies or the books). Apparently it was a creative decision with the possibility of making some sense and I guess purists lost their minds over (as expected).

I thought it worked for the setup and I absolutely preferred having that exchange with her in human form than spider. Spiders don't even freak me out (normally) but she's extra creepy here. I guess my only complaint is that she sort of looks like Liv Tyler.
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Blackhawk
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Blackhawk »

de Plater's approach to Shelob comes from an interpretation that she and Gollum are, in fact, the unsung heroes of The Lord of the Rings. Put simply, it's his take that Frodo fails to cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doom at the crucial moment - instead Gollum succeeds where he cannot (albeit tumbling into the fire himself along the way)
Actually, Sam was responsible for the ring going in. ;)
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Smoove_B »

I'm feeling very mixed about this game. I'm not sure if it's because the scope is much larger from the start or if there were subtle design changes based on feedback on the first game. The one that has me really puzzled is that in the opening area, I've interrogated enough worms to seemingly uncover the entire network of captains. From the first game, I had to travel all over the place (as I recall) to be able to do that, but the opening area is just filled with worms. Talion also feels much more powerful than he did in the first game, though I guess given the timeline it would make more sense that he's not completely starting over from scratch. I dunno...the pacing just feels off. I guess I'll give it another few hours and see.
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Blackhawk
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Blackhawk »

You're still in the 'tutorial' section. That will change.
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Smoove_B »

Which is strange because I feel like I *missed* the tutorial. Yeah, I'm getting prompts on how to do things, it just feels like there's so much going on and there's no way I'll be able to help. For example, there's two captains that are level 15 and 12 (I think) that are going to execute prisoners. There's just no way I can fight them. Is it intentionally set up to be a set of conditions I can't beat?
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Blackhawk
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Blackhawk »

Ok, here's a few successive hints, based on where I'm guessing you are. I'm going to spoiler them and let you choose how far to read.
Spoiler:
Don't worry about trying to get everything done and clear at this point. And you don't need every single captain in any area, and early on there will be a few that will spank you. Focus on the collectibles you want and the story.
Spoiler:
They are giving you the kind of power you had at the end of Shadow of Mordor for continuity.
Spoiler:
Eru giveth and Eru taketh away.
Here's the blatant one.
Spoiler:
At a certain point in the story, things go bad. You lose everything, including abilities and some of the conquering you've achieved, but you keep collectibles and such. You'll be back to finish the job later. This is where the game proper actually kicks off.
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Paingod
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Paingod »

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 12:16 pmHere's the blatant one.
Spoiler:
At a certain point in the story, things go bad. You lose everything, including abilities and some of the conquering you've achieved, but you keep collectibles and such. You'll be back to finish the job later. This is where the game proper actually kicks off.
I guess I haven't gotten to that point.

I posted in the PC Gaming Randomness about getting into this game, but haven't made it very far. I spent an inordinate amount of time killing Orcs and getting used to the combat and movement systems. Now I've spent an inordinate amount of time collecting Epic gear and leveling it up. I've gone past Gondor and am still in the first "Enemy" territory, but don't have any way to recruit Orcs yet (I have Legendary items that improve if I do). I've picked up every collectible and am now working down the story - having just killed a would-be assassin Shelob warned me about.

This also opened up big-ass Orc/Trolls that I'm still not all too good at fighting. Despite trying to stun/mount them, I've yet to pull it off. They keep being un-stunned before I can get close enough to L-CTRL onto them.
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Paingod
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Paingod »

Up against a Legendary enemy that Adapts repeatedly to my attacks.

I had this happen constantly in Nightmare. Nightmare is, quite literally, a nightmare. Triple the Orcs, fast Adaption rate, fast respawn rates, Captains often backing each other up, lots of everything negative, it seemed.

So I wasn't quite mentally prepared when the Legendary I faced in Normal adapted to be Arrow-Blocking after my first shot. Then he adapted to be Vault-Blocking. He's a Savage. His only big weakness is Poison, and I can't hit him with poison knives and arrows anymore. I don't have a "Poison on Critical" sword, and I can't hit him head-on anyway. He is still vulnerable to Stealth, though... so I run, around three corners and climb to the rooftops. It takes five Stealth arial backstabs to bring him down. Good times.

I had made the mistake of exploring the Death Threat / Revenge mechanic with him. He went from Level 8 to 27 (I'm 16) before I was able to actually kill him. I was trying to see if the Death Threat / Revenge item bonuses stacked (they don't). He kept spawning in densely populated areas and I had real trouble getting him alone and not with 20 other petty Orcs around us.
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

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Sad note: I was saving an Orc I found humorous through the entirety of Act 1. He was a 'Drooler' - a slurring drunkard, but an otherwise good fighter. Each time he beat me, he'd forget what he wanted to do and stagger off. He never once killed me, and ended up 10 levels higher than all the other Orcs. I felt like we had a good rapport.

Sure, I had killed him once back when I was new - but he came back a little angrier and with a nasty gash around his scalp. Still the same drunkard, though, and still refusing to kill me each time he won a fight. We got along okay. I figured I'd save him for last and dominate him into my army some day. We'd be pals.

Nope.

