The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers FAQ/Walkthrough Version: Final Copyright � 2003 RichardB Email: [email protected] I. Version History: Just in case I update this guide, here's the version history: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Version FINAL: I really do not see anything more in this guide that I need to update. So that's all, this will likely be the latest update. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.1: I updated the basics, FAQ, and credits sections and I also added a Bosses section. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0: The first, and basically complete version of the LOTR guide. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: I. Version History II. Introduction III. Legal Disclaimer IV. Email Rules V. IM Rules VI. Basics VII. Characters VIII. Upgrades IX. Prologue X. Aragorn Walkthrough XI. Legolas Walkthrough XII. Gimli Walkthrough XIII. Secrets XIV. Bosses XV. My Review XVI. FAQ XVII. Outro XVIII. Credits II. Introduction: Hello, this is yet another one of my guides. How many guides am I going to do? I've done a lot already... anyway, this is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm sure you knew I'd have to do this guide eventually. This is a really complex game, with a lot of detail to be covered, and 12 levels to be completed by three different characters, lots of stuff to write, secrets, and more. It's really an awesome game with a good deal of replay value. There's a reason I like this game a lot, and it improves over the first game in every single way possible. First of all, this is going to be a long walkthrough. Remember that lots of SPOILERS will be contained in this walkthrough, so read at your own risk. How will this walkthrough be done? First of all, there's all this garbage you're reading now, then the E-Mail and IM Rules (recently updated, the both of them were), the basics of the game and the characters so you can see how they fare in battle, all of the upgrades you can buy, and then the prologue and the first mission, then three walkthroughs. Since the characters are all different, it requires seperate guides. Afterwards, there are the secrets, bosses, my review, the FAQ, and the ending. Anyway, thank you for choosing this guide, and feel free to send me positive or negative feedback. Thank you very much, my kind friends! Now let's go on. -Gbness III. Legal Disclaimer: You are NOT permitted to put this FAQ on your site without my permission first. All you have to do is email me or IM me saying you want this FAQ on your site, then you can tell me your site and the chance is high that I'll let you. But if you put this FAQ on your site without my permission I swear you will regret it. If I let you, not ONE word should be changed from this FAQ! NOT ONE! Got it? Good. IV. E-Mail Rules: I love getting good emails, so you're free to email me with a question any time, and I will answer questions already answered in this FAQ. But these are the rules: 1. Don't send me a question for something that this FAQ shouldn't list anyway. 2. If you email me try to make it neat. There's a much higher chance I won't respond to you if the email has ALL CAPS, no caps, and no short talk like i instead of I, ur instead of you're, etc. 3. Don't send me advertisements. They will be ignored and deleted. 4. No silly stuff. 5. You have to send me a subject. If you don't, I will delete the e-mail. If you follow these 5 rules there's a 99% chance I will respond to you within 12 hours. V. IM Rules: I also like getting IMs, but don't send them to me too often, or they may be ignored. I am on often, so feel free to IM me, but keep it light. However, you are not allowed to use a lot of profane language. If you do, I might not want to help you. Keep the message clean and I'll most likely talk to you. VI. Basics: Here are all the controls for the basic moves in this game, and the basics of it. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ CONTROLS: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Move: D-Pad or Left Analog Stick Speed Attack: X Fierce Attack: Triangle Kick: O Use Bow: L1 Aim Bow: Left Analog Stick Kill Knocked Down Enemy: R2 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ATTACK RATINGS: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ There are four attack ratings: Fair Good Excellent Perfect To get these ratings, you need to kill enemies quickly to fill your Skill Meter. The quickest way to fill it is to use combos, like Isildur's Swift Terror, and other powerful moves. You must also try not to get hit, or it will drastically decrease. So basically, it's just attack-defend-attack-defend, but it can be really tricky. The more enemies the better, as long as you can avoid being hit. When you fill up the Skill Meter, your swords, daggers, or axe will turn bright blue and your attacks will be very powerful. For a short time, every kill you do on an enemy is a "Perfect." -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ITEMS: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ There are some items that you may find in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, so I'll just list those items right here: Potions: These beakers are red, and you'll find them in Gates of Moria, Helm's Deep: The Breached Wall, and a lot of other levels. They restore about 1/5 of your health. They're pretty useful items, especially if you get hurt. Full-Recovery Potions: These beakers are green, and you'll in Balin's Tomb, Gap of Rohan, and a lot of other levels. They completely restore all of your health. Basically the most useful of the items you'll find. Missiles: (I call them missiles because Aragorn and Legolas use bows and Gimli uses an axe.) With bows, they look like arrows, and with axes, they look like two axes tied together to use. They get all your missiles back. You'll find these in basically every level. Skill Meter Block: These are very rare, but they're also very useful. If you get this, it'll boost your Skill Meter a little and get you a bit more experience. Unfortunately though, you see them an average of one time a level. *NOTE: I was using the "Normal" difficulty, so getting Perfects wasn't too hard for me. This walkthrough was written under the "Medium" level, but if you're using "Easy" or "Expert", then it won't be much different. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ LEVELS: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ To purchase upgrades, your characters will have to be at a certain level. Everyone starts at Level 1 and can go up to Level 10. You can see your Skill Meter at the bottom-left side of the screen. Fill it by collected Skill Meter Blocks and by killing the forces of evil. VII. Characters: These are descriptions of the main characters in the game, taken from the instruction manual. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are also given some stats for how good they are in battle. For some of the Forces Of Evil, I'll take descriptions of them completely from the manual, and then my own description. Also, I simply refuse to call the Urak-Hai by their proper names, Uruk-hai, because Urak-Hai simply looks better to me. Forgive me. CHARACTERS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ ARAGORN: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Men are weak, or at least this is the commonly held belief in Middle-earth. Three thousand years ago, Isildur, KIng of the Men of Gondor, gained great renown when he cut The One Ring from the hand of Sauron, ending his villainous reign. Soon after, however, he chose not to destroy The One Ring when he had the chance to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom, and thus Men are known to be weak in character and not entirely trustworthy. Aragorn can change all of that. He is a ranger, a strong man skilled in the use of many weapons including swords. Aragorn is trained to survive in every situation. Many know him as Strider, but few are aware of his true identity as son of Arathorn and heir to Isildur's throne. He is the rightful king of Gondor, and a force to be reckoned with. Health: Medium Strength: Medium Speed: Medium Missiles: Medium Range: High Overall: Good -+-+-+-+-+-+ LEGOLAS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Legolas is a noble Elven prince, deadly accurate with his Elven bow and knowledgeable in wilderness lore. Because he is an elf, Legolas has exceptional sight and hearing, and although he will never die of old age, he can be hurt or killed in battle. Legolas is kind and graceful, and he has a deep love for the peaceful side of nature. He and his valuable bow attack are great assets to the Fellowship. Health: Low Strength: Low Speed: High Missiles: Good Range: Medium Overall: Medium -+-+-+-+-+-+ GIMLI: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Gimli is a stubborn dwarf who makes up for his lack of height and grace with great strength, bravery, and tenacity. Gimli fears nothing when he has his trusty axe in hand, and his temper makes him formidable when angry. His gruff disposition keeps him from making friends easily, but as a member of the Fellowship he is a tough and loyal ally. Gimli especially dislikes elves, however during his adventures with the Fellowship he develops an unlikely friendship with Legolas. Gimli is very proud of his heritage, and looks forward to seeing his cousin Balin in the Mines of Moria. Health: High Strength: High Speed: Low Missiles: Poor Range: Low Overall: Poor -+-+-+-+-+-+ FRODO: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Frodo is the Ringbearer, a brave hobbit whose cleverness keeps him alive in the face of tremendous danger. His adventurous uncle Bilbo left him The One Ring, along with the troubles that accompany it. However, Frodo shows great resistance to the sinister powers of The One Ring and has volunteered to take it to Mount Doom and destroy it forever for the good of Middle-earth. There could not be a more difficult task. -+-+-+-+-+-+ GANDALF: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Gandalf the Grey is known and respected throughout Middle-earth as a great conjurer and a genuinely wise man. He is not young, but he can use staffs and swords skillfully in combat. Nevertheless, Gandalf's true strength lies in his vast repertoire of magic spells and abilities. He is the only character capable of using magic and he uses it well. Gandalf serves as a father figure to Frodo providing leadership and protection to the young Hobbit. He would carry The One Ring himself, but his knowledge of magic is too dangerous to expose to the corruptive powers of The One Ring. FORCES OF EVIL: -+-+-+-+-+-+ SAURON: -+-+-+-+-+-+ The Dark Lord himself has not been physically present on Middle-earth for some time. In fact, it was over 3,000 years ago that Isildur cut The One Ring from Sauron's hand, ending his last evil reign. Today, however, Sauron grows more powerful with every passing minute. His vile armies are spreading throughout Middle-earth in an ever-expanding search for The One Ring. If he gets it, Middle-earth will be plunged into an age of unimaginable terror and violence, and Sauron will take physical form once again. -+-+-+-+-+-+ SARUMAN: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Once a trusted friend and advisor to Gandalf, Saruman betrayed all he once stood for to join the sinister cause of the Dark Lord Sauron. His powerful magic inspires fear in all those who oppose him, and his fortress in Isengard is home to a vast army of his own foul creation: the Urak-Hai. One cannot hope to overpower Saruman, for merely surviving any confrontation with this brilliant wizard is considered a true victory. -+-+-+-+-+-+ CAVE TROLL: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Big, slow-witted, and dangerous, the cave troll is an awkward brute that might not be taken seriously if it weren't so horrifying. Its strength is legendary, its speed deceptively fast, and its thick hide and strong constitution make fighting one an epic event. Thankfully, its decision-making skills are lacking, and Cave Trolls despise direct sunlight. Unfortunately, there's no real way to make the Cave Trolls die by direct sunlight, but they're pretty easily taken care of after Balin's Tomb. You fight one of these beasts in Balin's Tomb as a boss, and you have to fight them various times during the game. They are very powerful, so you'd best watch out... -+-+-+-+-+-+ RINGWRAITHS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ The nine Dark Riders were once great kings, hellishly corrupted to the point of no return. They fell victim to Sauron when he gifted them rings of power, which slowly turned them to wraiths. They are now completely under the Dark Lord's control and he dispatches them throughout Middle-earth in attempts to recover The One Ring. They appear in hooded black robes, usually when the Eye of Sauron is fully fixed upon The One Ring's wearer. You have to fight these demons in The Weathertop. They are devilish blighters, sort of reminding you from dementors from Harry Potter. You have to light the torch that Aragorn carries in that epic fight on the fire in the middle and set them on fire with the torch. Ringwraiths cannot be harmed by any sort of physical attack, only by the logical way. -+-+-+-+-+-+ ORCS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ The footsoldiers of Sauron's evil forces, Orcs can be found throughout Middle-earth. Although mutated from Elves, Orcs are corrupted forms that stand just over five feet tall. Taking their strength and determination for less than full-size can be a deadly mistake, however especially when multiple Orcs are involved in battle. Capable of melee attacks as well as ranged attacks with bows, Orcs have no obvious weaknesses. Orcs have more weaknesses than the instruction manual claims they do. You'll first meet these little blighters in the Gates of Moria, the mission with Gimli. While the normals ones are skilled at melee attacks and some Orcs carry bows and become referred to as Archers, and even though some carry shields, all Orcs are very easy dealt with and eliminated without much fear of being slaughtered, regardless of how the company was attacked by Orcs in the book. -+-+-+-+-+-+ URAK-HAI: -+-+-+-+-+-+ Saruman has succeeded in crossbreeding Men and Orcs. The result is an army of stronger, faster Orcs that do not weaken in sunlight. They are capable of melee attacks, ranger attacks with bows, and pike attacks. Genetic enhancement makes the Urak-Hai larger, stronger, and far more dangerous than their standard Orc counterparts. You'll meet these cross-breeders in Amon Hen, and they're definitely no easy creatures to be defeated. There are actually three kinds of Urak-Hai, the normal ones, the black ones, and the sword-wielders. The normal ones can be killed in a few hits, and the black ones are enhanced versions but still not too hard to kill. Sword-wielders are ultimately powerful and the most dangerous creatures in the game. So obviously, Urak-Hai are hard. -+-+-+-+-+-+ LURTZ: -+-+-+-+-+-+ At Amon Hen, the Fellowship fights to protect Frodo from the Urak-Hai. Lurtz, their leader, is bigger and more fierce than the rest of his army, and slaying him will prove no easy task. You will fight Lurtz as a boss in Amon Hen. He is the leader of them and the murderer of Boromir. Despite his great power, ferocious appearance and awesome speed, he lacks a good brain, similar to the Cave Trolls. -+-+-+-+-+-+ WARGS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ The great Wargs are a terrifying breed of huge wolf-like carnivores, driven by a hunger for blood and predatory intelligence. Saruman recruits Wargs, and Orcs skilling in riding them, in his campaign to crush the nation of Rohan. Worked into a killing frenzy by the murderous Orcs, the Wargs fall upon ruined Rohan refugees as they flee their burning homes. Wargs only show up in one level, the Gap of Rohan, being ridden by powerful Orcs. Their teeth are very sharp and nasty, plus they all have weapons. But they're nothing compared to their master, the Overseer, the captain found a little later in the level. There are few of them, but while they last, they deal with power and are even agile. They have no real weaknesses. -+-+-+-+-+-+ THE WATCHER: -+-+-+-+-+-+ The Mines of Moria rarely sees visitors, and the Watcher is one of the main reasons why. This multi-tentacled behemoth waits patiently for prey just outside the entrance to the mines. You will fight with the Watcher in the Gates of Moria, the mission where the Orcs are encountered. Its tentacles are very annoying and can slap you right away from it, but unfortunately enough for it, it cannot attack without its tentacles being vulnerable, and if they're hit, just remember the head hates arrows... VIII. Upgrades: Each character has seperate upgrades. Isildur and Aragorn have exactly the same. Here's a rather useless legend for this: Name: Name of the attack. Done: Buttons to do the attack. Cost: How much the attack costs. Effect: A description for the attack. (Made up by me.) -+-+-+-+-+-+ ARAGORN: -+-+-+-+-+-+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 1 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Triple Strike Done: X, X, X Cost: N/A Effect: Hits an enemy three times. Only use this against unshielded foes, as it's three speed attacks, which won't hurt shields. But this is very useful. Name: Double Hack Done: /_\, /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Smashes an enemy's shield. Against unshielded enemies, this will most likely kill them, and is very useful for breaking enemy shields. Name: Shadow Strike Done: R2 Cost: N/A Effect: Instantly kills a knocked down foe. This is a VERY useful move, as you will knock down a lot of enemies. This is perhaps the most useful move in the game. Name: Combat Kick Done: O Cost: N/A Effect: Kicks an enemy or object. I can only think of one mission in which this has any use against objects, but it can be rather useful to knock down enemies. Name: Sword Parry Done: [] Cost: N/A Effect: Defends against an enemy attack. Quite useful, especially in the Gates of Moria, Amon Hen, and all the Helm's Deep levels. Name: Dunesdane Bow Done: L1 + X or /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. You can hold them down to increase the damage. This is a weak bow, but just about any missile attack is invaluable in tons of missions, notable ones are Gates of Moria, Balin's Tomb, and Plains of Rohan. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 2 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rush Attack Done: X, O Cost: 3000 Effect: Charges forward and knocks unshielded enemies down. This is a pretty useless move, unless you come really close to lots of enemies, like in Balin's Tomb. Name: Rising Attack Done: X Cost: 8000 Effect: Attack as you regain your feet, taking enemies by surprise. This is an expensive move, but EXTREMELY useful, especially when you're in Amon Hen. Buy this quickly! Name: Isildur's Swift Terror Done: X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Hits an unshielded enemy twice, and then finishes it off with a strong blow. A VERY useful combo, you'll want this immediately, as it really adds to your Skill Meter, and you'll know exactly when you do it! Name: Isildur's War Rush Done: X, O, R2 Cost: 5000 Effect: Hurts, knocks down, and kills a powerful enemy. Not quite as useful as Swift Terror, but an extremely worthwhile move even so. Very useful against sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Name: Ranger Fury Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 2000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Name: Strength of the Stewards Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 4 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Goblin Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 4000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking goblin. A useless move, just kill a goblin the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Charge Attack Done: X, O Cost: 4000 Effect: Charges at an enemy for a devastating attack. Well, it's better than Rush Attack, although it requires Rush Attack. Name: Isildur's Death Charge Done: X, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Attack, knock down, and attack an enemy. A VERY useful move, especially if you're aiming for Perfects. Name: Isildur's Gambit Done: X, /_\, X, X Cost: 5000 Effect: Strike an unshielded enemy, kill him, and then strike another quickly. Hard as hell to do, but you'll know when you've done it. A very good move. Name: Rohan Bow Done: L1 + X Cost: 4000 Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. A stronger version of Dunesdane Bow. Name: Strength of Isildur Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Strength of the Stewards. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 6 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Orc Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 6000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking goblin. A useless move, just kill a goblin the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Isildur's Deliverance Done: /_\, X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Decimate shielded foes in short time. HARD TO DO, as you might be attacked while doing this, but it's a great move. Name: Strength of Elendil Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Strength of Isildur. Name: Wilderness Rage Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 4000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Requires Ranger Fury. Name: Master Swordsman Done: X Cost: 10000 Effect: Increases the damage of your speed attack. Obviously, if you never use speed attacks you won't want this, but if you do, buy this immediately. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 8 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bane of Saruman Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 8000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking Urak-hai. A useless move, just kill an Urak-hai the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Isildur's Judgment Done: /_\, /_\, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Smash an enemy shield, knock him down, and then strike him with a fierce attack. Again, difficult to do, but this is a great move to do. Name: Strength of Argonath Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Strength of Elondil. Name: Wrath of Numenor Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 6000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Requires Wilderness Rage. Name: Gondor Bow Done: L1 + X Cost: 4000 Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. A stronger version of Rohan Bow. -+-+-+-+-+-+ LEGOLAS: -+-+-+-+-+-+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 1 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Triple Strike Done: X, X, X Cost: N/A Effect: Hits an enemy three times. Only use this against unshielded foes, as it's three speed attacks, which won't hurt shields. But this is very useful. Name: Double Hack Done: /_\, /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Smashes an enemy's shield. Against unshielded enemies, this will most likely kill them, and is very useful for breaking enemy shields. Name: Shadow Strike Done: R2 Cost: N/A Effect: Instantly kills a knocked down foe. This is a VERY useful move, as you will knock down a lot of enemies. This is perhaps the most useful move in the game. Name: Combat Kick Done: O Cost: N/A Effect: Kicks an enemy or object. I can only think of one mission in which this has any use against objects, but it can be rather useful to knock down enemies. Name: Knife Parry Done: [] Cost: N/A Effect: Defends against an enemy attack. Quite useful, especially in the Gates of Moria, Amon Hen, and all the Helm's Deep levels. Name: Mirkwood Longbow Done: L1 + X or /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. You can hold them down to increase the damage. This is a weak bow, but just about any missile attack is invaluable in tons of missions, notable ones are Gates of Moria, Balin's Tomb, and Plains of Rohan. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 2 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rush Attack Done: X, O Cost: 3000 Effect: Charges forward and knocks unshielded enemies down. This is a pretty useless move, unless you come really close to lots of enemies, like in Balin's Tomb. Name: Elrond's Swift Terror Done: X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Hits an unshielded enemy twice, and then finishes it off with a strong blow. A VERY useful combo, you'll want this immediately, as it really adds to your Skill Meter, and you'll know exactly when you do it! Name: Elrond's War Rush Done: X, O, R2 Cost: 5000 Effect: Hurts, knocks down, and kills a powerful enemy. Not quite as useful as Swift Terror, but an extremely worthwhile move even so. Very useful against sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Name: Elven Fury Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 2000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Name: Force of Celeborn Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Name: Rivendell Longbow Done: L1 + X Cost: 4000 Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. A stronger version of Mirkwood Longbow. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 4 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Goblin Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 4000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking goblin. A useless move, just kill a goblin the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Charge Attack Done: X, O Cost: 4000 Effect: Charges at an enemy for a devastating attack. Well, it's better than Rush Attack, although it requires Rush Attack. Name: Rising Attack Done: X Cost: 8000 Effect: Attack as you regain your feet, taking enemies by surprise. This is an expensive move, but EXTREMELY useful, especially when you're in Amon Hen. Buy this quickly! Name: Elrond's Death Charge Done: X, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Attack, knock down, and attack an enemy. A VERY useful move, especially if you're aiming for Perfects. Name: Elrond's Gambit Done: X, /_\, X, X Cost: 5000 Effect: Strike an unshielded enemy, kill him, and then strike another quickly. Hard as hell to do, but you'll know when you've done it. A very good move. