Gamer Academy - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Tips and Tricks

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is no cakewalk, especially when you’re just starting out. In fact, things can get a bit annoying when you have only a couple of abilities to fend off a screenful of orcs. Here are a few beginner tips to help you survive the first few hours and keep the game from becoming frustrating.

Are you having a tough time with Shadow of Mordor? Do you have any other tips and tricks to add? Share us your experiences in the comments section below! We’ll try to help you with what we know.

Shadow of Mordor guide

Escape to Fight Another Day

If you're running low on health or just about to be overwhelmed by orcs, forget whatever you're doing and run the heck away. Getting yourself killed is sort of a big deal. Whenever this happens, your executioner, including any captain involved in the fight that led to your demise, will increase in power.
That means future encounters with these specific orcs would be a bit more difficult because they gain more strengths. One captain, for instance, may become invulnerable to stealth finishers and ranged attacks. When this happens, you'll have to slay him up close, along with any nearby associates.
Focus on Earning More Mirian
Instead of going straight for the story missions, try to earn more Mirian -- the game's currency -- beforehand so that you can boost Talion's attributes (i.e. health, elf shot, focus) and unlock more rune slots for weapons. Having more health is particularly helpful in combat so concentrate on that attribute before others.
You can earn Mirian by:
- Finding collectibles.
- Completing side missions and challenges.
- Accomplishing bonus objectives.
- Converting duplicate runes into cash; each is worth 25 Mirian.
Another good reason to focus on earning Mirian first: these activities are generally easier than story missions.
Give More Importance to Defense
Keep a defensive mindset, especially when fighting large groups of orcs to avoid getting your rear end handed to you. This means sticking to good habits, including the following:
- Prioritizing parrying/dodging over attacking. Once you see a Triangle or X button prompt, press it immediately. It's tempting to keep swinging to reach the required number of consecutive hits, which let you perform abilities like Execution, Wraith Flash or Combat Drain, but it's not worth the risk of getting damaged.
- When you're being fired upon by projectiles, an arrow icon would be displayed to warn you. Make sure you roll away immediately (X + direction) to dodge these attacks. Certain enemies may still reach you if you roll backwards so go left or right instead.
- Staying away from the middle of a mob. No matter how quick your reflexes are, you will inevitably get hit if several orcs attack you simultaneously. If enemies are beginning to surround you, move towards the edge of the group by vaulting over enemies.
Take Out the Archers First

If you plan on setting foot in a stronghold, see to it that you first eliminate nearby archers before getting into a fight. Ranged attacks from enemies can quickly whittle down your health (specifically the poisoned ones), even when you're able to block or parry all melee attacks. The archers are usually posted in high ground; just remember to take them out without setting off the alarm.
Prioritize Abilities That Automatically Stun/Kill
Some abilities in Shadow of Mordor are more useful than others, particularly when you're just starting out. To make the overall difficulty more manageable during the early portions, focus on getting abilities that stun, inflict significant damage, or instantly kill enemies. They are as follows:
- Execution
  Pressing X + Circle when your hit streak reaches 8 (or 5 if you have Blade Master) performs Execution, which instantly kills the closest orc you're moving the left analog stick towards. Performing Execution on captains and warchiefs deal a significant chunk of damage.
- Wraith Flash
  When your hit streak reaches 8 (or 5 with Blade Master), pressing X + Square will perform the Wraith Flash, which inflicts damage to surrounding orcs and stuns them. It's effective when you're surrounded by enemies.
- Vault Stun
  As its name implies, vaulting over an orc will stun it. Vault Stun is one of my favorite skills because it lets you stun foes while dodging. Once your enemy is dazed, it's easier to get your hit streak to 8 (or 5 with Blade Master) and go crazy with Execution or Wraith Flash.
- Wraith Finisher
  To perform Wraith Finisher, you first need to stun an enemy via Wraith Stun (press Circle) or Vault Stun, then repeatedly hack the dazed orc until its head explodes. Wraith Finisher is a great way to quickly dispose of enemies without using up your Execution or Wraith Flash, which you can quickly perform right after.
Note: Your hit streak has reached 8 (or 5 with Blade Master) when your sword starts glowing.
Unlock All Forge Towers

The first thing you need to do when you start playing is to head to all Forge Towers and unlock them. They're those blue, castle-like icons on the map. Doing this increases the number of areas where you can respawn after you're slain. More importantly, unlocked Forge Towers allow you to fast travel between them, which is pretty handy, as long as you're not in combat.
You're also awarded 25 Mirian whenever you unlock a Forge Tower. Unlocking all six in the first map would net you an easy 150 Mirian, which is enough to buy a couple of tier 1 attributes.
Gather Intel to Know an Orc's Weaknesses

It's foolhardy to simply go after a captain or warchief without getting intel about them beforehand. Each of these officers have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, which can make your attempt so much easier if you knew them.
For instance, if intel about a warchief reveals that it's invulnerable to stealth finishers but is terrified of Caragors, then you can skip the sneaking and ride one of those beasts before making your way to your target. A terrified orc is easier to slay because it exerts more effort at running, which isolates it from other orcs, rather than putting up a fight.
To get intel, go to the green, diamond-like icons on the map. Intel sources may sometimes be corpses or documents, but most of the time, they're live orcs, which you can grab (press R1) and dominate. Make sure, however, that there aren't any nearby enemies that can attack you while you're wrestling with your intel source.
Assassinate Bodyguards Before Warchiefs

Warchiefs are hard to kill because they're surrounded by grunts and bodyguards, which are essentially captains. Good luck fighting all of them at the same time, though; it's suicide. To even the odds, you must eliminate the bodyguards in advance.
How do you know which bodyguard protects which warchief? Easy. There's a blue line that connects the warchief to its corresponding bodyguards (the red lines connecting two captains mean they're trying to kill each other).
Like captains and warchiefs, remember to get intel on your target bodyguards before going after them. When you finish off all the bodyguards, that's when you go after the warchief.