Shadow of War: Trophies and Achievements Middle-earth: Shadow of War Guide
Last update: 20 December 2022
On this page of out guide, you can find the trophy guide for Middle-earth: Shadow of War. We have prepared a compilation of all the trophies from the base game. You will find out what the requirements for trophies are, how to unlock subsequent achievements easily, as well as how difficult it is to unlock the platinum trophy in Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
- Key information on trophies in Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- The Bright Lord
- Forger
- Rule of Three
- Best Defense
- Fit for War
- Hostile Takeover
- Vandal
- Speak Friend and Enter
- Bound by Blood
- Avenged
- Master Forger
- Promise Keeper
- Death is Not the End
- Dismantled
- Banished
- Brought to Heel
- Lord of Horror
- The Stuff of Legend
- Finished Tales
- The Web Revealed
- What Once Was Lost
- First Steps
- Peace in Death
- Undeath Defeats Undeath
- Fall and Rise
- No Orc Lives Forever
- Forged by War
- Purge
- Stalemate is Victory
- The Operative
- Such Great Heights
- No Orc Left Behind
- Better Luck Next Time
- Everything is Permitted
- It Came from Within
- Power Couple
- Overkill
- Life of the Party
- If You Can't Beat Them
- Headhunter
- I Like to Watch
- Second Age Warrior
- Rough Rider
- Wild Things
- Trolling
- Vertical Mobility
- Blood on Blood
- Nemesis
- Feed the Beasts
- Bad Boss
- Follower Perks
- Banish the Darkness
- For Gondor
Key information on trophies in Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- The main set of achievements consists of 53 trophies - 1 platinum trophy (available only on PS4), 1 gold, 11 silver and as much as 40 bronze.
- All trophies can be unlocked during a single playthrough, although the trophies The Operative, Vandal and It Came from Within can be missed. This will happen if you complete the fourth, final act of the game too quickly. The best way is to deal with these trophies before you enter the fourth act of the campaign, i.e. Shadow Wars.
- You can unlock the achievements at any difficulty level. If you want to make it easier for yourself to get the trophies, you should of course choose the lowest difficulty level.
- Several trophies are unlocked online. This means that you cannot earn platinum by playing offline, in single player mode. Fortunately, the online trophies are not difficult to unlock, and only Such Great Heights may take a bit more time.
- Many trophies can only be unlock when you acquire your own army of orcs. This happens during the second act of the campaign. It is worthwhile to advance as early as possible to this point in the game to have as many chances as possible to unlock various achievements.
- It should take you about 40 hours to unlock the platinum. The game initially forced a long grind in Act 4 - Shadow Wars. Luckily, after the launch it was reduced and the related microtransactions were removed.
- The trophies associated with collectibles are easy to unlock, as you can easily find secrets by using Haedir Towers. In addition, the game doesn't force you to find 100% of all available secrets. The Speak Friend and Enter achievement requires you to open only one Ithildin door.
The Bright Lord
Trophy type: platinum
Description: Middle-earth has been saved. For now...
Commentary: Unlock all 53 basic content trophies. DLC trophies are not required for platinum. The platinum trophy can be unlocked only on PS4. It is not available in either PC or Xbox One version.
Forger
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Forge a higher-quality Gem by combining three Gems of the same quality.
Commentary: During the game you can collect gems dropped by defeated opponents. Gems can have one of five quality levels (Unnamed, Carved, Polished, Refined, Perfect). For the purpose of this trophy you must collect any three gems of the same quality. This will enable you to combine them to get a single gem of a higher level. This mechanic is described in more detail on the Gems page in the Character Development section.
Rule of Three
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Unlock 3 Gem slots.
Commentary: You can unlock additional slots by spending mirian, the in-game currency. Each slot requires you to spend 1000 mirians. For more information on the types and uses of gems see the separate Gems page.
Best Defense
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Equip 3 Siege Upgrades on an Assault Team.
Commentary: Upgrades can be viewed and set in your army's management menu. This trophy has three essential requirements - you must have the mirian currency to buy upgrades, you must advance the main character to at least level 20 and you must unlock the option to attack fortresses belonging to orcs, in the second act of the campaign.
For more information refer to the Fortress Assault and Which upgrades are the best for fortress assaults? pages.
Fit for War
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Complete a challenge to upgrade a piece of gear.
Commentary: This achievement is linked to pieces of gear that are dropped by defeated opponents. For this trophy, choose any rare, heroic or legendary item. Each such item has a mini challenge associated with it, which may require, for example, poisoning or stealth killing a certain number of opponents. Complete any such challenge and then find the item in the inventory and spend the mirian (in-game currency) to upgrade it.
