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Evil mode
Complete a chapter to unlock the ability to replay it in Evil mode. This is an easy way to gain weapons, armor, and Elfstones.
Easier Evil mode
If you are having trouble completing Evil mode, save the game in Eregion, then exit and go into Evil mode. The difficulty is greatly reduced.
Restore HP and AP
When low on HP or AP, find a save point. Save your game and both your HP and AP will be completely refilled.
Everlasting health
Once your Elf healer gains the Valor move that presets whoever you choose with an instant revival when ever you die, use it at the beginning of each battle on her first, then on everyone else. If you maintain this so that no enemies can truly kill you, you will almost always be the victor.
Unlimited items
Got to Eregion after you get the Craft Item Stone. Then, find an Archer. Cast Fellowship Grace with Belethor and the Haste Of The Elves ability with Idrial on whoever has the Craft Item Stone equipped. You will never run out of AP, and the character creating items goes very fast, producing a lot of items. This is especially useful for the Elf Medicine item. Also, you can level up character abilities that do not damage foes.
Better healing
If you use Elf Medicine, try and use it with Idrial. If this is done, it will give full health instead of half.
When using an item that heals or improves anything below full health, (for example, Kingsfoil), the amount healed or improved depends on your Spirit Power Score. Chose one character (Idrail recommended) to have the highest Spirit Score, and with her spirit powers she will become your "White Mage". Note: This rule only works in battle; when you are outside of battle, the character you are using it on is actually the one using it.
Defeating the Balrog
Stock up on Elf Medicine before fighting the Balrog. Have Gandalf use it to bring you back to life; you will get more unit points back if Gandalf uses it on you. Also, equip any Fire protection Elf Stones you have. The Balrog has about 70,000 HP.
Use the following trick to defeat the Balrog or Witch King. You must have first opened at least 25% of the treasure chests before the Balrog. Save just before the Balrog or Witch King. Then, check for two items in your inventory, Arnor Mushrooms and Morgul Decay. If you have at least one of these, it will be an easy battle. When you start the battle, have Gandalf use Protection From shadow. Then with the rest of your characters, use Morgul Decay on the enemy to get rid of their armor and use Arnor Mushrooms on Gandalf. Note: If Berethor has a weapon with 150+ and has double attack and Ecthelion Wrath or better, use Arnor Mushrooms on him and he will do a lot more damage. Take out Idrial and use Heal on party until all are dead except for the main attacker. After a while your opponent will be dead.
When fighting the Balorg. use a Morgul Decay, which will make its armor 0. Once that is done, you will do about ten times more damage and defeating it will be a lot easier.
Have plenty of Elf Medicine. Use Idrial in the battle. Gandalf has the only attack that inflicts a good amount of damage;, concentrate on using Bolt Of The Valar to attack the Balrog. The Balrog has about 70,000 HP and Gandalf's Bolt Of The Valar inflicts about 5,000 to 6,000 HP each attack. Have Idrial use Aura Of The Valar on Gandalf, who will then be fully restored when he is knocked out. Make sure to use Aura Of The Valar on Gandalf again each time he is knocked out and restored. Use Elf Medicine to restore Idrial when she is knocked out. Make sure she has enough action points (50) to be able to keep using Aura Of The Valar on Gandalf when he needs it. Use Elf Medicine as necessary to restore other characters, and have them use items to give Idrial attack points or Elf Medicine to revive her when she needs it. Continue this pattern until the Balrog is defeated.
Keep using Gandalf's "thunderbolt" attack. Have the other members of your party include Berethor, Idrial, and Hadhod. When it is Hadhod's turn, keep using Cleaving Wound. It deals more damage as the battle goes on. Unless all the other characters are mortally wounded or dead, use the Loudwater Fury attack from Idrial. You can also always use her for her Gift of Galadriel. As soon as the Balrog flies up and jumps down, your AP and HP will decrease. You should have quite a few items stocked. If not, keep using single items, one for AP and one for HP (preferably Leaves Of Old Toby, or Satchel of Old Toby, as it is for the entire party). Apart from those, with Berethor use Company Valor.
