Support NeoGAF

[Codeacious]

I upped the difficult to Nemesis, and I still haven't died after another 5 hours or so. I'm probably approaching fights wrong, because whenever I get low on health I immediately juke the AI around a few corners and get some stealth drains off. I would die if I didn't do that, but it just feels wrong to me to not try and survive whenever I'm losing a fight.

I'm still in Act 1, and I'm definitely taking a lot more time than I probably should be. I'm getting every collectible on the map before moving onto the next story quest.

I just did the

Spoiler

Colosseum fight

quest, and got put up against a Level 19 legendary captain that basically had the "perfect triad" of traits (immune to melee, range, and stealth). The game didn't say he had Combat Master, but after he adapted to Wraith Stun and vaulting I had to farm up Wraith Flashes in order to be able to damage him, just like the first game.

 

[Iceternal]

Still don't get what this new ring is supposed to do... Talion could already brand as many orcs as he wanted in the first game. Even story wise it doesn't make sense.

 

[Pheace]

Do orcs spawn indefinitely? I'm having a hard time fighting captains because of the constant flow of new orcs. Can I actually clear some space where I don't have to fight countless waves of them? Thanks!

If time passes, new captains are going to spawn, it's pretty much endless in that sense. So focus on an objective you have, take out captains of warchiefs and then do what you need to take him down, and try not to die because then time passes. Other missions can also pass time I think.

 

[A Serious Man]

Tank + Enraged by Mortal Wounds + Death Defying + Determination (constantly heals) = A giant pain in the ass. Got the dude down three times in one fight but could never finish him off. He constantly adapts as well, he's not too hard to fight but there is no way to take him down before you attract a mountain of other orcs.

 

[Tizoc]

Just finished Act 1.

Tbh I think people that say the story is bad are... crazy. That was pretty fucking awesome.


ALSO my Nemesis FOLLOWED me from another region. He ended up being a boss in one of the final story missions of Act 1.

Another hunter-type follower tracked me all over the map. I led him out into the wilderness and we dueled and I finally took him out. Fucking epic.

I am still very early in the game but so far it feels like a lotr/middle earth fanfiction

 

[Feeroper]

How is the Xbox One performance? I have a PS4 Pro and Xbox One. I want to get this game but cant decide what platform - I'm getting the Xbox One X next month and this is one of the games they are touting for the X, but I will want to play it right away when I get it. Is the PS4 Pro significantly better?

I have the first game on PS4 as well, is the nemesis transfer system a big deal to consider as well?

 

[Ravelle]

Tank + Enraged by Mortal Wounds + Death Defying + Determination (constantly heals) = A giant pain in the ass. Got the dude down three times in one fight but could never finish him off. He constantly adapts as well, he's not too hard to fight but there is no way to take him down before you attract a mountain of other orcs.

I had bows that has a chance to ignite or to poison which really helped with dudes like that.

 

[Tizoc]

Btw should i break gear that i no longer. NEed?

 

[A Serious Man]

Btw should i break gear that i no longer. NEed?

Yeah, you can scrap a lot of it. Some stuff you can upgrade later so if you have a piece of epic or legendary gear that has bonuses you like, you might hang onto it. You can definitely scrap all the common stuff you get.

 

[Kaversmed]

Sooo.. having three choices when dominating a captain, Recruit, Fight to Death or Shame (reduce level)... why would I ever choose anything but Recruit again?

 

[black070]

Btw should i break gear that i no longer. NEed?

Yup, been scrapping anything I don't need.

How is the Xbox One performance? I have a PS4 Pro and Xbox One. I want to get this game but cant decide what platform - I'm getting the Xbox One X next month and this is one of the games they are touting for the X, but I will want to play it right away when I get it. Is the PS4 Pro significantly better?

I have the first game on PS4 as well, is the nemesis transfer system a big deal to consider as well?

I don't know about Xbox One but it looks great on the Pro, on both 1080p & 4K displays.

 

[A Serious Man]

Sooo.. having three choices when dominating a captain, Recruit, Fight to Death or Shame (reduce level)... why would I ever choose anything but Recruit again?

Orcs higher level than you can't be recruited, so you have to shame them. Some orcs are iron-willed and can't be recruited at all and there are any number of situations with the nemesis system where recruiting might not be the best option.