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 6 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Orc Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 6000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking goblin. A useless move, just kill a goblin the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Isildur's Deliverance Done: /_\, X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Decimate shielded foes in short time. HARD TO DO, as you might be attacked while doing this, but it's a great move. Name: Dragonfire Arrows Done: L1 + X Cost: 8000 Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. A stronger version of Rivendell Longbow. A very useful move, as it sets enemies on fire! Name: Force of Galadriel Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Force of Celeborn. Name: Gil-gilad's Rage Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 4000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 8 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bane of Saruman Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 8000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking Urak-hai. A useless move, just kill an Urak-hai the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Elrond's Judgment Done: /_\, /_\, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Smash an enemy shield, knock him down, and then strike him with a fierce attack. Again, difficult to do, but this is a great move to do. Name: Mithril Arrows Done: L1 + X Cost: 10000 Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. A stronger version of Dragonfire Arrows. An IMMENSELY useful move, as it goes right through enemies and keeps going! Name: Elven Bow Mastery Done: L1 + X Cost: 10000 Effect: Increases the power of your arrows. After you have this, you've basically done all you can for Legolas's bow. He can take anything on now. -+-+-+-+-+-+ GIMLI: -+-+-+-+-+-+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 1 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Triple Strike Done: X, X, X Cost: N/A Effect: Hits an enemy three times. Only use this against unshielded foes, as it's three speed attacks, which won't hurt shields. But this is very useful. Name: Double Hack Done: /_\, /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Smashes an enemy's shield. Against unshielded enemies, this will most likely kill them, and is very useful for breaking enemy shields. Name: Shadow Strike Done: R2 Cost: N/A Effect: Instantly kills a knocked down foe. This is a VERY useful move, as you will knock down a lot of enemies. This is perhaps the most useful move in the game. Name: Axe Thrust Done: O Cost: N/A Effect: Kicks an enemy or object. I can only think of one mission in which this has any use against objects, but it can be rather useful to knock down enemies. Name: Axe Parry Done: [] Cost: N/A Effect: Defends against an enemy attack. Quite useful, especially in the Gates of Moria, Amon Hen, and all the Helm's Deep levels. Name: Erebor Axes Done: L1 + X or /_\ Cost: N/A Effect: Shoots a bow at an enemy. You can hold them down to increase the damage. This is a weak bow, but just about any missile attack is invaluable in tons of missions, notable ones are Gates of Moria, Balin's Tomb, and Plains of Rohan. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 2 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rush Attack Done: X, O Cost: 3000 Effect: Charges forward and knocks unshielded enemies down. This is a pretty useless move, unless you come really close to lots of enemies, like in Balin's Tomb. Name: Balin's Swift Terror Done: X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Hits an unshielded enemy twice, and then finishes it off with a strong blow. A VERY useful combo, you'll want this immediately, as it really adds to your Skill Meter, and you'll know exactly when you do it! Name: Balin's War Rush Done: X, O, R2 Cost: 5000 Effect: Hurts, knocks down, and kills a powerful enemy. Not quite as useful as Swift Terror, but an extremely worthwhile move even so. Very useful against sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Name: Dwarven Fury Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 2000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Name: Might of Rock Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Name: Might of Iron Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Might of Rock. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 4 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Goblin Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 4000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking goblin. A useless move, just kill a goblin the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Charge Attack Done: X, O Cost: 4000 Effect: Charges at an enemy for a devastating attack. Well, it's better than Rush Attack, although it requires Rush Attack. Name: Rising Attack Done: X Cost: 8000 Effect: Attack as you regain your feet, taking enemies by surprise. This is an expensive move, but EXTREMELY useful, especially when you're in Amon Hen. Buy this quickly! Name: Balin's Death Charge Done: X, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Attack, knock down, and attack an enemy. A VERY useful move, especially if you're aiming for Perfects. Name: Balin's Gambit Done: X, /_\, X, X Cost: 5000 Effect: Strike an unshielded enemy, kill him, and then strike another quickly. Hard as hell to do, but you'll know when you've done it. A very good move. Name: Rune of Protection Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Might of Iron. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 6 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Orc Bane Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 6000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking orc. A useless move, just kill an orc the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Balin's Deliverance Done: /_\, X, X, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Attack a shielded enemy, break his shield, kill him, and then strike another one quickly. A very good move, although it's hard to do. Name: Might of Balin Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Rune of Protection. Name: Might of Gloin Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Might of Balin. Name: Moria Axes Done: L1 + X Cost: 4000 Effect: Shoots an axe at an enemy. A stronger version of Erebor Axes. Name: Mountain Rage Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 2000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVEL 8 MOVES: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bane of Saruman Done: [], X, R2 Cost: 8000 Effect: Instantly kills an attacking Urak-hai. A useless move, just kill an Urak-hai the normal way, for crying out loud. Name: Balin's Judgement Done: /_\, /_\, O, /_\ Cost: 5000 Effect: Smash an enemy shield, knock him down, and then strike him with a fierce attack. Again, difficult to do, but this is a great move to do. Name: Might of Khazad-dum Done: N/A Cost: 10000 Effect: Permanently increases your health. This is an extremely good addition. Requires Might of Gloin. Name: Wrath of Moria Done: /_\ (hold) Cost: 6000 Effect: Hold down Triangle and unleash a strong attack. In short, it's a pretty useless move, just forget all about this. It takes FAR too long to do, and although it has long range, it is slow and useless. Requires Dwarven Fury. Name: Misty Mountain Axes Done: L1 + X Cost: 6000 Effect: Shoots an axe at an enemy. A stronger version of Moria Axes. Name: Axe Mastery of Kings Done: /_\ Cost: 10000 Effect: Increases the damage of your fierce attack. Very costly, but extremely useful. IX. Prologue and Weathertop: The reason I seperated the Prologue and the Weathertop from the rest of the walkthrough is because you can only play as Aragorn and Isildur in these two levels. They are both very easy levels. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PROLOGUE: DIFFICULTY: * -------------------------------------------------------------------- Isildur: Level 10 You will see a scene, about three of the rings being gifted to the elves, seven to the dwarven lords, and nine to the race of men, and The One Ring, embodied with the darkness, malice, cunning, and the will to dominate all of Middle-earth of Sauron. Many of the people of Middle-earth fell to the power of Sauron's army, but there were some who resisted... such as the King himself, Isildur. Now this is the mission that takes place three thousand years ago... Now, this mission is really straightforward. The men will say "defend yourself, sire!" when you need to defend, and there are way too many enemies here now, so defend! After that's over, use fierce attacks, no matter what these guys say. Fierce attacks are much better than speed attacks, especially if you want Perfect. Whether the enemies are shielded or not, always use fierce attacks. Also, you can hold down /_\ to use a Wrath or Rage attack, so I'd personally recommend doing just that. When you get perfect, try to make as many kills as possible. After that point where you first defend, then ignore your future warnings to defend, just ignore defense and attack. After this mission, you will see a scene. Sauron will kill the whole army in three blows. These ridiculously powerful attacks will only knock Isildur down though. Isildur will take up his father's sword, and kill Sauron in one blow. The One Ring will drop, and then it passed to Isildur, who had the one chance now to set it in the fires of Mount Doom, but the hearts of men are easily corrupted. Isildur won't destroy it. It will then pass to Strider, or Aragorn, not Isildur himself, but the heir to his throne. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WEATHERTOP: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 1 You will see a scene at the start of the game, with Aragorn entering a chamber and saying how all Isengard is empty, and the Dark Lord Sauron draws near... and then we see a Ringwraith say "Baggins...", a scene that we all remember from the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring, and then they'll hunt Frodo down. Uh-oh, we're in trouble now, aren't we? You cannot hurt the Ringwraiths directly with speed attacks, fierce attacks, shadow attacks, or anything else. They will just charge at you and attack. Ignore Frodo's life bar, it doesn't mean anything yet. Light Aragorn's torch by using a fierce attack on the fire in the middle of this area, and then put both Ringwraiths on fire. If you want to be safe, do two fierce attacks, then defend quickly and attack again, then dodge the attack, and relight the torch, and then kill the Ringwraiths. It takes five hits to rid a Ringwraith of its life. After both are defeated, another will come after you... Aragorn will warn Frodo to keep away from them, then Frodo yells for help and uses the Ring, and becomes invisible. He's now pure white, running around the area, although you'll see the Ringwraith can see him. There's another Ringwraith, but this is VERY easy. Get your torch lit, then quickly run to the left and hit him five times. He'll be too stunned to attack, so just do this, and then... Yes, and then two more Ringwraiths will threaten Frodo, knock him down, and stab him. And just think, he was invisible but the Ringwraiths were drawn to the power of the ring. Well, he can easily go down, and he's very vulnerable to attack. Be careful to watch his life bar. You should have a chance for Perfect now, so light your torch and hit both Ringwraiths at once. If you want Perfect, you'll definitely need to do this. After the two Ringwraiths are defeated, we'll see a scene with a Ringwraith on fire running away from Aragorn, and Frodo being carried away. Unfortunately though, when Frodo was stabbed by the Ringwraith, he was very badly injured and poisoned, one of the worst injuries one can take. A female elf will say "Let him be spared. Save him." Now we'll see a past scene, with Frodo telling Gandalf he will take the ring to Mordor in the council of Elrond. Aragorn says that if he can, then by life or death, he'll swear to protect Frodo, and that he has his sword. Legolas will tell Frodo that he has his bow, and Gimli will tell him that he has his axe. And now the game really begins... X. Aragorn Walkthrough: Aragorn is a good character, doubtedly the best in the game, so taking him will provide you with this walkthrough: -------------------------------------------------------------------- GATES OF MORIA: DIFFICULTY: * -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 2 Since Aragorn has such speed and power on him, killing all the enemies here will be easy as hell. With Aragorn, you shouldn't have one worry on your mind here. We see a scene with Gandalf leading the party up a mountain. Gimli says to go to Moria, and then everyone arrives at Moria, or should I say... the Gates of Moria. Aragorn, if you're playing as him, agrees to go on and search, as Middle-earth has had no word from Moria is many years. Gimli accompanies him. Go down the hill, and Gimli will warn you of some Orcs. Although the book says they have no weaknesses, these guys are pushovers. Kill them with a few blows, and try to get Perfect. Then proceed, and take on the Orcs that jump down from above. With Perfect, they'll die in a second. Three more Orcs will try to kill you, so just knock them out with your sword attacks. Gimli will tell you to quickly come, as he takes out an Orc, and then one tries to sneak up on him. Aragorn will shoot it. Now, go on and you'll encounter some more Orcs, but there's one noticeable one. It's the high one, and you'll have to shoot him. Be careful, as you only have 30 arrows to fire. After you take the Orc out, hurry on, and Gimli will say that you could pass through, and that his cousin Balin would give you a royal welcome. Three Orcs will shoot at you. Okay, some more Orcs will be running for you, while you're trying to shoot these three Orcs. I strongly recommend keeping a distance from the Orcs, because if you get too close they will shoot you. This is pretty easy as Aragorn, so when a Goblin comes after you, kill it normally, and shoot the Orcs from a distance. Some more Orcs will be climbing up a cliff to kill you, so be careful. Pass through, and kill all the Orcs. Soon, you'll be in swampy water. This is cakewalk as Aragorn, Gimli will kill a lot of enemies with his axe, but try to get in some kills too. On high Orcs, shoot them, on low ones, kill them with your sword. Movement is quite slow in this water, so be sure that the Orcs don't annihilate you. At the end of here... We will see a scene with some tentacles appearing from the water. Unfortunately, they will hit Gimli, and just look, he was knocked out in one blow. If you've read from the instruction manual, you'll know what this is. It's the Watcher, and it's your first boss. Defeating the Watcher is quite simple. It will always be trying to hurt you with its tentacles, and they are almost unavoidable, as the area is quite small. Defend when they attack, until one is possible to attack. Once it is, attack it and the Watcher will show it's ugly face. You can't hit it with Speed Attacks or Fierce Attacks, no matter how hard you try. Just use a bow to hurt it. Repeat this process until the Watcher dies. Gimli is then okay, and Gandalf will lead you further. We see a scene, as Gandalf says it is the Door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Gimli will read that the door says "Speak friend and enter." Gandalf says that they must face the long, dark of Moria.... and that's our first real mission complete. After this mission, DO NOT BUY STRENGTH OF THE STEWARDS. I know how tempting it is, but DON'T DO IT. Buy Isildur's War Rush, Rush Attack, and Ranger Fury. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BALIN'S TOMB: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 3 Aragorn will have a fairly long time killing the Cave Troll, but it won't be at all hard for him. We see a scene with all the characters entering the Tomb of Balin. Gimli realizes that Balin is dead. Gandalf says that they have barred the gates and that they cannot get out. Then the Orcs and Goblins arrive, pounding on the door to destroy it. After some nice action, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, and Gandalf draw their weapons. The earlier part of this level is basically short, and just hack and slash. There are A LOT of enemies here, Orcs and Goblins, and they're showing no mercy. Aragorn is really good here because he'll have no slowdown at all. Attack all of them, while getting Perfects, and annihilating them. You might want to kill as many as possible, so you can get a Perfect score in this level, and for more credit. After that... Yes, Legolas fires an arrow at a Cave Troll that is coming. He doesn't look friendly, and geez, his arms are really big, his body is big, and he's formidably fast, not to mention the fact that he has a big club that will pack a very, very powerful punch. Ouch, time for another boss. Well, now it's time to leave the orcs to the rest of the Fellowship. Now you handle the Cave Troll. Sometimes, if it gets you low on health, shielded Orcs drop Full-Recovery Potions. Use these just in case. The Cave Troll is large, so it's immune to quick attacks. Only bow attacks and fierce attacks can harm it. There are two ways to handle this beast: One, is to just handle it with fierce attacks. Ignore everything else, while avoiding their attacks. Get Full-Recovery Potions if necessary, but just hack at the Cave Troll twice, and then BACK AWAY. He WILL swing his club at you and you WILL get hit. Sometimes if you just hit once he'll be able to hit you. This method is short, but a little risky. Two, is to always keep your distance from the Cave Troll. Sometimes these Orcs drop Arrows, so if you run out for some reason, you can always hit the Cave Troll. Be aware that the arrows will do a very little damage. Kill Orcs if something goes wrong for their potions. This method is long, but safe. Once you take away enough health from the Cave Troll, it will get angry and throw its club away. Aragorn will run away and jump up onto a high ledge. But you didn't think the Cave Troll wouldn't have a weapon to attack with, did you? It now has a chain whip. Uh-oh, things don't look good... The Cave Troll is a lot harder from up here. As it is now below you, you can't use fierce attacks to hit it. Plus, the Cave Troll's attacks will still do a LOT of damage to you. To make it even worse, you can see that your space is very limited. This is still pretty simple, but here's the strategy: You can see there are pillars around here. These are for shielding yourself from the Cave Troll. The Chain Whip will hit the pillars instead of you if you're behind one of them, but be quite careful, as you've got to hit the Cave Troll itself. Try to position yourself in an area where you can hit the Cave Troll and it can't hit you. You can't get out of range from it, no matter how hard you try. If you can't do this, then after the Cave Troll tries to hit you and hits the pillar, come slightly out from behind the pillar and shoot the Cave Troll twice, or thrice at the most. Keep in mind that the pillars can take three hits each before they crumble, and there are five (I think) pillars on this area. If all of them go down, you'll just have to dodge the Cave Troll's attacks without a pillar, and then just shoot it. But, to be your best friend and yet still worst nightmare, some Orcs can get up here the way you did! This is rare though, but these Orcs can hit you, or even worse, get you in the range of the Cave Troll's attacks. The good side is that you can at least get some Full-Recovery Potions. So get them if needed, and then kill the Cave Troll with your arrows. I'd recommend buying Strength of the Stewards now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMON HEN: DIFFICULTY: *** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 4 With Aragorn, Urak-Hai are no problem, even the ones with swords. This mission is Aragorn's specialty. Aragorn will talk about Moria being a dark journey for the Fellowship, and then we see Gandalf falling into the Shadow. He dies... and we hear Lady Galadriel talking. Aragorn will kneel down and tell Frodo that he will follow him to the very fires of Mordor. Then Aragorn will say that Frodo carries the fate of them all and that they must defend him. The bar at the top right indicates Frodo's health. The number adjacent to it indicates how many Urak-Hai are remaining. You cannot complete the level until all 75 Urak-Hai are defeated. The rest of the Fellowship and you will be fighting these Urak-Hai. They are rather difficult to dispatch, because they are quick and powerful, and can easily knock you down. Fierce attacks only are recommended. They sometimes drop Full-Recovery Potions, or small potions, so be sure to get them if needed. Don't proceed until you have about 60 Urak-Hai remaining. Shoot some Urak-Hai with your bows, then as you proceed, an ugly leader known as Lurtz will order the other Urak-Hai to find the Halfling. (The Halfling being Frodo.) Then the other members of the Fellowship will leave you, although Legolas says: "We must defeat these Urak-Hai for Frodo to escape." The "we" is a bit off, eh? Well, this is where the Urak-Hai get a little dangerous. Some of them are wielding long swords. For these, you will have to wait for them to swing their swords around, and then when they put them in the ground, you will have to attack them. There are quite a few of these around here, so proceed when about 45 Urak-Hai are remaining, and you'll be in a small area. Here, there are some Urak-Hai with bows. When the arrows touch the ground, it'll catch fire. Look out for these guys, as you'll have to shoot them. With Aragorn this is no problem. There are a few sword-wielders, so be sharp about it. Head on to the right when there are 35 or less Urak-Hai, and then some Urak-Hai will start to fire... You will now be between two fires. There are some Urak-Hai still trying to fire at you, so shoot at them. By the time you are able to defeat all of them, the fires should have worn out. Now be careful going on, because there are some Urak-Hai with swords. There is a tablet to increase your level in the room to your north, so get that quickly by taking the door down with fierce attacks. Now go on. You will be surrounded by some Urak-Hai. Legolas will take two of them out while more of them will come. You will have to fight them off. This is a piece of cake as Aragorn because they don't wield swords or anything and Aragorn's attacks are strong as heck. After the Urak-Hai have gone down to 0, you will see Frodo running from two Urak-Hai. Legolas will shoot them and they're dead. But something's dreadfully wrong. Go to the left and you'll see Lurtz with his bow. He will fire it at Boromir and he will die. Now Aragorn will appear, too late. Lurtz will growl at him and then the two will engage in a bit of an unfair fight. The first part of this battle is fairly simple. All Lurtz will do is shoot some arrows at you. They won't catch on fire, so all you have to do is avoid a few of Lurtz's arrows, and when he stops firing, give him a piece of your mind by shooting your own arrows at him. Don't bother going for him, or he'll put his bow down and run very quickly at you and slash you with his sword. So fire at him. Once you've taken a very small part of Lurtz's health away, he'll replace his bow with a long sword. But it might be too long... you'll see some statues around here. Try to get behind them if Lurtz is right there, and he might accidentally stick his sword in the statue. If so, use Fierce Attacks to shave some health off of him. Do this until all of it is gone. But you didn't think it'd be quite that easy, did you? There are some Urak-Hai that appear sometimes if Lurtz commands it. If this is during the first stage of the battle, they're no problem at all, but during the second, you can't really hit them, because Lurtz is right in front of them, he's fast, and he's always after you. You'll need to be VERY careful with the Urak-Hai, preferably taking them out when Lurtz's sword is stuck in the statue. