Grishnakh Build and Guide LOTR Rise To War

Grishnakh is one of the good all around Commanders in the LOTR Rise To War with very decent base stats for Focus and a good set of skills for supporting his army or debuffing enemy army, but since none of his skills are great, he is one of the less popular tier 2 Commanders and usually he is not Commander that people use except as tip completionist.

Grishnakh is Tier 2 Commander and the first thing that you need to notice and acknowledge is his base trait which is “Support”. The “Support” trait will give Grishnakh +25 (Commander) Focus and + 5 Skill points and he usually fits the best with units with high damage because his supportive skills and traits will provide additional sustain which creates a powerful combo. Grishnakh’s highest stat is Focus.

Focus reduces the damage that his designated army receives during battle. Every time 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 Grishnakht’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. On Commander Respect level 0 you will have two starting main skills.

Respect level 0 Build

The first one of two starting main skills is “Assassin” which gives: (Commander) Poison damage +%, Physical damage -%. Additionally at the “Assassin” skill max level, physical damage cannot decrease further.

This is a decent skill, nothing amazing but it is recommended to start with this skill first if you want to send Grishnakh to battles, second main skill that we will talk about below is for tips so it’s a matter of choice with these two starting skills, whether you want your Grishnakh to do tavern/gathering, etc jobs or you want to send him in battles.

Note that “Assassin” 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 “Assassin” skill to level 2 you will unlock its two additional skills which you will be able to level up. These two skills are:

Plague: (Against 2 enemy targets) Deals % Poison damage, cannot recover HP for 2 rounds. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.
Corrupting Curse: (Each Round) [Against 1 enemy target] Deals % Poison damage (Continuous) once for 2 rounds, % chance to inflict Madness. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.

Both of these skills are recommended to put some points in since they are great Poison damage dealing skills, on top of that, enemy units will not be able to heal for some time and they might succumb to Madness.

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

The second main skill is “Warband Leader” which when active will give: Army march speed +%. This isn’t a very useful skill if you chose to take Grishnakh in battles but regardless of its usefulness, you might put some points into it to unlock connecting skills if you are seeking resource/siege bonuses.

Note that “Warband Leader” 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. Additionally on max level of “Warband Leader” skill, acts as 2 Commanders when completing tips. Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Warband Leader” to level 2 are:

Logistics: (Army) Siege +amount.
Collector: Resource gathered +%.

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

Respect level 3 Build

Upon reaching Respect level 3 with Grishnakh you will be able to unlock and level up his third main skill called “Survivor”. “Survivor” when active will give: (Round 5 onwards) [All allied units] Damage received -%. This skill is very good to mitigate damage that your army would potentially receive since there are some really heavy hitters in the game. This should be your focus point in mid-game.

Note that “Survivor” 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 “Survivor” skill, the effect will take place from round 4 onward. Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Survivor” to level 2 are:

Deftness: (Commander) Focus +% and (Commander) Speed +%
Prudence: (First 2 rounds) [All allied units] +% of avoiding Damage, Damage -%. While this skill is buff and debuff at the same time, it is still a great skill since your units will dodge attacks while still doing decent damage.

It is highly recommended to drop the “Warband Leader” tree upon unlocking “Survivor” and spend points in this tree instead.

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

Respect level 5 Build

And finally, upon reaching Respect level 5 with Grishnakh you will be able to unlock and level up his fourth main skill called “Interrogator” which when active will give: (Enemies Stunned or Subject to Madness) Damage received +% for 1 round. Additionally at the “Interrogator” skill max level, damage bonus effects are modified by Speed.

Not much to say about this skill, since it’s neither damage nor buff skill and on top of that it’s modified by Speed at max level. This skill can be useful for Grishnakh, for example, if you have some gear that gives Focus and Speed points, some factors can make this skill benefit from them. Its two connected skills are very good as well and you should keep them in mind when spending points in this skill tree.

This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown. Note that “Interrogator” 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 “Interrogator” skill to level 2 you will unlock its two additional skills which you will be able to level up. These two skills are:

Laceration: (Each Round) [Against 1 enemy target] Inflicts Bleeding, causing the target to suffer % Physical damage (Continuous) for 3 rounds. This skill has 3 rounds of cooldown.
Restrain: (Against 2 enemy targets) % chance of being Stunned for 1 round.
It is highly recommended to put some points on both of these skills since they provide insane Burn damage burts against multiple targets.