WotE Gameplay FAQ
Since newbies can show up any time, I decided to make this lil' FAQ. It is meant NOT for answering technical questions, but rather to describe the most important additions found in WotE AND to provide download sources and background information about the Mod. If you have questions unanswered by this FAQ, feel free to post the question(s) to this topic or PM me, and I will gladly answer
See the list of answered questions:
1) What is "Wars of the East" all about ?
2) When will it be finished ?
3) Where can I download it ?
4) I can't save and the Create-a-Hero doesn't function. What is this ?
5) Is "Wars of the East" compatible with War of the Ring mode ?
6) What happened to the Goblin faction ?
7) What about the two new factions ?
8) What new stuff do the old factions get ?
9) What are "Structure Heroes" ?
10) What are "Commander Units" ?
11) What are "Secret Heroes" ?
12) What is the purpose of the "Northern/Southern/Western/Eastern Allies" upgrade ?
13) Which Heroes have been re-designed ?
14) Who (or what) are the new Ring Heroes ?
15) List of (yet) unsolved bugs in Beta 3.1
16) If I have technical problems, where can I ask for help ?
17) Who made/makes this mod ?
_________________________________________________________________
1) First of all: what is "Wars of the East" all about ?
Wars of the East ("WotE" in short) is a free, fan-made Mod for Battle for Middle-Earth 2: Rise of the Witch-King. It expands each Good and Evil factions with a wide variety of new units, heroes and updated spell books. It also adds two brand new factions: Dorwinion and Evil Men, plus several un-offical maps as well - not to mention the dozens of new models, skins, icons, re-designed heroes, new Ring Heroes to all faction (except Mordor) and much, much more !
2) When will it be finished ?
Honestly ? We have a fat load of plans, but we are also realists. To make it short: while we don't know if we ever finish the mod perfectly, the main part of the mod is already finished, and we have already made downloadable versions ! And not only that, but now we are also working forward the release of a new version, which will be more bug-free and contain even more new features !
3) Yaaay ! Where can I download it ?!
Well, several different versions exist... each one is different in some aspects. You can find them trough these links:
http://forums.revora...showtopic=52445 <-- Evil Men Beta (Beta 1.0); it contains the Evil Men faction, but the Dorwinion faction doesn't appear here yet. Also, Mordor still has many Evil Men units, and this is a bit buggy version (the bugs are small and the game doesn't really crash, but the pink stuff can be annoying...)
http://forums.revora...showtopic=55716 <-- Dorwinion Beta (Beta 2.0); it contains both Evil Men and Dorwinion, and the Evil Factions all have an immense update ! This is also a quite bug-free version.
http://forums.revora...showtopic=58130 <-- "Final" Beta (Beta 3.0); contains both Evil Men and Dorwinion, and EACH faction has a large number of additions ! However, random crashes during game are not rare... and the Ring Heroes don't work properly.
http://forums.revora...showtopic=58710 <-- 1. Improved "Final" Beta (Beta 3.1); the same as Beta 3.0, except for the fact that crashes don't happen too much.
http://forums.revora...showtopic=59841 <-- 2. Improved "Final" Beta (Beta 3.2); an even more bug-free and more balanced version of Beta 3.0. It also brings back two Goblin heroes (you can find them at Angmar).
Overall, I recommand you to download either Beta 2.0 or Beta 3.2. But it's up to you...
4) WT* I can't save (each version) and the Create-a-Hero causes crashes (Beta 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2) ?!
Yeah, the saving-bug is something we couldn't fix, sorry. As for the CaH, it has caused random crashed (even since Beta 2.0), so it is not advised to use it. However, the CaH is still functinal in Beta 1.0 to my knowledge.
5) Is WotE compatible with War of the Ring mode ?
Well... I guess I could say, YES. It was a hard work, but it was worth the trouble: since Beta 2.0 the two new factions (Dorwinion and Evil Men) are fully playable with their units and heroes ! Also, a new War of the Ring mode is presented: "War of the East" ! However, the many additions can also cause problems... (see point 14) for further details).
6) What happened to the Goblin faction ? I can't find them in any of the versions.
