Starting out - a few tips.

[Atom.Little]

Here I'm going to describe some of the things that can be very confusing when you first start out, because they aren't explained in-game (they aren't explained anywhere that I have been able to find, anyway).

It can be rather frustrating when the game tells you to do something but mentions nothing about how you might obtain the goal. There are also a few things that you will be told about, but which to your confusion doesn't function when you attempt to do it in the situation where it's supposed to be helpful.

I'm going to describe some of these things when I find out about them as I go along. I'm fairly new with this game myself, and so I'll be able to write things down as I discover them without being burdened with the obstacle of not remembering certain (possibly important) details. This way I will hopefully get most of the discrepancies - along with tips and advice - added in reasonable completeness - though there will always be things that evade my attention. But maybe others will be helpful in that way.

Okay, let's start...
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• You're told in the turotial that you autmomatically go into stealth mode when you enter a cluster of tall bushes (maye have been described in different words), but in truth this only applies to the lowest ranking orcs, and only if they're positioned at a distance. Captains/leaders will spot you from a distance without problem (I don't know how much you will have to increase in power or other ways before you become difficult to spot also for the higher ranking orcs.
  
  
• Some combat moves cannot be used without unlocking so called Engrams first. You do this by gaining Stength/Power and by acquiring artifacts. The game will explain how you can discover where such artifacts can be found. - An example of a combat move you cannot use from the beginning is the 'Drain' spell which you engage by pressing 'E' (I don't know about the console set-up, but it is listed under Options along with Keyboard & Mouse bindings).
  
  
• There are some things you won't be told. For example, when in 'Wraith Mode' (the ghostly appearance which you enter by pressing 'V'), you can shoot 'elf arrows', but be aware that the amount of arrows available is not unlimited. I haven't counted how many you are at your disposal, but you will find out soon enough when you attempt to shoot and arrow and find you can't do so. -- A text message will then tell you to "find more arrows", but I have yet to figure out how to do this; I haven't seen any arrows anywhere so far (except in the hands of an orc with a bow about to shoot you). -- An exception to this is when you get killed. Once you re-spawn, you will again have the original number of arrows.
  
  
• The first time you're send into the field you're given three kinds of missions. One of them is to Kill 3 Spiders. However, there is no indication anywhere as to how you will be able to do this, and you'll soon enough find that your sword (or bow for that matter) can't do them any harm. No matter how much you run about and swing your weapon, it only makes you look more foolish. The solution to the problem is to press 'E' whn you are just above them. Even then it may not work every time because you have to be positioned just right, and so do they, but it'll soon become second nature to get the bastards.
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  Thank you for reading. And please add your own discoveries,, tips, and advice, etc.
  
  Good gaming ahead.

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Originally posted by AmaDraque:

• You're told in the turotial that you autmomatically go into stealth mode when you enter a cluster of tall bushes (maye have been described in different words), but in truth this only applies to the lowest ranking orcs, and only if they're positioned at a distance. Captains/leaders will spot you from a distance without problem (I don't know how much you will have to increase in power or other ways before you become difficult to spot also for the higher ranking orcs.

Some Captains can have a trait called Tracker (may be another one, it'll be in amongst their Strengths) and that could be what's happening. I've noticed that Captains that don't have that ability are as blind as any other uruk. Just keep in mind what direction they're looking when you're sneaking between bushes/other concealment and remember that you can hold down both the Sneak and Sprint keys together to move fast without sacrificing stealth.

Some combat moves cannot be used without unlocking so called Engrams first. You do this by gaining Stength/Power and by acquiring artifacts. The game will explain how you can discover where such artifacts can be found. - An example of a combat move you cannot use from the beginning is the 'Drain' spell which you engage by pressing 'E' (I don't know about the console set-up, but it is listed under Options along with Keyboard & Mouse bindings).

You do have Drain from the start; you just hold E and you'll suck some of the life from an orc and can be used to replenish your arrows. I've never seen them referred to as Engrams, just Upgrades or Skills. The ones with Red locks on them require you to gain enough Power by killing captains or influencing Power Struggles to unlock that row of upgrades. The ones with Yellow locks are unlocked by certain main story missions (the gold icons on the map). The Drain one you're thinking of is probably Combat Drain, which works like a Drain version of the Combat Execution skill (the one where you press F after building up your combo multiplier high enough to instantly kill an orc).

