Saruman Build and Guide LOTR Rise To War

With no doubt Saruman is one of the most iconic and hated characters from the LOTR movie series and Tolkien’s lore of Middle Earth as well as Commander in the LOTR Rise To War. As Gandalf’s counterpart and his arch-nemesis, also referred to as a traitor, Saruman has an impact on the overall lore of Middle Earth.

Saruman has great base stats all across the board and he is Tier 3 Commander. The first thing that you need to notice and acknowledge is his base trait which is “Balanced“. “Balanced” trait will give Saruman +25 (Commander) Might, +25 (Commander Speed), and +2 Skill points. Saruman’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 Gandalf’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 skill of the two starting ones is “Of Many Colors” which when active will give: Deals % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat), % Burn damage (effect modified by Focus stat), and % Poison damage (effect modified by Focus stat). The target of each instance of damage is chosen randomly.

At the max level of the “Of Many Colors” skill Saruman will also receive additional +15 Focus points. This is a bit of RNG skill because targets are chosen randomly but it’s an excellent damage skill and it should be your focus point in the early game, especially because of the Poison and Burn damage which can cause massive damage.

Since Saruman’s main stat is Focus, bonus Focus points that he will receive at max level of this skill will also work great in favor of this skill because effects are modified by Focus stat. This skill is one of his primary skills and you want to level it up whenever it’s available to do so. As mentioned above upon leveling the “Of Many Colors” skill to level two you will unlock its two additional skills which you will be able to level up. These two skills are:

Focus Discharge: (Against 3 enemy targets) Deals % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat), [Against enemy Commander and their units] Greatly reduces damage for 1 round. This skill has 5 rounds cooldown
Trembling Strike: (Against 2 enemy targets) Deals % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat). This skill has 1 round cooldown.

Both of these skills are absolutely amazing bursting skills, you should max both of these skills along with the main skill. On top of that, every skill is modified by Focus stat which is Saruman’s highest stat and enemy Commander and their unit will receive damage debuff.

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

The second main skill is “Palantir Scryer” which when active will give: (This Commander) % chance of succumbing to Madness for 2 rounds, (2 allied units) Damage received -% for the next 2 hits (effect modified by Focus stat). This is also a great skill but “Of Many Colors” is slightly more viable in the long run.

Although you wouldn’t be wrong if you chose to go with this skill instead of the first main skill.  Like every other main skill, these stats rise as you level up the skill. At the max level of the “Palantir Scryer” skill, the chance of succumbing to Madness will be reduced to 15%.

Note that the “Palantir Scryer” 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. This skill has 1 round cooldown. Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Palantir Scryer” to level 2 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.
Fanaticism: (All melee units) Damage +% each round.

Both of these skills are great but unlike two skills from the “Of Many Colors” skill tree, here, one skill is Saruman’s burst damage and the other is to buff your unit’s damage. If you chose to use this skill tree instead, these two skills should be maxed out.

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

Respect level 3 Build

Upon reaching Respect level 3 with Saruman you will be able to unlock and level up his third main skill called “Voice of Saruman” and when active it gives: (Each Round) [against 2 enemy units] % chance of succumbing to Madness. Like every other main skill, these stats rise as you level up the skill.

At the max level of the “Voice of Saruman” skill, it will affect all enemy units. Note that the “Voice of Saruman” 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.

This is a great debuffing skill tree that you might switch to if you have too many points in “Palantir Scryer” in mid-game if you want to get the highest chance as possible to land that Madness debuff, you can spend some points on this skill, as well as for unlocking its two connecting skills which can be very useful for additional debuffs. Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Voice of Saruman” to level 2 are:

Astonish: (Against enemy Commander) % chance to inflict stun for 1 round. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.
Soul Siphon: (Against 2 enemy units) Deals % Focus damage (effect modified by Focus stat), (2 allied units) recover % HP (effect modified by Focus stat.

Both of these skills are great and well worth investing points in, not only because of Stun and Focus damage but also because of HP recovery and chance to Stun enemy Commander.

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

Respect level 5 Build

And finally upon reaching Respect level 5 with Saruman you will be able to unlock and level up his fourth main skill called “Sharkey” which when active will give: (Orcs, Uruk-hai and Evil Men) Damage dealt +%. Like every other main skill, these stats rise as you level up the skill. At the max level of “Sharkey” skill, Saruman will receive additional +15 Focus points.

Note that “Sharkey” 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. This should be your focus point in the late game, it’s an amazing skill since it will buff pretty much all of your units (except Trolls for example) and it will give even more Focus points to Saruman. Some heavy-hitting units will become absolute powerhouses with this skill.

Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Sharkey” to level 2 are:

Uruk-hai Captain: (Uruk-hai) % chance of recovering % HP after dealing damage.
Morgul Commander: (Uruk-hai and Orcs) Damage received -%.

Both of these skills are very good but they will not buff all of your units, they are as mentioned specifically for your Uruks and Orcs, nonetheless, it’s worth putting some points in these skills to give your Uruks and Orcs more sustain and mitigation.

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