War in the North - Bree, Fornost

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Bree, Fornost
This is one of our series of posts on Lord of the Rings: War in the North Walkthroughs and Cheats (exploits) for the Single Player campaign. For the index of all our posts, click here.

Bree

Before you leave for Fornost, you can talk to the Southerner and complete that miniquest for +50 XP. Each time you save and then reload, as long as you haven't yet left for Fornost, the Southerner will be there and you can repeat for +50 XP.
Otto Aster's quest to arm the town is complete when you have sold him any 10 pieces of gear (not just weapons).
If you are aiming for dual wielding with Eradan, buy two one-handed weapons before you leave Bree because there is a reasonable chance you WON'T pick up any one-handed weapons, or just one of them, before the first Town Portal.
Item Sets in Store:

Fornost

You do not have to free the eagle until the goblin assault is over. You can do so earlier, if you like, but the eagle doesn't stick around to help.
When you approach the town portal, the game saves. This is one of the few area with a town portal that you cannot repeatedly re-do.
Item Sets in Store:

You do not need to call the eagle whenever your allies say so. At the wooden gate, just shoot the archers. Eventually the eagle will show up to destroy the gate.
To handle the ballista without the eagle, retreat your party back toward the wooden gate after the cutscene. Wait for goblins to approach your position and deal with them, then retreat around the corner again, thus putting you out of the line of fire of the ballista. When your allies say something about archers on the high ground, you can charge in. Most of the goblins that were defending the ballista will have been drawn away, so you can now just dodge your way to the ballista, kill the goblin artillerist, and use the ballista against the archers on the walls.

Troll: If you are using a one-handed weapon, you have to get in close, preferably the front or the rear. From the side, you might not have enough reach to score a hit even if it looks like you hit it from the animation.

First Ballista: One of the elf twins will announce a "mounted crossbow". Stop. Stand behind the wall section that is just before the passage. There is a window/cutout in that wall that lets you shoot over it and at the goblin artillerist. The ballista will fire too low and hit the wall, which shields you unless you are too close to the wall. Take out the artillerist, then advance down the passage.
Goblin Sappers:

Your allies can shoot these down faster and more accurately except at the bridge gauntlet later.
If any get close, you can dodge past them before they jump you and detonate. In this way, you trigger their detonation, but because you are dodging, you are safe from damage.

Does not work with Evasion active since they won't detonate because they can't detect you.

Shoot the archers near the sorcerer and retreat back into the first goblin sapper area to heal and wait for goblins. Once all is clear, advance and dodge your way up to the upper balcony to melee the sorcerer and the goblin artillerist.
The ballista defense here is pretty easy if you don't try to keep adjusting your aim. Settle on a section of the passage where all the goblins must pass, and defend that section, moving your ballista left and right only. If you get a moment, shoot the archers on the walls. One hit should also catch the others in the splash.

Bridge Gauntlet: Goblins will usually die in two shots, Sappers always die in one. In the second wave, there are three sappers per side. Just hold your bow/crossbow/staff steady and wait for them to advance to the crosshair, then fire. In this way, you aren't constantly aiming and tracking a target.
Town Portal Courtyard

You need to shoot the explosive and collapse the lookout tower anyway, so shoot it immediately. This also kills the goblin archers. A third goblin will crawl along the wall opposite your entrance and flee. If you are fast, two shots should kill it.
The equipment pile near the arch to the Town Portal always has either a Mana Potion (if you are playing as Andriel) or 18 ammo.
Item Sets in Store:

After the final ballista in the garden, you will be on the bridge to the Citadel entrance. Stay on the bridge or retreat back (so you can't be hit by the sorcerer's blasts) until the goblins are clear. Advance and draw the attention of the orcs with a ranged attack. Kill them then retreat to heal again. Now all that are left should be the sorcerer and two archers.

Remember that if a Goblin Sapper gets close, you can dodge right through it or away so it explodes harmlessly even if you are in the blast radius.

Probably the toughest boss for a very long time because of the tight space and unlimited minions. Still possible to do this without any potion use, but a good one is the Hero's Potion, which gives you +1000 damage while in Hero Mode.

To get a Hero's Potion, you need to collect herbs as Andriel. See how to repeatedly redo an area to collect treasure and herbs, and which herbs you need.

You need to keep Tharzog busy with you, or your allies will be overwhelmed one at a time: They cannot defend against both orcs and Tharzog, because the orc chieftain's attacks cannot be blocked.
Start by shooting. When Tharzog charges you or his minions arrive, dodge out. Kill a minion with a Critical Strike to get Hero Mode, then go back to Tharzog. A few hits will get his attention and he will switch targets to you. His minions don't automatically follow him.
He has a multi-chop attack that can turn him around to strike you if you dodge right through him. Try to dodge backwards away from him instead.
His minions are not immune to his area effect attacks. They probably take no damage, but do get knocked down.

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