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FANGORN FOREST: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 5 Aragorn is decent here, but since he doesn't have Legolas's speed or Gimli's power, I'd say he's only average in this level. We see a scene of creatures kidnapping Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Then for days Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli follow them, leading them to the Fangorn Forest. Legolas will recommend spliting up, and now here we go. Go on ahead, and ignore the goblins making noise in the bushes above, they're not coming. Head on until you find a wooden barrier, and then some Goblins and Orcs will break it down and attack. The Orcs have shields and helmets, so you'll have to use Fierce Attacks to handle them. This is cake as Aragorn. After killing all of them, (hopefully with a Perfect), head on and you'll find a sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Sword-wielding Urak-Hai are never good. It's not really that hard as Aragorn, but this will not be easy. First, run away slowly. Don't let it get so far behind. When it starts swinging its sword, seperate yourself from it by a small distance, and wait until it sticks the sword in the ground. Immediately use two Fierce Attacks and it will fall down. Don't bother hitting it on the ground by Fierce Attacks, because the Urak-Hai will get up and take the initiative by knocking you down. So use a Shadow Strike. Go on, and you will see some Orcs being thrown around. I think we all know who's throwing them. If you guessed a Cave Troll, you were right. Dealing with it is quite easy as Aragorn. All you have to do is wait for it to throw stuff at you, then deal two, or to make it safe, one Fierce Attack, then quickly run away before he slaughters you with his club. Hopefully he'll throw more stuff at you, and then you can use Fierce Attacks. Space is quite limited here, so be very careful not to be overcome. The Cave Troll has a lot of health, but he's nothing to worry about. Proceed, and we'll see Orcs around a large pit. A bird will fly away and then an Orc will knock another Orc into the pit. Aragorn will sneak up on them. From where you currently are, the Orcs cannot see you, but don't underestimate them, if you aim just one arrow or do anything, they'll spot you, so try to sneak up on the closest one and teach him a lesson with your Fierce Attacks. Ignore all defense and hit them. You shouldn't have but one problem with them. After you have killed them, take note you can find a Full-Recovery Potion by going up and to the right. Go to the water and you'll find three Orcs. They have bows. Piece of cake. After dealing with the Orcs, you'll notice that you're walking on water. Some Goblins will be jumping out of the water to attack you by surprise here, and movement is slow here, so be cautious. If you find lots of Full-Recovery Potions or just plain Potions here, you might want to ignore them, because you have a little something coming up... Head into the little cave, and you'll see some bats flying around the wooden wall. Then something big breaks it. It's yet ANOTHER Cave Troll. This fight will be harder than the last because if you didn't take care of all the Orcs back there they may want to barge in here and attack you. Plus, space is very limited here, and you may not be able to proceed because the Cave Troll blocks you. His club is very big, and if he kills you, you'll be right back to the last Cave Troll! Bad business. With Aragorn though, this isn't hard. Get in two fierce attacks on the Cave Troll, and then try to avoid its club. It can be tricky to avoid, so be careful. If it manages to wither down your health, then just get out of here and get the potions that I recommended getting from orcs and goblins. Soon the Cave Troll will die. Go on and break the web, and a sword-wielding Urak-Hai will be here. Space is still very limited, but this isn't any harder than the last Urak-Hai. Simply avoid its swing, and then quickly attack it and kill it. Simple as that. Now, hurry on and you'll find three Orcs. Finish the back one off by shooting at it, and use any combo to take these two out. Go on and you will find a majority of Orcs and Goblins. They will not appear all at once, but many will come. Doing Isildur's Swift Terror or Fierce Attacks quite often may be your only hope to finishing these guys off quickly. If you have Isildur's Death Charge, then killing these guys will be only too easy. Now, we're about to meet the boss of Fangorn Forest... Well, perhaps I should say "bosses." On ahead, you'll see a pitiful looking Orc. A Cave Troll will pick it up and smash it while another Cave Troll will appear in the area and raise its club. Uh-oh, now you, as Aragorn, are up against two nasty Cave Trolls. Thankfully, it's not really that bad with Aragorn. There are two ways to get in attacking the Cave Trolls. One, you'll have to break a web to the right, or three logs in the center. I personally prefer you break both. When you break the logs though, try not to be hit by one of their throws. Break them, and then land a Fierce Attack on one of the trolls. I recommend just hitting once, or one Troll will smack you. After you do this, go back and to the right. In case you need it, a Full-Recovery Potion is here. Go on and hit the opposite Cave Troll. Now, go back and hit the other one, then go back to the right to hit the other, and keep alternating until they're both dead. This isn't the fastest method, but it's most definitely the safest. After both trolls have dropped, get out of here by going behind the trolls and breaking the web. Now, it will show perhaps the best scene in the game. Legolas will tell Aragorn that he sees something, the White Wizard. Gimli will think that it's Saruman, but then a great blue light will shine and Gandalf the White will appear. He will them there is a union between the two towers, Orthanc and Barad-dur, and that war is coming to Rohan. Now, they must save Rohan, before it is too late... --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAINS OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: **** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 5 Aragorn will simply decimate any enemy that you come across in this level. There is no enemy he isn't very good at killing in this level, plus his speed is formidable. You see a scene of Gandalf the White on his great white horse galloping to Rohan. We can clearly see that Rohan is being attacked. A villager will fire at an Urak-Hai, killing it, and then another Urak-Hai will shoot at the villager, killing him. Another villager will shoot at something belonging to the Urak-Hai and destroy it, and we'll see Aragorn and Gandalf arriving at the Plains of Rohan. There are two dangerous Urak-Hai here. They have swords but are quite easy to dispatch. Isildur's Death Charge is THE WAY TO GO. Just knock these guys down, and when they're down, continuously do fierce attacks while dodging their attacks. Gandalf is so powerful he might kill some of them himself. Try to get a Perfect, and then just head on. Gandalf will tell you that they must save all the villagers that you can or the village will die. Now on the upper-right side of the screen, you'll see a health bar. As people die, this bar will go down. If you have a Perfect, simply annihilate the Urak-Hai to the left with Fierce Attacks, and do not let him kill the villagers! If they die, some of the bar will dry off and it can't go down. After the Urak-Hai are defeated, Gandalf will knock the door straight ahead of you down with his magic sword, and disappear. Inside here, you'll see some furniture and a bucket. Destroy the furniture with your fierce attacks and then slash the bucket. The fire will be washed away and the villagers will live. Upstairs, you'll see some poor villagers begging the Urak-Hai for mercy. One Urak-Hai will give one man a slash and he'll fall to the fire and it will die out. A sword-wielding Urak-Hai will barge in and start trying to kill you. If you don't let the villagers to the left escape, then he will kill them without further notice. RUN from this Urak-Hai for now, and go upstairs. You'll have to slash away at the furniture blocking your path, so be sure to do this. The Urak-Hai are trying to kill the villagers, so try to first get a Perfect by killing one of the Urak-Hai. If you do, killing the other Urak-Hai is cakewalk. Go out and you'll find another sword-wielding Urak-Hai, the VERY WORST kind of Urak-Hai. If you still have that Perfect, then finish him off in two hits. If you don't, then he is still quite easy to kill. There is fire around him, so he might accidentally step in it. If he does, he's dead in five seconds flat. Take out the Urak-Hai just up the hill, and head on and you'll be blocked by fire and wood. Shoot to the other side of the fire to take it out, and do two fierce attacks to destroy the wood. Now, you'll see some villagers running away from an Urak-Hai. Very easy to kill. HERE is where to build up your Skill Meter. Do NOT get a Perfect, or you'll be in some difficulty in the next part of the mission. Enter the burning house to the right, and you'll find another Urak-Hai halfway through. Now kill him and GET A PERFECT. After he's dead, exit the house by going down and getting out from the upcoming door. Outside, you'll find Gandalf again, and five nasty Urak-Hai. Use this Perfect to your advantage and knock all these Urak-Hai out with two attacks, or if you're lucky, an Isildur's Gambit, although we all know how hard this move is to do. With Aragorn this is very easy. There is an Urak-Hai up above, but hitting it will be no easy task, and villagers are likely to die. Gandalf will eventually kill it, but try to get in some kills yourself. To the right, there is also an Urak-Hai, although it is totally out of view and will not do anything. Go to the left, and we'll see a scene of the villagers and Urak-Hai in a great battle. But there's one catch, a cruel Urak-Hai will slash at some villagers, and they'll be trapped in a burning house. There is wood blocking the house, so they can't get out of the fires. Below the villager health bar, there is a new bar indicating these villagers' health. It will go down very quickly. Ignore all the Urak-Hai and head to the far side of this area and destroy the wood QUICKLY. With Aragorn, the other Urak-Hai will be no problem with getting in your way. If you don't, then the fire will kill the villagers and the village is gone. But after the wood is gone, the lower bar will disappear. Now, kill the other Urak-Hai! After all the other Urak-Hai are dead, Gandalf will tell you that you've done everything that you can and that you must leave. The surviving villagers will make for Helm's Deep, and now this tough mission is finally over! -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WESTFOLD: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 6 It doesn't matter what character you are playing as; the mission is almost too easy. You should have absolutely no trouble whatsoever with this level, whether you're as Aragorn or anyone else. You will be told that you're not alone in defending Rohan. The kings' men are still fighting and struggling to get to Helm's Deep. A black soldier appears and fights with you, and then a suicidal Urak-Hai appears and the soldier kills it. Aragorn fires an arrow at the explosive barrels, and then the soldier says that they must stand together. Saruman's forces are moving explosive devices through the town. Head on and shoot the explosive barrels and they'll explode. There are lots of suicidal Urak-Hai around here with these barrels on their backs, so don't come close. It's recommended that you shoot ahead of yourself. Head on after shooting all the barrels and go straight ahead, and then shoot the barrel in the middle, then take out the Urak-Hai with fierce attacks. After taking all of them out, head to the waterfall and go up. You'll find one of those Skill Meter things. Useful. After getting this, take out the Orc that comes after you, then go down and to the right, then head around. More suicidal Urak-Hai are coming. They are best taken out by shooting at them. They are driven by Saruman's madness and Sauron's will. Go on, and you'll come to a sort of gate protected by Urak-Hai. Take all of them out, and handle everything around here, and then enter. There are explosive barrels here and Urak-Hai. You must take the Urak-Hai out with the bow to kill them quickly, but that's just a recommendation. Kill them, and continue. You'll find another door, this time on fire. There are a lot of explosive barrels and Urak-Hai, some in which could prove a small challenge. It shouldn't be too hard as Aragorn though. Take every single thing out, and go in. It'll be hard, but do so. Take out the two explosive barrels to the left and down, as well as the upcoming Urak-Hai, and then go on while taking them out with perhaps an Isildur's Swift Terror or two, and you'll come to a lake. This is the most challenging part of the whole level. Traveling in this lake is pretty easy as Aragorn though, but there are suicidal Urak-Hai and normal ones here, so be cautious. After wading through the lake and taking out all the Urak-Hai, you'll find a line of explosive barrels. Shoot your bow at the one straight ahead of you, and all of them will explode. The soldier will escort the remaining soldiers out to Helm's Deep, where the future of Rohan will live or die. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GAP OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: ***1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 7 This mission is very tricky but as Aragorn it isn't really all that bad. Still, the Overseer will change Aragorn's life, and he's tough no matter how you look at it, so you'll have to be careful as you possibly can be. Legolas will look in the distance and see some Wargs coming. They don't look too happy... Aragorn says that they can't let the creatures reach the refugees. It will then show a crow eating the remains of an Orc, and a bell will ring. Now the mission begins. There are two Wargs at the start of this mission. I basically don't have any strategy for them except to use Isildur's Swift Terror on them, because Legolas and Gimli are here and they'll kill them in seconds. This part will be very easy to handle. But try to take the glory yourself by killing the Wargs. After they're dead, look to the right and you'll find a Skill Meter item, and the barrel next to the exit contains one as well. At the exit, Legolas and Gimli will run to Aragorn, but the logs will fall and block their path. They're gone for this mission. Two nasty Wargs will appear and the great captain, (called the Overseer) will order them to "Make them fear the wolves of Isengard!" (I love that quote.) You basically have to reshape the faces of these guys by killing them, but they'll be fairly difficult to kill as Legolas and Gimli aren't here to help. Isildur's Swift Terror is VERY useful here, and you can block them. Doing this will knock you down, but it won't hurt you. Kill both Wargs and go straight ahead, where the Overseer and two more Wargs are. The two Wargs will enter battle with Aragorn. Reshape them with Isildur's Swift Terror or repetitive Fierce Attacks. After they're dead, the Overseer will attack, and he's no pushover. He's VERY fast to run at you and attack, so be very careful. You cannot hurt him at all, so don't try. If you get even close to him, his Warg will bite you and the Overseer will slash you, so don't even try. Thankfully the Overseer cannot get into water, so when he starts to run after you, get in the water. Sometimes, instead of just going for you, the Overseer's Warg will just start on its hind legs, and the Overseer will try to get it down. THIS is the chance to hurt it! Run as fast as you can to the Overseer, and slash his Warg and it'll get down, but refuse to move. Now the Overseer will shake it and try to get it to move. Hit it twice more and then RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! The Overseer will almost definitely recover less than a second after you hit him, and you will get hurt. But, this mission isn't just with the Overseer after that. After his Warg comes down, he'll summon another Warg to come after you and kill you. Well, this is actually a great thing! When he comes after you, kill him before he gets a chance to do anything. You won't have any problems with this as Aragorn. Then he'll almost always drop a Full Recovery Potion! So you'll hardly have to worry about your health. Taking the Overseer out will be easy as hell now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: THE DEEPING WALL DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 8 Man. Now this mission is really going to be hard, perhaps harder than the Plains of Rohan. Aragorn is really agile and can take out the sword-wielders in no time, but this is a mission that will really have you mad. Okay, we'll see an insanely long scene with the final battle with the enemies that is oh so familiar from the movie, in case you've watched it. After that long scene, we'll see Gimli and Legolas knocking down ladders, and the mission begins. This is a rather different mission that will really test you to win. First of all, I'll discuss the rules: you have to defend the wall. You can kick the ladders with the O button, and you have to take down the Urak-Hai and Orcs with Fierce Attacks or combos (if you have Wrath of Numenor, USE IT!) You can see the wall's health at the top-right side of the screen. Here's the table for it: COLOR STATUS Blue Good Yellow Shaky Red Bad Flashing UGH. If it starts flashing, be prepared to lose this mission shortly. Now that we've got that in order, let's begin the mission! At the start of this mission, kick the ladder right ahead of you down. This will stop some Orcs from coming after you. Currently you will just be fighting some Orcs, and they are pretty easy to take care of. Kick that ladder, then take out the Orcs (I really recommend Orc Bane, it's actually very useful here), and Isildur's Swift Terror and Charge Attack are very useful too. After you take those Orcs out, take down every ladder you can, and then... Urak-Hai will start shooting arrows at the wall. Some Urak-Hai will join the attacking Orcs, so be ready to take them out! Just in case you have the Bane of Saruman, (I didn't) you will easily take them out. Be prepared to try and escape some attacks. There are some Urak-Hai firing arrows at you, so be careful! Take them out, along with every single ladder you can. With Aragorn, killing the Urak-Hai will be a cinch. The Urak-Hai will start making a catapult and now they're firing bombs at you. This is a good time to go to the left and get a Full Recovery Potion. The bombs can nearly kill you in one hit. You NEED to avoid them. To make matters even worse, sword-wielding Urak-Hai are here too! With Aragorn they may not be very hard, but these are going to be VERY hard! Take out every ladder in sight, and take evasive action! You can't expect to win easily, but give it all you've got! Eventually, the soldiers will line up and start shooting out tons of arrows at these evil Urak-Hai, and they will all fall dead. Aragorn kicks the last ladder back, and then this mission is over. Gimli brags about his kicking back 19 ladders, and then some Urak-Hai start doing another attack... -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: BREACHED WALL DIFFICULTY: **** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 8 Geez, I just LOVE this level! It's my very favorite level in the whole game, and Aragorn should be ready to take this mission on. Make sure he's got only the very best stuff, and we're ready to go. We'll see a cutscene with Aragorn talking to a woman, forcing her and the women and children to get to the Great Hall. Aragorn says that he will hold them here, and then the woman fires a fiery arrow and destroys some suicidal Urak-Hai. Aragorn will lead the villagers into a gate. Now, for this level, we have to defend this gate. It doesn't matter what happens to you, but no matter what you do, GUARD THE GATE! Let your own health drown away to finish it, but make sure the gate doesn't fall, or this mission will be over. It has a lot of health, but the suicidal Urak-Hai and Cave Trolls will do great damage. With Aragorn, firing your bow is no problem. Don't let the Urak-Hai come within a couple inches within the gate, or they may do a few scratches on it. If you run low on anything (Aragorn probably won't), the Urak-Hai sometimes drop Potions and Arrows for you. After you've caused a lot of suicidal Urak-Hai some pain, shielded orcs and occasionally some regular Orcs will start running for the door. If you've been fending off the Urak-Hai, you're in trouble... these Orcs are VERY fast. They'll get to the door quickly. Try using Isildur's Deliverance to take out all the Orcs. Also, you may want to make a sacrifice and let a suicidal Urak-Hai blow up all the Orcs and everyone, and make a little sacrifice in damage to the door. Oh well. Shortly after you've eliminated these guys, some Archers will line up and send a barrage of arrows at you. With the Urak-Hai attacking the wall, try to get a Perfect, and then shoot at the Archers one by one and watch them drop! By now you've probably exhausted your health quite a little, (Aragorn might very well be like this) so just in case, get all the Potions they drop. After these Archers are all dead, we'll see the Urak-Hai making a deadly looking catapult. Ouch, it doesn't look good. Also, if you look carefully, you can see a Cave Troll coming at you. This is one of the easiest Cave Troll fights in the whole game. If he gets close to the door, he'll do major damage to it, so keep him OFF. Have Aragorn slash Urak-Hai like you've never done it before! It doesn't matter if they wield swords, just do it. Get your Perfect, then run at the Cave Troll and do two Fierce Attacks on it. Then run away while it swings its club. Do two more, and soon the Cave Troll will fall. Soon, all of the Urak-Hai will be dead. But it doesn't look good, they have a nasty Catapult for you to destroy. It's not very hard to destroy, as a matter of fact, but it'll still prove a challenge. By now, the door may be falling, but ignore it and go for the Catapult! It must be destroyed: it will fire bombs at the door and damage it a lot. This will be a battle to end all battles. Here is a diagram of the Catapult: ___ ___ | | | | | B | | C | |___| |___| ___ | | | A | |___| (There is much to the Catapult than this, but this is all that matters.) There are three panels on the catapult. I would recommend destroying the panels in the order A, B, and C. Ignore all of the Urak-Hai. If they hit you, Aragorn can easily kill them quickly. Use Wrath of Numenor; it's a very good way to destroy the 3 panels. After you destroy the Catapult, it will launch off a bomb, in which will backfire and the Catapult will destroy itself. The mission is then over for good, and everyone is safe. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: HORNBURG COURTYARD DIFFICULTY: ***** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 10 OH MY SWEET LOVING GOD!!! This mission is so hard it makes the previous two missions look easy! Since the wall will go down and the Cave Trolls will rip it open, not to mention the fact Legolas will be in trouble, Aragorn will have so much trouble I'm not going to frighten you. At the start of this mission, there will be a cutscene with some of the soldiers trying to keep a big army of Orcs and Goblins at bay. But, they can't hold them. The "army" of Orcs and Goblins will barge out and they'll try to attack the big door in front of you. You know what you have to do. You'll want lots of Perfects here to try and eliminate all of these Orcs and Goblins immediately. You'll want to use Wrath of Numenor if you possibly can. And just think: that move was useless until now! Using it might be difficult though, so just let go of the Triangle button when there's a little fire, and then several foes will die! Other previously useless moves like Goblin Bane and Orc Bane (to tell Goblins and Orcs apart, Goblins are a bit smaller and don't have light faces like Orcs) are extremely useful here as well. Shortly, Legolas will try to take on some Urak-Hai with his bow. He succeeds to kill one, but then three angry ones still remain. He can't do it by himself. Gimli will tell you to help Legolas while he remains and kills the Orcs and Goblins here. So go to Legolas! Go to the lower-left for the stairs. Helping Legolas is not an easy task. At the top-right of the screen, you'll the Elf's health gauge. When it runs out, Legolas will die and the mission is over. To make things worse, the enemies up on this ledge, and even your own people, will block you! This will be a hard task, but do it quickly. Ignore any enemies. When you get to Legolas, do either the Bane of Saruman or Fierce Attacks. Either way, just kill them. Go to the left and get the Skill Meter block, and then go back. This will not be easy. Some bombs will be coming right at you and if they hurt you, you don't want to know the trouble you're in. Sometimes it may kill some Urak-Hai up here, and if it does, they'll drop Potions, or maybe even Full-Recovery Potions. VERY useful. When you get back to the floor, Gimli will be fighting a LOT of these evil Urak-Hai. But, there are SOOO many of them, he can't kill all of them! He simply eliminates several of them, but then two start hacking at the wall. Go down and kill them all! Wrath of Numenor with your effort and Bane of Saruman are the way to go! You may also want to do the exceedingly useful Isildur's War Rush. Shortly, after lots of Urak-Hai die, a soldier will cry "Archers on the wall!" Now is your time to act. Leave the door and let Gimli handle it, and get up on that ledge, and with a little of Legolas's help, shoot all the Orcs in the distance! It doesn't matter what you do, just destroy them. After all of them are dead, Gimli will call for you. He's a good pal. Now, once that's done, you don't have much more to do, but remember, there are sword-wielding Urak-Hai down here! Isildur's War Rush, Wrath of Numenor, and the regular way with him sticking his sword in the ground, a couple Fierce Attacks, and a Shadow Strike will deal with him. After they're dead, it'll look like you're winning, but two Cave Trolls will step into the action. This is the easy part! Get a Perfect like you did in Breaching Wall (VERY, VERY easy with Aragorn) and then run to those Cave Trolls! Don't let them come close to the wall, just kill them! It shouldn't take more than six Fierce Attacks to kill them. Alright now, after they're dead, let me mark one word here: SPOILERS . . . The last Cave Troll will die, but he will fall on the door. The door will be destroyed. Everyone will run to the Great Hall, and a barrage of bows will defeat every single Urak-Hai in sight. After this long scene with Gandalf the White and many other soldiers arriving to wreck some Urak-Hai havoc, Aragorn and Gandalf will talk. Sauron fears Aragorn now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TOWER OF ORTHANC DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Aragorn: Level 10 No matter how hard that you may think this mission is, it's really not as hard as Hornburg Courtyard, because all you have to do is kill everyone on all 