Defeating the Mumakil
Use Stand Fast to prevent stun from Stomp; Paralyze to prevent Melee; Silence to Stop Spirit Immune to Bind Ranged; so Blind and/or Reduce Ranged Damage from Haradrim Volley (only attack it has remaining). Pierce is also recommended.
Defeating Sauron
On the battle of The Dark Lord Sauron, use Morgul Decay just like was done on the Witch King. The Dark Lord knows Berethor is strong. He will probably use Darkest Fear on him, then he will not be able to battle for a while. Use Elven Rage and it will do somewhere from 16,000 to 19,000 damage if it is a critical hit. Do not use Elegost. He misses often when you fight the Dark Lord. Try Eaoden, but his move Drain Health still only does 4,000 HP. Use Hadhod and kept using Cleaving Wound.
Have Hadhod, Elgost, and Berethor in your party. Make sure your Perfect meter is full, and you have Hadhod's passive skill that lets him always get criticals when the Perfect meter is full. On your first turn, use Morgul Decay on Sauron. On Berethor's first turn, have him use either double attack with Company Migh and War Call, or Company Night if you do not have Double Attack. Next, add the item that adds light damage to your melee/ranged attacks to Hadhod. He should now do about 33,000 damage every time he attacks.
Make sure you have Hadhod, Eaoden, and Berethor in your party. Make sure Eaoden has Rampage Of Helm and Berethor has the Double Attack and War Cry. Also, make sure each character has at least 5,000 HP. If the fight begins with you going first, and if the first person is not Berethor, use a Morgul Decay on Sauron. Whenever it is Hadhod's turn, use the best attack that he has. When it is Eaoden's turn, use Rampage Of Helm. When it is Berethor's turn, use the combo of Double Attack and War Cry. It should not take very long to defeat him, as long as you use a Morgul Decay.
Use Idrial and cast Aura Of The Valar. Sauron will often use Paralysis Of Light, which will make characters unable to cast spells; therefore, cast it the first time Idrial has a turn. When Idrial dies, she will be brought back to life. Use Frenzy. By doing this, Idrial will get two Spirit moves opposed to one before Sauron uses Paralysis Of Light on the characters again. Remember to cast Aura Of The Valar after Idrial dies. She now has one more Spirit move remaining, which can be used to bring another character back to life (Power Of The Valar) or cast a spell on Sauron. Repeat this strategy and you will not die.
When fighting Sauron, use Elegost, Berethor and Idrial. Berethor will need to know Gondor Rage. Elegost will need to know True Shot. Idrial will need to know Aura of the Valar and Power of the Valar. Also, make sure you have a Morgul Decay and a few Dwarven Ales. On your first turn, have your character use the Morgul Decay on Sauron. Then, Elegost should do about 40,000 damage with True Shot (level 70 and up). Berethor can then do the same with Gondor Rage (all together, not each hit). When Idrial's turn comes around, make her use Frenzy and do Power of the Valar to Elegost and herself. If Sauron uses Paralysis Of Light, have a free character use a Dwarven Ale on them to remove the stun. It is possible to defeat Sauron in under ten turns.
Start by having Idrial with the Aura Of The Valar ability in your party, and two characters with Ignore Enemy Armor abilities. Then, have Idrial cast Aura Of The Valar on herself and your other two characters. From here on, have Idrial use attacks that weaken the enemy or heal your party members, which you probably will not be able to do with him using Paralysis Of Life. Keep your two characters with Ignore Enemy Armor moves attacking the dark lord. He will cast Fear Of Darkness and will prevent your characters from moving. If you continue casting Aura Of The Valar on everyone, when they die have the people who have Ignore Enemy Armor skills attack Sauron and you will defeat him soon.
Defeating the Witch King
To defeat the Witch King at the Pelennor Fields, make sure that you have Hadhod's Second Age Dwarven Mithril Piercing Axe and the Dwarven Mithril Helm. When you face the Witch King, use these attacks: Berethor's Stunning Strike and Ectehlion Wrath, Hadhod's Mountain Rage, and Eaoden's Enraging Blow and Rohirrim Rage. The Witch King has 200,562 HP and 59,098 AP.
