Fun Fact: You can send Khamûl on his own to attack Rhosgobel on turn 1. During the End Turn the defenders sally out and this battle is quite winable. There are only three units and the only dangerous one is the generals bodyguard, but cycle-charging does the trick. I even managed to repeat this and take Duinburg on turn 2 and even Beorns Hall on turn 7, killing Beorn in the process. Khamûls Bodyguard is VERY powerful.
Thank you for the tip. I first thought we should bum rush Lorien and destroy them as a faction ASAP at all costs (just like Rohan player should do to Isengard) but this video convinced me it is not really that worrisome. Despite outclassing orcs, elves actually lose to them because it is so much easier to replace fallen orcs than fallen elves.
Dol Guldur is 1 of few orc factions that have some excitement in their roster. Takes a while to get to the good stuff, but fielding an army with trolls, spiders, upper tier infantry, Shadow knights, you can demolish an enemy army.
A comment on the lack of spears. The forest is an inherent defense against cavalry. Just for a lore blurb. Fighting in the forest is similar to fighting on a ship. Short weapons, shock tactics from ambush/boarding actions, cavalry don't work well, and prior to cannons the distance at which you can engage the enemy is quite short.
Goblin Stalkers have spears as their secondary and have pretty decent Attack for a spear unit, so they make a very good anti-cav unit despite their low-ish Defense if they can jump on cav that isn't charging at them.
They will come in handy especially if we expand to the direction of what is called The Undeeps in Tolkiens books and as a result, run into Rohan. We definitely will if we cross Anduin.
One fun thing to do with Mirkwood Goblins: in river battles put them to block the crossing -> they hide so enemy won't shoot them until they are able to see them, and usually then it's too late and you can let the missiles fly.
I find Dol Guldur to be an incredibly powerful faction for its campaign requirements, as in the faction is well suited to accomplish its stated campaign goals. As you said you have pretty quick access to all your top tier troops which makes dealing with all the doom stacks of the factions you're killing: Anduin Vale, Wood Elves and Lothlorien, much more manageable. However, it's a weak roster overall if you compare it to other factions, including other evil factions. Which means that you need to play very aggressively and take advantage of your very powerful early game and kill said 3 factions very early on before they get to build up to their best units, which yours won't really be able to compete with. I mean yes good players won't really have too many issues, I'm talking about the average player who isn't particularly skilled at the battles. Also why is Dol Guldur classified as a ranged focused faction? Other than having poisoned arrows their archers are nothing special and are actually the weakest part of their roster... In fact there's 1 archer unit that I have a lot of issues with, and that's Khamul's Shadow Rangers. It's supposed to be this late game elite archer unit, and your stake holder at that, yet its stats are awfully mediocre, around tier 2 strength of most factions. And this is your tier 3/4 unit in a faction that supposedly specializes in archery! It's also odd that its stats are so weak considering the other 2 elite units in the roster from the other arms of the army: Khamul's Shadowknights and the Castellans of Dol Guldur, both of which have very respectable stats and while still not top tier or anything(when compared to other factions' elites), not even in the top 10, their stats are still powerful enough to seem like proper elite units. Consider elite units from other factions like say Mordor and their Temple units, all 3: infantry, cavalry and archer, units have pretty similar stats and certainly the same level of quality. This is what I expected Khamul's Shadow Rangers to have but they simply fall short. So I'd change the description to a well rounded faction with some extras(trolls and spiders) rather than a ranged focus faction, as they really aren't such, not when compared to other proper ranged focus factions like Dale or the Wood Elves.
Dol Guldur need a script inspired by Shadow of War... With the option to rebel against Sauron. It might not be the most lore friendly idea but it would be pretty cool.
I've always seen Anduin's Vale get overrun, ever since Gundabad was added. Giving one of the orc factions a rebellion script would solve that issue and I personally think a coup of dark riders sounds cool af.... Maybe they don't need to ally the good factions but should be set to neutral and declare war on mordor.