20 floors, and Aragorn can take anything on, even the 3 Cave Trolls... but this level is super-hard, all the same. Well, this is it. This is Saruman's fortress, the Tower of Orthanc. Unfortunately, we can't go to the Tower of Barad-dur, so the Tower of Orthanc is the last mission. Saruman will appear and say that your end is near while laughing, and he'll summon some enemies. ---------------- FLOOR 1: ---------------- 5 Urak-Hai Amon Hen will definitely come to mind here! Well, back there you were at Level 3-4, and didn't have great upgrades. Now, Aragorn can just slash away at the enemies. Don't bother with defense at all, these guys shouldn't even touch you. ---------------- FLOOR 2: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Shielded Orcs A little harder than the last floor but not by much. Just hit the Urak-Hai and kill them, then take care of the Orcs by doing fierce attacks. Pretty easy. ---------------- FLOOR 3: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Orcs This floor is easier than the last because now the Orcs don't have shields. Simply rid a couple orcs because they're so pathetic, (Isildur's Gambit) and then take care of the Urak-Hai. (Isildur's Swift Terror.) ---------------- FLOOR 4: ---------------- 3 Urak-Hai 3 Shielded Orcs Very, VERY easy. The Urak-Hai are still no problem but take care of them first. Avoid the Shielded Orc attacks and rid them, and then we can get out of Floor 4. ---------------- FLOOR 5: ---------------- 3 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs Isildur's Swift Terror will simply kill the Orcs. You don't even need a strategy for them. Deal with them first, then with the Shielded Orcs. ---------------- FLOOR 6: ---------------- 7 Archers Saruman will appear and threaten you again. Don't listen to him, we're stronger than he thinks we are. This is a very good floor to get health back, because all these guys can do is fire at you, so it won't take long to kill them all. The pole in the middle can be used as a good shield, so kill the archers with fierce attacks or your own bow. To dodge their bows, just defend yourself. An extremely easy floor. ---------------- FLOOR 7: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 2 Orcs 4 Archers KILL THE ARCHERS FIRST. They will actually prove a decent challenge here, but they might hit the Urak-Hai and Orcs, because they're so stupid. So just rid this place of the archers first, and then just hack at the Orcs and Urak-Hai. ---------------- FLOOR 8: ---------------- 4 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers This floor is hardly any different than Floor 7. There aren't any Urak-Hai here, so deal with the Shielded Orcs with fierce attacks, and with the Archers by arrows. Kill the Archers first though. ---------------- FLOOR 9: ---------------- 2 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers As always, kill the Archers first. Then, destroy the Shielded Orcs' shields with fierce attacks and kill them. With the Orcs, either use speed attacks or Isildur's Gambit. (Preferably the latter.) ---------------- FLOOR 10: ---------------- 6 Urak-Hai 2 Urak Archers This floor could actually be tough if you aren't sure what to do. The Urak Archers aren't any different from regular Archers except they're Urak-Hai and shoot flaming arrows at you. If the flaming arrows hit the floor, it'll simply catch on fire, so definitely avoid this. Let the Urak Archers hit the Urak-Hai or let them catch on fire, and just hit the Urak-Hai a few times, then deal with the archers. I'd recommend about 3 Urak-Hai then the archers, because once there are less than 3 Urak-Hai, they're not bound to be hit. ---------------- FLOOR 11: ---------------- 8 Archers This is a pretty easy floor, surely easier than the last floor. These Archers are basically everywhere, but Aragorn should have no problem eliminating them. Use Speed Attacks to hit them. Their flaming attacks are no problem as Aragorn, so just kill them all; it's easy. ---------------- FLOOR 12: ---------------- 4 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Urak-Hai This floor is harder than the last, but it's still no problem. Go for those darned Urak-Hai first, and perhaps let the Archers hit the Urak-Hai, and have Aragorn use Fierce Attacks on the Urak-Hai and Speed Attacks on the Orcs and Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 13: ---------------- 4 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Floor 13 isn't hard, just annoying. This time, you'll just want to hit the Archers before the Urak-Hai. Wrath of Numenor might work well at killing Urak-Hai if they get close enough. Deal with the Archers with speed attacks. ---------------- FLOOR 14: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Immediately kill the Shielded Orcs. They are so annoying, and the Urak-Hai won't do as much quickly. Wrath of Numenor will simply destroy them. If you experience any difficulty, just kill the Archers first. This floor isn't much of a problem. ---------------- FLOOR 15: ---------------- 4 Archers 1 Cave Troll Man, this is the easiest floor since Floor 6! The Cave Troll is very vulnerable and the Archers do nothing! They'll even hit it. Take them out first, then just do Fierce Attacks to eliminate the Cave Troll. Don't even worry about his club; Aragorn is more then fast enough. ---------------- FLOOR 16: ---------------- 2 Archers 2 Sword-Wielders Saruman will appear and cackle that your end is near. This floor is half easy, half hard. KILL THE SWORD-WIELDERS IMMEDIATELY. Don't even think about the Archers. The Sword-Wielders are FAST, so just kill them normally, by running away from them and killing them when they mess up with their swords. After they're dead, make mincemeat out of the Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 17: ---------------- 3 Archers 2 Urak-Hai 2 Sword-Wielders Another hard floor. Use Wrath of Numenor with just a little energy with your sword, and then let it at the Sword-Wielders and Urak-Hai! Once they're down, try to tell the Urak-Hai and Sword-Wielders apart. Kill the Sword-Wielders at once with Shadow Strikes, and then kill the Archers last. ---------------- FLOOR 18: ---------------- 3 Archers 1 Sword-Wielder 1 Cave Troll Destroy the Sword-Wielder! He's no hard task at destruction. Simply use Wrath of Numenor to knock him down, then smash him down. After he's dead, use Speed Attacks at the Archers. No hard task with Aragorn. Then, use a couple Fierce Attacks on the Cave Troll, run away, hit him twice, run away, etc. ---------------- FLOOR 19: ---------------- 2 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Cave Trolls A very easy floor, despite the Cave Troll power. At the start of this level, I ran down and the Cave Trolls immediately were there. Use Wrath of Numenor to hit them both, then run to hit the Archers. Use your Speed Attacks on them and Fierce Attacks on the Orcs, then hit the Cave Trolls with Wrath of Numenor. ---------------- FLOOR 20: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 3 Cave Trolls (!) Wow! Three of these nightmares! Well, they're perfectly easy. Use Wrath of Numenor when the Shielded Orcs are near and crack their shields. Basically, if you hit the Cave Trolls with Wrath of Numenor, they'll be near, if not already, dead! This floor is too easy, just hack and slash away at the Cave Trolls. I won't spoil the upcoming scene for you, you've got to see it for yourself! XI. Legolas Walkthrough: Legolas lacks power, and goes down easy, but he's quite quick to attack his enemies. He's not as good as Aragorn, but he's good all the same. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GATES OF MORIA: DIFFICULTY: *1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 1 This mission is pretty easy as Legolas, and he is extremely powerful against the Orcs, but the Orcs might make meat of him because he goes down pretty easily. We see a scene with Gandalf leading the party up a mountain. Gimli says to go to Moria, and then everyone arrives at Moria, or should I say... the Gates of Moria. Legolas, if you're playing as him, agrees to scout ahead and find a path through, as Middle-earth has had no word from Moria is many years. Gimli accompanies him. Go down the hill, and Gimli will warn you of some Orcs. Although the book says they have no weaknesses, these guys are pushovers. Kill them with a few blows, and try to get Perfect. Then proceed, and take on the Orcs that jump down from above. With Perfect, they'll die in a second. Three more Orcs will try to kill you, so just knock them out with your sword attacks. Gimli will tell you to quickly come, as he takes out an Orc, and then one tries to sneak up on him. Legolas will shoot it. Now, go on and you'll encounter some more Orcs, but there's one noticeable one. It's the high one, and you'll have to shoot him. You don't really have to be careful, as you have 60 whole arrows to fire. After you take the Orc out, hurry on, and Gimli will say that you could pass through, and that his cousin Balin would give you a royal welcome. Three Orcs will shoot at you. Okay, some more Orcs will be running for you, while you're trying to shoot these three Orcs. I strongly recommend keeping a distance from the Orcs, because if you get too close they will shoot you. This is pretty easy as Legolas, so when a Goblin comes after you, quickly kill it normally, and shoot the Orcs from a distance. Some more Orcs will be climbing up a cliff to kill you, so be careful. Pass through, and kill all the Orcs. Soon, you'll be in swampy water. This is pretty difficult as Legolas, Gimli will kill a lot of enemies with his axe, but try to get in some kills too. On high Orcs, shoot them, on low ones, kill them with your knives. Since Legolas takes a while to recover, the Orcs will really hurt him, so BE CAREFUL, AND ALWAYS FIND SOME POTIONS! Movement is quite slow in this water, so be sure that the Orcs don't annihilate you. At the end of here... We will see a scene with some tentacles appearing from the water. Unfortunately, they will hit Gimli, and just look, he was knocked out in one blow. If you've read from the instruction manual, you'll know what this is. It's the Watcher, and it's your first boss. Defeating the Watcher is quite simple. It will always be trying to hurt you with its tentacles, and they are almost unavoidable, as the area is quite small. Defend when they attack, until one is possible to attack. Once it is, attack it and the Watcher will show it's ugly face. You can't hit it with Speed Attacks or Fierce Attacks, no matter how hard you try. Just use a bow to hurt it. Repeat this process until the Watcher dies. Gimli is then okay, and Gandalf will lead you further. We see a scene, as Gandalf says it is the Door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Gimli will read that the door says "Speak friend and enter." Gandalf says that they must face the long, dark of Moria.... and that's our first real mission complete. After this mission, DO NOT BUY FORCE OF CELEBORN. I know how tempting it is, but DON'T DO IT. Buy Elrond's War Rush, and Elrond's Swift Terror. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BALIN'S TOMB: DIFFICULTY: * -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 2 This mission is simply easy with Legolas; there is no other word for it but easy. It's even easier than it is with Aragorn. Since he's so fast to attack the Cave Troll and he has 60 arrows, he stands no chance of losing. We see a scene with all the characters entering the Tomb of Balin. Gimli realizes that Balin is dead. Gandalf says that they have barred the gates and that they cannot get out. Then the Orcs and Goblins arrive, pounding on the door to destroy it. After some nice action, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, and Gandalf draw their weapons. The earlier part of this level is basically short, and just hack and slash. There are A LOT of enemies here, Orcs and Goblins, and they're showing no mercy. Legolas is fairly good here because he's so quick to attack and all. Attack all of them, while getting Perfects, and annihilating them. You might want to kill as many as possible, so you can get a Perfect score in this level, and for more credit. After that... Yes, Legolas fires an arrow at a Cave Troll that is coming. He doesn't look friendly, and geez, his arms are really big, his body is big, and he's formidably fast, not to mention the fact that he has a big club that will pack a very, very powerful punch. Ouch, time for another boss. Well, now it's time to leave the orcs to the rest of the Fellowship. Now you handle the Cave Troll. Sometimes, if it gets you low on health, shielded Orcs drop Full-Recovery Potions. Use these just in case. The Cave Troll is large, so it's immune to quick attacks. Only bow attacks and fierce attacks can harm it. There are two ways to handle this beast: One, is to just handle it with fierce attacks. This is recommended with Legolas, because he is so fast. Ignore everything else, while avoiding their attacks. Get Full-Recovery Potions if necessary, but just hack at the Cave Troll twice, and then BACK AWAY if you're too slow. He WILL swing his club at you and you WILL get hit. Sometimes if you just hit once he'll be able to hit you. This method is short, but a little risky. With Legolas, you can just hit him several times without worrying about being hit, and in the second part of the fight, you're in Perfect and have super powerful arrows! Two, is to always keep your distance from the Cave Troll. This is highly recommended with Legolas, because he is so weak to attack. Sometimes these Orcs drop Arrows, so if you run out for some reason, (Legolas shouldn't) you can always hit the Cave Troll. Be aware that the arrows will do a very little damage. Kill Orcs if something goes wrong for their potions. This method is long, but safe. Once you take away enough health from the Cave Troll, it will get angry and throw its club away. Legolas will run away and jump up onto a high ledge. But you didn't think the Cave Troll wouldn't have a weapon to attack with, did you? It now has a chain whip. Uh-oh, things don't look good... The Cave Troll is a lot harder from up here. As it is now below you, you can't use fierce attacks to hit it. Plus, the Cave Troll's attacks will still do a LOT more damage to you. Legolas will be pretty vulnerable. To make it even worse, you can see that your space is very limited. This is still pretty simple, but here's the strategy: You can see there are pillars around here. These are for shielding yourself from the Cave Troll. The Chain Whip will hit the pillars instead of you if you're behind one of them, but be quite careful, as you've got to hit the Cave Troll itself. Try to position yourself in an area where you can hit the Cave Troll and it can't hit you. You can't get out of range from it, no matter how hard you try. If you can't do this, then after the Cave Troll tries to hit you and hits the pillar, come slightly out from behind the pillar and shoot the Cave Troll twice, or thrice at the most. Keep in mind that the pillars can take three hits each before they crumble, and there are five (I think) pillars on this area. If all of them go down, you'll just have to dodge the Cave Troll's attacks without a pillar, and then just shoot it. But, to be your best friend and yet still worst nightmare, some Orcs can get up here the way you did! This is rare though, but these Orcs can hit you, or even worse, get you in the range of the Cave Troll's attacks. The good side is that you can at least get some Full-Recovery Potions. So get them if needed, and then kill the Cave Troll with your arrows. I'd recommend buying Force of Celeborn now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMON HEN: DIFFICULTY: ***1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 3 Okay, Urak-Hai are Legolas's worst nightmares. There are a couple sword-wielders here, and they'll just knock Legolas down. But his speed more than makes up for it. Aragorn will talk about Moria being a dark journey for the Fellowship, and then we see Gandalf falling into an abyss. He dies... and we hear Lady Galadriel talking. Aragorn will kneel down and tell Frodo that he will follow him to the very fires of Mordor. Then Aragorn will say that Frodo carries the fate of them all and that they must defend him. The bar at the top right indicates Frodo's health. The number adjacent to it indicates how many Urak-Hai are remaining. You cannot complete the level until all 75 Urak-Hai are defeated. The rest of the Fellowship and you will be fighting these Urak-Hai. They are rather difficult to dispatch, because they are quick and powerful, and can easily knock you down. Fierce attacks only are recommended. They sometimes drop Full-Recovery Potions, or small potions, so be sure to get them if needed. Don't proceed until you have about 60 Urak-Hai remaining. Shoot some Urak-Hai with your bows, then as you proceed, an ugly leader known as Lurtz will order the other Urak-Hai to find the Halfling. (The Halfling being Frodo.) Then the other members of the Fellowship will leave you, although Legolas says: "We must defeat these Urak-Hai for Frodo to escape." The "we" is a bit off, eh? Well, this is where the Urak-Hai get a little dangerous. Some of them are wielding long swords. For these, you will have to wait for them to swing their swords around, and then when they put them in the ground, you will have to attack them. There are quite a few of these around here, so proceed when about 45 Urak-Hai are remaining, and you'll be in a small area. Here, there are some Urak-Hai with bows. When the arrows touch the ground, it'll catch fire. Look out for these guys, as you'll have to shoot them. With Legolas this is no problem. There are a few sword-wielders, so be sharp about it. Head on to the right when there are 35 or less Urak-Hai, and then some Urak-Hai will start to fire... You will now be between two fires. There are some Urak-Hai still trying to fire at you, so shoot at them. By the time you are able to defeat all of them, the fires should have worn out. Now be careful going on, because there are some Urak-Hai with swords. There is a tablet to increase your level in the room to your north, so get that quickly by taking the door down with fierce attacks. Now go on. You will be surrounded by some Urak-Hai. Legolas will take two of them out while more of them will come. You will have to fight them off. This can be rather tricky as Legolas because they are pretty strong, but Legolas's attacks are still fairly strong. After the Urak-Hai have gone down to 0, you will see Frodo running from two Urak-Hai. Legolas will shoot them and they're dead. But something's dreadfully wrong. Go to the left and you'll see Lurtz with his bow. He will fire it at Boromir and he will die. Now Legolas will appear, too late. Lurtz will growl at him and then the two will engage in a bit of an unfair fight. The first part of this battle is fairly simple. All Lurtz will do is shoot some arrows at you. They won't catch on fire, so all you have to do is avoid a few of Lurtz's arrows, and when he stops firing, give him a piece of your mind by shooting your own arrows at him. Don't bother going for him, or he'll put his bow down and run very quickly at you and slash you with his sword. So fire at him. Once you've taken a very small part of Lurtz's health away, he'll replace his bow with a long sword. But it might be too long... you'll see some statues around here. Try to get behind them if Lurtz is right there, and he might accidentally stick his sword in the statue. If so, use Fierce Attacks to shave some health off of him. Do this until all of it is gone. But you didn't think it'd be quite that easy, did you? There are some Urak-Hai that appear sometimes if Lurtz commands it. If this is during the first stage of the battle, they're no problem at all, but during the second, you can't really hit them, because Lurtz is right in front of them, he's fast, and he's always after you. You'll need to be VERY careful with the Urak-Hai, preferably taking them out when Lurtz's sword is stuck in the statue. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FANGORN FOREST: DIFFICULTY: *** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 4 Orcs are SOOO easy to take care of with Legolas, but be warned, the Cave Trolls may knock him down easily, because they take away a good amount of his health. Urak-Hai will be a HUGE threat here, so take caution. We see a scene of creatures kidnapping Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Then for days Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli follow them, leading them to the Fangorn Forest. Legolas will recommend spliting up, and now here we go. Go on ahead, and ignore the goblins making noise in the bushes above, they're not coming. Head on until you find a wooden barrier, and then some Goblins and Orcs will break it down and attack. The Orcs have shields and helmets, so you'll have to use Fierce Attacks to handle them. This is fairly easy as Legolas. After killing all of them, (hopefully with a Perfect), head on and you'll find a sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Sword-wielding Urak-Hai are never good. It's really hard as Legolas, because he'll be knocked down in short time. First, run away slowly. Don't let it get so far behind. When it starts swinging its sword, seperate yourself from it by a small distance, and wait until it sticks the sword in the ground. Immediately use two Fierce Attacks and it will fall down. Don't bother hitting it on the ground by Fierce Attacks, because the Urak-Hai will get up and take the initiative by knocking you down. So use a Shadow Strike. Go on, and you will see some Orcs being thrown around. I think we all know who's throwing them. If you guessed a Cave Troll, you were right. Dealing with it is pretty tough as Legolas. All you have to do is wait for it to throw stuff at you, then deal two, or to make it safe, one Fierce Attack, then quickly run away before he slaughters you with his club. Hopefully he'll throw more stuff at you, and then you can use Fierce Attacks. Space is quite limited here, so be very careful not to be overcome. The Cave Troll has a lot of health, but he's nothing to worry about. Proceed, and we'll see Orcs around a large pit. A bird will fly away and then an Orc will knock another Orc into the pit. Legolas will sneak up on them. From where you currently are, the Orcs cannot see you, but don't underestimate them, if you aim just one arrow or do anything, they'll spot you, so try to sneak up on the closest one and teach him a lesson with your Fierce Attacks. You may have to do some defense, but go ahead and just hit them. You shouldn't have but one problem with them. After you have killed them, take note you can find a Full-Recovery Potion by going up and to the right. Go to the water and you'll find three Orcs. They have bows. Piece of cake. After dealing with the Orcs, you'll notice that you're walking on water. Some Goblins will be jumping out of the water to attack you by surprise here, and movement is slow here, so be cautious. If you find lots of Full-Recovery Potions or just plain Potions here, you might want to ignore them, because you have a little something coming up... Head into the little cave, and you'll see some bats flying around the wooden wall. Then something big breaks it. It's yet ANOTHER Cave Troll. This fight will be harder than the last because if you didn't take care of all the Orcs back there they may want to barge in here and attack you. Plus, space is very limited here, and you may not be able to proceed because the Cave Troll blocks you. His club is very big, and if he kills you, you'll be right back to the last Cave Troll! Bad business. With Legolas though, this will be hard. Get in two fierce attacks on the Cave Troll, and then try to avoid its club. It can be tricky to avoid, so be careful. If it manages to wither down your health, then just get out of here and get the potions that I recommended getting from orcs and goblins. Soon the Cave Troll will die. Go on and break the web, and a sword-wielding Urak-Hai will be here. Space is still very limited, but this isn't any harder than the last Urak-Hai. Simply avoid its swing, and then quickly attack it and kill it. Simple as that. Now, hurry on and you'll find three Orcs. Finish the back one off by shooting at it, and use any combo to take these two out. Go on and you will find a majority of Orcs and Goblins. They will not appear all at once, but many will come. Doing Elrond's Swift Terror or Fierce Attacks quite often may be your only hope to finishing these guys off quickly. If you have Elrond's Death Charge, then killing these guys will be only too easy. Now, we're about to meet the boss of Fangorn Forest... Well, perhaps I should say "bosses." On ahead, you'll see a pitiful looking Orc. A Cave Troll will pick it up and smash it while another Cave Troll will appear in the area and raise its club. Uh-oh, now you, as Legolas, are up against two nasty Cave Trolls. Thankfully, it's not really that hard, even with Legolas. There are two ways to get in attacking the Cave Trolls. One, you'll have to break a web to the right, or three logs in the center. I personally prefer you break both. When you break the logs though, try not to be hit by one of their throws. Break them, and then land a Fierce Attack on one of the trolls. I recommend just hitting once, or one Troll will smack you. After you do this, go back and to the right. In case you need it, a Full-Recovery Potion is here. Go on and hit the opposite Cave Troll. Now, go back and hit the other one, then go back to the right to hit the other, and keep alternating until they're both dead. This isn't the fastest method, but it's most definitely the safest. After both trolls have dropped, get out of here by going behind the trolls and breaking the web. Now, it will show perhaps the best scene in the game. Legolas will tell Aragorn that he sees something, the White Wizard. Gimli will