 

[Kaversmed]

Orcs higher level than you can't be recruited, so you have to shame them. Some orcs are iron-willed and can't be recruited at all and there are any number of situations with the nemesis system where recruiting might not be the best option.

Ahh I see, thanks. I'm not that far in and the option to recruit captains just opened up for me - was just finding the different options weird but your answer makes sense.

 

[hbkdx12]

Some thoughts after playing this for the last two days, getting to level 30 and taking down my 2nd fortress:

• The nemesis system continues to be the premiere "next gen" feature/mechanic that feels like it utilizes the power of the hardware beyond just 'here's some prettier graphics' It was pretty good in the first game but they really outdid themselves here.
  
• I'm not a fan of the skill tree, particularly the ancillary upgrades. Some of them feel useless in relation to what they're paired with (why would i ever equip getting arrows when i drain an enemy when it requires me to turn off dominate which is what like 95% of the game is built around?) and even for the add-ons that are more evenly paired or when you do need to situationally swap out to something else means more time you're spending in menus which the game already has enough of
  
• While i do like the captain intros, some of them can be way too wordy/lengthy.
  
• Coming across Defenders that come equipped with vault breaker are the bane of my existence and feels a little cheap given their whole design is meant for you to vault them to do damage. Add into the mix that i've come across a handful of them who are also arrow proof and suddenly battles become arduous tasks of just figuring out how to reliably inflict damage.
  
• I appreciate that even at level 30 i'm never in a position where i feel OP. Each encounter feels like it requires a certain level of caution and forethought.
  
• The same way that never dying in the original undermined the nemesis system, starting a fortress siege with the warchiefs under your control feels like it undermines the experience as well. Aside from the fact that there's no additional defenses which doesn't help the siege feel epic, when you get the capture points, your warchiefs just show up like "Oh hey boss" It would have added a bit more weight if when you start the siege there's cutscenes showing your warchief personally dismantling some of the defenses, attacking their troops behind the lines or something so it still aides in giving the siege some gravity.

 

[Tovarisc]

What? Don't spread misinformation like that.

The

Spoiler

Shelob stuff is supposed to be a couple seconds long. You don't get the full cinematic until the final web.

It isn't misinformation tho.

With 4k enabled those videos have very obvious audio pop that can't be intentional and playback is weirdly sped up. Remove / disable 4k pack and those videos don't have pop and playback isn't sped up.

You hear and see difference.

 

[Tizoc]

Yeah, you can scrap a lot of it. Some stuff you can upgrade later so if you have a piece of epic or legendary gear that has bonuses you like, you might hang onto it. You can definitely scrap all the common stuff you get.

Thanks will scrap them for points.

Also I think I'll go after Orc leaders who are Epic or legendary level only.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Bought this yesterday and put in about three hours, holy crap this is fun.

Haven't even technically done the first actual story quest yet, just bouncing around the tiny city and killing captains.

Spoiler

Already had a captain come back twice, with a mechanic hand and peg leg, resulting in me cut off his peg leg again.

 

[Skade]

Btw should i break gear that i no longer. NEed?

Yes, just always keep your second best sword. 'cuz some captains can break your sword.

 

[Catdaddy]

Another game with a terrible autosave system. I'm still way early in the game and during the week limited to how long I can play during the week (hour or so), finished the prologue past the gate in the city and logged out for the night. Logged on the next day and I'm all the way across the map, not sure if the game sets you there or if it was because I logged off when I did. Jump to day 2 at my remote starting point – slash my way through the orcs there and work my way over to a Captain near the bridge outside the gate, and kill him and everyone around runs or dies. Logged off, and when I logged back on back at the same place I had started the day before with another camp full orcs. I guess, I'll have to invest the time or just speed run to a fast travel spot to force a save.

 

[theonerayman]

Orcs higher level than you can't be recruited, so you have to shame them. Some orcs are iron-willed and can't be recruited at all and there are any number of situations with the nemesis system where recruiting might not be the best option.

This isn't entirely true. If an orc has iron will you can shame them and that has a pretty high chance of removing iron will from them.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Soooo pro-tip, if you're trying to recruit an orc, DON'T set their blood-brother as your bodyguard.

 

[theonerayman]

Soooo pro-tip, if you're trying to recruit an orc, DON'T set their blood-brother as your bodyguard.

