UPDATE:

see deal Middle-earth: Shadow of War - Xbox One $49.99 on Gamestop

Monolith Productions, with its all-seeing eye, has seen your questions, heard your cries, and captured many of them to be answered. See below for the many responses, and, as always, for much more on Middle-earth: Shadow of War

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Az-Laar asks: Why did you have to kill me? :( I could have ruled Mordor alongside Talion/Bright Lord!

Larsvn asks: How do you make sure that Talion and the player knows that Uruks are foul beasts and not someone you want to form a relationship with?

“ We want players to love to hate them. They are also very powerful elements of your army once they are dominated and forced to join you. The combination of personal relationships and useful power can make you get quite attached to them.

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MegaDoro asks: I'm a fan of HUD-less gameplay in favor of a more cinematic experience. Is the HUD at all customizable in the options menu?

TheBeev asks: About how many different (visually) pieces of armor will there be? What will be the sword situation, are there different (visually, again) swords that can be acquired? Any thoughts on armor customization in the future (dyes, etc?)

BrentV13 asks: What will we be able to do with branded grunts? Do we add them to our army? Can we choose specifics grunts that we can train to become captains without them having to kill us?

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Kyle_Gates asks: What level of diversity will we see in the environments? How many and what type of biomes will there be?

Jwalp7 asks: Will Warchiefs still be able to have bodyguards? If they can, will they be with them during a fort assault?

AbitersSpartan asks: Will we be able to customize the layout of the forts we conquer when it comes to upgrades? For example, choosing the layout of walls and entrances, moats, if you wanted, making a fort resembling Helms Deep.

“ You can add traps, deploy artillery like Siege Beasts, and lay traps and mines.

Prankman asks: You've discussed adding a higher difficulty to the game. Will this higher difficulty alter the UI at all (i.e. Counter indicators), or will those still be adjustable through the in-game options?

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Slawek56703 asks: In first gameplay, Dead Eye killed the Warchief. If he wanted to betray us could he kill us instead?

Nathaniel86 asks: Shadow of War, like Shadow of Mordor, is predominantly about killing Uruks, but it would be nice to have some variety of the enemies encountered in the world. How many types of enemies can we find in Shadow of War?

“ The Nazgûl are quite unique and powerful villains, as well as Sauron and the Witch-king. And of course there’s the Balrog.

Jayman_rules asks: Does the armor of the Uruk's/Olog's change or upgrade at all other than promoting one to become overlord?

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Rev21playa asks: Does the new Ring have its own skill tree and special abilities or is it just another way to dominate minds?

Legat1307 asks: What does the defense of your fortress from Sauron look like?

Scott Blackhurst: Can we have AZ-Laar as a DLC character please!?

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Adamwhite1986 asks: Are you able to explore freely around Mordor between the different forts and will Barad-dûr and Mount Doom be accessible to explore?

Xerojatta: What have you changed in combat to make it a harder (or more streamlined) experience?

“ Orcs are now more cunning with regards to when they choose to ambush the player or even leading them into traps. We have increased the scale of the battles as well, so you’ll face powerful captains, while also having to deal with hordes of enemy grunts.