There are some things you won't be told. For example, when in 'Wraith Mode' (the ghostly appearance which you enter by pressing 'V'), you can shoot 'elf arrows', but be aware that the amount of arrows available is not unlimited. I haven't counted how many you are at your disposal, but you will find out soon enough when you attempt to shoot and arrow and find you can't do so. -- A text message will then tell you to "find more arrows", but I have yet to figure out how to do this; I haven't seen any arrows anywhere so far (except in the hands of an orc with a bow about to shoot you). -- An exception to this is when you get killed. Once you re-spawn, you will again have the original number of arrows.

Few points to cover here; Wraith Mode is just for vision, you don't have to be in it to use arrows but you'll automatically move into Wraith Mode while aiming the bow (story-wise it's because the Wraith is the one controlling Talion's body for the shot; he knows how to fire a bow far better than Talion does... bloody elves). Any time you're playing, just hold right-mouse button to draw the bow.

While aiming the bow, you will consume Focus which slows time and makes it easier to aim your shots (which are already easy enough since the arrows reach the target instantly and travel in perfectly-straight lines, so no need to compensate for a ballistic arc like you do in, say, Skyrim). You can hit Spacebar while aiming to toggle Focus on and off, so if you don't want to consume Focus with a shot, you don't have to. I believe you start with either 4 or 6 arrows. Holding left mouse button while aiming will draw the bow, a fully-drawn headshot will instantly kill any uruk short of a Captain (unless they have a Vulnerability to ranged attacks). As I said before; you can replenish arrows by either Draining uruks or, more conveniently, check the map for any Arrow icons. They represent spectral arrows stuck into the terrain that Talion can collect by pressing Control - each one you collect replenishes two or three shots.

The first time you're send into the field you're given three kinds of missions. One of them is to Kill 3 Spiders. However, there is no indication anywhere as to how you will be able to do this, and you'll soon enough find that your sword (or bow for that matter) can't do them any harm. No matter how much you run about and swing your weapon, it only makes you look more foolish. The solution to the problem is to press 'E' whn you are just above them. Even then it may not work every time because you have to be positioned just right, and so do they, but it'll soon become second nature to get the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s.

That's a Drain you must have done. There are two easier ways to kill them; shoot them with an arrow (don't have to draw it back, just tap left mouse button to fire off a weak one) or physically move Talion to step on them.

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Now for a tip of my own.

This is more of a late-game one, but after you've gotten the ability to Brand orcs; if you ever want to get intel on a Captain and you don't see any intel markers on the map or there are other complications (like, say, the guy with the intel is about to walk head-long into a pack of catagors), use Wraith Mode and look over any Branded orcs nearby. If they have intel, they'll be highlighted green. Even though they're branded, you can still go over and grab them to interrogate them about any unknown captains. Same deal if there's a branded captain nearby.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by AmaDraque:

Here I'm going to describe some of the things that can be very confusing when you first start out, because they aren't explained in-game (they aren't explained anywhere that I have been able to find, anyway).

No offence, but you should really get an understanding of the game yourself before offering advice like this to new players

Captains/leaders will spot you from a distance without problem (I don't know how much you will have to increase in power or other ways before you become difficult to spot also for the higher ranking orcs.

Captains are just blind as regular Orcs unless they have a Strength that allows them to discover you. Even then, they're not really all that good at it. I've managed to catch a number of Captains with that ability flat-footed.

An example of a combat move you cannot use from the beginning is the 'Drain' spell which you engage by pressing 'E'

That is simply not true, you have that ability right from the beginning. If it's not working for you, then there is something wrong with your game. The E key serves two functions. If you tap it, you can stun an enemy so they're completely helpless against your blows. You also go into a fast flurry of attacks which can rapidly build up your Hit Streak. If you hold the key down, rather than tapping it, you can replenish your Elf Shots. Each time you use that ability against an Orc you regain 4 arrows, though you have to wait until the sequence has been completed and you can get interrupted by another Orc hitting you. If you hit the Orc you've drained a couple of times and do some damage, you can drain him a second time for 4 more arrows, and that action will kill him outright, rather than just stun him for a short time. Which addresses your next point about the scarcity of arrows.

I haven't seen any arrows anywhere so far (except in the hands of an orc with a bow about to shoot you).

