3: The Spirit of Mordor | Main missions Middle-earth: SoM Guide

Requirements for starting the mission: You need to complete the first mission (the Prologue).

Secondary objectives: You need to protect the Ratbag from losing more than a half of the health bar.

Vault over the defenders and attack them from behind

After you interrogate Ratbag and obtain information about Goroth, follow the orc. You will soon reach small ruins, where you are attacked by the hostile orcs. Among them, there is, at least, one Defender, which is an unique orc variation, who use long blades and shields. This is what will be the most problematic here, because the shield requires several strong blows, to be destroyed. Instead of trying to destroy the shield, it is much better if you jump over the defenders (press the jump button after you run up to the orc). Thanks to this, you will land behind his back and you will be able to deal damage to him. before he manages to turn back.

Try to protect Ratbag from the attacks of the other orcs

Jumping over the enemies, to distract them, is not the only thing that you should keep in mind, while fighting this battle. If you want to complete the secondary objective, you cannot let Ratbag lose more than a half of his health bar. Therefore, you should first deal with the opponents that try to attack Ratbag, instead of you. At the same time, watch out not to damage the ally yourself, because it is an option. After the victorious fight, reach the orc stronghold, with Ratbag.

Sneak and hide in the bushes

Go East and start sneaking. You cannot be detected, because you would fail the mission immediately. This does not mean, however, that it is completely prohibited to attack the orcs. Try to eliminate one, or two orcs that are patrolling the area to the right of the stronghold's main entrance. You can do that, e.g. by sneaking up to them, from behind, or by hiding in the bushes and whistling, which will attract the attention of the given orc.

After you reach the wall, start climbing

The purpose of the actions described above is to clear the right side of the stronghold. Only when it is safe, go a bit to the East and climb the walls of the stronghold.

After you get to the upper levels, jump over from one spoiled plank, to another, thanks to which you will get around the monsters below. Your current objective is the orc archer shown in the above screenshot. Eliminate him, thanks to which you will see a short cutscene. You will find out that the Captain Goroth is at the hunting camp, to the East of here.

Watch out for the orcs at the cages and the ones patrolling the bridge

You can now continue on your path Eastwards and leave the stronghold premises. Along your path to the hunting camp, do not approach the orcs patrolling the bridge on the left, nor the monsters near the cages on the right, with caragors inside. I recommend that you jump to a lower level, at the appropriate moment and sneak under the bridge.

Eliminate the enemies in the ruins, including the archer

Take your time, while trying to approach Goroth, because the ruins that neighbor the hunting camp are being guarded by more monsters. Try to eliminate the single orc with the torch, who is patrolling the area, and the orc archer that is occupying one of the higher levels. In the case of the archer, A good method is to grab the edge and wait for him to stand at it. Then you throw him down.

Goroth is standing next to the cage with the captive caragor

After you approach your destination, activate the Wraith mode and check the area for the red silhouette that symbolizes the enemy Captain. Scan him to identify him as Goroth.

The game suggests that you can exploit Goroth's fear of caragors (quite unusually, because this is not a random feature and one that has been predetermined). The plan is that you release the captive caragor from the cage with Goroth at. Stand at the safe distance of the cage, equip the bow and aim at the padlock (the above screenshot). This will release the beast. This action strikes fear into Goroth's heart and he flees.

Note - If you do not have any arrows on you, you can find them on the ledge that used to be occupied by the archer, among others.

Try to catch up with Goroth, as quickly as possible

You can do, now, either of two things. If you have unlocked the Ride Caragors ability, I recommend that you mount the caragor that you have just freed. Catch up with Goroth and deal with him, by taking advantage of the fact that he cannot defend against the beast's attacks. If you do not have this ability, catch up with the Captain in the traditional way, before he reaches the orcs that you passed by earlier. In such a situation, you need to spend more time on draining Goroth's health bar. Regardless of the method, he mission ends after you see the report, right after you eliminate Goroth.

Rewards for completing the mission:

• 700 experience points
• 50 gold pieces (Mirian) - only if you have completed the secondary objective
• New main mission unlocked: "Climbing the Ranks"