We have described this mechanic in more detail on the Upgrading equipment page in the Character development chapter.
Hostile Takeover
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Defeat a Warchief.
Commentary: Warchiefs are elite units, stronger than orc captains. The first warchief is encountered in the Rain of Arrows mission in Act 1 of the campaign. Take a look at our walkthrough to learn how to deal with this mini boss.
Vandal
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Destroy a Monument.
Commentary: Monuments are a unique category of objects on the world map - you find them in enemy camps. For this trophy you can choose any monument. You have to climb to the top of it and press the button confirming the desire to destroy it.
Additional note - Take care of this trophy before you finish Act 4 of the campaign, because later on it will be impossible to find monuments.
Speak Friend and Enter
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Open one of the Ithildin Doors.
Commentary: Ithildin doors are one of the game's secrets. First you have to find some ithildin runes, then after collecting a set, go to the barrow, start the wraith mode and approach the door. In order to open the door you have to place the words in the right place to make a poem.
You will find solutions to all ithildin door puzzles on the All ithildin doors poems page. To unlock the trophy you just need to open one door of your choice.
Bound by Blood
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Complete an Online Vendetta.
Commentary: It is an online trophy, which forces you to be connected to the game servers. You can't get it by playing offline.
Online vendetta is the name of additional activities appearing in random places on the world map. They will appear specifically where other random players have died. Take on any vendetta relaed to killing a monster indicated by the game. The important information is that ignoring a vendetta will not prevent you from getting the achievement. After a short time another such activity will appear on the map.
Avenged
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Complete a Vendetta Mission.
Commentary: The opportunity to complete a vendetta mission appears after the main character dies. It requires you to avenge the protagonist's death by killing or recruiting the orc captain marked by the game.
More information about what can happen after the death of the main character can be found on a separate page, titled Health, character status and death mechanics.
Master Forger
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Forge a top tier Gem.
Commentary: This is a more difficult version of the previously described trophy called Forger. This achievement requires you to use lower-quality jewels to forge a single jewel of the highest, Perfect quality. Try to collect and upgrade as many jewels as possible during the playthrough.
Promise Keeper
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Issue a Death Threat, and then successfully kill the target.
Commentary: Death threat is one of the available skills improvements from the Predator category. It enables you to use your Worm to tell any orc captain that you are coming for him - you have to highlight the captain in the army window and press button responsible for sending a Death Threat. This will unlock the mission associated with the assassination of the captain and it must be completed successfully.
Death is Not the End
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Resurrect a Follower Captain.
Commentary: This trophy requires some preparation. You must advance to Act 3 of the campaign, during which you will unlock the ability called Raise Dead. Additionally, you have to complete three arena missions to unlock the Undying Loyalty skill upgrade.
Once you've met the requirements, check the army menu to find out if you have a recently-died captain in your ranks. If so, press the resurrection button. If not, you can wait until one of your captains is killed.
Dismantled
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Disable an Outpost.
Commentary: One of the mission categories is associated with attacking outposts - look for their markers on the world map, specifically in enemy camps. Before disabling an outpost you may be forced to defeat the associated orc captain.
Banished
Trophy type: silver
Description: Defeat Suladân.
Commentary: Suladan is a boss you'll face while completing the story mission called The Tower of Sorcery in Act 2 of the campaign. Refer to our walkthrough to learn how to defeat this strong opponent.
Brought to Heel
Trophy type: silver
Description: Defeat Helm Hammerhand.
Commentary: Helm Hammerhand is a boss you will face during the story mission Fire and Fury in Act 2 of the campaign. Refer to our walkthrough to learn how to defeat this exceptionally strong opponent and his entourage.
Lord of Horror
Trophy type: silver
Description: Defeat the Balrog.
Commentary: The confrontation with Balrog takes place in the story mission Frozen Flame as part of Act 2 of the campaign. Refer to our walkthrough to learn how to defeat the Balrog.
The Stuff of Legend
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Equip a full Legendary Gear set.
Commentary: A set of legendary items can be automatically acquired and equipped in Act 3 of the campaign and this means that the trophy cannot be missed. If you want to learn more about the available sets of legendary items, please also refer to the Legendary sets page in the Character development chapter.
Finished Tales
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Recover all Gondorian artifacts.
Commentary: Gondorian artifacts are one of the categories of secrets / collectibles in the game. Haedir Towers help in finding them. Each tower must first be captured by removing Sauron's stigma from it. After that, you can then start exploring the surrounding area and discover the nearby collectibles. We have described this mechanic in more detail on the page titled Haedir and finding secrets.
