The Nemesis system, which allowed for enemy AI to be reactive, and grow in response to the player, in Shadow of Mordor was in large part responsible for the high level of acclaim that that game enjoyed. And the system is back in Shadow of War, and it is bigger and more dynamic and powerful than before, leading to more opportunities for emergent gameplay.
The Nemesis system can lead to you having a surprising amount of agency in terms of how you play and approach the game. Here are some general tips and suggestions to keep in mind as you play the game and leverage it to your advantage:
- Orc tribes and groups have a hierarchy: Worms And General Soldiers are the lowest in the hierarchy followed by Captains, Warchiefs and finally Overlord.
- Your aim is to take down the Overlord in each region to claim its fortress.
- But you can’t just attack the Overlord straight- that’s suicide. What you need is more information about him, and understand his weaknesses. This is where nemesis and domination will come into play.
- Isolate and dominate Worms. Basically, get a single grunt alone and by himself- either by separating him from his pack, or by killing his companions (not recommended, since he will try to flee), or by using stealth. But don’t kill him. Instead, use the Dominate option. You can use this option to get intel about the fortress you are attacking, or the Overlord defending it, or intel about the Warchiefs and Captains. Gather as much intel here as you can- but remember that Worms by themselves might not know much. You need to-
- Dominate Captains. Captains will pose a real challenge for you, and you can’t dominate them until you have reached a certain point in the story. Once you have, however, you want to drop their health to a certain point until you get the option to ‘break’ them, or use their weakness (information you should have gotten from Worms) against them to instantly make them surrender. Once they are broken, you can fight them, shame them, or recruit them. Remember that each option has good or bad repercussions. If you dominate a Captain tasked with protecting a Warlord and recruit him, that orc will eventually betray the Warlord, making for an easier opening for you.
- Death threats are useful. While they prepare an orc against your attack (and you should only use them if you are intending to attack them, since a death threat will aggro them), they also lead to better loot.
- Orcs that defeat you level up. Keep that in mind.
- Recruited Orcs can betray you. Orcs have no sense of lingering loyalty- so remember, just because you recruited an Orc doesn’t mean their story is over.
- You can give commands to your captains and get an enemy Orc killed. Furthermore, you can use this as an opportunity to recruit more powerful orcs. For example, if your captain’s level is 23 and the enemy orc is at level 28, you can command your captain to take the enemy out. However, when this battle is going on, intervene and help your captain in defeating it. However, don’t kill the orc enemy. Instead, dominate and take the enemy orc under your command.
- Furthermore, each Warchief will have a number of bodyguards. Take them out one by one and once you dominate all of them, you can then set your sights on the Warchief. However, the tide is in your favor now as the bodyguards will betray the Warchief and take it down. Once a Warchief has been defeated you can command one of your captains to be a spy. However, your captain needs to prove itself by fighting a fellow orc in the arena. Once defeated, your Captain will now be a Warchief thereby making Siege battles far more easier.
