Shadow of War: How to easily recruit and level up orcs? Middle-earth: Shadow of War Guide
Last update: 20 December 2022
This page of our guide for Middle-earth: Shadow of War contains hints on how to level up faster and how to easily recruit new orcs for the army you command.
Although the map is full of rivalry missions in which you can participate, there is an even better way of increasing battle potential of your forces. It all comes down to the arenas where you can send your orcs to participate in duels. This feature is unlocked at a certain moment in the game.
You can notice a certain icon displayed on the map - go there and start a mission. You can check who your enemy is and you can select which orc must face this foe. Before you select an orc, you should examine enemy's details and send a green-skin that can counter him. If, e.g. your enemy is an orc that is afraid of Caragors then you should send a Beastmaster. After that you can watch a fight and see how your ally is doing in a fight.
If your orc wins, he gets a few levels but he will never have a higher level than you. Each map has three arena missions (in order to unlock more difficult fights, you need to win in a previous category first) and each one of them can be replayed infinitely. It should also be mentioned that winning in all three missions unlocks an additional captain slot during a fortress defense.
Arenas are also great for recruiting new orcs. The best way is to unlock fights with champions which gives you access to stronger orcs. Then, you start a mission and send a weak orc that can lose easily. An arena champion kills our captain without any problems and gets a few levels. After that he stays in an arena for a moment - go to him quickly as Talion, defeat and dominate him. If you also have a gem in your ring that increases dominated orcs' levels then you can quickly get a very powerful ally. This method allows you to strengthen your army fast and you can also get a ton of items.