The Goblin faction was replaced by Evil Men. The different Goblin units and heroes have been either removed to different Evil factions, reduced to creep/summonable/Inn units or completely deleted. See the list below:
Goblin Warriors - removed to Angmar
Goblin Archers - reduced to Inn unit (Isengard)
Cave Troll - reduced to creep unit
Spiderlings - removed to Mordor
Spider Riders - removed to Mordor
Mountain Giant - reduced to summonable unit (Angmar)
Half-Troll Pikemen - changed to Half-Trolls of Far Harad and removed to Evil Men
Half-Troll Swordsmen - completely deleted
Fire Drake - reduced to creep unit
Fire Drake Brood - completely deleted
Azog - removed to Angmar
Gorkil the Goblin King - completely deleted in Beta 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1; removed to Angmar in Beta 3.2
Shelob - removed to Mordor
Drogoth - reduced to summonable unit (Evil Men) in Beta 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and also appears at Angmar in Beta 3.2
Most Goblin buildings were altered to Evil Men buildings, except for Spiders' Nest (removed to Mordor), Goblin Cave (changed to Gundabad Cave and removed to Angmar) and Sentry Tower (reduced to summonable building).
7) What about the two new factions (Evil Men and Dorwinion) ?
Oh yes, the best part of the whole thing ! Here I'll provide the basic descriptions and tech trees of the two new factions. I'll sign the "Inn-only" units with *-s.
Evil Men
Side: Evil (kinda' obvious)
Basic concept: This faction contains the evil men who serve Sauron, including the people of Rhun, Harad, Khand and Umbar. Under the leadership of the treacherous Blue Wizard, Pallando (or, as they call him, "Romestamo"), they are ready to devastave Gondor. But first, they need to make a safe path for the main army, and remove those who could sabotage Pallando's plans - including Dorwinion and the other Free Realms of the East...
Strategies: Evil Men are quite various, either in matters of defense or attacking. They have the very best spearmen battalions in the whole game, and their only real drawback is that they lack long-range siege weapons (the Corsair Ballista shoots far, but doesn't cause much damage to buildings), and so, in this case they have to rely mostly upon the Mumakils, those are expensive and vulnerable to pikes and archer hordes.
Spellbook:
Tier 1
- War Cry
- Desert Winds (opposite of "Fell Wind"; hurls foes into random directions all over the batttlefield, causing minor Fire damage)
- Cave Bats
Tier 2
- Variag Allies (summons a warband of Axemen of Khand)
- Deception of Romestamo (turns enemies against each other in an area)
- Shadow of Rhun (summons a dark cloud which hides allies and weakens enemies in its area of effect)
- Black Healing (heals selected units and replaces 2 units per battalion)
Tier 3
- Summon Drogoth (summons the Dragon Lord of the Withered Heath)
- Darkness
- Horror of Far Harad (summons a large warband of Half-Trolls of Far Harad)
Tier 4
- March of the Dead (summons a fallen army of Rhun, made of Wights, Wraiths of Rhun and Mewlips)
- Summon Ungoliant (awakens Ungoliant, Queen of all Spiders)
Tech tree:
Buildings:
- Fortress (main building, recruits Builders and summons Heroes)
- Harad Farm (provides resources)
- King's Palace (trains various infantry)
- Hall of Rhun (trains spearmen)
- Archery Range (trains archers)
- Tavern (trains siege units and researches upgrades)
- Stables (trains cavalry)
- Mumakil Pen (trains mumakils and recruits Mahud)
- Sentry Tower (defensive structure)
Heroes:
- Fuinur (Early-game hero; Corsair Captain of Umbar)
- Vronkhar (Early-game hero; Variag Chieftain of Khand)
- Boldog (Structure hero; Leader of the Orcs of the Ash Mountain)
- Ulwarth (Mid-game hero; Captain of the Rhun Royal Guard)
- Suladan (Mid-game hero; King of Harad)
- Pallando the Blue (Late-game hero; Wizard, leader of Evil Men)
- Groth the Worm (Late-game hero; Were-Worm Lord of the Last Desert)
- Khamul (Late-game hero; Second of the Nine Nazgul)
- Gurthul (Ring Hero; Balrog warrior of Utumno)
Units:
- Builder (basic unit; builds buildings and extinguishes fires)
- Corsairs of Umbar (early-game swordsmen/siege units)
- Haradrim Spear Throwers (early-game spearmen/archers)
- Easterling Pikemen (early-game spearmen)
- Haradrim Archers (early-game archers)
- Haradrim Lancers (early-game cavalry)
- Corsair Ballista (early-game siege/anti-infantry unit)
- Oliphaunt (early-game monster/siege unit)
- Axemen of Khand (mid-game swordsmen)
- *Black Numenoreans (mid-game swordsmen)
- Soldiers of Rhun (mid-game spearmen/hero-slayers)
- Easterling Archers (mid-game archers)
- Black Numenorean Marauders (special siege units)
- Variag Horsemen (mid-game cavalry)
- *Wraiths of Rhun (late-game swordsmen)
- Dark Easterlings (late-game spearmen/anti-siege units)
- Half-Trolls of Far Harad (late-game spearmen)
- Wainrider (late-game cavalry/archer unit)
- Mumakil (late-game monster/siege unit)
- Rhun Royal Guard (Hero Horde)
- Mahud (Commander Unit)
- Were-Worm (powerful flying monster, summoned from the Fortress)
Dorwinion
Side: Good
Basic concept: The Dorwinion faction is quite multicultural; it contains the men of Dorwinion, Helkar, Hildorien, the dwarves of Orocarni (Red Mountains), the different elves of Cuiveinen (the Avari and Moriquendi, plus some of their more-civilized cousins), and finally, the misterious people of Kalorme. With the lead of Alatar, the other Blue Wizard, they do everything they can to overthrow Pallando and restore the peace in the East.
