In Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Desolation of Mordor you have the opportunity to hire human mercenaries who will assist you in combat!
In Desolation of Mordor, you can hire human mercenaries to assist Baranor in Lithlad. This guide explains everything you need to know about this new feature in the Nemesis System!
The Nemesis system was significantly improved for the Desolation of Mordor DLC. It now features Mercenary Soldiers available for you to hire. They are exclusive to Lithlad and Baranor only. The hired characters are 100% loyal and will never betray you.
There are three tiers of Mercenaries – Common, Epic and Legendary – just like the tiers of Captains and Warchiefs.
Each Mercenary has unique and randomly picked by the Nemesis system set of traits. Some of these you have seen already in the core game, a few new traits are also available.
You can also hire up to three Mercenaries to assist you in combat. Initially, you get one slot for one Bodyguard but can unlock up to two more.
The upgrades, however, are not permanent and you will lose them if you get killed or after you complete the game. The Mercenaries also reset – you lose your active Bodyguards, all Outposts reset too and on top of that, your Skill Points and Skill Upgrades are lost too.
The cost to hire a mercenary with no upgrades are as follows:
- Common Mercenary – 1500 Coins
- Epic Mercenary – 3000 Coins
- Legendary Mercenary – 6000 Coins
Once you hire a Bodyguard (assign them to the middle, left or right position in the formation), they will be at your disposal to call for support whenever you need them.
Remember, the Mercenaries can be defeated, but you will still have time to heal and save them (just like you do with the Orc Followers in the core game). At the bottom of your screen you can see the three slots for Bodyguards.
You press the same button to spawn them and then when you want them to attack your target or perform their special attacks in combat. When their Combat Command ability is on cooldown, you will see it above the icon – once again at the bottom middle of the screen.
Each Mercenary has one of three classes and two special abilities – Combat Command Ability and Stealth COMMAND Ability. The Combat Command abilities have cooldown, but the Stealth ones do not and can be used any time you attack an orc from stealth.
Every time you restart the game, a different set of Mercenaries of different classes and sets of abilities and traits will spawn. This is chosen randomly.
Here are the three Mercenary classes:
- Quartermaster – Provide crucial battlefield support for their fellow Mercenaries. They deliver supplies and weapons to their allies and can act as decoys or medics.
- Guardian – Can endure great pain. They shield their allies from damage and are expert at handling hordes
- Combat Master – Skilled warriors, who deal massive damage to their enemies head-on. When possible, they will target Captains
This is a list of all Combat Command Abilities for the Mercenaries:
- Heroic War Cry – Heals nearby allies and the expense of his own health
- Concussive Bomb Supplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Concussive Bombs
- Fire Bolt Supplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Fire Bolts
- Fire Bomb Supplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Fire Bombs
- Poison Bolt Supplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Poison Bolts
- Poison Bomb Supplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Poison Bombs
- Bolt Suplier – Supply Baranor with a chest full of Steel Bolts
- Smoke Screen – Stuns nearby enemies and enables Baranor to hide and perform Stealth Attacks from the smoke
- Balefire Cluster Bomber – Throws Balefire Cluster Bombs
- Call the Banners – Calls in a Banner bearer that inspires nearby allies
And the next list shows all Stealth Command Abilities:
- Taunt – Kill a grunt uruk, taunting nearby enemies and forcing them to target him
- Dazing Opener – Dazes Orc Captains and kills grunts
- Terrify – Terrifies nearby Orcs and kills grunts
The main component of the gameplay in the DLC is taking the five Outposts. After each one is conquered, you have an empty slot opened in the middle of the Army Screen. The five slots there are reserved for the Outposts Leaders.
As soon as you take over an Outpost, you should put one of your Mercenaries as a leader there to keep it in tact. If you don’t have a Mercenary, you can hire one and place him. If an Outpost remains empty for the full duration of one full time cycle, you will automatically lose that outpost.
Each one of the five Outpost slots in the Army screen lists three different bonuses that you can earn based on what Tier Mercenry you promote for a leader. These boosts are generated randomly each time Lithlad is reset (when you die or when you complete the game).
There are several perks you can unlock in Baranor’s skill tree as you progress. For example, the Blood for Coin skill is permanent once you do the main mission related to it, but the three upgrades are purchased with Skill Points.
If you are defeated, these will also be reset. The main skill gives you 20% discount for purchasing Mercenaries and each one of the upgrades gives you an additional 10% discount for a total of 50%.