@@undeadholyman4494Something similar to what Isengard has but for Gundabad would be cool. You're already incentivized to rebel due to the auxiliary recruitment system, why not make it a bigger part of the campaign? Oh and I would love to see the Mordor-aligned factions get more out of returning the Ring. Say get the Khand treatment and have the Dark Numenorean landmark with affiliated units, maybe Great Beasts and Olog-Hai, even an Inquisitor thrown in
I'm still hoping for both more unique guilds for the evil factions and morgul sorcery plate units from the dev team. (see 1/2) (1)The first is mostly to help distinguish the different playstyles and make the evil factions feel like an actual genuine military within the umbrella of evil. Otherwise it just copy and paste Persian tactics and that can get quickly dull regardless of aesthetic. So maybe make a spy raven haven for Isengard, an overseer camp for Angmar, an "alchemy" poison guild for Dol Guldur, Goblin breeding pit/food guild for Moria, maybe an assassin's guild for Mordor (to keep order and fear you know...actually that might be more Angmar style), and finally maybe a merchant guild for the Easterlings. I believe this will at least spice things up thematically without going into overpowered territory. It is also very viable with the base code already having them. I hope the art direction doesn't leave me or anyone disappointed though. (2) I want to see some units "blessed" with morgul runes as a visual armor upgrade. I understand this may in the end be a waste of time as it is purely cosmetic, but i believe it will definitely be strong point in certain campaigns. For the problem we have with most orc armies is that they are far too similar since all they receive is a coat of chainmail and maybe a gauntlet or helm here and there. Meanwhile you have descriptions like black plate or morgul sorcery weapons and all you see are (slightly better)snaga that no longer wear furs as a tier 3 infantry or cavalry. While of course faction specific units are already amazing...how cool would it be (and terrifying for an opposing player) that your opponent would HAVE to choose his targets in your army rather than ignoring the garbage tide that 3 of his units will mop up in short order. On the other hand i can see the argument of making your glass cannon units more incognito....
Fun campaign but very very difficult. I found myself having to be on the defensive for a very long time since you have so many factions attacking you from all directions.
Dol Guldur battle map had a issue with steep walls surrounding it that prevented reinforcements from entering and prevented attacking armies from retreating. Has that been fixed? Thanks!
Hi Augimond, do the trolls get a visual armour upgrade like the previous version? I recall Galu once said they would recycle the model from Isengard where the trolls would get an armour upgrade it was visually different on the field. If I remember they would get a large sword that the uruks use, a shield and armour?
The visual upgrade only applies for tier 4 armour which is gives the trolls isengard plate. This should for the most part only affect Isengard owned trolls because the other orc factions can not get tier 4 armour except Gundabad, though I do not recall if they can recruit standard trolls anywhere.
@@darkpenguin7277 Gundabad get their unique Half-trolls instead from the t1 Troll Cage and Snow Trolls from the t2; they don't get the normal Trolls unit.
@feelingpine9123 I'm aware they get snow trolls, this question doesn't relate to gundabad getting normal trolls, or half trolls for that matter... I asked if the trolls from dol dul guldur get the visual armour upgrade as seen from isengard, which was answered 👍
I played version 4.5, now i installed v5 and apllied the large adress aware, but when i open the the bat file alaways says LARGE ADRESS AWARE NOT BEEN APPLIED. i did exactly the same thing on 4.5 version and works fine, dont know how to solve the problem.
I mean that is kinda lore accurate but the spamtide of Mordor and Moria especially is boring yeah. Isengard and Gundabad do alleviate this to some extent and I find Dol Guldur to be refreshing as they are Mordor but with more flavour. Also there are significantly fewer evil nations disregarding what the 2-4 nations that might flip allegiances depending on the game.
Fun Fact: You can send Khamûl on his own to attack Rhosgobel on turn 1. During the End Turn the defenders sally out and this battle is quite winable. There are only three units and the only dangerous one is the generals bodyguard, but cycle-charging does the trick. I even managed to repeat this and take Duinburg on turn 2 and even Beorns Hall on turn 7, killing Beorn in the process.
Khamûls Bodyguard is VERY powerful.