Strategies: There are two main strategies. First, you can try to rush with armies of Dorwinion Peasants. If this doesn't lead to victory, then prepare for a very, very long game; Dorwinion's units are mostly quite expensive and slowly trained, but are also very strong - you only need to defend yourself until you manage to gather up a major attack force.
Spellbook:
Tier 1
- Rallying Call
- Heal
- Birds of Cuiveinen (summons a flock of birds; good for scouting, nearby allies gain movement and attack speed bonus)
Tier 2
- Volunteers (summons a larger group of Dorwinion Peasants and Hildorien Pitchforkers)
- Rich Farmlands (increases selected Dorwinion Farm's resource income pernamently)
- Arrow Volley
- Siege Materials (destroyed buildings refund 50% of their constructing cost)
Tier 3
- Orocarni Allies (summon a warband of Dwarves of Orocarni and Khazad Warriors)
- Cloudbreak
- Training Officers (every unit's training time is greatly reduced for for a short time)
Tier 4
- For the East (summons an army of Hildorien Axemen, Moriquendi Archers and Knights of Dol Amroth)
- Strength of Kalorme (a huge, burning piece of rock will hit the selected area, causing massive damage)
Tech tree:
Buildings:
- Fortress (main building, recruits Builders and summons Heroes)
- Dorwinion Farm (provides resources and trains Dorwinion Peasants)
- Wineyard (provides resouces from trees trough Laborers)
- Mustering Grounds (trains various infantry, archers and battering rams)
- Orocarni Barracks (trains late-game infantry and archers)
- Stables (trains cavalry)
- Hall of Kalorme (trains late-game infantry)
- Armory (researches upgrades)
- Lookout Tower (defensive structure)
- Wall / Gate (defensive structures)
Heroes:
- Dasron (Early-game hero; Merchant Lord of Dorwinion)
- Tharna (Early-game hero; Adventurer)
- Ludhil (Early-game hero; Dasron's daughter and Borlach's wife)
- Tulamdir (Mid-game hero; Elf Captain of Cuiveinen)
- Bladorthin II (Mid-game hero; King of Dorwinion)
- Ratvith (Late-game hero; Dwarf Lord of Orocarni)
- Borlach (Late-game hero; Leader of Hildorien)
- Alatar the Blue (Late-game hero; Wizard, Pallando's former comrade)
- Akrothir (Ring Hero; Undead Lord of Kalorme)
Units:
- Builder (basic unit; builds buildings and extinguishes fires)
- Laborer (gatherer unit; earns resources by chopping trees and delivering them to the Wineyard)
- Dorwinion Peasants (early-game swordsmen)
- Hildorien Pitchforkers (early-game spearmen)
- Dwarves of Orocarni (early-game archers)
- Riders of Helkar (early-game cavalry)
- Dorwinion Soldiers (mid-game swordsmen)
- Avari Warriors (mid-game swordsmen)
- *Jarkand City Guard (mid-game spearmen)
- Dorwinion Bowmen (mid-game archers)
- Cuiveinen Horsemen (mid-game cavalry/archers)
- Dorwinion Battering Ram (mid-game siege unit)
- *Adventurers (late-game swordsmen)
- Hildorien Axemen (late-game swordsmen)
- Fists of Kalorme (late-game swordsmen/siege units)
- Cuiveinen Pikemen (late-game spearmen)
- Moriquendi Archers (late-game archers)
- *Khazad Warrior (late-game warrior; single unit, but very strong)
- Kine of Araw (late-game monster unit)
- Guardians of Kalorme (Hero Horde)
- Fokashin (Commander Unit)
I think they're gonna' be kinda' good fun !
8) What new stuff do the old factions get (units/heroes/buildings) ?