How do you know if they are blood Brothers? I've had 2 orcs betray me for attacking their blood Brothers and I had NO idea they were blood brothers. I didn't see it in their traits

 

[lunchtoast]

What do those bars mean under captains and those map events? I don't remember it being mentioned in game.

 

[Khoryos]

What do those bars mean under captains and those map events? I don't remember it being mentioned in game.

That's how many time-units you have until they complete whatever mission they're on.

Taking a nemesis mission, or dying, advances one time-unit.

 

[onQ123]

Posted?


Middle-earth: Shadow of War's Xbox One X Enhancements Detailed

Warner Bros. and Monolith have revealed the enhancements coming to the Xbox One X version of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, including native 4K resolution with dynamic scaling, an increased level of detail, higher polygon counts, improved textures and all of the other usual performance-boosting bobbins you'd expect.

You'll be able to choose from two different modes - Favour Resolution or Favour Quality - which are fairly self-explanatory. Choose Favour Resolution and you can enjoy increased texture detail targeting native 4K, while opting for Favour Quality brings enhancements across the board.

These include increased texture detail, better draw distances, improved shadows and lighting, more vegetation, higher polygon counts, enhanced ambient occlusion and improvements to texture filtering. Whichever option you decide on, you'll still be playing Shadow of War at some sort of lovely ramped up 4K resolution. Which is a good thing.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War's Xbox One X enhancements will be available when the console launches on 7th November, as a free update. An optional 4K cinematics DLC will also roll out, bumping up Xbox One X's 1080p cut-scenes to 4K (obviously). Middle-earth: Shadow of War is out now and you'll find our review here.

https://www.xboxachievements.com/ne...f-War-s-Xbox-One-X-Enhancements-Detailed.html

 

[Syrus]

Posted?


Middle-earth: Shadow of War's Xbox One X Enhancements Detailed
https://www.xboxachievements.com/ne...f-War-s-Xbox-One-X-Enhancements-Detailed.html

So basically. Enhanced version will look the best instead of Native.

 

[BSpot]

Do we know what enhancements the Pro has? I know there’s that 4K cinematic patch. Is that totally without use if I have a Pro and 1080p?

 

[onQ123]

So basically. Enhanced version will look the best instead of Native.

That will depend on what you find more visually pleasing.

 

[Pheace]

I really wish there was a list of invasion attempts against my fortress and maybe at least who killed a failed entry and a list of captains that were dead/alive.

 

[notjackbauer]

My favorite part of the first game was combat and executions so I really appreciate that they basically just drop you in a giant kill-box at the beginning of the game.

 

[Raptor]

Numenorean armor just looks so good.

That looks sick.

So no skins like the first right?

 

[Ravelle]

This dude is creepy as hell and kept throwing curse bombs and teleporting all of the place, was hard getting distance between him and me.

 

[Pheace]

Damn... you get scrolls that upgrade a follower to Legendary (Legendary Training) from the ingame currency chests, sweet!

 

[Maximus P]

Came across a drunk orc earlier called 'shag the drooler' who just belched when he appeared for his intro. When he finally saw me his speech made me laugh..

'I've just drank loads of grog...hahahaha..when I'm done killing you I'm going to go back a drink some more,and then, and then.... I'm going to kill you'


I'm about 6 hours in. I have a few thoughts on the game myself.

-Having to complete missions to gain Xp is a pain in the ass. I started a vengeance mission this morning, took out 100+ orcs, a dragon, a dozen caragors, a couple of the giant beasts and had a battle that lasted 40 minutes and because I didn't finish off the Captain....zero xp.

-The main story is confusing, and I'm often wondering what the hell is going on.

-I've only just started dominating captains but I'm still confused on how they work or how I summon them, I'm hoping this is explained better later.

-The Nemesis system is still the highlight of the show. Some of the encounters epic.

 

[Feeroper]

Do we know what enhancements the Pro has? I know there’s that 4K cinematic patch. Is that totally without use if I have a Pro and 1080p?

I'd very much like to see the list of Pro enhancements too - I'm still weighing if I should pick up the Xbox or PS4 version (have a Pro currently & getting the X to replace my base XO on Nov 7).

 

[Bread]

Got ambushed mid-fight by a dude with tally marks all over his body, he was called The Record Keeper or something. Needless to say he added me to the record books.

15 minutes later I hunted him down and had a crazy fight with him and the hunters that were in his pack after he leveled up. Fuck this game is cool.