think that it's Saruman, but then a great blue light will shine and Gandalf the White will appear. He will them there is a union between the two towers, Orthanc and Barad-dur, and that war is coming to Rohan. Now, they must save Rohan, before it is too late... --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAINS OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: **** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 4 There is only one thing you need to be sure of in this level, that at the end the Urak-Hai do not finish Legolas off before he can free the prisoners of the fire. Besides that, there's no problem with this level with Legolas that you wouldn't have with Aragorn, Isildur, or Gimli. You see a scene of Gandalf the White on his great white horse galloping to Rohan. We can clearly see that Rohan is being attacked. A villager will fire at an Urak-Hai, killing it, and then another Urak-Hai will shoot at the villager, killing him. Another villager will shoot at something belonging to the Urak-Hai and destroy it, and we'll see Legolas and Gandalf arriving at the Plains of Rohan. There are two dangerous Urak-Hai here. They have swords but are quite easy to dispatch. Elrond's Death Charge is THE WAY TO GO. Just knock these guys down, and when they're down, continuously do fierce attacks while dodging their attacks. Gandalf is so powerful he might kill some of them himself. Try to get a Perfect, and then just head on. Gandalf will tell you that they must save all the villagers that you can or the village will die. Now on the upper-right side of the screen, you'll see a health bar. As people die, this bar will go down. If you have a Perfect, simply annihilate the Urak-Hai to the left with Fierce Attacks, and do not let him kill the villagers! If they die, some of the bar will dry off and it can't go down. After the Urak-Hai are defeated, Gandalf will knock the door straight ahead of you down with his magic sword, and disappear. Inside here, you'll see some furniture and a bucket. Destroy the furniture with your fierce attacks and then slash the bucket. The fire will be washed away and the villagers will live. Upstairs, you'll see some poor villagers begging the Urak-Hai for mercy. One Urak-Hai will give one man a slash and he'll fall to the fire and it will die out. A sword-wielding Urak-Hai will barge in and start trying to kill you. If you don't let the villagers to the left escape, then he will kill them without further notice. RUN from this Urak-Hai for now, and go upstairs. You'll have to slash away at the furniture blocking your path, so be sure to do this. The Urak-Hai are trying to kill the villagers, so try to first get a Perfect by killing one of the Urak-Hai. If you do, killing the other Urak-Hai is cakewalk. Go out and you'll find another sword-wielding Urak-Hai, the VERY WORST kind of Urak-Hai. If you still have that Perfect, then finish him off in two hits. If you don't, then he is still quite easy to kill. There is fire around him, so he might accidentally step in it. If he does, he's dead in five seconds flat. Take out the Urak-Hai just up the hill, and head on and you'll be blocked by fire and wood. Shoot to the other side of the fire to take it out, and do two fierce attacks to destroy the wood. Now, you'll see some villagers running away from an Urak-Hai. Very easy to kill. HERE is where to build up your Skill Meter. Do NOT get a Perfect, or you'll be in some difficulty in the next part of the mission. Enter the burning house to the right, and you'll find another Urak-Hai halfway through. Now kill him and GET A PERFECT. After he's dead, exit the house by going down and getting out from the upcoming door. Outside, you'll find Gandalf again, and five nasty Urak-Hai. Use this Perfect to your advantage and knock all these Urak-Hai out with two attacks, or if you're lucky, an Elrond's Gambit, although we all know how hard this move is to do. With Legolas this can be tough, because they can knock him down and the Perfect will wear off. There is an Urak-Hai up above, but hitting it will be no easy task, and villagers are likely to die. Gandalf will eventually kill it, but try to get in some kills yourself. To the right, there is also an Urak-Hai, although it is totally out of view and will not do anything. Go to the left, and we'll see a scene of the villagers and Urak-Hai in a great battle. But there's one catch, a cruel Urak-Hai will slash at some villagers, and they'll be trapped in a burning house. There is wood blocking the house, so they can't get out of the fires. Below the villager health bar, there is a new bar indicating these villagers' health. It will go down very quickly. Ignore all the Urak-Hai and head to the far side of this area and destroy the wood QUICKLY. With Legolas, the other Urak-Hai might be a problem with getting in your way, because they'll knock him down easily. So be very careful. If you don't, then the fire will kill the villagers and the village is gone. But after the wood is gone, the lower bar will disappear. Now, kill the other Urak-Hai! After all the other Urak-Hai are dead, Gandalf will tell you that you've done everything that you can and that you must leave. The surviving villagers will make for Helm's Deep, and now this tough mission is finally over! -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WESTFOLD: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 5 It doesn't matter what character you are playing as; the mission is almost too easy. You should have absolutely no trouble whatsoever with this level, whether you're as Legolas or anyone else. You will be told that you're not alone in defending Rohan. The kings' men are still fighting and struggling to get to Helm's Deep. A black soldier appears and fights with you, and then a suicidal Urak-Hai appears and the soldier kills it. Legolas fires an arrow at the explosive barrels, and then the soldier says that they must stand together. Saruman's forces are moving explosive devices through the town. Head on and shoot the explosive barrels and they'll explode. There are lots of suicidal Urak-Hai around here with these barrels on their backs, so don't come close. It's recommended that you shoot ahead of yourself. Head on after shooting all the barrels and go straight ahead, and then shoot the barrel in the middle, then take out the Urak-Hai with fierce attacks. After taking all of them out, head to the waterfall and go up. You'll find one of those Skill Meter things. Useful. After getting this, take out the Orc that comes after you, then go down and to the right, then head around. More suicidal Urak-Hai are coming. They are best taken out by shooting at them. They are driven by Saruman's madness and Sauron's will. Go on, and you'll come to a sort of gate protected by Urak-Hai. Take all of them out, and handle everything around here, and then enter. There are explosive barrels here and Urak-Hai. You must take the Urak-Hai out with the bow to kill them quickly, but that's just a recommendation. Kill them, and continue. You'll find another door, this time on fire. There are a lot of explosive barrels and Urak-Hai, some in which could prove a small challenge. It may be a bit hard with Legolas though, but try to do an Elrond's Death Charge to hurt them if you can. Take every single thing out, and go in. It'll be hard, but do so. Take out the two explosive barrels to the left and down, as well as the upcoming Urak-Hai, and then go on while taking them out with perhaps an Elrond's Swift Terror or two, and you'll come to a lake. This is the most challenging part of the whole level. Traveling in this lake is pretty easy as Legolas though, but there are suicidal Urak-Hai and normal ones here, so be cautious. After wading through the lake and taking out all the Urak-Hai, you'll find a line of explosive barrels. Shoot your bow at the one straight ahead of you, and all of them will explode. The soldier will escort the remaining soldiers out to Helm's Deep, where the future of Rohan will live or die. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GAP OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: ***1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 6 This mission is very tricky but as Legolas it may be a tad bit bad. The Overseer will simply change Legolas's life, and he's tough no matter how you look at it, so you'll have to be careful as you possibly can be. Legolas will look in the distance and see some Wargs coming. They don't look too happy... Aragorn says that they can't let the creatures reach the refugees. It will then show a crow eating the remains of an Orc, and a bell will ring. Now the mission begins. There are two Wargs at the start of this mission. I basically don't have any strategy for them except to use Elrond's Swift Terror on them, because Aragorn and Gimli are here and they'll kill them in seconds. This part will be very easy to handle. But try to take the glory yourself by killing the Wargs. After they're dead, look to the right and you'll find a Skill Meter item, and the barrel next to the exit contains one as well. At the exit, Aragorn and Gimli will run to Legolas, but the logs will fall and block their path. They're gone for this mission. Two nasty Wargs will appear and the great captain, (called the Overseer) will order them to "Make them fear the wolves of Isengard!" (I love that quote.) You basically have to reshape the faces of these guys by killing them, but they'll be fairly difficult to kill as Aragorn and Gimli aren't here to help. Elrond's Swift Terror is VERY useful here, and you can block them. Doing this will knock you down, but it won't hurt you. Kill both Wargs and go straight ahead, where the Overseer and two more Wargs are. The two Wargs will enter battle with Legolas. Reshape them with Elrond's Swift Terror or repetitive Fierce Attacks. After they're dead, the Overseer will attack, and he's no pushover. He's VERY fast to run at you and attack, so be very careful. You cannot hurt him at all, so don't try. If you get even close to him, his Warg will bite you and the Overseer will slash you, so don't even try. Running away from him is pretty easy as Legolas. Thankfully the Overseer cannot get into water, so when he starts to run after you, get in the water. Sometimes, instead of just going for you, the Overseer's Warg will just start on its hind legs, and the Overseer will try to get it down. THIS is the chance to hurt it! Run as fast as you can to the Overseer, and slash his Warg and it'll get down, but refuse to move. Now the Overseer will shake it and try to get it to move. Hit it twice more and then RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! The Overseer will almost definitely recover less than a second after you hit him, and you will get hurt. But, this mission isn't just with the Overseer after that. After his Warg comes down, he'll summon another Warg to come after you and kill you. Well, this is actually a great thing! When he comes after you, kill him before he gets a chance to do anything. You might have a bit of a problem with this as Legolas though, because they might bite him before he gets a chance to do anything, but try with all you've got! He'll almost always drop a Full Recovery Potion! So you'll hardly have to worry about your health. Taking the Overseer out will be easy as hell now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: THE DEEPING WALL DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 7 Man. Now this mission is really going to be hard, perhaps harder than the Plains of Rohan. Legolas is really agile but the sword-wielders will knock him down and have him on the ground in short time, so this is a mission that will really have you mad. Okay, we'll see an insanely long scene with the final battle with the enemies that is oh so familiar from the movie, in case you've watched it. After that long scene, we'll see Gimli and Legolas knocking down ladders, and the mission begins. This is a rather different mission that will really test you to win. First of all, I'll discuss the rules: you have to defend the wall. You can kick the ladders with the O button, and you have to take down the Urak-Hai and Orcs with Fierce Attacks or combos (if you have the Mithril Arrows, USE IT!) You can see the wall's health at the top-right side of the screen. Here's the table for it: COLOR STATUS Blue Good Yellow Shaky Red Bad Flashing UGH. If it starts flashing, be prepared to lose this mission shortly. Now that we've got that in order, let's begin the mission! At the start of this mission, kick the ladder right ahead of you down. This will stop some Orcs from coming after you. Currently you will just be fighting some Orcs, and they are pretty easy to take care of. Kick that ladder, then take out the Orcs (I really recommend Orc Bane, it's actually very useful here), and Elrond's Swift Terror and Charge Attack are very useful too. After you take those Orcs out, take down every ladder you can, and then... Urak-Hai will start shooting arrows at the wall. Some Urak-Hai will join the attacking Orcs, so be ready to take them out! Just in case you have the Bane of Saruman, (I didn't) you will easily take them out. Be prepared to try and escape some attacks. There are some Urak-Hai firing arrows at you, so be careful! Take them out, along with every single ladder you can. With Legolas, killing the Urak-Hai won't take long. The Urak-Hai will start making a catapult and now they're firing bombs at you. This is a good time to go to the left and get a Full Recovery Potion. The bombs can nearly kill you in one hit. You NEED to avoid them. To make matters even worse, sword-wielding Urak-Hai are here too! With Legolas it will be a huge trouble, so needless to say, these are going to be VERY hard! Take down every ladder in sight, and take evasive action! You can't expect to win easily, but give it all you've got! Eventually, the soldiers will line up and start shooting out tons of arrows at these evil Urak-Hai, and they will all fall dead. Aragorn kicks the last ladder back, and then this mission is over. Gimli brags about his kicking back 19 ladders, and then some Urak-Hai start doing another attack... -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: BREACHED WALL DIFFICULTY: **** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 8 Geez, I just LOVE this level! It's my very favorite level in the whole game, and Legolas should be ready to take this mission on. Make sure he's got only the very best stuff, and we're ready to go. We'll see a cutscene with Aragorn talking to a woman, forcing her and the women and children to get to the Great Hall. Aragorn says that he will hold them here, and then the woman fires a fiery arrow and destroys some suicidal Urak-Hai. Legolas will lead the villagers into a gate. Now, for this level, we have to defend this gate. It doesn't matter what happens to you, but no matter what you do, GUARD THE GATE! Let your own health drown away to finish it, but make sure the gate doesn't fall, or this mission will be over. It has a lot of health, but the suicidal Urak-Hai and Cave Trolls will do great damage. With Legolas, firing your bow is no problem. Don't let the Urak-Hai come within a couple inches within the gate, or they may do a few scratches on it. If you run low on anything (Legolas definitely won't), the Urak-Hai sometimes drop Potions and Arrows for you. After you've caused a lot of suicidal Urak-Hai some pain, shielded orcs and occasionally some regular Orcs will start running for the door. If you've been fending off the Urak-Hai, you're in trouble... these Orcs are VERY fast. They'll get to the door quickly. Try using Elrond's Deliverance to take out all the Orcs. Also, you may want to make a sacrifice and let a suicidal Urak-Hai blow up all the Orcs and everyone, and make a little sacrifice in damage to the door. Oh well. Legolas will basically have to do this anyway.) Shortly after you've eliminated these guys, some Archers will line up and send a barrage of arrows at you. With the Urak-Hai attacking the wall, try to get a Perfect, and then shoot at the Archers one by one and watch them drop! By now you've probably exhausted your health quite a little, (Legolas almost definitely will be like this) so just in case, get all the Potions they drop. After these Archers are all dead, we'll see the Urak-Hai making a deadly looking catapult. Ouch, it doesn't look good. Also, if you look carefully, you can see a Cave Troll coming at you. This is one of the easiest Cave Troll fights in the whole game. If he gets close to the door, he'll do major damage to it, so keep him OFF. Have Legolas slash Urak-Hai like you've never done it before! It doesn't matter if they wield swords, just do it. Be prepared in case you lose, but you'll basically have to do it. Get your Perfect, then run at the Cave Troll and do Fierce Attacks nonstop on it. You'll never have to run away, because it will never swing its club. Legolas is too fast. Soon, the Cave Troll will fall. Soon, all of the Urak-Hai will be dead. But it doesn't look good, they have a nasty Catapult for you to destroy. It's not very hard to destroy, as a matter of fact, but it'll still prove a challenge. By now, the door may be falling, but ignore it and go for the Catapult! It must be destroyed: it will fire bombs at the door and damage it a lot. This will be a battle to end all battles. Here is a diagram of the Catapult: ___ ___ | | | | | B | | C | |___| |___| ___ | | | A | |___| (There is much to the Catapult than this, but this is all that matters.) There are three panels on the catapult. I would recommend destroying the panels in the order A, B, and C. Ignore all of the Urak-Hai. If they hit you, Legolas can quickly kill them quickly with enough effort. Use Gil-galad's Rage; it's a very good way to destroy the 3 panels. After you destroy the Catapult, it will launch off a bomb, in which will backfire and the Catapult will destroy itself. The mission is then over for good, and everyone is safe. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: HORNBURG COURTYARD DIFFICULTY: ***** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 10 OH MY SWEET LOVING GOD!!! This mission is so hard it makes the previous two missions look easy! Since the wall will go down and the Cave Trolls will rip it open, not to mention the fact Aragorn will be in trouble, Legolas will have so much trouble I'm not going to frighten you. At the start of this mission, there will be a cutscene with some of the soldiers trying to keep a big army of Orcs and Goblins at bay. But, they can't hold them. The "army" of Orcs and Goblins will barge out and they'll try to attack the big door in front of you. You know what you have to do. You'll want lots of Perfects here to try and eliminate all of these Orcs and Goblins immediately. You'll want to use the Mithril Arrows, together with the Elven Bow Mastery if you possibly can. Using them will be no trouble, but try not to get too close to them, or they'll knock Legolas down and slaughter him. Other previously useless moves like Goblin Bane and Orc Bane (to tell Goblins and Orcs apart, Goblins are a bit smaller and don't have light faces like Orcs) are extremely useful here. Shortly, Aragorn will try to take on some Urak-Hai with his bow. He succeeds to kill one, but then three angry ones still remain. He can't do it by himself. Gimli will tell you to help Aragorn while he remains and kills the Orcs and Goblins here. So go to Aragorn! Go to the lower-left for the stairs. Helping Aragorn is not an easy task. At the top-right of the screen, you'll the man's health gauge. When it runs out, Aragorn will die and the mission is over. To make things worse, the enemies up on this ledge, and even your own people, will block you! This will be a hard task, but do it quickly. Ignore any enemies. When you get to Aragorn, do either the Bane of Saruman or Fierce Attacks. Either way, just kill them. Go to the left and get the Skill Meter block, and then go back. This will not be easy. Some bombs will be coming right at you and if they hurt you, you don't want to know the trouble you're in. Sometimes it may kill some Urak-Hai up here, and if it does, they'll drop Potions, or maybe even Full-Recovery Potions. VERY useful. When you get back to the floor, Gimli will be fighting a LOT of these evil Urak-Hai. But, there are SOOO many of them, he can't kill all of them! He simply eliminates several of them, but then two start hacking at the wall. Go down and kill them all! Gil-galad's Rage with your effort and Bane of Saruman are the way to go! You may also want to do the exceedingly useful Elrond's War Rush. Shortly, after lots of Urak-Hai die, a soldier will cry "Archers on the wall!" Now is your time to act. Leave the door and let Gimli handle it, and get up on that ledge, and with a little of Aragorn's help, shoot all the Orcs in the distance! It doesn't matter what you do, just destroy them. After all of them are dead, Gimli will call for you. He's a good pal. Now, once that's done, you don't have much more to do, but remember, there are sword-wielding Urak-Hai down here! Elrond's War Rush, Gil-galad's Rage, and the regular way with him sticking his sword in the ground, a couple Fierce Attacks, and a Shadow Strike will deal with him. After they're dead, it'll look like you're winning, but two Cave Trolls will step into the action. This is the easy part! Get a Perfect like you did in Breaching Wall (very easy with Legolas) and then run to those Cave Trolls! Don't let them come close to the wall, just kill them! It shouldn't take more than six Fierce Attacks to kill them. Alright now, after they're dead, let me mark one word here: SPOILERS . . . The last Cave Troll will die, but he will fall on the door. The door will be destroyed. Everyone will run to the Great Hall, and a barrage of bows will defeat every single Urak-Hai in sight. After this long scene with Gandalf the White and many other soldiers arriving to wreck some Urak-Hai havoc, Aragorn and Gandalf will talk. Sauron fears Aragorn now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TOWER OF ORTHANC DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Legolas: Level 10 No matter how hard that you may think this mission is, it's really not as hard as Hornburg Courtyard with Legolas, because all you have to do is kill everyone on all 20 floors, and Legolas has the Mithril Arrows. It's almost impossible to lose to anything with these, nearly. Well, this is it. This is Saruman's fortress, the Tower of Orthanc. Unfortunately, we can't go to the Tower of Barad-dur, so the Tower of Orthanc is the last mission. Saruman will appear and say that your end is near while laughing, and he'll summon some enemies. ---------------- FLOOR 1: ---------------- 5 Urak-Hai Amon Hen will definitely come to mind here! Well, back there you were at Level 3-4, and didn't have great upgrades. Now, Legolas can just shoot Mithril Arrows away at the enemies. Don't bother with defense at all, these guys shouldn't even touch you. You may even want to use Speed or Fierce Attacks. ---------------- FLOOR 2: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Shielded Orcs A little harder than the last floor but not by much. Just hit the Urak-Hai and kill them, then take care of the Orcs by doing fierce attacks. Pretty easy. ---------------- FLOOR 3: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Orcs This floor is easier than the last because now the Orcs don't have shields. Simply rid a couple orcs because they're so pathetic, (Elrond's Gambit) and then take care of the Urak-Hai. (Elrond's Swift Terror.) ---------------- FLOOR 4: ---------------- 3 Urak-Hai 3 Shielded Orcs Very, VERY easy. The Urak-Hai are still no problem but take care of them first. I'd recommend using Mithril Arrows. Avoid the Shielded Orc attacks and rid them, and then we can get out of Floor 4. ---------------- FLOOR 5: ---------------- 3 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs Elrond's Swift Terror will simply kill the Orcs. You don't even need a strategy for them. Deal with them first, then with the Shielded Orcs. ---------------- FLOOR 6: ---------------- 7 Archers Saruman will appear and threaten you again. Don't listen to him, we're stronger than he thinks we are. This is a very good floor to get health back, because all these guys can do is fire at you, so it won't take long to kill them all. The pole in the middle can be used as a good shield, so kill the archers with fierce attacks or your own bow. To dodge their bows, just defend yourself. An extremely easy floor. ---------------- FLOOR 7: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 2 Orcs 4 Archers KILL THE ARCHERS FIRST. They will actually prove a decent challenge here, but they might hit the Urak-Hai and Orcs, because they're so stupid. So just rid this place of the archers first with the Mithril Arrows and then just hack or shoot at the Orcs and Urak-Hai. ---------------- FLOOR 8: ---------------- 4 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers This floor is hardly any different than Floor 7. There aren't any Urak-Hai here, so deal with the Shielded Orcs with fierce attacks, and with the Archers by arrows. Kill the Archers first though. ---------------- FLOOR 9: ---------------- 2 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers As always, kill the Archers first. Then, destroy the Shielded Orcs' shields with fierce attacks and kill them. With the Orcs, either use speed attacks or Elrond's Gambit. (Preferably the latter.) ---------------- FLOOR 10: ---------------- 6 Urak-Hai 2 Urak Archers This floor could actually be tough if you aren't sure what to do. The Urak Archers aren't any different from regular Archers except they're Urak-Hai and shoot flaming arrows at you. If the flaming arrows hit the floor, it'll simply catch on fire, so definitely avoid this. Let the Urak Archers hit the Urak-Hai or let them catch on fire, and just hit the Urak-Hai a few times, then deal with the archers. I'd recommend about 3 Urak-Hai then the