They get plenty. However, in this section, I'll list the new units, heroes and building; no more, no less. If you want to know which things got a rebalancing/new skin/new model/etc., download the mod and find out yourselves
PS: oh, just one thing. Hero re-designs are also listed, just look at point 12).
And now, to the lists...
Men of the West
As it was requested by King Elessar, the Men of the West received many improvements (gold pays off, see, king-boy ?). Gondor's allies now play a much greater role than before: Rohan's infantry is perfect for early-game scouting or rushing, while the Southern Fiefdoms provide versatile units those are suited for combat at any part of the game. Also, Men of the West gained four new heroes to the already vast hero-list, not to mention the re-designed old heroes. Hero-teamwork is now even more important, for their abilities often compliment each other; when fighting together, only a fully-equipped enemy army has a chance to defeat them.
New units:
- Rohan Scout (early-game scout)
- Rohan Peasants (early-game swordsmen)
- Gondor Spearmen (early-game spearmen)
- *Lossoth Fighters (early game spearmen/swordsmen)
- Pelargir Spearmen (mid-game spearmen)
- *Golasgil Household Knights (late-game swordsmen)
- *Morthond Bowmen (early-game archers)
- Dunedain Swordsmen (late-game swordsmen)
- Ghan-Buri-Ghan (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Denethor (Early-game hero; Steward of Gondor)
- Damrod (Mid-game hero; Captain of Ithilien)
- Gamling (Structure Hero; Captain of Rohan)
- Imrahil (Late-game hero; Prince of Dol Amroth)
New building:
- Rohan Barracks (trains Rohan Scouts, Rohan Peasants and recruits Ghan-Buri-Ghan)
New spells:
Tier 2
- Forochel Allies (summons a large group of Lossoth Fighters)
Other changes:
- Hobbit Allies spell removed (replaced by Forochel Allies)
- Rohan Spearmen removed (turned to Jarkand City Guard, removed to Dorwinion and got replaced by Gondor Spearmen)
- Dundedain Rangers can no longer be recruited from the Inn (they are now avaible at the level 3 Archery Range)
Elves
The Elves often had a disadvantage when it came to close combat, as they lacked capeable melee fighters (hey, take your blade out of me ! Stupid Glorfindel...). Well, these times are over: they have gained a good bunch of melee units from Mirkwood and Wilderland those will teach a lesson to those troublesome orcish maggots ! Plus, the new Galadrim Warriors of Lorien are perhaps the most effective units in the whole game, being tough both in ranged and melee combat ! And, with some of their heroes re-designed, Elves are now much stronger when it comes to heroic manners !
New units:
- Watchers of Esgaroth (early-game spearmen)
- *Woodsmen (mid-game swordsmen)
- *Lindon Swordmaster (late-game warrior; single unit, but very strong)
- Mirkwood Wardens (late-game swordsmen)
- Galadrim Warriors (late-game archers/swordsmen)
- Entlings (mid-game hero slayer/anti-infantry units)
- Gildor (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Celeborn (Structure Hero; Leader of Lothlorien)
- Bregalad (Late-game Hero; Hasty Ent of Fangorn)
New buildings:
- Lothlorien Tree House (trains Mirkwood Wardens, Galadrim Warriors and recruits Celeborn)
Other changes:
- Hobbits can no longer be recruited from the Inn (they were removed to the Dwarves)
Dwarves
The proud Dwarves had been improved in every single aspect (see, mithril pays off even more...): with the Clan warriors and archers at their command, they can do rushes, too ! Furthermore, groups of fresh warriors sent from the Shire and the Ered Luin have arrived to aid Erebor's cause, as well as from the vales of Anduin. Thanks to them, and the people of Dale, Dwarves now have the possibility of making up a really formidable cavalry force, too ! Finally, they have five new heroes, each one of them being unique and versatile.