Keep an eye on your mini-map, you'll see arrows all over the place. They can be hard to find at first, some of them are tucked away in some obscure nook or cranny. But they respawn so once you know where they are, you will always be able to get them.

The solution to the problem is to press 'E' whn you are just above them. Even then it may not work every time because you have to be positioned just right, and so do they, but it'll soon become second nature to get the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s.

Actually it's even easier than that. Just step on them. Small animals will get squished if you walk or run over top of them. I was given a later challenge to kill 3 Rats, and was surprised to find that it had finished itself simply by me moving around on the map.

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Originally posted by Belanos:

Actually it's even easier than that. Just step on them. Small animals will get squished if you walk or run over top of them. I was given a later challenge to kill 3 Rats, and was surprised to find that it had finished itself simply by me moving around on the map.

Or complete it accidentally by having the rats caught in the blasts from exploding grog. :P

[Belanos]

Originally posted by B'oh ShadowFighter88:

Or complete it accidentally by having the rats caught in the blasts from exploding grog. :P

I never thought of that. I like blowing things up so maybe that's what happened. Blowing up campfires and grog barrels can be an efficient way up building your XP level, as you can take out a bunch of Orcs with just a single bow shot. Not to mention that some Captains are afraid of burning and will run away like a baby when they take damage from an explosion. Of course the opposite is true as well, for Captains that hate getting burned.

[BlakLite]

Originally posted by Belanos:

Originally posted by B'oh ShadowFighter88:

Or complete it accidentally by having the rats caught in the blasts from exploding grog. :P

I never thought of that. I like blowing things up so maybe that's what happened. Blowing up campfires and grog barrels can be an efficient way up building your XP level, as you can take out a bunch of Orcs with just a single bow shot. Not to mention that some Captains are afraid of burning and will run away like a baby when they take damage from an explosion. Of course the opposite is true as well, for Captains that hate getting burned.

Here's a fun tidbit that I learned just recently. If you shoot a campfire or grog barrel with a Fire Arrow instead of a normal arrow, then the ensuing explosion is larger, deadlier, and prettier. Plus, Defenders can't shield themselves from it.

[Atom.Little]

One of the tips I got from the second website I listed is that the orcs will look for you where they last saw yuou, so if you run away and hide you can escape.

Not true., The captains will foillow you to the end of the world or at least the ed of their area.

[Atom.Little]

Sorry, I'll read and reply to the things you've replied, I just need to let the steam blow off a little first. I'm SO tired of being killed and send back to that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tower. Half the orc army are now tagged as revenge targets, and half are stronger than me, some became strongfer while I was offline.

[Romløk]

Originally posted by Belanos:

That is simply not true, you have that ability right from the beginning. If it's not working for you, then there is something wrong with your game. The E key serves two functions. If you tap it, you can stun an enemy so they're completely helpless against your blows. You also go into a fast flurry of attacks which can rapidly build up your Hit Streak. If you hold the key down, rather than tapping it, you can replenish your Elf Shots.

While it is true that you have these abilities from the start, the tutorial popups which actually tell the player that they have these abilities don't actually appear until a fair way into the game IIRC.

One thing that I've never seen a tutorial for - or even a mention of - is the QTE that happens when you get pinned down by a Caragor. It's somewhat like a normal last-chance or Caragor-dominate, but it just shows a timing circle and a key indicator. It took me a couple of deaths to work out what was going on - you have to hammer the displayed key as fast as possible, to catch up with the timer before the it runs out.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by AmaDraque:

One of the tips I got from the second website I listed is that the orcs will look for you where they last saw yuou, so if you run away and hide you can escape.

Not true., The captains will foillow you to the end of the world or at least the ed of their area.

If you hide, you will see a white image of yourself which marks the last location that the Orcs have seen you. Which means that they will only look for you in the area of that outline. If you move away from that not even the Captains will follow you, unless he has a special tracking ability. While the Captains will chase you for longer than the regular Orcs, they will give up eventually and head back to where they came from.

[ScarredPunLover]

While I know this thread was made a long time ago, and this only helps with certain challenges later on, one thing I have never seen mentioned is that while using a bow, you can instantly kill branded uruks and beasts by looking at them with the bow drawn and tapping e. This will be useful if you need a new rune or need to complete a beast challenge related to graugs and caragors. I have tried seeing if it would return in Shadow of War, but it hasn't worked for me yet