archers, because once there are less than 3 Urak-Hai, they're not bound to be hit. ---------------- FLOOR 11: ---------------- 8 Archers This is a pretty easy floor, surely easier than the last floor. These Archers are basically everywhere, but Legolas shouldn't have a problem eliminating them. Use Mitrhil Arrows to hit them. Their flaming attacks may slightly touch Legolas, but not very much at all; it's easy. ---------------- FLOOR 12: ---------------- 4 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Urak-Hai This floor is harder than the last, but it's still no problem. Go for those darned Urak-Hai first, and perhaps let the Archers hit the Urak-Hai, and have Legolas use Mithril Arrows on the Urak-Hai and Speed Attacks on the Orcs and Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 13: ---------------- 4 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Floor 13 isn't hard, just annoying. This time, you'll just want to hit the Archers before the Urak-Hai. Gil-galad's Rage might work well at killing Urak-Hai if they get close enough. Deal with the Archers with speed attacks. ---------------- FLOOR 14: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Immediately kill the Shielded Orcs. They are so annoying, and the Urak-Hai won't do as much quickly. Gil-galad's Rage will simply destroy them. If you experience any difficulty, just kill the Archers first. This floor isn't much of a problem. ---------------- FLOOR 15: ---------------- 4 Archers 1 Cave Troll Man, this is the easiest floor since Floor 6! The Cave Troll is very vulnerable and the Archers do nothing! They'll even hit it. Take them out first, then just do Fierce Attacks to eliminate the Cave Troll. Don't even worry about his club; Legolas is so fast the Cave Troll won't have half a turn. ---------------- FLOOR 16: ---------------- 2 Archers 2 Sword-Wielders Saruman will appear and cackle that your end is near. This floor is half easy, half hard. KILL THE SWORD-WIELDERS IMMEDIATELY. Don't even think about the Archers. The Sword-Wielders are FAST, so just kill them normally, by running away from them and killing them when they mess up with their swords. This will be a bit of a problem with Legolas, so be very careful and try to run away quickly! After they're dead, make mincemeat out of the Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 17: ---------------- 3 Archers 2 Urak-Hai 2 Sword-Wielders Another hard floor. Use Gil-galad's Rage with just a little energy with your sword, and then let it at the Sword-Wielders and Urak-Hai! Once they're down, try to tell the Urak-Hai and Sword-Wielders apart. Kill the Sword-Wielders at once with Shadow Strikes, and then kill the Archers last. ---------------- FLOOR 18: ---------------- 3 Archers 1 Sword-Wielder 1 Cave Troll Destroy the Sword-Wielder! He's no hard task at destruction. Simply use Gil-galad's Rage to knock him down, then smash him down. After he's dead, use Speed Attacks at the Archers. Not altogether hard as Legolas. Then, use a couple Fierce Attacks on the Cave Troll, run away, hit him twice, run away, etc. ---------------- FLOOR 19: ---------------- 2 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Cave Trolls A very easy floor, despite the Cave Troll power. At the start of this level, I ran down and the Cave Trolls immediately were there. Use Gil-galad's Rage to hit them both, then run to hit the Archers. Use your Speed Attacks on them and Fierce Attacks on the Orcs, then hit the Cave Trolls with Gil-galad's Rage. ---------------- FLOOR 20: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 3 Cave Trolls (!) Wow! Three of these nightmares! Well, they're perfectly easy. Use Gil-galad's Rage when the Shielded Orcs are near and crack their shields. Basically, if you hit the Cave Trolls with Gil-galad's Rage, they'll be about half dead! This floor is too easy, just hack and slash away at the Cave Trolls. I won't spoil the upcoming scene for you, you've got to see it for yourself! XII. Gimli Walkthrough: Maybe it's just the fact that I don't use Gimli a lot, and that I don't like him, but I think that Gimli is a poor character. However, he's still a character. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GATES OF MORIA: DIFFICULTY: * -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 1 Perfection in this level is HARD with Gimli, but there's a little thing called power within Gimli's axe. He can sometimes kill Orcs in one hit, and they pose no threat at all to the end of Gimli's powerful axe. We see a scene with Gandalf leading the party up a mountain. Gimli says to go to Moria, and then everyone arrives at Moria, or should I say... the Gates of Moria. Gimli, if you're playing as him, says that if you're in trouble, then you should call a dwarf, and in this case, Middle-earth has had no word from Moria is many years. Aragorn accompanies him. Go down the hill, and Gimli will warn you of some Orcs. Although the book says they have no weaknesses, these guys are pushovers. Kill them with a few blows, and try to get Perfect. Then proceed, and take on the Orcs that jump down from above. With Perfect, they'll die in a second. Three more Orcs will try to kill you, so just knock them out with your sword attacks. Gimli will tell you to quickly come, as he takes out an Orc, and then one tries to sneak up on him. Aragorn will shoot it. Now, go on and you'll encounter some more Orcs, but there's one noticeable one. It's the high one, and you'll have to shoot him. You should be careful, as you only have 25 axes to fire. After you take the Orc out, hurry on, and Gimli will say that you could pass through, and that his cousin Balin would give you a royal welcome. Three Orcs will shoot at you. Okay, some more Orcs will be running for you, while you're trying to shoot these three Orcs. I strongly recommend keeping a distance from the Orcs, because if you get too close they will shoot you. This is fairly difficult as Gimli, because his range and speed are so poor. So when a Goblin comes after you, quickly kill it normally, and shoot the Orcs from a distance. Some more Orcs will be climbing up a cliff to kill you, so be careful. Pass through, and kill all the Orcs. Soon, you'll be in swampy water. This is pretty easy as Gimli, Aragorn will kill a lot of enemies with his sword, but try to get in some kills too. On high Orcs, shoot them, on low ones, kill them with your knives. Since Gimli takes a while to attack, the Orcs might hurt him, so be a bit careful, and if needed, FIND SOME POTIONS! Movement is quite slow in this water, so be sure that the Orcs don't annihilate you. At the end of here... We will see a scene with some tentacles appearing from the water. Unfortunately, they will hit Aragorn, and just look, he was knocked out in one blow. If you've read from the instruction manual, you'll know what this is. It's the Watcher, and it's your first boss. Defeating the Watcher is quite simple. It will always be trying to hurt you with its tentacles, and they are almost unavoidable, as the area is quite small. Defend when they attack, until one is possible to attack. Once it is, attack it and the Watcher will show it's ugly face. You can't hit it with Speed Attacks or Fierce Attacks, no matter how hard you try. Just use a bow to hurt it. Repeat this process until the Watcher dies. Aragorn is then okay, and Gandalf will lead you further. We see a scene, as Gandalf says it is the Door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Gimli will read that the door says "Speak friend and enter." Gandalf says that they must face the long, dark of Moria.... and that's our first real mission complete. After this mission, DO NOT BUY MIGHT OF ROCK OR MIGHT OF IRON. I know how tempting it is, but DON'T DO IT. Buy Balin's War Rush, and Balin's Swift Terror. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BALIN'S TOMB: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 2 This mission is LONG with Gimli. Well, the first half of the fight with the Cave Troll isn't, because Gimli can hack at it and almost decimate it in a few hits, but he is slow to throw axes, so the third part of the level will be slightly difficult. We see a scene with all the characters entering the Tomb of Balin. Gimli realizes that Balin is dead. Gandalf says that they have barred the gates and that they cannot get out. Then the Orcs and Goblins arrive, pounding on the door to destroy it. After some nice action, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, and Gandalf draw their weapons. The earlier part of this level is basically short, and just hack and slash. There are A LOT of enemies here, Orcs and Goblins, and they're showing no mercy. Gimli is very good here because he's so powerful for annihilating them. You might want to kill as many as possible, so you can get a Perfect score in this level, and for more credit. After that... Yes, Legolas fires an arrow at a Cave Troll that is coming. He doesn't look friendly, and geez, his arms are really big, his body is big, and he's formidably fast, not to mention the fact that he has a big club that will pack a very, very powerful punch. Ouch, time for another boss. Well, now it's time to leave the orcs to the rest of the Fellowship. Now you handle the Cave Troll. Sometimes, if it gets you low on health, shielded Orcs drop Full-Recovery Potions. Use these just in case. The Cave Troll is large, so it's immune to quick attacks. Only bow attacks and fierce attacks can harm it. There are two ways to handle this beast: One, is to just handle it with fierce attacks. This is recommended with Gimli, as he's powerful and can take any hit. Ignore everything else, while avoiding their attacks. Get Full-Recovery Potions if necessary, but just hack at the Cave Troll twice, and then BACK AWAY. He WILL swing his club at you and you WILL get hit. Sometimes if you just hit once he'll be able to hit you. This method is short, but a little risky. Two, is to always keep your distance from the Cave Troll. This isn't highly recommended with Gimli, because he is so slow to use axes to throw. Sometimes these Orcs drop Arrows, so if you run out, you can always hit the Cave Troll. Be aware that the arrows will do a very little damage. Kill Orcs if something goes wrong for their potions. This method is long, but safe. Once you take away enough health from the Cave Troll, it will get angry and throw its club away. Gimli will run away and jump up onto a high ledge. But you didn't think the Cave Troll wouldn't have a weapon to attack with, did you? It now has a chain whip. Uh-oh, things don't look good... The Cave Troll is a lot harder from up here. As it is now below you, you can't use fierce attacks to hit it. Plus, the Cave Troll's attacks will still do a bit of damage to you. This will be long with Gimli, but easier, as he doesn't take much damage, but to make it even worse, you can see that your space is very limited. This is still pretty simple, but here's the strategy: You can see there are pillars around here. These are for shielding yourself from the Cave Troll. The Chain Whip will hit the pillars instead of you if you're behind one of them, but be quite careful, as you've got to hit the Cave Troll itself. Try to position yourself in an area where you can hit the Cave Troll and it can't hit you. You can't get out of range from it, no matter how hard you try. If you can't do this, then after the Cave Troll tries to hit you and hits the pillar, come slightly out from behind the pillar and shoot the Cave Troll twice, or thrice at the most. Keep in mind that the pillars can take three hits each before they crumble, and there are five (I think) pillars on this area. If all of them go down, you'll just have to dodge the Cave Troll's attacks without a pillar, and then just shoot it. But, to be your best friend and yet still worst nightmare, some Orcs can get up here the way you did! This is rare though, but these Orcs can hit you, or even worse, get you in the range of the Cave Troll's attacks. The good side is that you can at least get some Full-Recovery Potions. So get them if needed, and then kill the Cave Troll with your arrows. I'd recommend buying Might of Rock now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMON HEN: DIFFICULTY: *** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 3 In this level, Gimli is surely a force to be reckoned with. Besides the sword-wielders, normal enemies here are nothing to worry about at all. Lurtz might be, but normal enemies will fall in less than seconds to Gimli's wrath. Aragorn will talk about Moria being a dark journey for the Fellowship, and then we see Gandalf falling into an abyss. He dies... and we hear Lady Galadriel talking. Aragorn will kneel down and tell Frodo that he will follow him to the very fires of Mordor. Then Aragorn will say that Frodo carries the fate of them all and that they must defend him. The bar at the top right indicates Frodo's health. The number adjacent to it indicates how many Urak-Hai are remaining. You cannot complete the level until all 75 Urak-Hai are defeated. The rest of the Fellowship and you will be fighting these Urak-Hai. They are rather difficult to dispatch, because they are quick and powerful, and can easily knock you down. Fierce attacks only are recommended. They sometimes drop Full-Recovery Potions, or small potions, so be sure to get them if needed. Don't proceed until you have about 60 Urak-Hai remaining. Shoot some Urak-Hai with your bows, then as you proceed, an ugly leader known as Lurtz will order the other Urak-Hai to find the Halfling. (The Halfling being Frodo.) Then the other members of the Fellowship will leave you, although Legolas says: "We must defeat these Urak-Hai for Frodo to escape." The "we" is a bit off, eh? Well, this is where the Urak-Hai get a little dangerous. Some of them are wielding long swords. For these, you will have to wait for them to swing their swords around, and then when they put them in the ground, you will have to attack them. There are quite a few of these around here, so proceed when about 45 Urak-Hai are remaining, and you'll be in a small area. Here, there are some Urak-Hai with bows. When the arrows touch the ground, it'll catch fire. Look out for these guys, as you'll have to shoot them. With Legolas this is no problem. There are a few sword-wielders, so be sharp about it. Head on to the right when there are 35 or less Urak-Hai, and then some Urak-Hai will start to fire... You will now be between two fires. There are some Urak-Hai still trying to fire at you, so shoot at them. By the time you are able to defeat all of them, the fires should have worn out. Now be careful going on, because there are some Urak-Hai with swords. There is a tablet to increase your level in the room to your north, so get that quickly by taking the door down with fierce attacks. Now go on. You will be surrounded by some Urak-Hai. Legolas will take two of them out while more of them will come. You will have to fight them off. This isn't very hard as Gimli because they are pretty strong, but their attacks are nothing compared to Gimli's. After the Urak-Hai have gone down to 0, you will see Frodo running from two Urak-Hai. Legolas will shoot them and they're dead. But something's dreadfully wrong. Go to the left and you'll see Lurtz with his bow. He will fire it at Boromir and he will die. Now Legolas will appear, too late. Lurtz will growl at him and then the two will engage in a bit of an unfair fight. The first part of this battle is fairly simple. All Lurtz will do is shoot some arrows at you. They won't catch on fire, so all you have to do is avoid a few of Lurtz's arrows, and when he stops firing, give him a piece of your mind by shooting your own arrows at him. Don't bother going for him, or he'll put his bow down and run very quickly at you and slash you with his sword. So fire at him. Once you've taken a very small part of Lurtz's health away, he'll replace his bow with a long sword. But it might be too long... you'll see some statues around here. Try to get behind them if Lurtz is right there, and he might accidentally stick his sword in the statue. If so, use Fierce Attacks to shave some health off of him. Do this until all of it is gone. But you didn't think it'd be quite that easy, did you? There are some Urak-Hai that appear sometimes if Lurtz commands it. If this is during the first stage of the battle, they're no problem at all, but during the second, you can't really hit them, because Lurtz is right in front of them, he's fast, and he's always after you. You'll need to be VERY careful with the Urak-Hai, preferably taking them out when Lurtz's sword is stuck in the statue. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FANGORN FOREST: DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 4 Gimli makes Cave Trolls actually look weak. The two Cave Trolls are no problem at all, and even the sword-wielding Urak-Hai are almost nothing to worry about. We see a scene of creatures kidnapping Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Then for days Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli follow them, leading them to the Fangorn Forest. Legolas will recommend spliting up, and now here we go. Go on ahead, and ignore the goblins making noise in the bushes above, they're not coming. Head on until you find a wooden barrier, and then some Goblins and Orcs will break it down and attack. The Orcs have shields and helmets, so you'll have to use Fierce Attacks to handle them. This is cakewalk as Gimli. After killing all of them, (hopefully with a Perfect), head on and you'll find a sword-wielding Urak-Hai. Sword-wielding Urak-Hai are never good. It's not really difficult as Gimli, but be quite careful, because Gimli is really slow. First, run away slowly. Don't let it get so far behind. When it starts swinging its sword, seperate yourself from it by a small distance, and wait until it sticks the sword in the ground. Immediately use two Fierce Attacks and it will fall down. Don't bother hitting it on the ground by Fierce Attacks, because the Urak-Hai will get up and take the initiative by knocking you down. So use a Shadow Strike. Go on, and you will see some Orcs being thrown around. I think we all know who's throwing them. If you guessed a Cave Troll, you were right. Dealing with it is easy as Gimli. All you have to do is wait for it to throw stuff at you, then deal two, or to make it really safe, one Fierce Attack, then quickly run away before he slaughters you with his club. Hopefully he'll throw more stuff at you, and then you can use Fierce Attacks. Space is quite limited here, so be very careful not to be overcome. The Cave Troll has a lot of health, but he's nothing to worry about. Proceed, and we'll see Orcs around a large pit. A bird will fly away and then an Orc will knock another Orc into the pit. Gimli will sneak up on them. From where you currently are, the Orcs cannot see you, but don't underestimate them, if you aim just one axe or do anything, they'll spot you, so try to sneak up on the closest one and teach him a lesson with your Fierce Attacks. Don't bother with defense, just go ahead and just hit them. You shouldn't have but one problem with them. After you have killed them, take note you can find a Full-Recovery Potion by going up and to the right. Go to the water and you'll find three Orcs. They have bows. Piece of cake. After dealing with the Orcs, you'll notice that you're walking on water. Some Goblins will be jumping out of the water to attack you by surprise here, and movement is slow here, so be cautious. If you find lots of Full-Recovery Potions or just plain Potions here, you might want to ignore them, because you have a little something coming up... Head into the little cave, and you'll see some bats flying around the wooden wall. Then something big breaks it. It's yet ANOTHER Cave Troll. This fight will be harder than the last because if you didn't take care of all the Orcs back there they may want to barge in here and attack you. Plus, space is very limited here, and you may not be able to proceed because the Cave Troll blocks you. His club is very big, and if he kills you, you'll be right back to the last Cave Troll! Bad business. With Gimli though, this may be tricky. Get in two fierce attacks on the Cave Troll, and then try to avoid its club. It can be tricky to avoid, so be careful. If it manages to wither down your health, then just get out of here and get the potions that I recommended getting from orcs and goblins. Soon the Cave Troll will die. Go on and break the web, and a sword-wielding Urak-Hai will be here. Space is still very limited, but this isn't any harder than the last Urak-Hai. Simply avoid its swing, and then quickly attack it and kill it. Simple as that. Now, hurry on and you'll find three Orcs. Finish the back one off by shooting at it, and use any combo to take these two out. Go on and you will find a majority of Orcs and Goblins. They will not appear all at once, but many will come. Doing Balin's Swift Terror or Fierce Attacks quite often may be your only hope to finishing these guys off quickly. If you have Balin's Death Charge, then killing these guys will be only too easy. Now, we're about to meet the boss of Fangorn Forest... Well, perhaps I should say "bosses." On ahead, you'll see a pitiful looking Orc. A Cave Troll will pick it up and smash it while another Cave Troll will appear in the area and raise its club. Uh-oh, now you, as Legolas, are up against two nasty Cave Trolls. Thankfully, it's very easy as Gimli. There are two ways to get in attacking the Cave Trolls. One, you'll have to break a web to the right, or three logs in the center. I personally prefer you break both. When you break the logs though, try not to be hit by one of their throws. Break them, and then land a Fierce Attack on one of the trolls. I recommend just hitting once, or one Troll will smack you. After you do this, go back and to the right. In case you need it, a Full-Recovery Potion is here. Go on and hit the opposite Cave Troll. Now, go back and hit the other one, then go back to the right to hit the other, and keep alternating until they're both dead. This isn't the fastest method, but it's most definitely the safest. After both trolls have dropped, get out of here by going behind the trolls and breaking the web. Now, it will show perhaps the best scene in the game. Legolas will tell Aragorn that he sees something, the White Wizard. Gimli will think that it's Saruman, but then a great blue light will shine and Gandalf the White will appear. He will them there is a union between the two towers, Orthanc and Barad-dur, and that war is coming to Rohan. Now, they must save Rohan, before it is too late... --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAINS OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: **** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 4 Gimli is so small that you may have a fair deal of trouble in this level. He's also slow, so the sword-wielders and fires might make short work of him. Be careful in this level if you chose Gimli. You see a scene of Gandalf the White on his great white horse galloping to Rohan. We can clearly see that Rohan is being attacked. A villager will fire at an Urak-Hai, killing it, and then another Urak-Hai will shoot at the villager, killing him. Another villager will shoot at something belonging to the Urak-Hai and destroy it, and we'll see Gimli and Gandalf arriving at the Plains of Rohan. There are two dangerous Urak-Hai here. They have swords but are quite easy to dispatch. Gimli's Death Charge is THE WAY TO GO. Just knock these guys down, and when they're down, continuously do fierce attacks while dodging their attacks. Gandalf is so powerful he might kill some of them himself. Try very hard to get a Perfect, and then just head on. Gandalf will tell you that they must save all the villagers that you can or the village will die. Now on the upper-right side of the screen, you'll see a health bar. As people die, this bar will go down. If you have a Perfect, simply annihilate the Urak-Hai to the left with Fierce Attacks, and do not let him kill the villagers! If they die, some of the bar will dry off and it can't go down. After the Urak-Hai are defeated, Gandalf will knock the door straight ahead of you down with his magic sword, and disappear. Inside here, you'll see some furniture and a bucket. Destroy the furniture with your fierce attacks and then hack at the bucket. The fire will be washed away and the villagers will live. Upstairs, you'll see some poor villagers begging the Urak-Hai for mercy. One Urak-Hai will give one man a slash and he'll fall to the fire and it will die out. A sword-wielding Urak-Hai will barge in and start trying to kill you. If you don't let the villagers to the left escape, then he will kill them without further notice. RUN from this Urak-Hai for now, and go upstairs. You'll have to slash away at the furniture blocking your path, so be sure to do this. The Urak-Hai are trying to kill the villagers, so try to first get a Perfect by killing one of the Urak-Hai. If you do, killing the other Urak-Hai is cakewalk. Go out and you'll find another sword-wielding Urak-Hai, the VERY WORST kind of Urak-Hai. If you still have that Perfect, then finish him off in two hits. If you don't, then he is still quite easy to kill. There is fire around him, so he might accidentally step in it. If he does, he's dead in five seconds flat. Take out the Urak-Hai just up the hill, and head on and you'll be blocked by fire and wood. Shoot to the other side of the fire to take it out, and do two fierce attacks to destroy the wood. Now, you'll see some villagers running away from an Urak-Hai. Very easy to kill. HERE is where to build up your Skill Meter. Do NOT get a Perfect, or you'll be in some difficulty in the next part of the mission. Enter the burning house to the right, and you'll find another Urak-Hai halfway through. Now kill him and GET A PERFECT. After he's dead, exit the house by going down and getting out from