New units:
- Miner (support unit; can repair buildings)
- Clan Warriors (early-game swordsmen)
- Dwarven Archers (early-game archers)
- Hobbit Cavalry (early-game cavalry)
- Ered Luin Sentries (mid-game swordsmen)
- Dale Knights (mid-game cavalry)
- *Ered Luin Siege Master (special siege unit)
- Dragon Slayers (late-game spearmen)
- *Beorning (late-game warrior; single unit, but very strong)
- Dwalin (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Thorin III Stonehelm (Early-game hero; Prince of Erebor)
- Grimbeorn (Mid-game hero; Son of Beorn)
- Bilbo (Structure hero; Hobbit Adventurer)
- Radagast the Brown (Late-game hero; Wizard, Carer of Animals)
- Tom Bombadil (Late-game hero; Master of the Old Forest)
New buildings:
- Hobbit Barracks (trains Hobbit Cavalry and recruits Bilbo)
- House of Skill (trains Dale Knights, Iron Hills Axemen, Dragon Slayers and recruits Dwalin)
Other changes:
- Axethrowers are avaible from level 2 Archery Range (they are now mid-game archers; the early-game archer role is now for Dwarven Archers)
- Dale Archers can no longer be trained from the Inn
- Hobbits can now be trained from the Inn
- Guardians were changed and aren't avaible at the Hall of Warriors (they were turned to Iron Hills Axemen and can now be trained from the level 3 House of Skill)
Mordor
Seeing how much new stuff the Good factions got, Sauron didn't waste his time to catch up XD Mordor is now even better at early-game thanks to its new orcish rabbles. Should they not prove to be enough for victory, the forces of Cirith Ungol, Gorgoroth, Dol Guldur and Minas Morgul may also be deployed, ready to wreak havoc. The Dark Lord has also called his greatest servants to battle, armed with a variety of deadly abilities. However, it seems Sauron no longer tolerates the Easterlings and Haradrim, as they were all removed to Evil Men
New units:
- Orc Scouts (early-game scouts)
- Orc Spearmen (early-game spearmen)
- Morannon Warg Riders (early-game cavalry)
- Spiderlings (quick mid-game swordsmen)
- Morgul Fighters (mid-game swordsmen)
- Gorgoroth Berserker (mid-game warrior; single unit, but very strong)
- Cirith Ungol Spider Riders (mid-game cavalry)
- Morgul Archers (late-game archers)
- Pikemen of Morgul Vale (late-game spearmen)
- Black Uruks (late-game swordsmen)
- Ufthak (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Gorbag (Early-game hero; Captain of Minas Morgul)
- Shagrat (Mid-game hero; Captain of Cirith Ungol)
- Shelob (Mid-game hero; Guardian of the caves of Cirith Ungol)
- Thindelar (Structure hero; Corrupted Elf of Dol Guldur)
- Mollock (Late-game hero; Troll King of Gorgoroth)
New Buildings:
- Spiders' Nest (trains Spiderlings, Cirith Ungol Spider Riders and researches Venom Sacs)
- Dark Tent (trains Gorgoroth Berserkers, Morgul Archers, Black Uruks, and recruits Ufthak and Thindelar)
- Statue of the Necromancer (provides Leadership to nearby units and lowers infantry cost)
Other changes:
- Corsairs of Umbar can no longer be trained from the Inn
- Easterling Archers can now be trained from the Inn
- Haradrim Palace, Mumakil Pen and all corrupted men units were removed to Evil Men faction
Isengard
The White Wizard is now jealous of Sauron cos' he got many cool stuff, so he joined the improvement-racing as well :B Isengard, if captures as Inn quickly, can be very powerful in early-game rushes due to the goblin allies from Moria and the bunch of orcs sent from Barad-dur. The Dunlendings also got some improvements, but the primary force of Isengard are still the well-equipped Uruk-hai warriors, especially now that they have even tougher guys among them than originally. Lastly, there are 5 new skilled heroes to lead the forces of the White Hand to victory !
New units:
- *Orcs of Lugburz (early-game swordsmen)
- *Goblin Archers (early-game archers)
- *Moria Goblin Firestarters (special siege units)
- Orc Overseer (special support unit)
- Uruk Raiders (mid-game swordsmen)
- Half-Orc Spearmen (mid-game spearmen)
- Ruffians (late-game swordsmen)
- Uruk Bombers (late-game siege units)
- Isengard Sentries (Hero Horde)
- Greymane (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Grisnakh (Early-game hero; Orc Captain sent from Barad-dur)
- Mauhur (Early-game hero; Uruk-hai Captain)
- Ugluk (Mid-game hero; Uruk-hai Captain)
- Wulf (Structure hero; Chieftain of Dunland)
- Randor (Mid-game hero; Messenger and Guard Captain of Orthanc)
New buildings:
- Hall of Orthanc (trains Orc Overseers, Ruffians and Isengard Sentries)
New spells:
Tier 2
- Wargs of the North (summons a pack of White Wolves)
- Creatures of the Deep (summons a horde of Goblin Warriors and Goblin Archers)
Tier 3:
- Hidden Mine (places a mine to a selected location, which explodes and causes immense destruction)
Tier 4:
- Despair (selected units greatly weaken, suffer damage over time and flee in terror)
- Wrath of Caradhas (an avalanche will be released upon the targeted area)
Other changes:
- Devastation spell removed (got replaced by Wargs of the North)
- Tainted Land spell removed (got replaced by Creatures of the Deep)
- Fuel the Fires spell removed (got replaced by Hidden Mine)
- Summon Dragon spell removed (got replaced by Despair)
- Dragon Strike spell removed (got replaced by Wrath of Caradhas)
- Wildmen of Dunland can no longer be trained from the Inn
- Uruk Deathbringers deleted (replaced by Isengard Sentries who can be trained from the level 3 Hall of Orthanc)
Angmar
Angmar didn't exist by the time of the War of the Ring so we planned to cut the faction out, but the Witch-King threatened us that if his army won't get cool stuff like the others he will freeze our toes to the ground and then calls a pack of hungry oversized trolfs (troll-wolf hybrids), so we had no choice >:( you see, Angmar, too has improved much; with the goblins of Moria at their side, they can easily rush in early-game, or, if this fails, make up efficient warbands in mid-game. Plus, Angmar now relies even more upon its beasts of war: wraiths, stone trolls, frost drakes are now all awaiting the Iron Crown's commands.
