Battle for Middle Earth 2 - Rise of the Witch-King - Angmar Powers



Battle for Middle Earth II - Rise of the Witch -King - Angmar Powers
This is a hint/walkthrough post for Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch-King. You can find an index of all our Battle for Middle Earth II posts here.

There are only a few One Ring powers for Angmar and no direct-damage ones until Tier 4. Overall, in the early missions of the Angmar Campaign they are largely useless and you will probably be building Fortresses to get Winter's Wrath from the Witch-King's Sanctum instead.

Powers are made available in the Campaigns based on what mission you are in. You begin with 5 Power Points in Mission 1 and can earn them at an aggressive rate. You will probably be able to easily get by in the early missions, so I recommend banking 30 Power Points to try out various Tier 1-3 powers and see what they are like before finalizing a choice.

Mission 1 - Foundation of Angmar - 10 Power Points can be earned in this Mission
  • Blight - Halves the resource production of any resource structure within the area of effect. The area effect is very small and you can expect to get only one farm or mine or other basic resource building in it.
  • Fell Wind - Moves enemy units closer to the center of the area of effect. Does minimal damage. The area effect is small for what it is supposed to do (gather units together), but can be useful if an area-effect attack does more damage near the centre rather than all around, and if the units are on the move. The duration of this power is VERY short, so you really need to be fast with getting the other power lined up. Some powers have a long charge-up time, such a the Witch-King's Sanctum ice comet from Angmar Fortresses. This means you've got to be careful about timing as well. A good follow-up power to use might be the Dark Ranger Arrow Volley. I recommend giving it a try especially if (like me) you rarely use powers anyway, especially as it gives access to Frozen Land, which might be the best of the Tier-2 powers.
  • War Chant - Target allies gain +50% Damage and +50% Armor. Does not stack. Frozen Land does the same at a wider radius and a longer duration, but does not attach to units the way War Chant does.
  • Untamed Allegiance - Neutral monster lair comes under your control. It must not be reduced to ruins. If you attacked it and levelled it but did not utterly destroy it (which would result in it disappearing and replaced by treasure chests), you can wait until it rebuilds. Any units from the lair come under your control when you take control of your lair. Overall a very useless power since you have no control over what Lairs are available to you, and the creatures you get aren't that great -- not even the Fire Drake, as the Angmar Campaign features strong and plentiful enemies who aren't shy about trying to outshoot you with a lot of archers. For all other lairs, you can recruit better units from your own buildings.
  • Frozen Land - Ally units gain +50% Damage and +50% Armor. An alternative to War Chant, especially if you are trying to hold a position. Probably the best of the Tier-2 powers, but you need either Blight or Fell Wind to get it.
  • Snow Bind - All Structures within the area of effect cannot produce, but are immune to damage. You could use this if for some reason you can't wipe out the building quickly enough and need some respite while dealing with other units. In general, you will probably find it very rare to need to use this. It is really hard to justify 10 Power Points for this.

Mission 2 - Conquest of Rhudaur - 15 Power Points can be earned in this Mission
  • Summon Orcs - Summons several hordes of orcs under your control. More or less summons cannon fodder to delay the enemy, though if put in the midst of a large archer clump, it can save the day. Of the Tier-2 powers, this is probably the best choice after Frozen Land.
  • Summon Giants - Summons two Giants under your control. Giants can throw stones as far as artillery, and have an area-effect Stomp attack if you switch them to hand-to-hand combat. This power is an interesting option as Angmar siege engines (ice trebuchets) cost 25 Command Points each. It would save you from having to wait for them, and giants are more competent when engaged by the enemy. On the other hand, the AI likes to mass upgraded archers and almost always starts with veteran units, making this a useless power unless you have already made the area safe for them.
  • Freezing Rain - Temporarily covers the map in rain. All enemy units lose their leadership bonuses. What it does occurs rarely enough to justify 15 Power Points. It unlocks both Tier 4 powers, so it is on the shortest path to getting both of them, but in the Angmar Campaign, this won't matter so much because you cannot select the Tier 4 powers until Mission 8.
  • Summon Wights - Summons several wights under your control. Wights are an interesting option because against a small number of units, a single wight can kill them all as each attack restores some of its health. They move very slowly, so they are easily killed by ranged attacks. Great for holding ground, blocking a choke point, or covering a retreat. Useless if there are too many units at once -- they won't last half a minute.

Missions 3-7
  • 20 Power Points can be earned in each of these Missions (total +100).
  • No new powers available.
  • Because of the overwhelming number of enemies in Mission 6, you will probably want to have all the Summon-type Powers by the start of that mission.

Mission 8 - Fornost
You can have banked up to 130 Power Points by the time you begin this mission. If you save 50 Power Points for the Tier 4 powers here, you can have spent 80 Power Points previously -- enough to get all the Summon powers by Mission 6 and still have unlocked both Tier 4 powers. In this mission, you can earn just enough points to get every power providing you maximized your Power Points in previous missions.
  • Avalanche - Summons an avalanche that will damage enemies and put out fires. Better than Shade of Wolf because it doesn't summon a creature that has to fight (and possibly get killed, prematurely ending its usefulness). Not enough to destroy some Tier 3 buildings.
  • Summon Shade of Wolf - Summons a spectral wolf under your control. Bursts out of the ground, throwing units aside as a result. Even if they aren't killed, they are severely delayed. Seems to be quite resistant to arrows -- more so than the Dragons or the Balrog from the One Ring Tier 4 powers.

Epilogue - The Fall of Angmar
In this mission, you start with a fixed set of EvenStar powers and cannot earn any Power Points.

Comments