Lord of the Rings Risk: Strongholds

Rule 1: Always keep a group, ideally of cavalry - or even a fast hero - as a "last chance". You can sometimes recover (and even win) in spite of losing all your lands... but only if you escape alive! As long as you have the strength to take a control point, you're still in the game. Rule 2: Don't take lands if you can't hold them. See "Rule 3" for the exceptions to this. Rule 3: Disregard "Rule 2" if you're raiding or harassing; a raid is done to gather troops (especially if you're landless), while harassing is aimed at distracting or weakening an enemy empire.

9.35: ******Balance Changes****** Heroes no longer have the Elite ability. Increased every hero's starting HP by 200. Guard of the Citadel Gold Cost increased from 35 to 57 Esquire of Rohan Gold Cost decreased from 38 to 35 Master Gamgee Gold Cost decreased from 41 to 37 Bearer of the One Ring Gold Cost decreased from 64 to 60 The Brown Wizard Gold Cost decreased from 167 to 160 Captain of Minas Morgul Starting Agility from 63 to 66 Captain of Barad-Dur Starting Agility from 30 to 33 Lieutenant of Minas Morgul Starting Agility from 33 to 37 Lieutenant of Minas Morgul Starting Strength from 44 to 54 Increased Orcish tower damage from 8 to 10. Orcish Towers can now hit two units instead of one. Death Mark armor reduction increased from 3/5 to 5/8. Dwarven Weaponsmith Gold Cost decreased from 3 to 2. Metal Smiths of Ered Engrin Ranged damage reduction increased from 10% to 30%. ******Misc Changes****** Changed the Hotkey of Moranon Orc Leader to Z. changed the Hotkey of Orc Healer to H. Replaced Eastemnet stone walls with wooden walls. Replaced the water in Mordor with Lava Updated UI top with passive versions of the previous icon. Added Diplo and Hive Billboards. Added Hero Glow to all heroes without it. Added color to the Hotkey of every unit to make it more visible. Added color to the Hotkey of every ability to make it more visible. Fixed Light of Eärendil being named incorrectly when you were going to learn it. Updated all the unit hotkeys with the unit's (basic) role. All passive abilities now have a passive icon instead. All autocast abilities now have an autocast icon instead of a regular one. Fixed loading screen displaying the wrong version. Fixed the Extra (F9) string being broken. ****** Extra ****** This version has been a monumental task, it contains a lot of changes that I had been wanting to do to the map for years, and now they're done. As always you can send me feedback to lycannadota@gmail.com

Aragorn (Bree, Eriador) - 109 Gold, 41 Renown Boromir (Eastern Osgiliath, Gondor) - 114 Gold. 33 Renown Dáin II (Ered Engrin, Iron Hills) - 130 Gold, 20 Renown Denethor (Western Osgiliath, Gondor) - 199 Gold, 42 Renown Elessar (Minas Tirith, Gondor) - 242 Gold, 100 Renown Elrond (Rivendell, Eriador) - 157 Gold, 35 Renown Éomer (West Emnet, Rohan) - 154 Gold, 30 Renown Éowyn (Edoras, Rohan) - 102 Gold, 20 Renown Faramir (Hideout in Ithilien, Ithilien) - 102 Gold, 23 Renown Frodo (Westfarthing, The Shire) - 64 Gold, 12 Renown Galadriel (Caras Galadhon, Lórien) - 172 Gold, 43 Renown Gandalf the Grey (Westfarthing, The Shire) - 171 Gold, 44 Renown Gandalf the White (South Fangorn Forest) - 187 Gold, 55 Renown Gimli (Erebor, Mirkwood) - 130 Gold, 35 Renown Glorfindel (Rivendell, Eriador) - 252 Gold, 85 Renown Grimbeorn (Beorning Camp, Misty Mountains) - 134 Gold, 24 Renown Gwaihir (Eagles' Eyrie, Misty Mountains) - 182 Gold, 50 Renown Imrahil (Dol Amroth, Gondor) - 126 Gold, 42 Renown King of the Oathbreakers (Erech, Gondor) - 163 Gold, 30 Renown Legolas (Thranduil's Court, Mirkwood) - 140 Gold, 40 Renown Meriadoc (Eastfarthing, The Shire) - 38 Gold, 8 Renown Morinehtar (North Rhûn, Rhûn) - 163 Gold, 42 Renown Peregrim (Southfarthing, The Shire) - 35 Gold, 7 Renown Radagast (Rhosgobel, Mirkwood) - 167 Gold, 43 Renown Rómestámo (East Rhovanion, Rhovanion) - 159 Gold, 41 Renown Samwise (Westfarthing, The Shire) - 41 Gold, 9 Renown Théoden (Helm's Deep, Rohan) - 216 Gold, 40 Renown Treebeard (West Fangorn Forest) - 268 Gold, 62 Renown

Black Serpent (Haradrim Fortress, Harad) - 100 Gold, 19 Renown Castamir (City of the Corsairs, Umbar) - 80 Gold, 15 Renown Gorbag (Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul) - 62 Gold, 12 Renown Gothmog (Mordor Outpost, Minas Morgul) - 98 Gold, 27 Renown Grishnákh (Morannon, Mordor) - 67 Gold, 13 Renown Lurtz (Isengard) - 153 Gold, 39 Renown Saruman (Isengard) - 175 Gold, 45 Renown Sauron (Barad-Dûr, Mordor) - 415 Gold, 170 Renown Uglúk (Isengard) - 123 Gold, 25 Renown Witch King - Rider (Minas Morgul) - 218 Gold, 25 Renown OR Witch King - Rider (Angmar, Arnor) - 218 Gold, 25 Renown Witch King - Fell Beast (Minas Morgul) - 289 Gold, 61 Renown

