__________ __ __ .__ _____
\______ \_____ _/ |__/ |_| | ____ _/ ____\___________
| | _/\__ \\ __\ __\ | _/ __ \ \ __\/ _ \_ __ \
| | \ / __ \| | | | | |_\ ___/ | | ( <_> ) | \/
|______ /(____ /__| |__| |____/\___ > |__| \____/|__|
\/ \/ \/
_____ .__ .___ .___.__ ___________ __ .__
/ \ |__| __| _/__| _/| | ____ \_ _____/____ ________/ |_| |__
/ \ / \| |/ __ |/ __ | | | _/ __ \ | __)_\__ \\_ __ \ __\ | \
/ Y \ / /_/ / /_/ | | |_\ ___/ | \/ __ \| | \/| | | Y \
\____|__ /__\____ \____ | |____/\___ > /_______ (____ /__| |__| |___| /
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
.___.___
| | |
| | |
| | |
|___|___|
_________ __ __
/ _____// |_____________ _/ |_ ____ ____ ___.__.
\_____ \\ __\_ __ \__ \\ __\/ __ \ / ___< | |
/ \| | | | \// __ \| | \ ___// /_/ >___ |
/_______ /|__| |__| (____ /__| \___ >___ // ____|
\/ \/ \/_____/ \/
________ .__ .___
/ _____/ __ __|__| __| _/____
/ \ ___| | \ |/ __ |/ __ \
\ \_\ \ | / / /_/ \ ___/
\______ /____/|__\____ |\___ >
\/ \/ \/
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Update Journal
3. Helpful Advice
4. Counter Strategies
a) Elves
b) Dwarves
c) Men
d) Goblins
e) Mordor
f) Isengard
5. Strategies
a) Elves
b) Dwarves
c) Men
d) Goblins
e) Mordor
f) Isengard
6. Author Contact Info
7. Credits
1. Introduction
One of the reasons Battle for Middle Earth II is so fun is its online
feature. Sometimes, though, you can get baffled by a better player, so a bit
of help doesnt hurt. The key to online battle is countering, so that will be
touched upon first, then regualar strategies. Your strategies are just as
important as mine, so feel free to critique this FAQ or to submit a strategy
to me. My contact info is right after the guide, so dont hesitate to e-mail
me.
2. Update Journal
V 1: This strategy guide launches!
V 1.1: A few strategies are added; preparing for the 1.03 patch and some major
updates; changed the title art slightly.
V 1.3: Strategies have been added and old ones have been tailored to conform
the recent patch.
3. Helpful Advice
I was on the forums when I heard someone ask how to build the
perfect army. To quote myself, I said, "Bear with me. This is a metaphor with
world war one. Each side was building their militaryand thought they had the
perfect army and that they were unbeatable. Then war came. You know the rest.
What I'm trying to say is, if you think about a perfect army you might just
get a quite imperfect army. Like, this elf guy gets alot of units, but
particularly archers, and thinks "I am unbeatable." His opponent spys on him
and just happens to be men of the west, so he builds rohirrim and theoden,
with some gondor tower guard and ithilien rangers thrown in. The rohirrim beat
up the archers like a school bully and proceed to destroy the base. Try to get
the exact opposite mentality- I CAN'T build the perfect army. If I try to, Ill
get burned so bad I'll need lotion. Instead, I'll see what army hes building
and kill HIM. Back to the metaphor. This reinforces the point. What if the
Allies knew there would be trenches on the western front in world war one?
They might just attack the southern front. Just like if you know a dwarf
player is going guardians. Build archers galore."
3. Counter Strategies
a)
First, what makes elves powerful? Their archers. Period. They have
weak melee units and archers are their main focus. Elven archers are
powerful, made infinitely stronger by Silverthorn Arrows. This is the
toughest aspect of the Elves to overcome. Here are a few strategies that
take this into account:
Cavalry is very fast and can get to an archer battalion before theyre
defeated, even if the enemy has silverthorn. Try having fodder in the front
to divert the enemys attention. Usually, an experienced player will guard
their archers with pikemen, so the best fodder is warriors. The resulting
confusion will allow your cavalry to flank and defeat the archers. If you
want to, you can also use catapults, trolls, and the like.
