Middle-earth: Shadow of War - Skill Guide

In our skill guide for Middle-earth: Shadow of War you will learn:

  • How the upgrade system works
  • What the best skills are
  • How to farm skill points quickly

As in almost all areas of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, you have a lot of options when it comes to the skill tree. Whether you're a fighter, creature summoner, or spirit mage, we'll tell you which skills are the best and how to get skill points as quickly as possible to unlock and upgrade new actions.

Skills are the primary way to make Talion stronger. With our Middle-earth: Shadow of War skill guide, you'll soon be superior to all orcs. Are you just starting to play? Then check out our tips guide for Shadow of War, where we explain all the systems and mechanics of the action adventure.

How does the skill system work?

In Middle-earth: Shadow of War, you make your protagonist Talion better with a skill tree. This is divided into six categories:

  • Combat
  • Brigand
  • Ranged
  • Spirit
  • Horseman
  • Story.

Each of these aspects has five or six levels, which you'll have to improve little by little to get to the best talents at the end of each branch.

Here you can see all the branches of the talent tree.

Some of these talents must be unlocked by completing certain missions (these are highlighted in gold in the upgrade menu). Just play the story and you will get all the skills and upgrades. On the other hand, some skills unlock special tutorial missions. It's best to do these right after you get them. That way, you can put your newly acquired skill to the test right away.

Can I unlock all talents?

We can answer this question with a resounding yes. In the course of your adventure in Middle-earth: Shadow of War you will collect enough skill points to be able to exhaust the complete talent tree with its 33 skills and various upgrades. However, it's important which skills you choose first to make your way there as easy as possible.

Each skill of Talion and Celebrimbor, which are treated as one character, has two or three additional sub-skills, quasi improvements of the basic skill, which also have to be unlocked by skill points. So in total, with the 33 skills and the 87 upgrades, there are 120 skill points to distribute in Shadow of War.

What are the best skills in Middle-earth: Shadow of War?

Of course, which talents are best depends on your particular play style. But Middle-earth: Shadow of War is not a role-playing game, and your approaches won't be that different. Just ask yourself if things like sneaking or ranged combat are even in your regular repertoire.

With these skills you will become an invincible fighting machine.

You should prioritize these skills and their sub-skills:

  • Ice Storm Frostbite: Ice Storm can be found among the Spirit talents. It freezes enemies and takes them out of the fight for a short time. Frostbite is especially useful in 1-on-1 battles.
  • Ghost Chain: Perhaps the best sneak skill. Stealthily kill an Orc and use Focus Points to teleport directly to the next one.
  • Execution Fatal Power: Execution is the first talent in the combat tree, so get it as early as possible. It allows you to execute enemies, which is extremely helpful against a large group. The sub-skill earns you more power points.
  • Perfect Counter Fatal Counter: One of the most important skills is waiting in the combat tree. The perfect counter briefly stuns outmaneuvered enemies. The fatal counter kills weak enemies instantly. Ideal for large hordes.
  • Bird of Prey Claw Strike: Bird of Prey allows Talion to use his ranged focus in the air as well. Thanks to the sub-skill, you quickly take out a strong opponent at the beginning of a fight.
  • SummonMount Dragon Song: With this skill from the Rider branch, you can summon and ride a Caragor at any point in the game. As a sub-skill, of course, a dragon is especially cool. But you'll find out below why it's not necessarily worth riding them.
  • Shadow Attack Shadow Chain: A super useful skill that gets you close to enemies quickly to slaughter or dominate them. You can even mark them with your bow. Perfect for picking out individual targets from the crowd.
  • Treasure Hunter: This skill is at the bottom of the Ghost talent tree. You should get it early, though, because it makes the game a lot easier. Once you've unlocked the skill, you won't have to collect loot manually, you'll just have to walk over it.

What are the least important skills?

Of course, there are also some absolutely unimportant skills that you will probably hardly use. Level up these skills only if you want to expand the respective branch of the talent tree or if the skill seems interesting to you for some reason. However, you probably won't need the following talents.

  • Dragon Rider: Since many people will see this name and probably want to invest directly in the skill, we list it here separately. As nice as it is to attack enemies from the air, there is hardly a sequence in the game that makes this necessary or even makes sense. In the later course of the game, however, it can be quite funny.
  • Elven Rage (Upgrades): You should save all three upgrades to the Elven Rage skill for the end of the campaign. It is too rare that you will be able to use them. One of the three sub-skills is already too much, but all of them together are just unnecessary.
  • Shadow Mastery (Upgrade): An absolutely redundant skill. If you already have Shadow Strike (as recommended above), you can use it to get to an enemy and dominate them directly. So save yourself a wasted point.
  • Deadly Spirit: Even if you often resort to sneaking, a regular attack from behind is much more effective than the Deadly Spirit skill.

How do I get skill points quickly?

Skill points are earned through various activities in the game. Some you get by playing the story, others by doing side quests. Since Middle-earth: Shadow of War seems to offer countless missions and activities, it can be a bit confusing which of them will earn you skill points.

Completing most story missions will earn you a skill point.

  • Level Up: Each time you level up, you will be rewarded with a skill point. The most effective way to get experience is through story missions. However, there are a few other ways as well, which we have listed below.
  • Complete a Battle Pit quest: Once you've captured the fortress of an area, the battle pits will be unlocked. And with the Battle Pits always comes the first mission, each of which will earn you a skill point for completing.
  • Find all the artifacts of Gondor in a region: Once you have climbed all the towers in an area, the Gondor artifacts will appear on your map. Collect them all to earn one of the coveted skill points.
  • Complete all the Fate Nets in an area: Just like with the artifacts, you also get a point for completing all of Shelob's memories in an area.
  • Achieve Silver or Gold in Shadows of the Past: Shadows of the Past are the tutorial missions mentioned above that involve acquiring certain skills. In these short combat scenarios, you'll have to use the new skill skillfully to achieve a high rank. If you achieve gold or silver, you'll get a skill point on top.

How do I level up quickly?

To gain experience in Shadow of War, you must complete certain missions or defeat certain enemies. Only a captain or even higher rank will give you XP. All other orcs or beasts will leave you empty-handed. The following missions will give you XP and thus a potential level increase:

  • Story missions
  • Nemesis missions
  • Revenge missions
  • Capture outposts

Note that story missions are by far the most experience-giving. Almost every time you complete a main mission, you'll probably level up and earn a skill point. So you only need to care about the side missions if you don't want to complete all the story missions one after the other and want to take Middle-earth: Shadow of War slowly.

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