New units:
- Rhuadur Battering Ram (early-game siege unit)
- Goblin Warriors (early-game swordsmen)
- Goblin Pikemen (mid-game spearmen)
- Gundabad Royal Guard (mid-game swordsmen)
- Wraith Horde (late-game swordsmen)
- *White Wolves (late-game cavalry)
- Frost Drake (late-game monster unit)
- Mewlip (powerful monster which guards the Swamp)
- Stone Trolls (Hero Horde)
- Lorgan (Commander Unit)
New heroes:
- Azog (Early-game hero; Goblin King of Moria)
- Golfimbul (Mid-game hero; Orc Headman of Gundabad)
New buildings:
- Swamp (defensive structure; can release a Mewlip to attack freely)
- Gundabad Cave (trains Goblin Warriors, Goblin Pikemen and Gundabad Royal Guard)
- Lair of Dragons (trains Frost Drakes)
New spells:
Tier 1
- Vampires (summons a pack of vampire bats; good line of sight, great speed, reduces enemy movement and attack speed)
Tier 4
- Dragon Strike (call in a great dragon to burn up everything in a targeted area)
Other changes:
- Blight spell removed (got replaced by Vampires)
- Avalanche spell removed (got replaced by Dragon Strike)
- Thrall Master can now summon Rhuadur Battering Ram
Guess that's all. As you see, you're going to have a lot of fun trying these out !
9) What are "Structure Heroes" ?
Structure Heroes are Heroes who are recruited not from the Fortress, but rather from a certain unit production building. Each Structure Hero has 3 abilities, and starts out at level 7 (they have one ability on level 7, and gain the other two on level 8 and 9). However, when slain, they lose their experience points, and start out at level 7 again (this also means that they are recruited for the original price and are trained just as fast as originally, though). Structure Heroes are strong fighters and quite useful in mid-game, so they are worth their price (1300-2000 resources).
List of Structure Heroes and their training places:
Gamling (Men of the West) - Rohan Barracks
Celeborn (Elves) - Lothlorien Tree House
Treebeard (Elves) - Ent Council
Bilbo (Dwarves) - Hobbit House
Thindelar (Mordor) - Dark Tent
Wulf (Isengard) - Clan Steading
Boldog (Evil Men) - Tavern
10) What are "Commander Units ?"
Commander Units are single but strong units, able to wipe out entire battalions on their own. They are recruited from a certain unit production building, and possess two abilities: a Leadership-type power on level 1, and one unique on a higher level. Commander Units can reach a max. of level 5, just like any other units. They function like lesser heroes, so you can "resurrect" them, but when slain, they lose their experience points, and start out at level 1 again (this also means that they are recruited for the original price and are trained just as fast as originally, though). Commander Units are good additions to your army, especially if you don't intend to use Heroes too much, or the Heroes you have lack Leadership bonuses.
List of Commander Units and their "favored" units:
Ghan-Buri-Ghan (Men of the West) - infantry
Gildor (Elves) - elves
Dwalin (Dwarves) - archers and axethrowers
Fokashin (Dorwinion) - cavalry
Ufthak (Mordor) - infantry
Greymane (Isengard) - wargs
Lorgan (Angmar) - infantry
Mahud (Evil Men) - mumakils and haradrim
11) What are "Secret Heroes" ?
Secret heroes are heroes those are not useable in the game by standards BUT you can unlock them with a lil' trick.
Note that Secret Heroes are present ONLY in Beta 2.0 !
