The Shadow Build and Guide LOTR Rise To War

The Shadow is one of the best LOTR Rise To War mid-tier Commanders with way above average stats for Focus and Might and average stat for Speed. The Shadow is also one of the iconic characters from LotR lore and folklore being the third strongest of the 7 Nazguls. The Shadow is Tier 2 Commander and the first thing that you need to notice and acknowledge is his base trait which is “Strategist”. “Strategist” trait will give The Shadow +25 (Commander) Focus, +2 Skill points, and 10% bonus Burn and Poison damage.

The Shadow’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 The Shadow’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 1 you will have two starting main skills.

Before we start with the best build for Shadow you should check out LOTR Rise To War on PC for a better gaming experience.

Respect level 0 Build

The first one of two starting main skills is “Undertaker”. “Undertaker” skill when active will give: Normal attacks deal % damage to all enemies. Additionally at the “Undertaker” skill max level, (Commander) normal attacks inflict poison damage.

This is a decent skill to buff your normal and poison damage output, but the second main skill is more viable and in the long run, will prove more useful. You wouldn’t be wrong if you went with this skill over the second main skill since the difference in viability is not noticeable by a large margin. 

Note that the “Undertaker” 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 “Undertaker” skill to level 2 you will unlock two additional skills that you will be able to level up.

These two skills are:
Delayed Plague: (Round 7) [Against 2 enemy targets] Deals a powerful % Poison damage once.
Plague: (Against 2 enemy targets) Deals % Poison damage, Cannot recover HP for 2 rounds. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.

These are decent connecting skills due to their Poison damage potential. If you choose to go with the second main skill, you might consider putting some skill points into “Delayed Plague” and “Plague” for that bonus Poison damage.

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

The second main skill is “Black Numenorean” which gives: (Commander) Normal attacks inflict an additional % Focus damage. Additionally “Black Numenorean” skill at max level gives The Shadow +15 Focus points. This is a powerful early game skill against a single target enemy (ideally enemy Commander) since The Shadow relies on Focus as his main stat.

Note that “Black Numenorean” 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 “Black Numenorean” skill to level 2 you will unlock two additional skills that you will be able to level up.

These two skills are:
Dark Mantle: (Against all enemy units) Physical damage received.
Black Arts: Deals +% Focus damage against 2 enemy targets (effect modified by Focus stat) and enemy targets afflicted by it cannot recover HP for 1 round. Extremely good skill. This skill has 2 rounds of cooldown.

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

Respect level 3 Build

Upon reaching Respect level 3 with The Shadow you will be able to unlock and level up his third main skill called “Ringwraith” which when active will give: (Against all enemies) Burn, Focus, and Poison damage received +%. This is a skill tree to focus on in mid-game.

Note that “Ringwraith” 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. These stats rise as you level up the skill like every other main skill. At the max level of the “Ringwraith” skill, The Shadow will receive a bonus of +15 Focus points.

Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Ringwraith” to level 2 are:
Morgul Poison: (Each round) Normal attacks inflict +% Poison damage (Continuous) for 2 rounds.
Nazgul Screech: (Round 1) [Against 2 enemy targets] +% of being Stunned and inflicts +% Focus Damage (Continuous) after the Stun effect ends (effect modified by Focus stat). This is an extremely powerful skill that you should definitely max out, at max level chances will become 100% so you will basically have guaranteed Stun + Focus burst.

It is highly recommended to drop the “Undertaker” tree in case you spent some points in it upon unlocking “Ringwraith” 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 The Shadow you will be able to unlock and level up his fourth main skill called “Shape of the Void” which when active will give: (First 4 rounds) [Self] % chance to attack twice each round.

This is a decent skill but you should focus on maxing out “Black Numenorean” and “Ringwraith” first before spending skill points in this tree. You might spend 2 skill points upon unlocking this skill because its connecting skills are very good and useful. At the max level of the “Shape of the Void” skill, The Shadow will receive additional +15 Might points.

Note that the “Shape of the Void” 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. Two additional skills that you will unlock upon leveling “Shape of the Void” to level 2 are:

Detect Weakness: (Commander) % chance of gaining damage +%.
Lower Defenses: (On hit) [Against enemy army] % chance to receive additional % damage.

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