Middle-earth: Shadow of War – One Update to Rule Them All, Out Today

There’s never been a better time to walk into Mordor for the first time, or to walk right back in if you played Middle-earth: Shadow of War when it released.

Here at Monolith, we are so excited for today’s release of our massive game improvement update. Since Shadow of War launched, we’ve had the Flaming Eye pointed directly at our fantastic community, and we’ve been continually watching, reading and listening to your comments, criticisms and recommendations. We want to say thank you because you’ve helped us make Shadow of War into a game we are truly proud of.

We’ve removed the market, streamlined and improved the post-campaign Epilogue, added new player skins, new Legendary gear including Nazgûl masks so you can really confuse those Orcs and introduced hundreds of fixes and improvements.

And if you want to try out Shadow of War before diving into the best version ever of the game, you can play a new demo releasing tomorrow (Update: now live!) in conjunction with the update to experience the dynamic personal stories of the Nemesis System as you conquer your first fortress.

Here are just some of the improvements we’re most excited about:

Free Reign

We’ve completely removed the market and microtransactions from Shadow of War. Now we have the Garrison where Orcs you recruit through Online Vendettas and Ranked Conquests will be stored, and you can now spend in-game Mirian to train, upgrade and customize your personal Orc army.

The Shadow Wars

The post-campaign Epilogue has been massively streamlined and polished to include new narration from Shelob, the Witch-king and Dark Talion. Victory in the Epilogue rewards you with the masks of the Nazgûl, unlocks powerful new abilities to raise the dead, summon more powerful monsters or curse your enemies. And if you want to keep upgrading and defending your fortresses and your army in Mordor, you can do so after the final credits roll.

More Power to You

In addition to new Nazgûl gear, the level cap has been increased to 80, and you can level up faster with greater XP rewards for Nemesis missions, defeating Captains and online fort assaults. New Prestige Skills available after Act III can be unlocked multiple times. You can also spend Mirian to upgrade your gear to your current level if you can complete the upgrade challenge.

New Skins

Take the fight to Sauron as Celebrimbor, reliving the first War for Mordor or as Dark Eltariel.

Nemesis Improvements

Even the Orcs have some presents for you. There are more Legendary Orcs to encounter, followers can now surprise you with the occasional gift. And if you think your followers are too keen to help and have been stealing your kills, you can turn off the savior feature in the menu.

Thanks so much for reading this. The time has come to head back through the Black Gate and take the War to Mordor. We can’t wait to hear what you think.