There are two Secret Heroes you can unlock:
- Ludhil (early-game fighter hero for Dorwinion)
- Draugluin (late-game werewolf hero for Isengard)
The trick to unlock them is shown below (quoted from Beta Tester Sub-forum):
1. Download FinalBig if you don't have it yet. It's a tool that allows you to open .big files. The download link can be found here:
http://www.the3rdage...item-52?addview
2. Open FinalBig, then open WotEBeta2.big with the program. Now you should see a bunch of files, including art, audio, codes, maps and all that.
3. Scroll down until you see the files that are in the data\ini\ folder. Click on data\ini\playertemplate.ini. The file should open with the text editing tool of the FinalBig program.
4. Now in the playertemplate file, find an entry called FactionIsengard and FactionArnor (Arnor is Dorwinion btw). When you scroll down a bit, you can see a piece of code that says BuildableHeroesMP =. This defines the heroes of the faction that are built from the fortress. You'll see lots of hero names, and you'll need to do some simple editing with them:
For Isengard, replace thisCreateAHero IsengardWormTongue IsengardGrishnakh IsengardLurtz IsengardSharku IsengardMauhur IsengardRandor IsengardUgluk IsengardSaruman;IsengardDraugluin
With this (note that it should fit on only one line!!!)CreateAHero IsengardWormTongue IsengardGrishnakh IsengardLurtz IsengardSharku IsengardMauhur IsengardRandor IsengardUgluk IsengardSaruman IsengardDraugluin
As you see, the ";" is the only difference. Just take it out.
5. Now the hero should be buildable ingame. Your job should be done by now, but if you want to take this whole thing one step further you might want to customise the heroes a bit. So if you want don't close FinalBig yet, and do the following.
Customising Draugluin
6. Open this ini file with FinalBig: data\ini\object\evilfaction\units\isengard\draugluin.ini
7. Under the Art Parameters, you can see a block of code called ModelConditionState = NONE. Under that, you see the model and textures of Draugluin defined.
Replace thisModelConditionState = NONE Model = KUWWolf_SKN Texture = KUWWolf.tga iudrgluinskn.tga Texture = EXWolfEyes.tga EXLnzFlarRed2.tga End
Into thisModelConditionState = NONE Model = KUWWolf_SKN Texture = KUWWolf.tga iudrgluinskn.tga Texture = EXWolfEyes.tga exblankfx.tga End
8. Now Draugluin has no glowing red eyes ingame!
9. Now comes the most important part. You'll need to save the file in order to make the changes visible in the game.
Click on File -> Quick Save. Then close the .big file. A smal popup window should appear, and it should say Save WotEBeta2.big? or something like that. Hit yes, and open the game. The secret heroes should be playable now!
The path to unlock the two heroes is exactly the same (take out the ";"), they are just in different faction entries (Draugluin - FactionIsengard; Ludhil - FactionArnor).
12) What is the purpose of the "Northern/Southern/Western/Eastern Allies" upgrade in the Fortress ?
These upgrades unlock a special faction unit that you can train in the Inn. However, if you play on a map where no Inns can be found, at all, then you shouldn't research it, as it would be a waste of money. Otherwise, it's okay to research it, as it is a cheap (500 resources) and sometimes useful upgrade.
List of special faction units unlocked by "... Allies" upgrade:
- Lossoth Fighters (Men of the West)
- Lindon Swordmaster (Elves)
- Ered Luin Siege Master (Dwarves)
- Jarkand City Guard (Dorwinion)
- Easterling Archers (Mordor)
- Moria Goblin Firestarters (Isengard)
- Wildmen of Dunland (Angmar)
- Black Numenoreans (Evil Men)
13) You've said that several heroes have been re-designed. How ? And which ones ?
The heroes that we didn't find fitting to the LotR era in their current state have been slightly redesigned: they were given new appearences, special passive armor upgrades (not shown in Palantir, but you can notice the difference on the model/skin itself
) and one or more new powers. I won't spoil what are these powers, as I'm lazy, and besides, it's better to find and try them yourself List of re-designed Heroes:
- Aragorn (Men of the West)
- Eowyn (Men of the West)
- Legolas (Elves)
- Thranduil (Elves)
- Galadriel (Elves)
- Gimli (Dwarves)
- Gothmog (Mordor)
- Morgomir (Mordor)
- Witch-King (Mordor)
- Sharku (Isengard)
14) You've said that there are new Ring Heroes. Who (or what) are they ?
I guess you know most of them, but some are entirely new characters (Akrothir, Black Eagle, Gurthul). I don't intend to update their background stories here, so if you are interested about them, PM me (or wait until IthronAiwendil finishes making the new WotE website).