Enter the fight with Perfect mode. Have your first character use the Banner of Elendil special. It will not actually stun the Witchking to make him stop attacking, but will disable his ability to counterattack for a great while. Then, have your next character use Morgul Decay, an item that completely rids the enemy of its armor. Now that the Witchking is completely vulnerable and will not counterattack, have your characters deal out their combos, such as Berethor's Ecthelion Wrath and the Rohirrim's Wrath of Edoras.
Defeating Orc Veterans
In the Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields levels, your basic Orc Veteran has at least 20,000 HP. You can use Berethor's Orc Bane twice to kill them. If it does not die, just use a plain attack to save your AP.
In Osgilath, you will encounter the big Orc featured in Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King. First, use Farimir's Quality (where he will counter attack for someone). Do it to everybody. He will counter attack for everyone with a volley of arrows. Then, use Captain's Volley until he runs away. For Berethor, use Ecthelion Wrath. For Idrial, use Loud Water Fury. For Eadon, use Rupture Armor. You may also want to use Morgul Decay. Do not have Elgost out, as he misses to much. It is best to have Idrial, Eadon, Berothor, or Morwen.
Use the following trick to defeat the Orc leader in Osgilanth for the second time. Have Eaden, Berothor, and Indrial. You will also have Faramir. First, use Morgul Decay on the Orc captain. Then, if you have Berothor use his three hit move. If you have Eadon, use Rupture Armor. If you have Idrial, use Loudwater Fury. If you have Faramir, use the move that he counter attacks for someone; use it on Idrial. When someone dies, use Idrial's move that brings them back to life. If Idrial, dies use Elf Medicine. Keep doing this until the Orc captain retreats. When you have your turn with Faramir, use Captain's Volley. Also, when your party gets low on health use Lorien's Water.
Defeating enemies with strong attacks
When fighting enemies with strong attacks, use a move that will stun the enemy whenever they are about to attack. By doing this, they will not be able to attack you.
Helm's Deep
When you are at Helm's Deep, find Gamling in the armory. He will tell you to find Aragorn and his friends. Legolas will tell you where Aragorn and Gimli are located if you find him first. Legolas is outside along the wall. You must also find King Theoden who is also outside. After you talk to all of them, you must go back to Gamling. He will tell you that the Orcs broke through and it is time to fight. You will get to fight with Legolas first, Gimli next, then Aragorn last.
Helm's Deep: Exploring and getting more weapons
When you first get to the Helm's Deep level, you will start in the stables. After you save, you will be able to explore the entire fortress. However, if you just want to fight immediately, find Theoden and talk to him. Then, explore the passageways outside of the Great Hall. Look carefully to find Gamling in the armory. He will tell you to look for Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Gimli is in the Great Hall (drinking), Legolas is on the Deeping Wall, and Aragorn is back in the stables talking to his horse. Before you return to Gamling, take some time and explore. By doing this you will find treasure chests containing helpful items. You will also find new bows for Elegost, helms and swords for Berethor and Idrial, axes for Morwen and Hadhod (plus a special hammer for Hadhod if you search hard enough), and possibly a better spear for Eaoden. After doing this, make sure you are ready with your armor and check your stock of Elf Medicine and other items. Then, go to Gamling and he will ask you to join him on the Deeping Wall. After that, the battle will begin.
Transferring Evil Mode treasure
Any treasure acquired in Evil Mode can be transferred to a regular saved game.
Berethor: Good sword
To start the the game with a very good sword for Berethor (the first character you start with), do the evil mode of Osgiliath and save it on an early game. By doing this, you will get the Sword Of Isildur, which has a 200+ damage rating. At the beginning of the game, you can give at least 2,000 damage points from a normal hit with this weapon.
Morwen: Better weapons
Use her Steal Item ability on unique enemies (i.e. Bosses) such as Grima Wormtounge. This will give you weapons not found anywhere else. Note: Some of the Bosses have the same weapons.