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All month long we've been bringing you special coverage of our IGN First game of the month, Middle-earth: Shadow of War . To close out April, we're excited to host a community Q&A with Monolith Productions, the developer behind Shadow of War. No question is off limits, but the developers will pick which ones they can best answer.Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And you should see the Olog we replaced you with. He’s awesome.Through the Nemesis System we put a lot of work into the varying personalities and memories of the Orcs in order to make them memorable and unique villains. We want players to love to hate them. They are also very powerful elements of your army once they are dominated and forced to join you. The combination of personal relationships and useful power can make you get quite attached to them.What we learned from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was that players would hate their Orc enemies, however when they finally achieved vengeance and killed them, they would almost feel a sense of remorse and miss them. Those sort of emotional connections are the goal of the Nemesis System, and those stories and relationships have expanded enormously in Middle-earth: Shadow of War. And going back to your original question, these themes of power, control and fear are at the heart of Middle-earth: Shadow of War.We do have customization of the HUD with the ability to turn off different elements, including combat prompts, text and hints.We have many sets of different armor, capes, swords, daggers, bows and hammers, including Gondorian, Númenórean , Elven, Dwarven, Ranger and many others. Then each of these sets has up to four tiers of visually different upgrades, and additionally they come with a wide range of tints and dyes. So there is enormous variety.One of your branded grunts who achieve something significant in combat, such as killing an enemy Warchief or a beast, such as a Graug, may be promoted to become a Captain and enter your army during the next battle report.We have enormous diversity, including a large scale city and surrounding wilderness, soaring cave systems, Celebrimbor’s barrows, a temperate island, snowy mountains, a volcanic hell-scape on the slopes of Mount Doom and Barad-dûr itself. Then within each of these environments there is a lot more variety compared to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor in terms of vegetation, topography, Orc outposts and of course the massive Fortresses.Each of these environments are also influenced by the Orc Tribe controlling the Fortress, and this influence spreads throughout the open world.Yes, Warchiefs can have bodyguards and these bodyguards can defend them on Fortress assaults, whether they are defending or attacking. The combination of Fortresses with up to six Warchiefs, along with bodyguards, can make for some truly intense battles.The UI settings, such as the counter indicators, are independent of the difficulty setting so you can play on “Hard” with the counter indicators “ON” or play on “Easy” with them turned “OFF.” The difficulty setting adjusts the aggression and damage of the enemies, the number of last chances, some of the rules around the Nemesis System for enemies leveling and many other things.Not in that particular savior moment, but yes, Orcs can sometimes betray you.We’ve certainly put a lot of effort into enormously expanding the variety of the Uruks, with Tribes, advanced classes and all sorts of new weapons, attacks, behaviors, abilities, etc. But, we have also added quite a few new types of enemies. The most expansive new group of enemies are the Olog-hai, the War Trolls who have all the diversity and richness of the Nemesis System.Yes, the armor and weapons of Captains upgrade as they are promoted. We also have cases where Orcs can earn new titles through achievements in combat or through you giving them orders and retaining them.Its key power is domination and control, however it also allows you to move through the Wraith-world and enables the Elven Wrath skill which can decimate groups of enemies. It can also be customized with runes and gems that increase your focus and the power of your followers.In some ways the defensive siege missions are the reverse of the assaults. You upgrade and customize your Fortress, deploy your Warchiefs and their bodyguards, then face the enemy hordes that are charging your walls and trying to capture the victory points. If your Fortress falls or you are defeated, you need to rebuild your army and re-conquer the Fortress.Every Orc and Olog in everyone’s game is going to be unique, so you are going to have your own amazing Ologs at your side as part of your army. Of course in our game, Az-Laar perished in the flames and died, but we have enemies and followers who can cheat death and return to battle with scars and memories.Yes, the Fortresses are only one corner of each region, and there’s an enormous open world to explore, complete with story missions, rewards, collectibles, and a rich living world of Orc society via the Nemesis System. Before launching the Fortress assault, you can explore the world and build yourself an army worthy of Mordor (to quote Saruman again).On top of that, the beasts and monsters now represent a major threat and can enter combat at any time, including massive enemies like elemental Graugs and Drakes. Additionally, the environment hazards bring more of a threat to the sandbox, including fire, poison and curse. And all of these elements combine with each other to make every fight unique and keep players on their toes. Because we have a larger and more varied world, we can also escalate the threats in different areas, so Gorgoroth near Barad-dûr is particularly deadly. On the other hand, you can now recruit Orcs to be your followers and help you in combat.

Brandin Tyrrel is an Editor at IGN who just recently watched The Lord of the Rings extended edition trilogy again. He's super ready for more Middle-earth and you can find him on Twitter at @BrandinTyrrel