the upcoming door. Outside, you'll find Gandalf again, and five nasty Urak-Hai. Use this Perfect to your advantage and knock all these Urak-Hai out with two attacks, or if you're lucky, a Balin's Gambit, although we all know how hard this move is to do. With Gimli all of these guys are wusses, because he can just annihilate these guys. There is an Urak-Hai up above, but hitting it will be no easy task, and villagers are likely to die. Gandalf will eventually kill it, but try to get in some kills yourself. To the right, there is also an Urak-Hai, although it is totally out of view and will not do anything. Go to the left, and we'll see a scene of the villagers and Urak-Hai in a great battle. But there's one catch, a cruel Urak-Hai will slash at some villagers, and they'll be trapped in a burning house. There is wood blocking the house, so they can't get out of the fires. Below the villager health bar, there is a new bar indicating these villagers' health. It will go down very quickly. Ignore all the Urak-Hai and head to the far side of this area and destroy the wood QUICKLY. With Gimli, the other Urak-Hai might be a problem with getting in your way, because he's so small. So be very careful. If you don't, then the fire will kill the villagers and the village is gone. But after the wood is gone, the lower bar will disappear. Now, kill the other Urak-Hai! After all the other Urak-Hai are dead, Gandalf will tell you that you've done everything that you can and that you must leave. The surviving villagers will make for Helm's Deep, and now this tough mission is finally over! -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WESTFOLD: DIFFICULTY: **1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 5 It doesn't matter what character you are playing as; the mission is almost too easy. You should have absolutely no trouble whatsoever with this level, whether you're as Gimli or anyone else. You will be told that you're not alone in defending Rohan. The kings' men are still fighting and struggling to get to Helm's Deep. A black soldier appears and fights with you, and then a suicidal Urak-Hai appears and the soldier kills it. Gimli fires a throwing axe at the explosive barrels, and then the soldier says that they must stand together. Saruman's forces are moving explosive devices through the town. Head on and shoot the explosive barrels and they'll explode. There are lots of suicidal Urak-Hai around here with these barrels on their backs, so don't come close. It's recommended that you shoot ahead of yourself. Head on after shooting all the barrels and go straight ahead, and then shoot the barrel in the middle, then take out the Urak-Hai with fierce attacks. After taking all of them out, head to the waterfall and go up. You'll find one of those Skill Meter things. Useful. After getting this, take out the Orc that comes after you, then go down and to the right, then head around. More suicidal Urak-Hai are coming. They are best taken out by shooting at them. They are driven by Saruman's madness and Sauron's will. Go on, and you'll come to a sort of gate protected by Urak-Hai. Take all of them out, and handle everything around here, and then enter. There are explosive barrels here and Urak-Hai. You must take the Urak-Hai out with the bow to kill them quickly, but that's just a recommendation. Kill them, and continue. You'll find another door, this time on fire. There are a lot of explosive barrels and Urak-Hai, some in which could prove a small challenge. It'll probably be a bit of a challenge with Gimli though, as the explosives may get him down pretty quickly, but try to do a Balin's Death Charge to kill them immediately if you can. Take every single thing out, and go in. It'll be hard, but do so. Take out the two explosive barrels to the left and down, as well as the upcoming Urak-Hai, and then go on while taking them out with perhaps an Elrond's Swift Terror or two, and you'll come to a lake. This is the most challenging part of the whole level. Traveling in this lake is kind of difficult as Gimli though, as he is so slow and and there are suicidal Urak-Hai and normal ones here that will slaughter him, so be cautious. After wading through the lake and taking out all the Urak-Hai, you'll find a line of explosive barrels. Shoot your bow at the one straight ahead of you, and all of them will explode. The soldier will escort the remaining soldiers out to Helm's Deep, where the future of Rohan will live or die. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GAP OF ROHAN: DIFFICULTY: ***1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 6 This mission is very tricky and as Gimli it may be quite a bit on that side. The Overseer will simply change Gimli's life, and he's tough no matter how you look at it, so you'll have to be careful as you possibly can be. Legolas will look in the distance and see some Wargs coming. They don't look too happy... Aragorn says that they can't let the creatures reach the refugees. It will then show a crow eating the remains of an Orc, and a bell will ring. Now the mission begins. There are two Wargs at the start of this mission. I basically don't have any strategy for them except to use Balin's Swift Terror on them, because Aragorn and Legolas are here and they'll kill them in seconds. This part will be very easy to handle. But try to take the glory yourself by killing the Wargs, because defeating them is very easy with Gimli! After they're dead, look to the right and you'll find a Skill Meter item, and the barrel next to the exit contains one as well. At the exit, Aragorn and Legolas will run to Gimli, but the logs will fall and block their path. They're gone for this mission. Two nasty Wargs will appear and the great captain, (called the Overseer) will order them to "Make them fear the wolves of Isengard!" (I love that quote.) You basically have to reshape the faces of these guys by killing them, but they'll be fairly difficult to kill as Aragorn and Legolas aren't here to help. Balin's Swift Terror is VERY useful here, and you can block them. Doing this will knock you down, but it won't hurt you. Kill both Wargs and go straight ahead, where the Overseer and two more Wargs are. The two Wargs will enter battle with Gimli. Reshape them with Elrond's Swift Terror or repetitive Fierce Attacks. After they're dead, the Overseer will attack, and he's no pushover. He's VERY fast to run at you and attack, so be very careful. You cannot hurt him at all, so don't try. If you get even close to him, his Warg will bite you and the Overseer will slash you, so don't even try. Running away from him is VERY HARD as Gimli. It'll be almost impossible to do so, because he'll just be faster and attack him. Thankfully the Overseer cannot get into water, so when he starts to run after you, get in the water. Sometimes, instead of just going for you, the Overseer's Warg will just start on its hind legs, and the Overseer will try to get it down. THIS is the chance to hurt it! Run as fast as you can to the Overseer, and slash his Warg and it'll get down, but refuse to move. Now the Overseer will shake it and try to get it to move. Hit it twice more and then RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! The Overseer will almost definitely recover less than a second after you hit him, and you will get hurt. But, this mission isn't just with the Overseer after that. After his Warg comes down, he'll summon another Warg to come after you and kill you. Well, this is actually a great thing! When he comes after you, kill him before he gets a chance to do anything. You shouldn't have a speck of a problem with this as Gimli though, but they might bite him before he gets a chance to do anything, so put in a little effort. He'll almost always drop a Full Recovery Potion! So you'll hardly have to worry about your health. Taking the Overseer out will be easy as hell now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: THE DEEPING WALL DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 7 Man. Now this mission is really going to be hard, perhaps harder than the Plains of Rohan. Gimli is really powerful but the sword-wielders will knock him down and have him on the ground in short time, so this is a mission that will really have you mad. Okay, we'll see an insanely long scene with the final battle with the enemies that is oh so familiar from the movie, in case you've watched it. After that long scene, we'll see Gimli and Legolas knocking down ladders, and the mission begins. This is a rather different mission that will really test you to win. First of all, I'll discuss the rules: you have to defend the wall. You can kick the ladders with the O button, and you have to take down the Urak-Hai and Orcs with Fierce Attacks or combos (if you have the Mithril Arrows, USE IT!) You can see the wall's health at the top-right side of the screen. Here's the table for it: COLOR STATUS Blue Good Yellow Shaky Red Bad Flashing UGH. If it starts flashing, be prepared to lose this mission shortly. Now that we've got that in order, let's begin the mission! At the start of this mission, kick the ladder right ahead of you down. This will stop some Orcs from coming after you. Currently you will just be fighting some Orcs, and they are pretty easy to take care of. Kick that ladder, then take out the Orcs (I really recommend Orc Bane, it's actually very useful here), and Balin's Swift Terror and Charge Attack are very useful too. After you take those Orcs out, take down every ladder you can, and then... Urak-Hai will start shooting arrows at the wall. Some Urak-Hai will join the attacking Orcs, so be ready to take them out! Just in case you have the Bane of Saruman, (I didn't) you will easily take them out. Be prepared to try and escape some attacks. There are some Urak-Hai firing arrows at you, so be careful! Take them out, along with every single ladder you can. With Gimli, killing the Urak-Hai will be short work. The Urak-Hai will start making a catapult and now they're firing bombs at you. This is a good time to go to the left and get a Full Recovery Potion. The bombs can nearly kill you in one hit. You NEED to avoid them. To make matters even worse, sword-wielding Urak-Hai are here too! With Gimli this will be a big bother, so needless to say, these are going to be VERY hard! Take down every ladder in sight, and take evasive action! You can't expect to win easily, but give it all you've got! Eventually, the soldiers will line up and start shooting out tons of arrows at these evil Urak-Hai, and they will all fall dead. Aragorn kicks the last ladder back, and then this mission is over. Gimli brags about his kicking back 19 ladders, and then some Urak-Hai start doing another attack... -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: BREACHED WALL DIFFICULTY: **** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 8 Geez, I just LOVE this level! It's my very favorite level in the whole game, and Gimli should be ready to take this mission on. Make sure he's got only the very best stuff, and we're ready to go. We'll see a cutscene with Aragorn talking to a woman, forcing her and the women and children to get to the Great Hall. Aragorn says that he will hold them here, and then the woman fires a fiery arrow and destroys some suicidal Urak-Hai. Gimli will lead the villagers into a gate. Now, for this level, we have to defend this gate. It doesn't matter what happens to you, but no matter what you do, GUARD THE GATE! Let your own health drown away to finish it, but make sure the gate doesn't fall, or this mission will be over. It has a lot of health, but the suicidal Urak-Hai and Cave Trolls will do great damage. With Gimli, firing your axes will be a problem. No matter how slow he is, DO IT! Don't let the Urak-Hai come within a couple inches within the gate, or they may do a few scratches on it. If you run low on anything (Gimli almost definitely will), the Urak-Hai sometimes drop Potions and Arrows for you. After you've caused a lot of suicidal Urak-Hai some pain, shielded orcs and occasionally some regular Orcs will start running for the door. If you've been fending off the Urak-Hai, you're in trouble... these Orcs are VERY fast. They'll get to the door quickly. Try using Balin's Deliverance to take out all the Orcs. Also, you may want to make a sacrifice and let a suicidal Urak-Hai blow up all the Orcs and everyone, and make a little sacrifice in damage to the door. Oh well. (Gimli will basically have to do this anyway.) Shortly after you've eliminated these guys, some Archers will line up and send a barrage of arrows at you. With the Urak-Hai attacking the wall, try to get a Perfect despite the difficulty and then shoot at the Archers one by one and watch them drop! By now you've probably exhausted your health quite a little, (Gimli almost definitely won't) so just in case, get all the Potions they drop. After these Archers are all dead, we'll see the Urak-Hai making a deadly looking catapult. Ouch, it doesn't look good. Also, if you look carefully, you can see a Cave Troll coming at you. This is one of the easiest Cave Troll fights in the whole game. If he gets close to the door, he'll do major damage to it, so keep him OFF. Have Gimli bust down Urak-Hai like you've never done it before! It doesn't matter if they wield swords, just do it. Be prepared in case you lose, but you'll basically have to do it. Try to get your Perfect, then run at the Cave Troll and do Fierce Attacks on it. Don't run away, because it will hardly make any dent in Gimli, he is so strong. Soon, the Cave Troll will fall. Soon, all of the Urak-Hai will be dead. But it doesn't look good, they have a nasty Catapult for you to destroy. It's not very hard to destroy, as a matter of fact, but it'll still prove a challenge. By now, the door may be falling, but ignore it and go for the Catapult! It must be destroyed: it will fire bombs at the door and damage it a lot. This will be a battle to end all battles. Here is a diagram of the Catapult: ___ ___ | | | | | B | | C | |___| |___| ___ | | | A | |___| (There is much to the Catapult than this, but this is all that matters.) There are three panels on the catapult. I would recommend destroying the panels in the order A, B, and C. Ignore all of the Urak-Hai. If they hit you, Gimli can immediately kill them quickly with enough effort. Use Wrath of Moria; it's a very good way to destroy the 3 panels. After you destroy the Catapult, it will launch off a bomb, in which will backfire and the Catapult will destroy itself. The mission is then over for good, and everyone is safe. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HELM'S DEEP: HORNBURG COURTYARD DIFFICULTY: ***** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 10 OH MY SWEET LOVING GOD!!! This mission is so hard it makes the previous two missions look easy! Since the wall will go down and the Cave Trolls will rip it open, not to mention the fact Legolas will be in trouble, Gimli will have so much trouble I'm not going to frighten you. At the start of this mission, there will be a cutscene with some of the soldiers trying to keep a big army of Orcs and Goblins at bay. But, they can't hold them. The "army" of Orcs and Goblins will barge out and they'll try to attack the big door in front of you. You know what you have to do. You'll want lots of Perfects here to try and eliminate all of these Orcs and Goblins immediately. You'll want to use Wrath of Moria if you possibly can. Using it will be a lot of trouble though, so try not to hold it down too long; just let a little energy appear, and then let it go. Other previously useless moves like Goblin Bane and Orc Bane (to tell Goblins and Orcs apart, Goblins are a bit smaller and don't have light faces like Orcs) are extremely useful here. Shortly, Legolas will try to take on some Urak-Hai with his bow. He succeeds to kill one, but then three angry ones still remain. He can't do it by himself. Aragorn will tell you to help Legolas while he remains and kills the Orcs and Goblins here. So go to Legolas! Go to the lower-left for the stairs. Helping Legolas is not an easy task. At the top-right of the screen, you'll the Elf's health gauge. When it runs out, Legolas will die and the mission is over. To make things worse, the enemies up on this ledge, and even your own people, will block you! This will be a hard task, but do it quickly. Ignore any enemies. When you get to Legolas, do either the Bane of Saruman or Fierce Attacks. Either way, just kill them. Go to the left and get the Skill Meter block, and then go back. This will not be easy. Some bombs will be coming right at you and if they hurt you, you don't want to know the trouble you're in. Sometimes it may kill some Urak-Hai up here, and if it does, they'll drop Potions, or maybe even Full-Recovery Potions. VERY useful. When you get back to the floor, Aragorn will be fighting a LOT of these evil Urak-Hai. But, there are SOOO many of them, he can't kill all of them! He simply eliminates several of them, but then two start hacking at the wall. Go down and kill them all! Wrath of Moria with your effort and Bane of Saruman are the way to go! You may also want to do the exceedingly useful Balin's War Rush. Shortly, after lots of Urak-Hai die, a soldier will cry "Archers on the wall!" Now is your time to act. Leave the door and let Aragorn handle it, and get up on that ledge, and with a little of Aragorn's help, shoot all the Orcs in the distance! It doesn't matter what you do and how slow Gimli is to throw axes, just destroy them. After all of them are dead, Aragorn will call for you. He's a good pal. Now, once that's done, you don't have much more to do, but remember, there are sword-wielding Urak-Hai down here! Balin's War Rush, Wrath of Moria, and the regular way with him sticking his sword in the ground, a couple Fierce Attacks, and a Shadow Strike will deal with him. After they're dead, it'll look like you're winning, but two Cave Trolls will step into the action. This is the easy part! Get a Perfect like you did in Breaching Wall (not altogether difficult as Gimli) and then run to those Cave Trolls! Don't let them come close to the wall, just kill them! It shouldn't take more than six Fierce Attacks to kill them. Alright now, after they're dead, let me mark one word here: SPOILERS . . . The last Cave Troll will die, but he will fall on the door. The door will be destroyed. Everyone will run to the Great Hall, and a barrage of bows will defeat every single Urak-Hai in sight. After this long scene with Gandalf the White and many other soldiers arriving to wreck some Urak-Hai havoc, Aragorn and Gandalf will talk. Sauron fears Aragorn now. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TOWER OF ORTHANC DIFFICULTY: ****1/2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gimli: Level 10 No matter how hard that you may think this mission is, it's really not as hard as the Hornburg Courtyard, because all you have to do is kill everyone on all 20 floors, and Gimli is just so powerful that he can hack away and just eliminate anything. It's pretty hard to lose with his true might, nearly. Well, this is it. This is Saruman's fortress, the Tower of Orthanc. Unfortunately, we can't go to the Tower of Barad-dur, so the Tower of Orthanc is the last mission. Saruman will appear and say that your end is near while laughing, and he'll summon some enemies. ---------------- FLOOR 1: ---------------- 5 Urak-Hai Amon Hen will definitely come to mind here! Well, back there you were at Level 3-4, and didn't have great upgrades. Now, Gimli can just hack away at the enemies. Don't bother with defense at all, these guys shouldn't even touch you. ---------------- FLOOR 2: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Shielded Orcs A little harder than the last floor but not by much. Just hit the Urak-Hai and kill them, then take care of the Orcs by doing Fierce attacks. Pretty easy. ---------------- FLOOR 3: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 4 Orcs This floor is easier than the last because now the Orcs don't have shields. Simply rid a couple orcs because they're so pathetic, (Balin's Gambit) and then take care of the Urak-Hai. (Balin's Swift Terror.) ---------------- FLOOR 4: ---------------- 3 Urak-Hai 3 Shielded Orcs Very, VERY easy. The Urak-Hai are still no problem but take care of them first. Avoid the Shielded Orc attacks and rid them, and then we can get out of Floor 4. ---------------- FLOOR 5: ---------------- 3 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs Balin's Swift Terror will simply kill the Orcs. You don't even need a strategy for them. Deal with them first, then with the Shielded Orcs. ---------------- FLOOR 6: ---------------- 7 Archers Saruman will appear and threaten you again. Don't listen to him, we're stronger than he thinks we are. This is a very good floor to get health back, because all these guys can do is fire at you, so it won't take long to kill them all. The pole in the middle can be used as a good shield, so kill the archers with fierce attacks or your own bow. To dodge their bows, just defend yourself. An extremely easy floor. ---------------- FLOOR 7: ---------------- 2 Urak-Hai 2 Orcs 4 Archers KILL THE ARCHERS FIRST. They will actually prove a decent challenge here, but they might hit the Urak-Hai and Orcs, because they're so stupid. So just rid this place of the archers first, and then just hack at the Orcs and Urak-Hai. ---------------- FLOOR 8: ---------------- 4 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers This floor is hardly any different than Floor 7. There aren't any Urak-Hai here, so deal with the Shielded Orcs with fierce attacks, and with the Archers by arrows. Kill the Archers first though. ---------------- FLOOR 9: ---------------- 2 Orcs 3 Shielded Orcs 4 Archers As always, kill the Archers first. Then, destroy the Shielded Orcs' shields with fierce attacks and kill them. With the Orcs, either use speed attacks or Balin's Gambit. (Preferably the latter.) ---------------- FLOOR 10: ---------------- 6 Urak-Hai 2 Urak Archers This floor could actually be tough if you aren't sure what to do. The Urak Archers aren't any different from regular Archers except they're Urak-Hai and shoot flaming arrows at you. If the flaming arrows hit the floor, it'll simply catch on fire, so definitely avoid this. Let the Urak Archers hit the Urak-Hai or let them catch on fire, and just hit the Urak-Hai a few times, then deal with the archers. I'd recommend about 3 Urak-Hai then the archers, because once there are less than 3 Urak-Hai, they're not bound to be hit. ---------------- FLOOR 11: ---------------- 8 Archers This is a pretty easy floor, surely easier than the last floor. These Archers are basically everywhere, but Gimli should have no problem eliminating them. Use Speed Attacks to hit them. Their flaming attacks are no problem as Gimli, so just kill them all; it's easy. ---------------- FLOOR 12: ---------------- 4 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Urak-Hai This floor is harder than the last, but it's still no problem. Go for those darned Urak-Hai first, and perhaps let the Archers hit the Urak-Hai, and have Gimli use Fierce Attacks on the Urak-Hai and even the Orcs and Speed Attacks on the Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 13: ---------------- 4 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Floor 13 isn't hard, just annoying. This time, you'll just want to hit the Archers before the Urak-Hai. Wrath of Moria might work well at killing Urak-Hai if they get close enough. Deal with the Archers with speed attacks. ---------------- FLOOR 14: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 4 Urak-Hai Immediately kill the Shielded Orcs. They are so annoying, and the Urak-Hai won't do as much quickly. Wrath of Moria will simply destroy them. If you experience any difficulty, just kill the Archers first. This floor isn't much of a problem. ---------------- FLOOR 15: ---------------- 4 Archers 1 Cave Troll Man, this is the easiest floor since Floor 6! The Cave Troll is very vulnerable and the Archers do nothing! They'll even hit it. Take them out first, then just do Fierce Attacks to eliminate the Cave Troll. His club may be a small problem, but even Gimli should be fast enough to do a good job here. ---------------- FLOOR 16: ---------------- 2 Archers 2 Sword-Wielders Saruman will appear and cackle that your end is near. This floor is half easy, half hard. KILL THE SWORD-WIELDERS IMMEDIATELY. Don't even think about the Archers. The Sword-Wielders are FAST, so just kill them normally, by running away from them and killing them when they mess up with their swords. Not too hard with Gimli, at all. After they're dead, make mincemeat out of the Archers. ---------------- FLOOR 17: ---------------- 3 Archers 2 Urak-Hai 2 Sword-Wielders Another hard floor. Use Wrath of Moria with just a little energy with your sword, and then let it at the Sword-Wielders and Urak-Hai! Once they're down, try to tell the Urak-Hai and Sword-Wielders apart. Kill the Sword-Wielders at once with Shadow Strikes, and then kill the Archers last. ---------------- FLOOR 18: ---------------- 3 Archers 1 Sword-Wielder 1 Cave Troll Destroy the Sword-Wielder! He's no hard task at destruction. Simply use Wrath of Moria to knock him down, then smash him down. After he's dead, use Speed Attacks at the Archers. No hard task with Gimli. Then, use a couple Fierce Attacks on the Cave Troll, run away, hit him twice, run away, etc. ---------------- FLOOR 19: ---------------- 2 Orcs 2 Archers 2 Cave Trolls A very easy floor, despite the Cave Troll power. At the start of this level, I ran down and the Cave Trolls immediately were there. Use Wrath of Moria to hit them both, then run to hit the Archers. Use your Speed Attacks on them and Fierce Attacks on the Orcs, then hit the Cave Trolls with Wrath of Moria. ---------------- FLOOR 20: ---------------- 2 Shielded Orcs 2 Archers 3 Cave Trolls (!) Wow! Three of these nightmares! Well, they're perfectly easy. Use Wrath of Moria when the Shielded Orcs are near and crack their shields. Basically, if you hit the Cave Trolls with Wrath of Moria, they'll be near dead! This floor is too easy, just hack and slash away at the Cave Trolls. I won't spoil the upcoming scene for you, you've got to see it for yourself! XIII. Secrets: These are all of the known codes and secrets currently here. Huge thanks to all who have submitted! All Combo Upgrades: Pause the game, hold all 4 shoulder buttons, and press Triangle, Circle, Triangle, Circle. The sound of a sword will indicate a correct code entry. Note, however, that this code can only be performed once you have completed the game. Contributed By: Pegboy, Source: Game Informer All secret codes: Beat the game and it gives you these codes: Start a Mission, Pause, and hold in L1, L2, R1, and R2 while pressing the following buttons: Always Devastating: square, square, circle, circle Small Ememies: triangle, triangle, X, X All Upgrades: triangle, circle, triangle, circle Invulnerable: triangle, square, X, circle Slo-Mo: triangle, circle, X, square Infinate Missles: square, circle, X, triangle Contributed By: Chris McDohl, Source: After beating game Boost Experience by 1000: Pause the game and hold L1 R1 L2 and R2 Simultaneously (at the same time) then push X, Down, Down, Down. Contributed By: Decaffinated Krab, Source: Self Devastating Attacks: During play, pause the game and hold L1+R1+L2+R2 and press Square, Sqaure, Circle, Circle and listen for the confirmation sound of a sword. Now press Triangle during play to always do devestating attacks. You must complete the game before this code can be used. