Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Desolation of Mordor is a new story expansion to Monolith’s single-player action game where you control Baranor!
Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Desolation of Mordor is a new story expansion to Monolith’s single player action game. In it you take control of Baranor in a brand new region – the vast desert of Lithlad. New mechanics, improved Nemesis System and a ton of orcs await you!
This article does NOT contain any story spoilers!
The Desolation of Mordor story expansion is a paid DLC. It releases on 8th of May 2018. To play it, you need to either purchase it as a stand-alone DLC or get the Expansion Pass, which contains it. The third option is to get the Gold Edition of the game. The base game is required for you to play this DLC.
RELATED ► Shadow of War Editions: STANDARD vs SILVER vs GOLD
Right now you can find Shadow of War, its Expansion Pass and Gold Edition at prices much cheaper than the retail ones from when the game was released. Check for sales, promotions and other deals around the internet.
The regular price of the Expansion pass is ~ €40 and the Story Expansion is ~€25. Each one of the expansions costs alone retail ~€15.
FULL STORY PLAYTHROUGH
THE STORY AND SETTING
This expansion will allow you to explore a brand new region – the desert of Lithlad. It’s filled with numenorean ruins and a ton of interesting places to visit and explore. The story is separate from the one in the Blade of Galadriel DLC. Lithlad is located to the south-east of Gorgoroth.
The story continues after the events of the main game with Baranor and Idril. You will gain control of Baranor, who has brought a group of Gondorian soldiers to open up a new front in the war against Mordor. The events are happening during the Shaodow Wars stage.
LEARN MORE ► Shadow of War: Desolation of Mordor First Look
Baranor will encounter and team up with a whole set of new characters. Some very well-known and fan-favorite ones are also set to appear. Torvin, from Shadow of Mordor, has an important role in this new story. Talion also is mentioned, but he certainly is not a major character in the new DLC.
GAMEPLAY AND COMBAT IMPROVEMENTS
A new mortality system is created for this story, because Baranor, unlike Talion and Eltariel, is a mere mortal and cannot teleport and resurrect himself like a wraith. He doesn’t have a special ring of power either.
There are two things that exist in the new progression system – “meta progression” – the progression that exists and is saved over the many (many!) runs you do and an “in-game run progression” – this is the kind of progression that is reset when you are defeated. The first one is saved forever, while the second one is reset when your character dies. More information on that will become available later.
RELATED ► Desolation of Mordor: Baranor Skill Tree Overview
Something unique and related to the progression system are the Augments that Baranor will be looting from corpses and chests. These are part of the “in-game run progression” and reset when you get killed. However.
Some of Baranor’s basic combat attacks include the Shield Charge and shooting bolts from his Crossbow. Shield Charge is more of a Stun ability, while the Crossbow can be quite devastating against grunts and in some cases even captains.
LEARN MORE ► Desolation of Mordor: All Torvin Skill Upgrades Artifacts Locations Guide
Artifacts are special items that will grant you new abilities or upgrades to existing ones. Torvin provides Baranor with special “maps” that show a location in Lithlad where an artifact will be hidden.
To spice up the gameplay, the developers from Monolith have come up with interesting new abilities that are unique to him, such as the Kite and Grapple Hook (allowing him to freely travel vertically with a very decent speed). New unique gear sets are also available through side missions.
Climbing the world in the old-fashioned way is still possible, of course. It’s just very slow. The new tools Baranor has in his disposal, actually make his movements even faster and more comfortable than Talion’s and Eltariel’s.
LEARN MORE ► Grapple Hook, Kite, Bombs, Augments and Skill Tree Sneak Peek
Concussion Bombs are yet another special attack that comes from the Crossbow – AoE explosives that damage, stun or knock-down enemies. These supplies can be picked up from corpses or provided by your bodyguards.
The Desolation of Mordor DLC unlocks the ability for you to bring Talion to Lithlad. It’s not part of the story, but is fun and interesting new region to explore. There is also a set of new Celebrimbor missions to complete! Talion, of course, will be able to use all of his own abilities and upgrades that you have earned from the core game. Bringing Talion to Lithlad is also optional. You don’t have to do this to beat the main game.
A new Difficulty Mode has been added to the game with the release of this update – Brutal Difficulty makes things even faster and snappier. You deal a lot more damage, but also die much faster and easier. For example, a grunt can kill you in two hits, where the first one takes nearly 2/3rds of your HP and the second one simply finishes you. This mode has been added, Monolith said, thanks to feedback from the community. Brutal allows you to have a second chance, as opposed to Gravewalker.