Silverthorn Arrows were meant to be a mid to late game upgrade.
When the Elves head straight for it they stifle their economy and have the
ability to build few units. So a good strategy is not to let them get the
upgrade. A rush can do wonders, and if youre lucky itll destroy their
entire base. One of the best suited races for a rush against elves is dwarves.
They have the best warriors and have the best chance of winning against
the Elves.
Heroes are more resistant to arrows than would be thought. Throw one
or two of these into your army and you have a little more force. But remember
that even a hero can't stand up to an army alone. My best advice for anything
is to have a healthy, strong mix of warriors, archers, pikemen, cavalry, dont
forget siege, maybe add a hero, and your army is that much harder to beat.
b)
Dwarves have many strong points that make them a faction to
reckon with. But to reckon against- thats another story. They have the
strongest warriors, good siege weapons, and unique units. But one of their
key weaknesses is their inability to travel quickly on terrain. You need to
exploit this weakness to take the battlefield.
Guardians are the strongest warriors in the game. A single battalion
of guardians will defeat a single battalion of goblin warriors, elven
warriors, gondor soldiers, etc. Well, this can be overcome. Use cavalry such
as rohirrim or spider riders to take out guardians. Be sure to flank them (hit
them from the side or back) or they can still beat the cavalry. This is where
it gets complicated. Theyll probably start making phalanx. These pikemen
will take out your cavalry unless youre careful. You should run away from
any phalanx you encounter. If they give chase, then run into your archers,
which will take out the enemy phalanx.
Catapults and battering rams are easy to counter when attacking on
their own, but mixed into an army they become a huge pain. To counter
catapults, take some of your cavalry (one or two battalions) and go around
the enemy army to the catapults and take them out. If phalanx are
protecting them, bring archers and soldiers in. Battering rams will die
when the rest of the army is taken care of.
The battlewagon is one of the most versatile units in the dwarven
army. It can have a flag, a hearth, men of dale, or axe throwers. But it is
cavalry, and it?s fast, so be on your toes for these. The most effective
counter is to send pikemen after them, but avoid sending a single battalion
after a retreating battlewagon, or it will most likely counter an army. Do
not put your pikemen in porcupine formation, though. If you do this, the
battlewagon can stay there and have men of dale or axe throwers pick off
your battalion.
Dwarves can make walls that can be upgraded. To punch through
these, youll need catapults/ents/trolls with some protection. Before the
dwarves can get there, the wall will have a massive hole.
Dwarves are not the fastest race. Use this to your advantage on the
attack and the defensive. For example, you can send archers to harass an
army and run away when the army gets close. Repeat and repeat and
repeat. When you attack their base, target mines so they cant reinforce
their base quickly. On the defensive you can send units around the army to
attack it from the back and slow them even further so you can bring forces
to defend that section of your base. You can also attack their base when
theyre attacking yours. It will take a lot of time for their army to reach
your forces, in which time you?re chasing THEIR army.
c)
Men can be very hard to beat if theyre played right, but its easy to
countermen if you know what youre doing. They have several things that
you should worry about: rohirrim, trebuchets, and tower guard. But if you
blend your forces you can overcome this.
Rohirrim are perhaps the best cavalry. They can switch from spear to
bow to counter pikemen, and they can take down flying units with their
bows. Ordinary counters dont work. Combined with trebuchets that
bombard any archers attacking the trebuchets and tower guard to defend
the catapults, it takes a lot to take the Men of the West down. To do this,
you need a healthy mix of pikemen, archers, and warriors. Divide your
pikemen into two groups. One protects archers and one protects warriors.
Have your warriors attack the trebuchets/tower guard. With them
preoccupied and eventually destroyed, your archers and pikemen will have
no problem driving the rohirrim back and eventually taking the fight to
their base. Another thing to watch out for is the ivory tower in the late
game.
Later in the game, the opponent will have created ivory tower. This
means that he can attack wherever he chooses with this increased vision.