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self End of Game codes: Pause the game, and hold L1, L2, R1, And R2, then enter the code. You will Hear a sound confirming the entry Always Devastating Square, Square, Circle, Circle Small Enemies Triangle, Triangle, X, X All Upgrades Triangle, Circle, Triangle, Circle Invulnerable Triangle, Square, X, circle Slo-Mo Triangle, Circle, X, Square Infinite Missles Square, Circle, X, Triangle Contributed By: jhardyxtreme, Source: Self Full Arrows/Axes: Pause and hold L1 L2 R1 and R2 then press X down Triangle up you will hear a sound and when you unpause you will have youre arrows/axes back to full. Contributed By: Kehaes, Source: Self Get the John Rhys-Davis interview: To get this interview, play with Gimli until he reaches level 5. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Get the Orlando Bloom Interview: To get this interview, play as Legolas and successfully reach level 5. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Get the Viggo Mortenson Interview: To get this interview, play as Aragorn and reach level 5. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Play As Isildur: To play as Isildur, beat the secret mission with any character Contributed By: THAguyINgta3, Source: Friend Play Secret Mission as Aragorn: To play the secret mission as Aragorn, beat the mission Helms Deep: The Deeping Wall and reach level 10 with Aragorn. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Play secret mission as Gimli: To play the secret mission as Gimli, beat the mission Helms Deep: the Deeping Wall and reach level 10 with Gimli. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Play secret mission as Legolas: To play the secret mission as Legolas, beat the mission Helms Deep: the Deeping Wall and reach level 10 with Legolas. Contributed By: Shaboogie25, Source: self Purchase All Level 2 Attacks: In any mission, Pause. Hold L1, L2, R1, R2 and enter the following buttons: Circle, Right, Circle, Right. Contributed By: DieselMillenium, Source: Self Purchase All Level 4 Attacks: In any mission, Pause. Hold down L1, L2, R1, R2 and enter the following buttons: Triangle, Up, Triangle, Up. Contributed By: DieselMillenium, Source: Self Purchase all Level 6 attacks: Pause in the middle of a game, hold L1, L2, R1, & R2, and insert the following code sequence: Square, Left, Square, Left Contributed By: Buckwheatz Revenge, Source: GameInformer Magazine Purchase all level 8 attacks: Push and hold L1, L2 ,R1, and R2. Then press X,X,Down, then Down. Contributed By: iama4nic8or, Source: Self Refill Your Heath 100%: Pause the game. Press and hold all 4 shoulder buttons (R1 R2 L1 and L2). While holding them press Triangle, Down, X, then Up. Release the shoulder buttons and unpause your game. Your life will be at 100% and you can do this as often as you like. Contributed By: wombat lord, Source: eagamereg.com Restore Missiles: Pause the game, hold R1, R2, L1, L2, and enter x, down, triangle, up. Contributed By: Gabesnake, Source: PSM XIV. Bosses: For quick and easy access, the bosses in the game are covered here: WATCHER Difficulty: Easy Level: Gates of Moria --------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating the Watcher is quite simple. It will always be trying to hurt you with its tentacles, and they are almost unavoidable, as the area is quite small. Defend when they attack, until one is possible to attack. Once it is, attack it and the Watcher will show it's ugly face. You can't hit it with Speed Attacks or Fierce Attacks, no matter how hard you try. Just use a bow to hurt it. Repeat this process until the Watcher dies. CAVE TROLL #1 Difficulty: Easy Level: Balin's Tomb --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, now it's time to leave the orcs to the rest of the Fellowship. Now you handle the Cave Troll. Sometimes, if it gets you low on health, shielded Orcs drop Full-Recovery Potions. Use these just in case. The Cave Troll is large, so it's immune to quick attacks. Only bow attacks and fierce attacks can harm it. There are two ways to handle this beast: One, is to just handle it with fierce attacks. Ignore everything else, while avoiding their attacks. Get Full-Recovery Potions if necessary, but just hack at the Cave Troll twice, and then BACK AWAY. He WILL swing his club at you and you WILL get hit. Sometimes if you just hit once he'll be able to hit you. This method is short, but a little risky. If you have Legolas though, he can just hack and slash without any worry at all. Two, is to always keep your distance from the Cave Troll. Sometimes these Orcs drop Arrows, so if you run out for some reason, you can always hit the Cave Troll. Be aware that the arrows will do a very little damage. Kill Orcs if something goes wrong for their potions. This method is long, but safe. CAVE TROLL #2 Difficulty: Medium Level: Balin's Tomb --------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you take away enough health from the Cave Troll, it will get angry and throw its club away. Your character will run away and jump up onto a high ledge. But you didn't think the Cave Troll wouldn't have a weapon to attack with, did you? It now has a chain whip. Uh-oh, things don't look good... The Cave Troll is a lot harder from up here. As it is now below you, you can't use fierce attacks to hit it. Plus, the Cave Troll's attacks will still do a LOT of damage to you. To make it even worse, you can see that your space is very limited. This is still pretty simple, but here's the strategy: You can see there are pillars around here. These are for shielding yourself from the Cave Troll. The Chain Whip will hit the pillars instead of you if you're behind one of them, but be quite careful, as you've got to hit the Cave Troll itself. Try to position yourself in an area where you can hit the Cave Troll and it can't hit you. You can't get out of range from it, no matter how hard you try. If you can't do this, then after the Cave Troll tries to hit you and hits the pillar, come slightly out from behind the pillar and shoot the Cave Troll twice, or thrice at the most. Keep in mind that the pillars can take three hits each before they crumble, and there are five (I think) pillars on this area. If all of them go down, you'll just have to dodge the Cave Troll's attacks without a pillar, and then just shoot it. But, to be your best friend and yet still worst nightmare, some Orcs can get up here the way you did! This is rare though, but these Orcs can hit you, or even worse, get you in the range of the Cave Troll's attacks. The good side is that you can at least get some Full-Recovery Potions. So get them if needed, and then kill the Cave Troll with your arrows. LURTZ Difficulty: Medium Level: Amon Hen --------------------------------------------------------------------- The first part of this battle is fairly simple. All Lurtz will do is shoot some arrows at you. They won't catch on fire, so all you have to do is avoid a few of Lurtz's arrows, and when he stops firing, give him a piece of your mind by shooting your own arrows at him. Don't bother going for him, or he'll put his bow down and run very quickly at you and slash you with his sword. So fire at him. Once you've taken a very small part of Lurtz's health away, he'll replace his bow with a long sword. But it might be too long... you'll see some statues around here. Try to get behind them if Lurtz is right there, and he might accidentally stick his sword in the statue. If so, use Fierce Attacks to shave some health off of him. Do this until all of it is gone. But you didn't think it'd be quite that easy, did you? There are some Urak-Hai that appear sometimes if Lurtz commands it. If this is during the first stage of the battle, they're no problem at all, but during the second, you can't really hit them, because Lurtz is right in front of them, he's fast, and he's always after you. You'll need to be VERY careful with the Urak-Hai, preferably taking them out when Lurtz's sword is stuck in the statue. TWO CAVE TROLLS Difficulty: Easy Level: Fangorn Forest --------------------------------------------------------------------- There are two ways to get in attacking the Cave Trolls. One, you'll have to break a web to the right, or three logs in the center. I personally prefer you break both. When you break the logs though, try not to be hit by one of their throws. Break them, and then land a Fierce Attack on one of the trolls. I recommend just hitting once, or one Troll will smack you. After you do this, go back and to the right. In case you need it, a Full-Recovery Potion is here. Go on and hit the opposite Cave Troll. Now, go back and hit the other one, then go back to the right to hit the other, and keep alternating until they're both dead. This isn't the fastest method, but it's most definitely the safest. After both trolls have dropped, get out of here by going behind the trolls and breaking the web. OVERSEER Difficulty: Medium Level: Gap of Rohan --------------------------------------------------------------------- After they're dead, the Overseer will attack, and he's no pushover. He's VERY fast to run at you and attack, so be very careful. You cannot hurt him at all, so don't try. If you get even close to him, his Warg will bite you and the Overseer will slash you, so don't even try. Thankfully the Overseer cannot get into water, so when he starts to run after you, get in the water. Sometimes, instead of just going for you, the Overseer's Warg will just start on its hind legs, and the Overseer will try to get it down. THIS is the chance to hurt it! Run as fast as you can to the Overseer, and slash his Warg and it'll get down, but refuse to move. Now the Overseer will shake it and try to get it to move. Hit it twice more and then RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! The Overseer will almost definitely recover less than a second after you hit him, and you will get hurt. But, this mission isn't just with the Overseer after that. After his Warg comes down, he'll summon another Warg to come after you and kill you. Well, this is actually a great thing! When he comes after you, kill him before he gets a chance to do anything. You won't have any problems with this as Aragorn. Then he'll almost always drop a Full Recovery Potion! So you'll hardly have to worry about your health. Taking the Overseer out will be easy as hell now. CATAPULT Difficulty: Hard Level: Helm's Deep: The Breaching Wall --------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon, all of the Urak-Hai will be dead. But it doesn't look good, they have a nasty Catapult for you to destroy. It's not very hard to destroy, as a matter of fact, but it'll still prove a challenge. By now, the door may be falling, but ignore it and go for the Catapult! It must be destroyed: it will fire bombs at the door and damage it a lot. This will be a battle to end all battles. Here is a diagram of the Catapult: ___ ___ | | | | | B | | C | |___| |___| ___ | | | A | |___| (There is much to the Catapult than this, but this is all that matters.) There are three panels on the catapult. I would recommend destroying the panels in the order A, B, and C. Ignore all of the Urak-Hai. If they hit you, you can quickly kill them quickly with enough effort. Use Wrath of Numenor if you're playing as Aragorn, Gil-galad's Rage if you're playing as Legolas, or Wrath of Moria if you're playing as Gimli; they're very good ways to destroy the 3 panels. After you destroy the Catapult, it will launch off a bomb, in which will backfire and the Catapult will destroy itself. The mission is then over for good, and everyone is safe. XV. My Review: Here is my review, in which I recently posted on GameFAQs. I believe we all know how disappointed I am with EA for their biggest failure of all time, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Seriously, that game was so bad, my brother could have made a better game than that with one hand tied behind his back, blindfolded. It was the third worst game I had ever played, and along with some other terrible EA problems, I swore never to get an EA game again. I accidentally failed to notice that this game was by EA, so I got this game last Christmas, and seriously, it may be EA, but this is one of the best games I have ever played! I am thoroughly impressed with every category in this game, and this is simply a masterpiece; a work of art. The game is weird, but sometimes, even weird games are good! Now, you may have heard from other places that this game is just a regular old hack-and-slash game. Actually, this game is basically hack-and-slash in quite a few areas, but that doesn't make it that kind of game. There is a lot of stuff to do in this game, like getting interviews, seeing scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies, defending walls that are being breached, and people like Frodo, and lots of other stuff. Legendary game, I tell you, a masterpiece, especially for a movie-to-game translation. After ET and Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings manages to succeed with translations. Perhaps the very weirdest part of this game comes within the graphics. But this is good. These graphics are VERY strange. There are sort of, two ''modes'' of the graphics in the game. One, is totally, and completely realistic. Just like it is in the movie! With how horribly textured and animated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was, you can really be amazed with the work that EA put into the realistic side of the graphics. All the lands of Middle-Earth, from the fire of Mount Doom, to the grasslands and beautiful areas in the game, look quite realistic within this part of the visuals. There is another ''mode'' that I have not yet explained. It is an animated mode that you go into within battles and a few scenes. Well, it may have bad lipsynch and face texture, but everything looks really good, even in this part. There is, a little problem with Gimli though. You can see that his beard is covering a pretty large area of his face, and his eyes look like they're glaring all the time. Plus, his nose makes him look even creepier all the same. In this mode, I also have a little problem with Legolas. His great, blond hair isn't very bright, so in one scene, you can't see it and you may actually think that EA made him bald. It's quite a good thing that they didn't! The enemies in this game look very good, no matter what part of the graphics you're in. In one realistic scene, you can see a Ringwraith on fire, running from Aragorn. Have you ever seen such realistic graphics? The Ringwraith looks perfect. But that's just about the only enemy in the game you get to see in the realistic mode. But even in the animated one, the enemies, like the Orcs, Urak-Hai, Cave Trolls, and Goblins, look very nice. Other characters in the game, like Boromir, Gandalf, Frodo, Lurtz, Sauron, and Isildur, look quite splendid. So overall, this game has REALLY good graphics. I admit, they may not outmatch the graphics of Final Fantasy X, but even so, these graphics are really, really good. It doesn't depend on if you're in the weird animated mode or the 100% realistic one, because these graphics will always be blessed with one word: brilliant. This is the second most graphically impressive game that I have ever played, with Final Fantasy X taking that score. I don't want to say this very much, but good job, EA! ''A musical accomplishment.'' Yay, in this game, we hear the classic Lord of the Rings music that we know very well from both of the movies. And to make this area better, we get the voices from the original actors. In fact, we get the voices from ALL the original actors. Perhaps the very greatest area within the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is the music and sound effects. They both bear the name of magnificence. This is about as good as sound gets, but first I'll talk about the music. The music in the game is really good. Although the music is not quite as strong as the sound, the music is still quite appealing. The intro song, which plays in many, many other parts of the game, is excellent. The song that plays at the very beginning of the prologue is magnificent. Man, if I could find a sound track for this game, I'd probably buy it! Trust me, the music in this game is very good, but if you like music and sound in a game, just look at what's coming up. Ah, the sound. The sound effects are probably this game's very strongest point. As I mentioned earlier, we are getting the voices of all of the original actors, so when you hear Aragorn's, Legolas's, Gimli's, Gandalf's, or Frodo's voices, they will strongly remind you of the movie. All of the game's voices sound just like they did in the movie! The swords, bows, and voices in the whole game are quite godly. This game's sound beats a lot of everyday video game sound, that's for sure. The story is legendary, to those who have read LOTR. The story, as all LOTR fans know, is like this: Three thousand years ago, nineteen rings were made. Three were given to the elves, seven to the dwarven lords, and nine to the race of men. But none of them outmatched the powers of The One Ring, one ring to rule them all, in which Sauron put his evil, malice, will, and cruelty into. This was Sauron's Ring. One by one, people fell to the powers of The One Ring, but King Isildur and his men resisted. Isildur defeated Sauron and got the ring, but he didn't destroy it when he had the chance. Eventually, the ring passed to Frodo, who has a task to go out to Mount Doom and destroy it in the fires. In the game, however, we go around just like we did in the book. You go to different missions, in areas and situations quite similar to those in the book. I recommend reading the books before playing the game though, because then the story will be really confusing. Regardless of how complicated or weird the storyline of the Two Towers is, it is still an excellent story. Epic gameplay is what is needed to make a game. Well, the gameplay does basically make a game, correct? To start us off, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is a very hard game. I died in the second mission! There is a lot of defense in the game that has to be done, and tons of enemies that do tons of devastating attacks, a large number of enemies to conquer, and things to do in the same time. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is complex as well, as you have to fill your Skill Meter to get ranks... I will explain here. In this game, once you complete a mission, your characters are given ranks and money for how well they did a mission. The ranks are fair, good, excellent, and perfect. So you have to think really hard on the choices of what you will do. You have to avoid getting hit and also to kill as many enemies with as little effort in as short a time as possible with the most complex moves possible. Very complex stuff. Also, your characters are given money for the missions that you do. You can buy moves for your characters, ranging from the cheap Rush Attack, that does a weak attack on the enemy to the expensive Strength of the Stewards, which is incredibly valuable. All throughout this grand game, you will have lots of choices. And of course, there are the controls to cover. All the move controls are flawlessly executed, and your characters move as fast as you want them to. The weapons are used just like you probably want them to be. Perhaps the only bad point about the control is that you cannot move the camera. It moves itself, when you move around. I would have liked it better if you could move the camera, but this is no big deal. As great as the game is, there are still a few flaws to be found, albeit minor. For example, the game is VERY short. There are lots of things to buy, perfect scores to make, a secret level and character to unlock, and much more, but everything in the game can be completed or unlocked in less than 10 hours. Well, perhaps that's just about it, except for the fact that you can only play as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in the game. Although each character has his own variety, strengths, and weaknesses, it would have been nice to make them even more different and add Frodo, Boromir, Gandalf, and a couple other characters in. Still, those are very minor flaws. If a game has no replay value, it's no good. As I mentioned earlier, this is game is VERY, VERY short. Any average gamer can breeze through this game in an instant eight hours or so, if the difficulty doesn't stop them. But believe it or not, this actually adds to the quality of the replay value! Lord of the Rings: The Towers almost never gets boring or old, similar to the books, and this is definitely a game you will be playing many, many times. In fact, believe it or not, I have already played this game 14 times. I have never gotten at all tired. Did you know this game is really hard? I repeat: this game is VERY hard. In many parts of the game, tons of enemies will surround you, each that can knock you down and leave you vulnerable to attack, and there are lots of things you have to defend, choices to make, and characters to master, as well as great bosses to beat. If you're not playing as Aragorn, the game will be extremely hard, and even as Aragorn it's pretty tough! It all depends on what you want to do. Ratings: Graphics: 9.8/10 Music: 9.5/10 Sound: 9.6/10 Control: 9.2/10 Gameplay: 9.4/10 Replay Value: 10.0/10 (GOLDEN MEDAL) Challenge: 9.7/10 Good Points: What ISN'T a good point? The game is really hard. I repeat, the game is really hard. The graphics are quite realistic. The sound is just about as good as it gets. The music is legendary. The gameplay is first-class. The control, except for the camera, is great. Replay value is nearly infinite. Bad Points: The camera really sucks. The challenge level is ridiculous. The graphics aren't as perfect as they may first seem. Man, this game is good! It blows a lot of hack-and-slash games, action games, Fellowship of the Ring and many other games out the window! This is one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The game is well worth the expensive $50 price tag on it. Buy this game now, trust me, you will NOT be disappointed! Peace. *This game has received the Silver Medal by Gbness. XVI. FAQ: Here are the Frequently Asked Questions that I got or made up or whatever. Q: Who's the best character? A: Seriously, it's Isildur. But, Isildur is unlocked. If you want power and speed, but don't want a lack of power or speed, always have Aragorn. Q: What's the hardest level? A: Hornburg Courtyard. Q: How do I get Isildur? A: Seriously, it's up there, but beat the Tower of Orthanc with any character to unlock him. Q: Can you unlock anyone else? A: Nope. Q: Is there any way to stop Boromir from dying? A: Nope. Q: What are the best combo attacks? A: It really depends on the situation you're in. If the area is full of Urak-Hai and Orcs, shielded or un-shielded, I'd recommend the Rage and Wrath attacks. If you're surrounded by shielded enemies, Deliverance and Judgment are excellent. If you're surrounded by unshielded enemies, you may want to use Swift Terror or possibly War Rush. Arrows work well against archers or strong foes when your health is low also. It's entirely up to you. Q: What exactly can Isildur do? A: Well, to tell you the truth I didn't find much difference in him than Aragorn. He's exactly like him and even replaces Aragorn and says all of his speech. He has all the combo upgrades purchased, he's automatically at Level 10, but I don't find anything too special about him. So just take him along because he looks cool then. I would have preferred Boromir or Gandalf though... XVII. Outro: Well, hope you enjoyed this Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers guide! I certainly enjoyed it myself, and I also hope you liked this difficult game! Be sure to look for more RichardB guides in the future! XVIII. Credits: Gbness: For writing this guide. CJayC: For posting this guide. EA Games: For making this wonderful game. Shaboogie25: For the codes. Buckwheatz Revenge: See above. iama4nic8or: See above. Gabe Snake: See above. wombat lord: See above. Diesel Millenium: See above. THAguyINgta3: See above. Kehaes: See above. Decaffinated Krab: See above. jhardyxtreme: See above. ChrisMcDoul: See above. Pegboy: See above. ---END OF FILE---
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