When the city fell, he was leading the siege. The only way to stop the endless waves of Orcs was to kill him. This time I did it proper and split him in half. I don't think he'll come back from that.

Now that I can control Orcs, I'm on the lookout for a Captain with some good dialog and charisma to be my #1.
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Paingod »

I'm not sure if I should keep playing or call it done. I recruited the absolute best Orc.

He started as a pretty annoying Savage. He was a high-level Legendary I had to take down as a siege captain. I actually died a couple times to him as the fights just didn't go my way and I was impatient instead of cautious. He ended up level 32 by the time I killed him, and I was so irritated with him that I did a brutal midsection finisher that literally cut him in half (not unlike how I lost my Drunk friend). I contemplated recruiting him, but didn't feel like dealing with shaming him and fighting him again. His only weakness was poison, which (so far) is a rarely used weapon effect. He was damaged by stealth and ranged damage, but not dazed or terrified of it. As far as I was concerned, he didn't really have a weakness, which is why he killed me a few times.

Plodding along, la-la-la, and up comes an ambush. He's back! Holy shit!

Now his suffix is "The Machine" and he's a friggin' cybernetic Orc! Metal armor built into his body, parts of his skull replaced, a missing eye, a replaced jaw, metal bones in one arm holding rotted flesh together. I MUST have him! Cyborgs in games are possibly my biggest weakness. Put a cyborg into a game, and I'll buy it. Here, out of the blue, this fantasy game throws one at me. :shock:

He rambles about how I killed him, but his boys wouldn't let him stay dead, so he's come back with the power of Mordor inside him... The only problem - he needs to be shamed. He's 7 levels higher than me now. We tussel, he gets shamed. I track him down again - and he wins, gaining a level back. Now I need to shame him again so I can recruit him. I'm sweating now, because the last thing I want is a deranged cyborg. I plan to keep this guy around forever if I can. I didn't even want to brand his cheek, he looked so cool, but I also couldn't risk him getting swept up in some assassination plot or something outside of my control. I mean, he'd be simply ruined if he wandered around going BEEP-BOOP-BEEP as a threat or something.

I learn my lesson, too, from another Orc I wanted to capture but accidentally killed with poison. Fires seem to be easier to control than poison damage. I got a little too carried away with the last one, and he basically melted before I could turn him; like that gangster that was tossed into toxic waste in RoboCop.

Tracking him down and shaming him proved to be pretty easy - I used excessive stealth leaps and running until he broke. I hit him with a second shaming and crossed my fingers. Not deranged! No silly beeping noises for me! Now I need to hunt him down one last time.

I finally get to him, and he's in a perfect spot. Light enemy cover, lots of posts and wires around, lots of open ground between them. I get the drop on him with a backstab, cutting his health by 1/3. I poison him for good measure as I run off (Quick Throw poisons every 34 seconds). He's enraged as I run. He's a mean boy with two flaming axes and a Scorpion-style "Get Over Here" chain he could hit me with now. I want none of that foolishness on me. Shadow Strike from rooftop to rooftop, back into stealth.

I clean up all the other nearby Orcs with stealth kills and Focus shots. I check his health, and he's at 1/3 now. Not enough to break, but enough that I have to be careful.

I sneak up on him again and give him another love tap with my poisoned daggers. I figure, worst comes to worst, I can drop in and turn him quickly if he's about to die. Nope. He goes enraged, while poisoned, and now I can't turn him. His health keeps whittling down while he stomps around hunting for me. 1/4. 1/5. 1/6. Too low! Too low!

Finally, he calms down and immediately "Breaks" with a sliver of health. It was a simple thing to clamber up to the roof he was sulking on all by himself and acquire him. Yay!

He's got Epic Tough Skin (high health, but no Gang), and Epic Great Strength (extra damage). Flaming axes. A pulling chain attack. A brutal bull rush attack. A few other tricks. I immediately made him a captain-general guarding the keep and gave him a Caragor for mobility/survivability. I'm hoping he lives forever. I plan to keep him with me as long as I can.
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Paingod
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Paingod »

I did not realize how utterly disposable your Orcs are.

I just unlocked repeatable missions last night - from single-player combat (Pit Fights) to Online raids and Overlord fights. What I was not expecting was that when your Orc dies online, they're removed from your game. Wow.

I lost two kinda good Orcs to fighting and need to be careful about who I put out there. One vanished during a raid on another player, I wasn't aware he had died and didn't really know where he went and another died to the Overlord fights on Round 4 and never came back.

On one hand, I really want to see how well my Cyborg holds up against other powerful Orcs. On the other hand, I don't want to lose him. He makes a good bodyguard.
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Re: Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Post by Smoove_B »

Apparently at some point there was a bug that never has been addressed and I suppose the developers have moved on. Basically, the game now randomly locks up for me in the menus. Usually while browsing my skills or getting information about an orc. Music is still playing and when you ALT-TAB out and check the Task Manager, it looks to be running normal (it doesn't say "not responding"), which is kinda weird. In poking around, it seems this existed for a few people back when the game came out, but as more and more NVIDIA drivers were released, it seems more and more people have the issue.

So yeah, unfortunately, ~12 hours in is where my game ends. That'll teach me to not play something when it's first released.
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