One good way to keep watch is to set patrols with cheap units. This way
you?ll be forewarned and can move forces to protect your base.
Men can also create walls that can be upgraded. This means he can
set boundaries on his base and create arrow towers and defensive
trebuchets on the walls. Walls are frail, and do not take a lot to take down
though. Usually three catapults/ents/trolls with some protection will do.
When an army is in front of the wall, bring an army of your own with the
siege equipment. You could even use your siege weapons on a crowd to
take out a lot of men.
d)
Goblins can be a pain. They have several attributes that make them
dangerous and possibly one of the best races. Their spider riders, warriors,
and half-trolls are strong, and Drogoth can even squeeze off a fire shot
before he is killed by archers.
Spider riders, like rohirrim, can switch between spear and bow and so
pikemen alone will not kill them. You need pikemen and archers both going
after the spider riders. Keep a few pikemen to guard the archers while the
rest go after the riders. Their spider riders will be forced to retreat.
Combined with an army, you can go all the way to the goblin base.
Goblin warriors are not strong in the guardian sense. They are
strong in the sense that they can use poisoned blades to give them an edge.
To keep your troops alive, have a medic (battlewagon with a hearth) or a
well/hearth/mirror and heroic statue to retreat to. Once a battalion gets a
banner carrier they have more chance for survival because they can replace
dead troops.
Half-trolls are pikemen, but dont let that fool you. One might think
to use warriors to counter them. That will not work for every race. Half-
trolls are very strong and are slightly les skilled at taking down warriors
than guardians are. To be sure, back up warriors with archers when you
face these nasty things.
Drogoth dies quickly to arrows, but to be on the safe side, make sure
you have a lot of bows when you are facing a player using him. Drogoth
can make a sizable hole in an army if you arent careful. If you see him, try
to spread your troops out to minimize loss by fire breath.
e)
Mordor has a few strong units and a few weak ones. Their strong units
include trolls, mumakil, and their flying heroes. Their weak units are their
infantry units.
To counter their trolls and mumakil youll want archers and pikemen.
Mumakil and trolls will die quickly because pikemen and archers are strong
against both mumakil and trolls.
Their infantry may be weak but Mordor has a lot of it. Try to get
units out as soon as possible. Preferably archers and warriors, then get
pikemen to counter trolls.
Their flying heroes are a menace to an all melee army, so make
sure to have a diverse army. They die pretty quickly to archers, so youll
be fine with archers, soldiers, and pikemen.
Get some cavalry to hook around a Mordor army and kill any
catapults. Once these catapults are taken care of you can use them to help
destroy the enemy army. Be sure not to run them in to easterlings.
f)
Isengard is one of the best factions in my belief. They have wargs,
good infantry, and siege weapons that are better than average. Their weakness
is, well, ok theyre well rounded but they can be defeated.
Your main priority when the game starts is to build warriors and
archers. After you have a somewhat large force build pikemen to defend from
wargs. It is all the better to have cavalry to help take out infantry, but
dont waste all that time and oney by runnin your cavalry into pikemen.
Your next worry is siege equipment. You want to build
catapults/ents/trolls to take down siege equipment. Watch out for mines. If
you find a mine, keep ALL SOURCES OF FIRE AWAY. Do not attack it with any
fire arrows, fire catapults, even wild men of dunland with torches shouldnt
be near. Take a catapult that doesnt have fire or an ent or troll and clear
the mine. Ballistas are taken out by catapults/ents/trolls. Battering rams
should be attacked with siege equipment or regular units, because theyre slow
and usually wont make it to your base before being destroyed.
4. Strategies
a) Elves
Elves have several strategies that can make them formidable. One is
having archers and sentries, and another involves heroes. But for now lets
focus on the archers and sentries.
Elven archers are the best and protected by sentries, they cannot be
taken down by cavalry. This means they can take down warriors, cavalry, other
archers, and pikemen. But they can be taken down by siege weapons, which out-
range archers. To make this an even more potent combo, you can add ents. Once
the opposition has siege weapons, you should have ents. These can be
stationed with your archers and take down any siege equipment challenging
your archers. The other good thing is that now this formation can move
forward to the enemy base and destroy building because of the ents.