Thank you for the tip. I first thought we should bum rush Lorien and destroy them as a faction ASAP at all costs (just like Rohan player should do to Isengard) but this video convinced me it is not really that worrisome. Despite outclassing orcs, elves actually lose to them because it is so much easier to replace fallen orcs than fallen elves.
Dol Guldur is 1 of few orc factions that have some excitement in their roster. Takes a while to get to the good stuff, but fielding an army with trolls, spiders, upper tier infantry, Shadow knights, you can demolish an enemy army.
Actually only moria is really Trash. The other orc factions have good options
A comment on the lack of spears. The forest is an inherent defense against cavalry. Just for a lore blurb. Fighting in the forest is similar to fighting on a ship. Short weapons, shock tactics from ambush/boarding actions, cavalry don't work well, and prior to cannons the distance at which you can engage the enemy is quite short.
Goblin Stalkers have spears as their secondary and have pretty decent Attack for a spear unit, so they make a very good anti-cav unit despite their low-ish Defense if they can jump on cav that isn't charging at them.
They will come in handy especially if we expand to the direction of what is called The Undeeps in Tolkiens books and as a result, run into Rohan. We definitely will if we cross Anduin.
One fun thing to do with Mirkwood Goblins: in river battles put them to block the crossing -> they hide so enemy won't shoot them until they are able to see them, and usually then it's too late and you can let the missiles fly.
Good job on the videos Vids my man. Keep ‘em coming, and thanks for keeping the tradition alive :)
Poor Orcs Maulers have been forgotten...
Apologies! This shall not happen again!
@@Augimund its not big deal, lets say that you didnt cover them because they are so common you will cover them in Mordor or Gundabad overview lol
Love these roster analysis! Keep it up!
I find Dol Guldur to be an incredibly powerful faction for its campaign requirements, as in the faction is well suited to accomplish its stated campaign goals. As you said you have pretty quick access to all your top tier troops which makes dealing with all the doom stacks of the factions you're killing: Anduin Vale, Wood Elves and Lothlorien, much more manageable. However, it's a weak roster overall if you compare it to other factions, including other evil factions. Which means that you need to play very aggressively and take advantage of your very powerful early game and kill said 3 factions very early on before they get to build up to their best units, which yours won't really be able to compete with. I mean yes good players won't really have too many issues, I'm talking about the average player who isn't particularly skilled at the battles.
Also why is Dol Guldur classified as a ranged focused faction? Other than having poisoned arrows their archers are nothing special and are actually the weakest part of their roster... In fact there's 1 archer unit that I have a lot of issues with, and that's Khamul's Shadow Rangers. It's supposed to be this late game elite archer unit, and your stake holder at that, yet its stats are awfully mediocre, around tier 2 strength of most factions. And this is your tier 3/4 unit in a faction that supposedly specializes in archery! It's also odd that its stats are so weak considering the other 2 elite units in the roster from the other arms of the army: Khamul's Shadowknights and the Castellans of Dol Guldur, both of which have very respectable stats and while still not top tier or anything(when compared to other factions' elites), not even in the top 10, their stats are still powerful enough to seem like proper elite units. Consider elite units from other factions like say Mordor and their Temple units, all 3: infantry, cavalry and archer, units have pretty similar stats and certainly the same level of quality. This is what I expected Khamul's Shadow Rangers to have but they simply fall short. So I'd change the description to a well rounded faction with some extras(trolls and spiders) rather than a ranged focus faction, as they really aren't such, not when compared to other proper ranged focus factions like Dale or the Wood Elves.
Dol Guldur need a script inspired by Shadow of War... With the option to rebel against Sauron. It might not be the most lore friendly idea but it would be pretty cool.
I've always seen Anduin's Vale get overrun, ever since Gundabad was added. Giving one of the orc factions a rebellion script would solve that issue and I personally think a coup of dark riders sounds cool af.... Maybe they don't need to ally the good factions but should be set to neutral and declare war on mordor.
@@undeadholyman4494Something similar to what Isengard has but for Gundabad would be cool. You're already incentivized to rebel due to the auxiliary recruitment system, why not make it a bigger part of the campaign?