A funny example of how Brutal difficulty works is that you can kill two Captains quick and easy, but you sneeze and three others demolish you from behind in a second. These are Monolith’s words, by the way! The developers also added that based on their internal testing, it is possible to finish the game a lot faster in this difficulty thanks to the crazy high amount of damage you deal. If you are a very experienced veteran and know Mordor perfectly already, this might just be the mode for you!
THE NEW NEMESIS SYSTEM
One of the biggest new attractions of the new story expansion to Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Desolation of Mordor, is the new version of the Nemesis system that you will see in Lithlad. Your character Baranor will be able to hire assistance in the form of up to three bodyguards. These NPCs will always remain loyal to you, but once you get killed, they are lost as well.
Each Mercenary character has new unique traits and skills that you can combine and experiment with. The traits are split into categories, much like the orcs’ own traits. Here you will notice some new special innovations. The Mercenaries’ ranks are different from the orcs, but some of the traits these humans will have can be on par and even more powerful than what the Warchiefs and Overlords.
LEARN MORE ► Desolation of Mordor: Mercenaries System Guide
The Mercenaries have also unique abilities, split into two categories – Combat Command and Stealth Command. You can order the NPCs to use those at your command when you have them as bodyguards. Each mercenary will come with its own unique collection or traits and abilities. The Mercenaries also come in the standard three tiers – Common, Epic and Legendary.
To Hire a Mercenary, head to the Army Screen and click on the icon at the bottom middle of the screen. It will pop up a new screen with a number of available Mercenaries for you to choose and hire. Each one of them will have different traits and skills, based on their class and tier. The pricing for each one is also different.
As I’ve said above – the mercenaries you hire will never betray you and you cannot fight against human opponents in the DLC. Orcs, however, are in plenty around Lithlad. A special new mythological creature lurks beneath the sands, waiting to… eat you! The Wareworms from Tolkien’s lore make an appearance in Lithlad. They can be used as both a tool to defeat your opponent, as well as a certain way to… get eaten if you are not careful.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE DEFEATED
I’ve touched quite a bit on that in previous articles and even here in some of the other paragraphs. Let me expand and update you on the latest discoveries about how the meta and in-game progressions work. Baranor is mortal and carries no Ring of Power, he cannot resurrect and you must restart his story. Your progress on the Main Story Missons (marked with white exclamation symbol) and the Torvin Missions (marked with blue “T” letter) will carry forward, but your Outposts and hired Mercenaries will be lost. When you die or complete a run as Baranor, your score is calculated based on the Orcs you have killed, your speed and your chosen difficulty. You can try again for a higher score.
Before each new run you receive a score-card with updated mission progression and objectives – what you have done and what has been saved and what you need to do next or again. When you beat the game, there is a reward for you – a piece of gear that you will carry over into every new game with you. On the image above you see the four different Gear Augment Victory Milestone Unlocks. Also there are the names of the two main story related progressions that are always saved – the Serka Skill Unlocks (5 in total) and the Torvin Skill Unlocks. These are related to the main story mission and Torvin’s missions respectively.
Based on how well you did when you beat the game or die, you get a calculated amount of Gold to begin the next run If you did very well in your previous run, you might have enough money to hire an Epic or even a Legendary bodyguard. Generally, however, you would have funds enough to hire a common guy.
ATTACKING AND DEFENDING OUTPOSTS
In the new region of Lithlad you will notice that now there are “Outposts”. They look on the Army screen like the Forts from the core game and many of the mechanics of placing your followers and choosing a leader, for example, are the same. However, here the developers from Monolith have opted to change the terminology, because they want to emphasize on the size and layout of these Outposts – they are not as massive, organized and guarded as a true Fortress of Mordor would be – hence the change of the name. The Outposts in Lithlad also are far greater and more complex structures than the “outposts” you know from the core game, where you go in to kill a captain and take the area.
Taking an Outpost is also similar to taking a Fort – you have two main objectives. The first one is to kill a number of captains and the second is to take control over a number of marked areas/zones inside the Outpost. After you have completed your assault with a victory, it is time to pick a Leader for your new Outpost. You will receive different types and amounts of bonuses. They are based on the type and rarity of the Mercenary leader you choose to put in charge. If you are missing any mercenary guarding an outpost for a three turns, you will lose that outpost.
RELATED ► READ THE FULL UPDATE 1.15 PATCH NOTES HERE!
PATCH NOTES
Below I have linked the official patch notes with all changes to the game introduced with the release of the DLC and the following updates.
- Shadow of War Update 1.15 Patch Notes (Desolation of Mordor DLC)
- Shadow of War Update 1.16 Patch Notes
For more, check the Shadow of War Patch Changes page.
OFFICIAL TRAILERS
To find out more about the Desolation of Mordor Expansion, check out the links linked throughout this article and visit the Shadow of War NEWS and GUIDES sections on VULKK.com!