Morwen: Ultimate weapon
Use Steal Item from the Witch King at Pelennor Fields to get the Third Age Rohirric Silver Battle Ax (base: x90 +9 per level, +8 Str, -2 Dex, +3 Spd).
Recommended weapons
Throughout the game there will be many different weapons; swords, spears, bows, axes. The better weapons for Berethor would be the First Age Mithril lon sword of the Valar. For Eaoden, the Second Age Silver Spear of the Queen of Lorien. For Hadhod, use his Second Age Dwarven Mithril piercing axe.
Building skills
Get some of the best skills very early in the game, just practice. In the first level, find an enemy respawn point near a save point. Once there, keep attacking until you run out of AP and save the game. Your AP should have refilled, as well as your health. Keep doing this, and after a few hours you will get the special move from Berethor that can hit an enemy five times in a row. Note: This works for all characters, and not just Berethor.
Get to about the Village in Rohan, after you get Morwen, then save the game and travel back to Ereigon. Find some Orcs and fight them. Do not do attack skills. For Morwen, use your Steal skills or her Haste skill. Remember to steal action points. For Idrial, just use Drain Inspiration. You will never run out of points, and it gives you a Spirit point every time it is cast. For Elegost, keep using your Craft Item ability. This will give you a ability point in it, and will give you a free item. For HadHod, keep using either the Rock Shield ability or the Whole Party Flame Shield ability. Again, after awhile you will get a new skill. Remember not to kill the Orcs until you need to heal or level up a skill.
Find a save point anywhere when you get the ability to travel. Then, travel anywhere possible and keep battling (use Spirit Powers or Sword Craft) until you get as many levels and skills as desired. This is best done when you are about to face the Balrog.
In Moria, when you are fighting the Goblin drummer, do not kill the him. Kill the goblins in front of him and leave the drummer. He will call on new Goblins all the time. This is a good way to gain experience and train abilities.
When in Moria and you are fighting a Goblin wizard (not a wizard who uses melee attacks), do not attack him. Just use abilities like Fellowship Grace, Stone Shield, Craft Item and Haste Of The Elves. The wizard will run out of AP and cannot attack.
There are several battles in which the party is surrounded (usually with Orcs). In this example, Berethor, Idrial, Hadhod were used. Battle as usual to kill all foes. However, single out one enemy to never attack. Once all other enemies are killed, you can start using your non-attack Spirit Powers with the two party members that are not facing the enemy. In this example, have Idrial facing a Warg. Every time Idrial's turn comes up, cast Aura Of The Valar (automatic resurrection) so that she can be attacked by the Warg and come back. Meanwhile, just keep casting Company Valor with Berethor (uses the least amount of SP) and cast a low SP spell with Hadhod. Once you run out of SP, use an item to restore it again. Note: This will take some time.
Easy wins
Do not use the normal attack. With Hadhod and Idrial use Spirit Powers. With Elegost, use Ranged Craft. With Berethor, use Sword Craft. With Morwen, use Thief Craft. With Eaoden, use Spear Craft. You will only get new skills if you use Spirit Powers, Sword Craft, Ranger Craft, Thief Craft, or Spear Craft. You will not get new skills by using the normal attack. When you get all skills in the crafts listed, use Axe Craft with Hadhod, Sword Craft with Idrial, Leadership with Berethor, Bow Craft with Elegost, and Dual-Axe Craft with Morwen. Eaoden may have two different kinds of skills. If he does, train the other. If he does not, change him with one of the five others.
Ancient Elfstones
Complete the game, defeat Sauron, and have 100% of the game completed. Then, enter evil mode with this game. After this, choose Pelennor Fields to fight at. Your first battle is Berethor, Eaoden, and Hadhod vs. the Mumakil. Defeat all three of them to go to the Battle Of The Witch-King, then after him, Sauron. Complete all three to gain four Ancient Elfstones.
Gaining new moves
When fighting groups of Orcs, use Elegost's Sleeping Arrows, after getting Elegost's passive skill that effects all foes with them. Then, use the Double Attack skill with Berethor and his three hit attack. Just before killing the last Orc, use everyone's Spirit skill to gain SP points. This will allow you to gain new moves that would normally take many fights to gain.