 

[lefty1117]

So overall consensus on this game seems to be positive? Worth the buy?

 

[DrBo42]

That looks sick.

So no skins like the first right?

Just gear acting as your cosmetic. There apparently is a cloak with a hood up somewhere in the game.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Wish they better showed when this game saves because it seems random. I'm pretty sure it saves after every fast travel so that's what I've been doing but I've had two times so far where gear I've destroyed prior to fast traveling (and then quitting) has magically reappeared in my inventory on the next load.

They really need a "Last save was X minutes ago" when quitting like other games have or at least some sort of onscreen icon indicated it just saved.

 

[black070]

Just gear acting as your cosmetic. There apparently is a cloak with a hood up somewhere in the game.

Yup, I got it for passing a challenge that involved defeating a captain while riding a beast during an online vendetta.

 

[Fleet_of_Foot]

How is the Xbox One performance? I have a PS4 Pro and Xbox One. I want to get this game but cant decide what platform - I'm getting the Xbox One X next month and this is one of the games they are touting for the X, but I will want to play it right away when I get it. Is the PS4 Pro significantly better?

I have the first game on PS4 as well, is the nemesis transfer system a big deal to consider as well?

I struggled with the same question. I just have a standard PS4 and a standard Xbox One. I wanted something to play on my Xbox, since I use my PS4 more.

I don't know the particulars of how they can compare. All I can tell you is that with about three hours played on the Xbox version, I have no complaints and don't feel like I made a bad choice. It seems to run fine.

 

[DrBo42]

Yup, I got it for passing a challenge that involved defeating a captain while riding a beast during an online vendetta.

Ah a vendetta legendary, thanks.

 

[Feeroper]

Are you guys finding that the nemesis transfer from Shadow of Mordor has made a meaningful impact to your game? Would it be a big enough reason to get the game on one console over the other depending on where you played the first one?

 

[Liljagare]

I was lvl 8 when I met my lvl 40 Nemesis.

.......

 

[carlsojo]

So overall consensus on this game seems to be positive? Worth the buy?

Yeah I think it's great. Nemesis system is one of the coolest things ever and I have no idea why more games aren't copying it.

Are you guys finding that the nemesis transfer from Shadow of Mordor has made a meaningful impact to your game? Would it be a big enough reason to get the game on one console over the other depending on where you played the first one?

Nahhhh. At least I don't think so.

 

[DrBo42]

What's the max level, anyone know? Hit 33 on Xbox before switching to PC and it felt like maybe 50 was it.

 

[Pheace]

Gah,
Deployed a legendary, did one mission with him, he levelled up 7 levels
He betrayed me almost right after
I chased him down with a Graug and shamed him after he complained at me how he hated serving me
Tried to recruit him again but he still had iron will so I shamed him again
Chased him down with another Graug (lol) as he complained why I didn't just kill him, how I brought him down so low
He accidentally dies to poison... Nooooo...

I liked him... an Olog with bonus to Olog with his own band of Ologs...

 

[Jangowuzhere]

That is the best thing ever! I want more Orc dialogue!

But not all of it is great. It's fun to see a quirky personality, but I don't need to see an orc deliver a generic and boring threat of him gutting me.

[*]I'm not a fan of the skill tree, particularly the ancillary upgrades. Some of them feel useless in relation to what they're paired with (why would i ever equip getting arrows when i drain an enemy when it requires me to turn off dominate which is what like 95% of the game is built around?) and even for the add-ons that are more evenly paired or when you do need to situationally swap out to something else means more time you're spending in menus which the game already has enough of

Really? I went for the arrow drain immediately. It seemed way more useful in the long run.

Turning off dominate for that upgrade tree doesn't turn off your ability to dominate captains or mounts. It simply turns off your ability to dominate random grunts on the field. Getting 4 arrows on a drain is much more useful than gaining 1+ grunt that will die almost immediately.

 

[semiconscious]

-Having to complete missions to gain Xp is a pain in the ass. I started a vengeance mission this morning, took out 100+ orcs, a dragon, a dozen caragors, a couple of the giant beasts and had a battle that lasted 40 minutes and because I didn't finish off the Captain....zero xp...

agreed. should've been 'a way to gain', & not 'the way to gain'...

 

[Permanently A]

Watching a twitch stream of this game and this moment just killed me