General Tips
- Don't be afraid to run away from fights – sometimes retreating is the best strategy.
- Execution moves are the easiest way to dispatch enemies quickly, so focus on those. Also consider purchasing the ability that lowers the hit requirement from eight to five.
- Gain as much intel as you can. You want to know a captain's weaknesses before you approach him, as it makes the ensuing battle much easier.
- If a captain is weak to instant stealth kills, be sure to focus on stealth. If he's weak to ranged attacks, get the bow and arrow ready. Use a captain's weaknesses to your advantage.
- Even if you're not the type of person to collect everything in a game, picking up artifacts is a great way to get more upgrade points in Shadow of Mordor.
- Explosions both look awesome and take care of larger groups of enemies. If you see orcs sitting by the fire, shoot an arrow at it to take them out (requires the Detonate ability).
- If you complete all weapon side quests, you unlock special moves for said weapons. The special moves are amazing (ie unlimited executions for a set amount of time), so you may want to finish all of the side quests.
- Upgrade focus often, as picking off Uruks with the bow and arrow in slow motion is a great way to dwindle enemy numbers quickly.
Guides
Easter Eggs
Celebrimbor's Quotes
- The Wraith, Celebrimbor, will often quote lines from The Lord of the Rings, while referencing events happening in the game:
- During Shattered Memories, after waking to find the Graug, Celebrimbor will call out "Fly, you fool!" in reference to Gandalf's line urging the Fellowship to run during his fight with the Balrog.
- Upon returning to a Forge Tower, Talion sometimes asks what the Towers are. Celebrimbor will respond that they are a light in the darkness of Mordor, when all others have gone out. This is a reference to the Vial of Galadriel, given to Frodo Baggins.
- Talion will make a remark about Torvin being a wanderer, to which Celebrimbor will respond "Not all those who wander are lost," which is a line from the poem All that is gold does not glitter, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Batman Reference
Shadow of Mordor's combat isn't the only thing that's inspired by Batman. Once you hunt and kill one the many Morgul Bats that can be found near the caves of Mordor, you'll unlock some info on them in the Nature section of the Appendices. The page for the Morgul Bats details how the rotting flesh on their teeth makes for great poison, and offers an interesting tidbit: Those Uruks that get poisoned become horribly diseased and bloated, wearing their deformities as marks of honor. The poison slowly eats at their minds, sending them nightmares of a demonic man-bat who preys on fear. Seeing as the game's publisher, Warner Bros., also publishes the Batman Arkham games, it's no wonder they would include a call-out to the Dark Knight himself.
Achievements/Trophies
| Achievement/Trophy | Description |
| You Will Obey | Make an uruk yours. |
| Height of Despair | Use Strike From Above while at least 60 feet above your target. |
| Burning Vengeance | Perform an Execution on a flaming Berserker. |
| And it Burns, Burns, Burns | Use the Detonate ability to burn 50 uruks. |
| Iron of Death | Issue a Death Threat, and then successfully kill the target. |
| A New Master | Brand a Captain while in combat. |
| No Power in Numbers | Help a Captain survive a Recruitment Power Struggle, and then kill him and all his new recruits. |
| Black Celebration | Poison a Captain at his own Feast. |
| Stinking Rebels | Brand 5 Bodyguards of a Warchief, turning them against him in combat. |
| A Graug's Heel | Capitalize on a Warchief's Fear. |
| Divide and Conquer | Eliminate the bodyguards of two Warchiefs, then draw them out and kill them. |
| Lord and Master | Brand all 5 Warchiefs. |
| Power Vacuum | Kill all 5 Warchiefs before any uruk take their place. |
| Rise and Fall | After an uruk kills you to become a Captain, help him become a Warchief, then kill him. |
| The Spirit of Mordor | Start a Riot by commanding a Warchief to attack another Warchief. |
| The White Rider | Liberate 30 slaves in 180 seconds while riding a caragor. |
| Unleashed | Free 5 caragors from cages. |
| Jaws of Death | Attract caragors with bait 5 times. |
| Fly you fools! | Make 20 uruks flee by dropping Morgai Fly nests. |
| Repaid in Blood | Complete a Vendetta Mission. |
| Legend of Vengeance | Complete a Sword Mission and begin growing the legend of Urfael. |
| Fire of Justice | Complete all Urfael Legend Missions. |
| Legend of Shadow | Complete a Dagger Mission and begin growing the legend of Acharn. |
| The Last Shadow | Complete all Acharn Legend Missions. |
| Legend of the Maker | Complete a Bow Mission and begin growing the legend of Azkâr. |
| The Maker's Bow | Complete all Azkâr Legend Missions. |
| The Cold Light | Unlock 3 Sword Rune slots. |
| Paid in Blood | Unlock 4 Dagger Rune slots. |
| Strike True | Unlock 2 Bow Rune slots. |
| A Mighty Doom | Acquire a level 25 Rune. |
| Crowned with Living Light | Collect 50% of the Ithildin. |
| Bearer of the Shining Lamp | Collect 100% of the Ithildin. |
| Paths of the Dead | Collect 25% of the Artifacts. |
| Shadows of the Ancient Past | Collect 100% of the Artifacts and listen to their memories. |
| Scout of Morannon | Successfully complete a Survivalist Challenge. |
| Ranger of Ithilien | Complete all Survivalist Challenges. |
| The Free Folk | Complete an Outcast Rescue Mission. |
| Liberator | Complete all Outcast Rescue Missions. |
| Thrill of the Hunt | Successfully complete 4 Hunting Challenges. |
| Master of the Wilds | Complete all Hunting Challenges. |
| Memories of Eregion | Activate all Forge Towers. |
| Ratbag the Great and Powerful | Get Ratbag promoted to Warchief. |
| The Bright Master | Discover some of the Wraith's past. |
| Gorthaur the Cruel | Destroy the Monument Gate and topple the statue of Sauron. |
| The Hammer Falls | Kill The Hammer. |
| Beyond Hope | Save Lithariel's life. |
| The White Wizard | Lift Lady Marwen's curse. |
| For My Brother | Kill the Great White Graug. |
| The Tower Crumbles | Kill The Tower. |
| The Hand is Severed | Kill The Black Hand. |
| To Rule Them All | Witness the creation of The Rings of Power. |