List of Ring Heroes:
- Isildur (Men of the West)
- Gil-Galad* (Elves)
- Thorin Oakenshield (Dwarves)
- Akrothir (Dorwinion)
- Sauron (Mordor)
- Black Eagle (Isengard)
- Carcharoth (Angmar)
- Gurthul (Evil Men)
*Galadriel was turned into a late-game hero. She is still pretty strong (and expensive), though...
15) I still find some bugs even in the latest releases - why is this ?
Nothing is perfect, and WotE is not an exception. While most major bugs have been fixed in Beta 3.1 and Beta 3.2, there are still some. Here I'll make a list of them, so you can be aware of the problems. If you find any bugs those are not listed here, report at once ! We might consider releasing a more bug-free version in the future, so the more bugs we sort out, the better.
Save-bug (Beta 3.1 and 3.2) - as I stated in point 4), you can't really use the "save game" option. To be exact, you can save, but can't load your saved game. Yeah, it's annoying, and we are desperate to correct it, but for now you have to live with it.
War of the Ring mode is unstable (Beta 3.1 and 3.2) - IthronAiwendil tried his best to make WotE compatible with War of the Ring mode; it is mostly working fine, but problems sometimes occur. And the other gameplay bugs (see below) are also present. STILL, I advise everyone to try out the new War of the Ring mode, as it will provide a completely different game feeling than before.
One Ring bug (Beta 3.1 and 3.2) - if the enemy captures the One Ring before you and brings it to its own Fortress, and then you destroy the enemy Fortress, the game crashes. So, it is advised to turn off the "One Ring" option, OR turn it on only if you are quite certain that you will find it faster than your opponent does.
Create-a-Hero bug (Beta 3.1 and 3.2) - as I mentioned at point 4), the CaH and the random heroes cause crashes. Avoid using them.
Men of the West AI doesn't work correctly (Beta 3.1) - I fear this is a problem caused by the new resource-system; the MotW player doesn't build resource buildings. Unless the enemy MotW player can capture several Outposts in early game (on maps like Isengard, Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith, if the computer player is placed within the "city"), I don't recommand using MotW computer players.
Note: This had been fixed in Beta 3.2 !
Dwarven Citadel bug (Beta 3.1 and 3.2) - the Citadel summoned by the "Summon Citadel" power of the Dwarves seems to be "flying". Either have a good laugh, or use "Earthquake". Or both. It's your choice...
Pink stuff ! (Beta 3.1 and Beta 3.2) - some things might turn pink. So far, I noticed this only at the Hall of Rhun (an Evil Men building) - it turns pink when taking much damage.
16) If I have technical problems, where can I ask for help ?
You have two ways:
First, you can go to this topic --> http://forums.revora...showtopic=56572
There, send a post and report your problems. If you are lucky, one of the programmer guys (Kyross, Elendil the High, Annullus The Grey) will notice it and sends a respond.
Second: if no reply arrives in the support topic, you can always PM Kyross or Elendil the High and ask them for technical help.
17) Who made/makes this mod ?
See the credits list below:
Current staff members:
- Kyross (2. Mod leader, coder)
- MorrisB (Primary Loremaster, advisor, idea-maker)
- Elendil the High (Secondary Loremaster, idea-maker, coder)
- Annullus The Grey (coder)
- Egalmoth (2D artist)
- Puppeteer (mapper)
Original creators and key members:
- IthronAiwendil (1. Mod Leader, coder, skinner, modeler, mapper)
- MorrisB (Primary Loremaster, advisor, idea-maker)
- Elendil the High (Secondary Loremaster, idea-maker)
- Caluadan (Art-master, skinner, icon-maker)
- Grizzlez (coder)
- Pupeteer (mapper)
- lycan (mapper, technical support provider)
Special thanks to:
- Karsh (audio-maker)
- jimmyman (mapper)
- Havefun (ideas)
- Captain Beremir (ideas)
- turinturambar (ideas)
- lacrossman930 (mapping)
- Sheephoof (ideas)
- Smartdude1301/Gimli1401 (cheering)
- xno the Black (cheering)
- Guess Who (skinner/modeller)
- thenewch (coder)
- every single modder who helped us in some manners (skin/icon/model - donating, coding help, etc.)
- the3rdage.net for hosting
- all fans who enjoyed playing WotE
- ...and thank YOU for reading this trough
_________________________________________________________________
That's all folks, I hope this FAQ has proved useful. Once more, if you have any questions and/or additions to the list, feel free to post here or PM me.
- MB
Edited by MorrisB, 23 August 2008 - 08:03 PM.