Elven heroes are some of the best because of their durability. With
their healing powers they can stay on the battle field even longer. While you
defend with lancers and archers, use spare resources to construct heroes. My
personal favorite is thranduil for his stealth ability. He can shoot down a
few soldiers, run to a safe distance, then do it again. If you're lucky, itll
go unnoticed too. But thats only if youre really lucky. When you have a force
of heroes and some archers and cavalry go to your enemys base with your heros
and cavalry at the front. Where there are pikemen use heroes and anything
else use cavalry.
b) Dwarves
Dwarves have a host of strategies that help them achieve victory. Of
these are the guardian rush, the battlewagon the mighty catapult, the regular
catapult, and wall building.
The guardian rush is a feared tactic. Use this wisely and youre
almost ensured victory. To execute this, build a mine and hall of warriors at
the beginning of the match. Then build another mine and some guardians. Do
this as quickly as possible. Now, send your guardians at the opponent while
building mines to help your economy. Keep a constant flow of guardians out of
your hall. If things are going well you can build a mine near the enemy base
to quicken the arrival of reinforcements. Start mixing your guardians with
ranged units. Gloin would be a nice addition to your forces if you had the
money. In your enemys base the main priorities are the barracks and the
fortress. With these two down there will be much less resistance. Then just
wipe up the remaining buildings and you defeated your opponent.
The battlewagon is speedy, versatile, and powerful. It can take out
warriors, archers, and if used properly, pikemen. As the only dwarven unit
faster than a snail, these can really help out. Mixed with the rest of the
dwarven units, this can provide even an unfair edge. Upgrade it with men of
dale and you can take out pikemen from a distance. What makes this eveb more
so is they can shoot while the wagon is moving. Axe throwers are more potent
but have less range. If you have around five of these with axe throwers than
harrasment gets kicked up a notch with the ability to take out a building by
circling it constantly so you dont get caught. With a hearth they can act as
a mobile medic, and the banner provides leadership that can make or break a
battle. Their ability to launch oil casks mean that you can puncture holes
in the enemy army.
The mighty catapult is a catapult to be used as a strategy to help
your forces. It is not a game winner. The principle is to use extra cash to
build the mighty catapult on yoour fortress, from which point you use it on
targets such as structures. If you have really good aim you may be able to
hit a moving target. You can use it to break blockades and the like. But dont
plan on using it to win the game. Use it in combination with another tactic.
Dwarven catapults are nothing short of powerful. They do twice the
damage of an average catapult. Upgraded they do even more. Use these bad boys
to take out not only structures, but any stationary target, such as archers.
But do not fire near the front line or you will most likely take out some of
your own troops. Good catapult usage can turn around a battle, even if it
doesnt seem so.
Walls are a good strategy for dwarves because they can build add-ons
to walls. To do this effectively, you should build mostly alternating axe
towers and catapults. Its your choice whether to build a postern gate or a
defensive gate. The defensive gate takes up more room , but has more health.
Postern gates take less space, but have less health. I usually pick defensive
gate, but its still your choice whether or not you want to tack on that
extra defensive tower or catapult. Know that walls are expensive and should
be a late helper, not an early game breaker.
c) Men
Men have a few things that make them a well rounded champion. First,
their rohirrim are the best cavalry in the game. Their hero Theoden only
reinforces this with his level 4 ability-glorious charge. The ivory tower is
a great late game scouting tool, and ithilien rangers can help whittle down
any army.
Rohirrim are versatile because they can switch from spear to bow.
This means that they can overcome pikemen. When encountering pikemen and
archers, its best to run away. If you run in the direction of the enemy base,
you escape defeat and you can take down some of their buildings. Also, you
can divide and conquer. What happens is you take your rohirrim army and split
it into two groups. Take these two groups and move them to seperate sides of
the pikemen and archer formation. Now attack the archers with some rohirrim
switched on bow. If the enemy doesnt have many archers, then they could be
all focused on one of the groups of rohirrim. This allows for the other group
to take the archers from behind. Then retreat to a safe distance and take
down the pikemen with arrows.