One of the Gondorian artifacts is found while completing the story mission The Uninvited. If you did not get the trophy despite finding all the artifacts on the world map, repeat the mission to get the missing collectible.
The Web Revealed
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Uncover the final Shelob memory and reveal the Web of Fate.
Commentary: Webs of fate are one of the categories of secrets / collectibles in the game. Your task is to find shattered fragments of Shelob's memories. After finding each memory, you have to complete a simple mini-game by combining the fragments.
Haedir towers help in finding webs of fate (and other categories of collectibles). Each tower must first be captured by removing Sauron's stigma from it. After that, you can then start exploring the surrounding area and discover the nearby collectibles. We have described this mechanic in more detail on the page titled Haedir and finding secrets.
What Once Was Lost
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete Act I.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. Namely, you have to complete mission 11 - The Fall. This mission concerns the defense of Minas Ithil and we have discussed it in detail in our walkthrough.
First Steps
Trophy type: silver
Description: Conquer the Fortress of Núrnen.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. Namely, you have to complete mission 15 - Siege of Nurnen. This mission concerns capturing the Fortress of Nurnen and we have discussed it in detail in our walkthrough.
Peace in Death
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete the Shadow Wars.
Commentary: Shadow Wars begin after you advance to Act 4 of the campaign. The chapter involve taking part in siege battles. In the original version of the game this element of the campaign was very difficult and very long, but one of the big post-launch updates removed most of the grind and related microtransactions. More information about Shadow Wars can be found in our walkthrough.
Undeath Defeats Undeath
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete all Carnán quests.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. You have to complete mission 40 - Army of the Dead. This mission is to defeat the resurrected Zog and we have discussed it in detail in our walkthrough.
Fall and Rise
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete all Bruz quests.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. You have to complete mission 33 - Worse than Death. It is about the final encounter with Bruz and we have discussed it in detail in our walkthrough.
No Orc Lives Forever
Trophy type: silver
Description: Win all Fight Pit missions.
Commentary: This trophy is about sending orcs from your army to battle in the arena where, in addition to winning awards, you can easily develop and advance your subordinates. In each of the captured orc fortresses there are three levels of Fight Pit missions. While fighting for this trophy, you can cheat a little and turn off the game just before the death of some extremely valuable orcs from your army. This will enable you to keep it in your ranks.
The topic of arena fights is discussed in more detail on the How to easily recruit and level up orcs? page in the FAQ chapter.
Forged by War
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Unlock all player skills.
Commentary: A total of 34 different skills are waiting to be unlocked and only these are taken into account, i.e. you don't have to unlock all upgrades as well. Skill points can be earned primarily through leveling up the main characters, although they are also awarded for dealing with optional world map activities. For more information go to the Abilities page in our guide.
Additional note - Raise Dead is the only skill that is unlocked with game progress. You will receive it automatically when you complete the third act of the campaign.
Purge
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Purify all the Haedir.
Commentary: Haedirs are towers and they are located all over the world map. In order to clear a tower you have to climb to the top of it to remove Sauron's stigma. An additional reward for each such action is the possibility to scan the area for collectibles. We have described this mechanic in more detail on the guide page titled Haedir and finding secrets.
Stalemate is Victory
Trophy type: gold
Description: Defeat the Witch-king and reclaim Minas Morgul.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. You have to complete mission 44 - Bright Lord. It is the only quest of Act 3 of the campaign. The Witch-king in question is Sauron himself. Instructions on how to defeat him can be found in our walkthrough.
The Operative
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Turn all of a Warchief's bodyguards (minimum 2) into spies, then confront him.
Commentary: Unlocking of this trophy can begin at the earliest in the second act of the campaign, after unlocking the mechanic of controlling your own army of orcs. Locate any enemy Warchief and eliminate or recruit their bodyguard(s). The idea is to leave the enemy warchief without any protection.
Go to your army's menu, select any captain and send him on a spy mission to the enemy chief. If the mission is successful, your spy will become the enemy leader's bodyguard, and if it fails, he will die. Ultimately, you need to lead to a situation in which the enemy leader will have two bodyguards - both of them your spies. Start the Betrayal mission to set a trap for the enemy leader and assassinate him. Completing this mission will give you the trophy.
Such Great Heights
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Reach the rank of Captain in Online Conquest.
Commentary: It is an online trophy, which forces you to be connected to the game servers. You can't get it by playing offline.
Online conquest is an online mode, in which you attack the worlds of other players. Reaching the rank of captain requires you to acquire 2500 points in this particular mode and may take quite a lot of time.