Balrog (Goblin Stronghold, Moria) - 165 Gold, 38 Renown Shelob (Torech Ungol, Minas Morgul) - 317 Gold, 98 Renown Sméagol (Goblin Stronghold, Moria) - 128 Gold, 24 Renown

Hero Groups and Elites of the Free Peoples and their Allies: Bonds of Fellowship - Legolas > Gimli Champions of Gondor - Faramir > Boromir > Denethor Defenders of the Earth - Dáin > Radagast > Stone Giants (5 Dominion) Elven Lords - Elrond > Glorfindel Exiled Kings - Aragorn > King of the Oathbreakers Fellowship of the Shire - Pippin > Merry > Sam > Frodo > Gandalf the Grey Forgotten Legends of the East - Morinehtar > Rómestámo Fury of the Beasts - Grimbeorn > Gwaihir > Great Eagles (ELITE - 2 Dominion) Last March of the Ents - Treebeard > Ents (ELITE - 5 Dominion) Legends of Rohan - Éowyn > Éomer > Théoden Light of the West - Galadriel > Gandalf the White Lost Glory of Númenor - Imrahil > Elessar Hero Groups and Elites of the Enemy and his Servants: Orcish Commanders - Gorbag > Grishnákh > Gothmog Scourge of the South - Castamir > Black Númenórean Champion (ELITE - 4 Dominion) Wail of the Wastes - Black Serpent > Mûmakil (ELITE - 10 Dominion) The Hunters - Witch King (I) > Black Riders (ELITE - 5 Dominion) Traitor's Caste - Uglúk > Lurtz > Saruman Wraiths on Wings - Witch King (II) > Fell Beasts (ELITE - 5 Dominion) Other Hero Groups and Elites: Eldritch Alliance - Shelob (50 Dominion) and Sauron (40 Dominion) Shadowy Companions - Sméagol (50 Dominion) and Balrog (40 Dominion)

Advice for Newcomers: 1) Take stock of the lands you've started with; if you have more than one land in a region, that can be a good place to start. If not, choose a small region with cheap (1 Gold) troops. 2) Try to take over as many regions as you can confidently defend. Corners of the map are best if you're planning to play defensively and consolidate. 3) Station troops at all entrances to your kingdom and use your spawns to strengthen them. Keep at least a small treasury; this will allow you to reinforce any of your armies at a moment's notice. 4) Conquer the Stronghold(s) within your kingdom for access to powerful heroes, elite troops and additional spawns. 5) Build up your treasury and buy the most powerful hero you can afford. Keep strengthening your borders. 6) Level up your hero and do not let them die - they cannot be revived, only retrained at level 1. Remember to use tactics to maximise enemy losses and keep yours to a minimum. Use cavalry to flank and charge archers and attack your enemy from several directions if they have left a gap in their defences. 7) Plot campaigns and betrayals. Forge and break alliances as you see fit. Play your enemies against each other and watch their heroes fall. Always be ready to take advantage of an opportunity, but remember that you cannot always predict how other players will react.

For Experienced Middle-earth Risk Or Lord of the Rings Risk Players: 1) Many of the best heroes require you to capture the Strongholds around the map, but not all. Consult the hero lists if in doubt. 2) Strongholds provide extra spawns, income and wood, so even if you already have a powerful hero, it is generally a good idea to capture those within your lands (especially if the various factions are at peace and you cannot afford to declare a war). 3) Strongholds give you access to siege weapons (if you don't already have lands which can build them), so it can be wise to start by capturing the smaller ones and work your way up. There is a clear difference between a ballista and, say, Grond, when trying to quickly destroy a gate. 4) Sometimes it can be a good idea to shelter and give a small kingdom to a player who has done poorly; every ally adds income to your cause. This can come back to haunt you, though, so use your own discretion.

General Guide: 1) Heroes do not revive. You can retrain them, but they will start at level 1 again. 2) Some heroes give access to special elite troops: Black Serpent - Mûmakil Gwaihir - Great Eagles Treebeard - Ents Witch King - Black Riders or Nazgûl on Fell Beasts 3) Heroes will tend to fall under one of three categories: Strategists - These heroes mainly support, buff and provide auras. Champions - These heroes are powerful warriors or spellcasters. Hybrids - These heroes are a balance between the two. 4) In addition to these categories, heroes often fulfil different roles; some are good at slaughtering armies with a cleaving attack or magic, while others are skilled scouts, skirmishers or hero killers. 5) The hero's cost generally gives a good idea of how powerful they are, but there are some exceptions. 6) Sauron is worth buying if you can afford him; he is as powerful as his price suggests. 7) There are secret paths in some strongholds that can allow you to escape if the battle is going ill; they are often marked in some way... 8) Good luck and have fun.

Camera Settings: -close -medium -far To rename: -Rename XXX Alliance Commands: -ally red -ally blue -ally teal -ally purple -ally yellow -ally orange -ally green -ally pink -ally grey -ally lightblue -ally darkgreen -ally brown To unally, just type -unally <colour here>.

Thanks to everyone who's playing and hosting the game, as well as those who've offered feedback and suggestions. You're keeping this vision of Middle-earth alive. Sincerely, Darklycan51.

qpPyKT is the original creator of "LOTR Risk: Strongholds", under the name "Lotr Risk StrongHold" (1.0 - 2.0) and is responsible for the game's fundamentals; he set the original triggers, created the general terrain and set up most of the Strongholds, along with much else besides. My sincere thanks to him for giving me the chance to work from the excellent basis he laid down.