LOTR Rise To War Black Serpent Guide and Build

Black Serpent is one of those “draw master” Commanders, and with the proper build, items, and troop composition he can easily force draws even against a few armies at once, he is a phenomenal Commander overall and one of the best Commanders in the game. Black Serpent is also one of the iconic characters in the LotR lore and can also be seen as The Haradrim army Commander on a Mumakil before Legolas kills him with a spear in a movie trilogy.

Black Serpent in LOTR Rise To War is great stat-wise as well with below-average stats for Might, but way above-average stats for Focus being one of the highest in the game and slightly above average stats for Speed. Black Serpent is Tier 3 Commander in LOTR Rise To War and the first thing that you need to notice and acknowledge is his base trait which is “Strategist”.

“Strategist” trait will give Black Serpent +25 (Commander) Focus, +2 Skill points, and 10% bonus Burn and Poison damage. Black Serpent’s highest stat is “Focus”. Focus reduces the damage that his designated army receives during battle. Whenever your Commander levels up you will have a skill point to spend in their skill tree.

There are four main skills and thus four different focus points in Black Serpent’s skill tree which we will talk about here. Note that each of these four main skills has two additional skills connected to them which you will unlock upon leveling the main skill to level 2.

Respect level 0 Build

The first one of two starting main skills is “Fire Dancer”. “Fire Dancer” skill when active will give: (Commander) Burn Damage +%. Additionally at the “Fire Dancer” skill max level (Commander) normal attacks will inflict Burn damage. This is a decent skill for extra damage and burst but this should be your last skill to spend points on.

The second main skill is more important in the early game and unless you don’t have Black Serpent at Respect level 3, you shouldn’t spend points on this skill yet. Note that the “Fire Dancer” skill is referenced as a “title” rather than “skill” which essentially means once it’s unlocked and you have a skill point in it, it will act as a passive skill.

As mentioned above upon leveling the “Fire Dancer” skill to level 2 you will unlock its two additional skills which you will be able to level up. These two skills are:
Arson: (Against 2 enemy targets) Deals % Burn damage twice. Each separate attack chooses a different target. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.
Powder Keg: (Against 2 enemy targets) Deals an additional % Burn damage when targets sustain Burn damage. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.

At some point later in your game, you should invest 1 or 2 skill points in “Powder Keg” for additional Burn damage since Black Serpent will be inflicting Burn damage once you put 2 points into the “Fire Dancer”.

Naturally, effect stats % rise as you level up addressed skills.

The second main skill is called “Horn of Harad” which when active will give: (Army) Damage dealt +%, Effect’s initial value gradually decreases over 3 rounds. This is a skill tree to focus on in the early game and until you reach Respect level 3. In the current meta, Black Serpent is proven to work best as a buffing/mitigating Commander for your high damage Evil Men units such as Dragoons, Halberdiers, and Corsairs and that will be your main troop composition.

Note that the “Horn of Harad” skill is referenced as a “title” rather than “skill” which essentially means once it’s unlocked and you have a skill point in it, it will act as a passive skill. Like every other main skill, these stats rise as you level up the skill. At the max level of the “Horn of Harad” skill, the effect will be extended to 4 rounds.

Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Horn of Harad” to level 2 are:
High Alert: (Allied units) Focus, Burn, and Poison damage received -%.
Haven: (Allied units) Physical damage received -%.

These skills are great for damage mitigation and especially important because your units will basically be able to mitigate every type of damage taken. You want to max both of these skills.

Naturally, effect stats % rise as you level up addressed skills.

Respect level 3 Build

Upon reaching Respect level 3 with Black Serpent you will be able to unlock and level up his third main skill called “Haradrim” which when active will give: (Self) Might +amount during combat, (Evil Men) Damage received. This is a skill tree to focus on in the mid-game and as soon as you unlock this skill and max “Horn of Harad”.

This skill is what makes Black Serpent strong with Evil Men troop composition because of additional damage mitigation for Evil Men units that this skill provides. You want to max this skill out as well as your second maxed main skill.

Note that “Haradrim” skill is referenced as a “title” rather than “skill” which essentially means once it’s unlocked and you have a skill point in it, it will act as a passive skill. Like every other main skill, these stats rise as you level up the skill. At the max level of the “Haradrim” skill, Black Serpent will receive additional +15 Might points.

Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Haradrim” to level 2 are:
Tribal Tactics: (Evil Men) % chance of attacking twice.
Evil Alliance: (Evil Men and Orcs) Damage received -%

You should max both of these skills because they just work wonderfully with Evil Men units that you will be running with Black Serpent as the main troop composition.

Naturally, effect stats % rise as you level up addressed skills.

Respect level 5 Build

And finally, upon reaching Respect level 5 with Black Serpent you will be able to unlock and level up his fourth main skill called “Lord of Mumakil” which gives :- (Allied Mumakil) Speed +%.
Additionally at the “Lord of Mumakil” skill max level, Mumakils will no longer attack allied units. While Mumakils are really strong special units, this skill unfortunately isn’t that great for them.

There are some experimental builds with this skill maxed out, and troop composition being a mix between Evil Men and Mumakils, but it rarely proved to be as good as full Evil Men composition mostly because Mumakil is 1 unit per Command and you will not have enough Command to make sustainable troop composition.

You should stick with “Horn of Harad” and “Haradrim” and finally put 2 points into “Fire Dancer” and “Powder Keg”. Note that the “Lord of Mumakil” skill is referenced as a “title” rather than “skill” which essentially means once it’s unlocked and you have a skill point in it, it will act as a passive skill.

As mentioned above upon leveling the “Lord of Mumakil” skill to level 2 you will unlock its two additional skills which you will be able to level up. These two skills are:
Wild Magic: (Against 1 enemy target) Deals % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat) [1 allied unit] inflicts an additional % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat). This skill has 3 rounds of cooldown.
Resupply: (2 allied units) Recover % HP each round (effect modified by Focus stat).

These are decent skills for some bonus Focus damage and HP recovery but there are skills in previous main skills that proved to be more viable with the current best optimal build for Black Serpent.

Naturally, effect stats % rise as you level up addressed skills.