No Orc Left Behind
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Rescue a Follower who's been captured.
Commentary: You can only become interested in this trophy after you start creating your own army of orcs in the second act of the campaign. Orcs can be sent on missions and the chance to have your follower captured by the enemies appears if such mission ends in failure. You will then be given a separate task to free your imprisoned orc. Complete this quest to unlock the achievement.
Better Luck Next Time
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Meet an Enemy or a Follower who has cheated death.
Commentary: This is an easy trophy, because you don't have to make any special efforts to get it. Death can be cheated by e.g. killed enemy orc captains. After you encounter an enemy captain who cheated death you will automatically unlock the achievement.
Everything is Permitted
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Shame an Assassin until he becomes deranged.
Commentary: Assassins are one of the advanced varieties of orcs. You will encounter them from the very beginning of the game, but you will be interested in this trophy only after you have unlocked the option to dominate your opponent in act 2 of the campaign.
After you have found an assassin, you have to choose the option to shame them (Triangle on PS4, Y on Xbox One). Single shaming will not be enough to derange an assassin. You have to continue hunting him down and use the dominance option each time to shame him several times. Repeat this until you unlock the trophy. More information about this mechanic can be found on the Branding enemies page of the Combat chapter.
It Came from Within
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Start a Conquest with all Warchiefs as spies.
Commentary: This trophy is linked to the mechanic of managing your orc army. Subordinate orc captains can be sent to enemy forts as spies (give the captain a command after highlighting him in the army menu). If a spy mission is successful, your spy captain will be appointed as leader of the enemy fort. You do not have to infiltrate the enemy fort with several captains, as only one spy is required. However, there must not be any enemy warchiefs in the fort - if they are present, kill them or recruit them before you start the siege of the fort.
Additional note - Take care of this trophy before you finish Act 4 of the campaign, because later attacking and taking over forts will no longer be possible.
Power Couple
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Send a Follower to support another Follower in a Nemesis Mission.
Commentary: Nemesis missions are one of the categories of quests. They have a random character and for the purpose of winning the trophy you may be interested in any of them. Start with advancing to act 2 to unlock the menu of your army of orcs. You have to start a Nemesis mission with one of your subordinate captains and then send a second captain to assist his pal. The trophy will be unlocked right away - you don't have to wait for the mission's outcome.
Overkill
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Send a Follower to kill another Follower in a pit fight.
Commentary: This is one of the trophies that cannot be unlocked before Act 2 of the campaign, when you unlock the menu of your own army of orcs and the option to send them to fight in the arena.
Start by sending your first henchman to arena fights, then select another orc and send him to the same pit. This action will lead to the death of one of the subordinate orcs, but you will get the achievement.
Life of the Party
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Send a Destroyer on a Vendetta Mission.
Commentary: As a reminder, destroyers are one of the advanced varieties of orcs. After recruiting a destroyer to your army, continue playing until you die somewhere or voluntarily let the character be murdered by some enemy orc. Talion's death will add a new vendetta mission to the world map. Put up the army menu, select the dominated destroyed and send it on the vendetta mission, i.e. to avenge the death of the main hero.
More information about what can happen after protagonist's death can be found on a separate page, titled Health, character status and death mechanics.
If You Can't Beat Them
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Dominate an Orc after he's killed you three or more times.
Commentary: It is a simple trophy, although it forces you to behave in an unusual way. Start trying to get this achievement after Talion gets killed by an orc - it can happen after you make a mistake or if you deliberately let the orc kill you.
The orc that defeated the main character is promoted to captain. Track him down and fight him two more times. Each time let it take Talion's lif. After the third death at the hands of the same orc you must dominate it and recruit it. Make sure not to kill him by accident this time.
Headhunter
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Recruit a Follower of every Advanced Class.
Commentary: Advanced Orc classes are:
- Assassin
- Beastmaster
- Berserker
- Commander
- Destroyer
- Marksman
- Slayer
- Tank
- Tracker
- Trickster
All these orcs are described in more detail on a separate page, titled Enemy types. After you unlock the mechanic of creating your own orc army during Act 2 of the campaign, start looking for their "elite" varieties to recruit them. It is a big help that you don't have to have all the advanced classes recruited at the same time. Once you have recruited an orc from a given class, you will not lose your chance of winning a trophy if the orc dies later on.
I Like to Watch
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Watch a Follower murder another Captain without helping him.
Commentary: There is a good chance that you will get this trophy without special efforts to unlock it. The best chance to witness an assassination is in missions to attack enemy forts. During the siege of the fort you may witness a scene where one of your subordinates will kill a captain.
