What's the deal with enemy levels?

[LOVE IT!]

Hey so I've not played this game for a while and have come back to it for the first time in a few years. But I can't quite figure out how the level system is meant to work for enemies.

So for example, Cirith Ungol has a Dark Fortress level of 50. Most of the captains I can see are between level 9 and 14. When I go to Gorgototh that region is level... 327. And most of the captains I can see are around level 30. For context I'm level 23.

I'm assuming that the captains in Gorgoroth will kick the bejeezus out of me, and will deal extra damage. Is this correct? Or does it just impact their abilities/weaknesses?

I know that I'll eventually have to capture each area, so I'm guessing that I'm meant to do every quest in the weaker regions before heading into the stronger ones.

It just feels a bit strange because I was able to kill a level 27 captain at level 23 quite easily, but at the same time another captain at level 28 basically shredded my health in 10 seconds. Trying to figure out whether it's due to me being rusty, or if there is some sort of damage scaling going on that's tied to the captain levels.

[hotmatrixx]

Short version; there is 100% damage scaling.
at level 30 you'll one tap a level 10 orc, and get one tapped by a level 80 orc.

I'm guessing, if orcs are spawning 5 levels above you; that you're playing on ez mode? If you go to Gravewalker they spawn around 15 levels above you instead of 5; you'll absolutely feel that difference.

the one that shredded you probably just had a build that had great synergies; but 10 seconds is a long time. Maybe a Slayer with an enrage that you didn't get out of the way of?On harder difficulties, most of them can one-shot you. Even basic Grunts can 2 or 3 shot you.

[LOVE IT!]

Originally posted by Tilted:

Short version; there is 100% damage scaling.
at level 30 you'll one tap a level 10 orc, and get one tapped by a level 80 orc.

I'm guessing, if orcs are spawning 5 levels above you; that you're playing on ez mode? If you go to Gravewalker they spawn around 15 levels above you instead of 5; you'll absolutely feel that difference.

the one that shredded you probably just had a build that had great synergies; but 10 seconds is a long time. Maybe a Slayer with an enrage that you didn't get out of the way of?On harder difficulties, most of them can one-shot you. Even basic Grunts can 2 or 3 shot you.

Ah yeah that makes sense, I actually went to the Cirith Ungol level and now most of the captains that were hitherto unrevealed are a bit above my level. I'm assuming that the captains must spawn in at a level roughly near yours.

I think the captain that killed me had fast strikes or something, but it was mainly due to being rusty at the game. I'm quickly getting the hang of it again. As for the level disparity I'm not sure, I'm playing it on normal at the moment. Enemies tend to range from just over my level up to around 40 in the more extreme cases.

[hotmatrixx]

yeah so you're on an easier difficulty;
enemies will spawn around 5 levels above you on 'easy' and will spawn 15-20 levels above you in Gravewalker. But, die once or twiceand they'll soon be 40 levels above you :(

difficulty can be adjusted at any point with no detriment to the gameplay or achievements; it only affects your health and their damage output. (they do more damage).

On easy you can take around 10 hits; on Nemesis ("Normal", designed for a first playthru) it's about 4, and on Gravewalker it's 2. Brutal it's 1-2, and it's designed for endgame as your might charges real quick. but you can get oneshot by grunts from near full health so....

[Codyzitos]

I started it this year and I didn't knew how frustrating the gameplay could be at nemesis level. I thought that hard mode was just smash button and bonk ork.

But oh boy I got smacked so hard. There was this one orc that kept following me around and getting killed.

One day he showed up as "The machine" saying things like
"You don't understand the iron on your sword like I do" and then I killed him again.

Some time later HE CAME BACK. But this time he was with a massive damage perk. He got a lucky hit on me and killed me. He managed to dethrone the region sovering of cirith ungol and actually made me get excited for a revenge. But when I reached the throne room.

HE GOT ANOTHER LUCKY HIT WITH MASSIVE DAMAGE. So I stopped fooling around. I activated my berserk bodyguard and destroyed all his goons and him in the process and then I shamed him... and shamed him... and then shamed him again.

To this day he still follows me around and I still shame him. He is legendary with a bunch of scars and amputated limbs with iron all over his body.

He looks rough but I don't care.

His A.I managed to predict my movement and hit me exactly where my roll ended 4 FREAKING TIMES. So I dont care if he is demolished.

By the time I stop playing he can go beyond the bounds of a mortal creature and it will still not be enough.

Many games gave me options to do bad things and become a monster. But none made me go mad and torture a fictional creature as SoW did. Great game 10/10.