If possible, put Theoden into your rohirrim group. When he reaches
level four he gets glorious charge. When you activate it Theoden and cavalry
around him only take 10% of their normal damge. They arent invincible but it
sure increases their odds against pikemen. Beware attack trolls even so.
Ivory tower, like the mighty catapult, is a late game helper. Build
it on your fortress and you get greatly increased sight and an ability which
reveals the whole map for 30 seconds. This means you get more forewarning
about attacks, so you can reinforce the area it looks like they will attack.
Also, you can use the ability to spy on your enemy and pick where you want to
attack: the least reinforced area on the map.
Ithilien rangers have the ability longshot. Use this effectively to
size down an army that doesnt really like you. Use it when the opposing army
is crowded to get maximum effect and remember that one longshot doesnt always
kill a battalion. Do more than one on an area to make sure those cockroaches
are exterminated.
d) Goblins
Goblins, like men, have awesome cavalry that can switch from spear to
bow. Their warriors and half-troll marauders are quite strong when used right
though. Mix it in with Drogoth and you have an army to behold.
For goblin spider riders, use tactics like men but I would like to
point out that fire arrows can make arrows that much more damaging. Remember
to keep an updated army so you wont find yourself inlficting too little
damage too late.
Goblin warriors and half-troll marauders can be a potent combination
because the marauders are strong enough to beat some warriors and the goblin
warriors have something called poisoned blades. This helps give an edge in
combat when you use it to drain enemy health. And with the strong marauders
you can take down many a foe.
Drogoth can help these two strategies by helping take down an army.
His abilities should be used on crowds for maximum effect. Beware: Archers
hurt him bad.
e) Mordor
Mordor has one claim to fame: its rush. Use cheap orcs to quickly
assail the enemy and overwhelm them. Like the guardian rush, build an orc pit
and a slaughterhouse first then orcs all the way and more slaughterhouses.
Eventually the enemy will be overwhelmed if you play it right. Target the
barracks and the fortress. After theyre down take down any other buildings
and you win.
To add to your rush you can quickly build a troll cage and use it as
a siege weapon. Even so, a troll is no good at attacking a base down if there
are no troops to help protect it. A healthy mix of archers and warriors is
best. But be warned. A troll cage could divert money for a lot of orcs. Your
enemy could catch you with your pants off, so to speak, unless youre careful
to keep a reserve of orcs while youre building your troll cage.
Other than the claim to fame, though, mordor can play dirty. See, you
can build a lot of orcs, no joke. So when youre on your way to the enemy
base, why stop all of your orcs for fewer but more superior units? Just halt
some to engage the enemy and have the rest just keep right on their way.
f) Isengard
Isengard has several strongpoints. Wargs are good cavalry, even
better when sharku is around. Also, the explosive mine and ballista are
excellent siege weapons.
Wargs are different from rohirrim in that they can't swith to a bow
and that they can use howl to get more damage done. Sharku should be with
your wargs to make them stronger. When Sharku gets to level 10, he can kill a
unit and get stronger for a while. Also, whenever you charge at an army,
flank. Don't charge head on or you might lose. So attack to the side or back.
The explosive mine is powerful when used right. A mine can take down
a fortress by itself. To ignite it, use either a berserker with a lit torch
or fire arrows. Even Saruman's fireball ability will do. When you transport
it to the site, though, protect it. They are hard to spot among uruk-hai and
crossbowmen. Then, just deploy it and set it off and bam, there is an insta-
demolish. Ballistas are good because of their range. Protect them and the
enemy base wont be able to counter. The ballista has the longest range so
siege weapons wont do the enemy any good.
5. Author Contact Info
You can e-mail me at
[email protected] with strategies, corrections,
or anything else, but please dont send hate mail. Youre just wasting your
time trying to get me to take down this guide.
6. Credits
SadFace_Sick
Mr_Buwalda
Tim M
JohnrezeznikNMSU
http://www.network-science.de/ascii/