Second Age Warrior
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Complete all Shadow of the Past missions in one region.
Commentary: Shadows of the Past missions are a unique category of quests in the game. In these quests you play the role of Celembrimbor and recreate his heroic deeds. Notice these missions in any region of the world map. The game only requires you to complete the missions. You do not have to win gold cups in them.
More information about these quests can be found on the Celebrimbor's missions page in the Basics chapter.
Rough Rider
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Ride every type of beast and rare beast.
Commentary: Basic types of beasts available in the game are:
- Caragor - available in two varieties - common and with white fur (Dire Caragor).
- Drake
- Graug
Rare beasts are:
- Fire Graug - appears in Gorgoroth region.
- Ice Graug - appears in Seregost region.
- Poison Graug - appears in Nurnen region.
You need to mount all seven beasts at least once. More info on beasts can be found on the Enemy types page.
Wild Things
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Kill a drake while riding a graug.
Commentary: Before you tackle this trophy unlock two skills Graug Rider, enable you to dominate and ride them, and Call Mount. In addition, get the Graug Call upgrade, which enables you to ride a graug at any time during the game.
Now, travel around the world until you encounter a drake, a flying dragon. Try to provoke the drake to land and try to partially weaken it. Only then summon and mount your graug. Kill the injured dragon before it can fly away or before it is killed by somebody else.
Trolling
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Kill a Captain while riding an Olog.
Commentary: As a reminder, ologs are trolls that can accompany orcs in some battles. Talion can mount an olog after he hits it with a charged arrow. After you hit it, you have to quickly run up to the monster and press the appropriate key. Before you decide on such a step, try to weaken one of the local captains so that you can easily finish him off while riding the olog.
Vertical Mobility
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Help a grunt become an Overlord.
Commentary: As with many other trophies related to orc "management", wait until you unlock the army mechanic during Act 2 of the campaign.
This achievement is not very difficult to unlock, although it requires some specific actions. Let one of the grunt orcs kill you, so that he is promoted to the rank of captain. Find the orc that killed Talion, dominate him and recruit him to join the hero's army. Find him in the ranks of your army and appoint him as the head of one of the forts you have captured (an exchange is made with another orc, which until now has been the head).
Blood on Blood
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Make a Captain kill his bloodbrother.
Commentary: This is another trophy requires you to unlock army management in the second act of the campaign.
You have to find and identify an orc captain who has a bloodbrother mentioned in his statistics. Dominate and recruiting the captain. After he joins your ranks, order him to kill his bloodbrother in the army menu. Unfortunately the trophy is not awarded automatically. Your orc captain must successfully complete the mission, i.e. personally kill his bloodbrother. Do not engage in the orc duel and consider switching off the game if you see that your orc is close to losing. This will enable you to try again when you restart the game.
Nemesis
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Encounter the same Orc 3 times in nemesis missions without killing him.
Commentary: As a reminder, nemesis missions are about fighting orc captains. In this case it is about not killing anyone. After selecting any enemy captain for this achievement, let him or one of the accompanying orcs kill you. Repeat this pattern two more times.
Feed the Beasts
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Attract every kind of beast using bait.
Commentary: Beasts that can be attracted using bait are:
- Spiders
- Ghuls
- Caragors
- Graugs
- Drakes
Bait is found randomly across the game world and can be placed using ranged weapons. Use bait to attract each beast type at least once.
Bad Boss
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Strike a Follower until he's had enough.
Commentary: Traditionally, you have to start by advancing to Act 2 and unlocking the mechanic of managing your own army of orcs.
Choose any orc from your army and appoint them as your personal bodyguard. After the bodyguard is called by pressing the appropriate key. Start attacking him until he turns against Talion and starts attacking too.
Follower Perks
Trophy type: bronze
Description: Use a Training Order to give a Follower a gang.
Commentary: Like with many earlier trophies, wait until you unlock your own army of orcs in Act 2.
You can earn training orders by opening War Chests, which are awarded for completing everyday challenges. You must specifically get the command to assign a gang. Choose any captain from your army and from the command menu choose for him the training order related to the gang.
Banish the Darkness
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete all Eltariel quests.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. Namely, you have to complete the final mission, number 44 - Bright Lord. During this mission you will have to defeat the first boss - the Witch-King. We have discussed this mission in detail in our walkthrough.
For Gondor
Trophy type: silver
Description: Complete all Gondor quests.
Commentary: You will automatically earn this trophy as you play through the game. Namely, you have to complete mission 25 - To Gorgoroth. This mission concerns freeing Baranor from the hands of orcs and we have discussed it in detail in our walkthrough.