Oh and I would love to see the Mordor-aligned factions get more out of returning the Ring. Say get the Khand treatment and have the Dark Numenorean landmark with affiliated units, maybe Great Beasts and Olog-Hai, even an Inquisitor thrown in
I'm still hoping for both more unique guilds for the evil factions and morgul sorcery plate units from the dev team. (see 1/2)
(1)The first is mostly to help distinguish the different playstyles and make the evil factions feel like an actual genuine military within the umbrella of evil.
Otherwise it just copy and paste Persian tactics and that can get quickly dull regardless of aesthetic.
So maybe make a spy raven haven for Isengard, an overseer camp for Angmar, an "alchemy" poison guild for Dol Guldur, Goblin breeding pit/food guild for Moria, maybe an assassin's guild for Mordor (to keep order and fear you know...actually that might be more Angmar style), and finally maybe a merchant guild for the Easterlings.
I believe this will at least spice things up thematically without going into overpowered territory. It is also very viable with the base code already having them. I hope the art direction doesn't leave me or anyone disappointed though.
(2) I want to see some units "blessed" with morgul runes as a visual armor upgrade. I understand this may in the end be a waste of time as it is purely cosmetic, but i believe it will definitely be strong point in certain campaigns. For the problem we have with most orc armies is that they are far too similar since all they receive is a coat of chainmail and maybe a gauntlet or helm here and there. Meanwhile you have descriptions like black plate or morgul sorcery weapons and all you see are (slightly better)snaga that no longer wear furs as a tier 3 infantry or cavalry.
While of course faction specific units are already amazing...how cool would it be (and terrifying for an opposing player) that your opponent would HAVE to choose his targets in your army rather than ignoring the garbage tide that 3 of his units will mop up in short order.
On the other hand i can see the argument of making your glass cannon units more incognito....
Fun campaign but very very difficult. I found myself having to be on the defensive for a very long time since you have so many factions attacking you from all directions.
Forget how many factions begin with the letter D
Dol Guldur battle map had a issue with steep walls surrounding it that prevented reinforcements from entering and prevented attacking armies from retreating. Has that been fixed? Thanks!
Hi Augimond, do the trolls get a visual armour upgrade like the previous version? I recall Galu once said they would recycle the model from Isengard where the trolls would get an armour upgrade it was visually different on the field. If I remember they would get a large sword that the uruks use, a shield and armour?
The visual upgrade only applies for tier 4 armour which is gives the trolls isengard plate. This should for the most part only affect Isengard owned trolls because the other orc factions can not get tier 4 armour except Gundabad, though I do not recall if they can recruit standard trolls anywhere.
@@Augimund ahh ok thanks for that, I think Gundabad can recruit trolls where the 'troll resource' is available?
@@darkpenguin7277 Gundabad get their unique Half-trolls instead from the t1 Troll Cage and Snow Trolls from the t2; they don't get the normal Trolls unit.
@feelingpine9123 I'm aware they get snow trolls, this question doesn't relate to gundabad getting normal trolls, or half trolls for that matter... I asked if the trolls from dol dul guldur get the visual armour upgrade as seen from isengard, which was answered 👍
I played version 4.5, now i installed v5 and apllied the large adress aware, but when i open the the bat file alaways says LARGE ADRESS AWARE NOT BEEN APPLIED. i did exactly the same thing on 4.5 version and works fine, dont know how to solve the problem.
The LAA applies directly to the med2.exe or kingdoms.exe files. If you do it again, it might have taken off the patch from your game executables.
@@Augimund i only did it once, so what can i do now?? With 4.5 i did it once after installation of the mod and no problems at all
I think that Gimli bodyguard also throws axes.
Yes, but he has the Erebor Axeguard unit which isn't a standard bodyguard, but an unique elite 2handed axe+throwing axe infantry unit for Erebor
I think Dol Guldur is an underrated faction but this is coming from someone who thinks it’s fun to play Goblins so
I would love to see a Tier 3 Cav. Something like Orks on Spiders 😊
My main problem is that the evil factions are in my eyes too strong. Playing as them feels too easy and playing against them often is a slog.
I mean that is kinda lore accurate but the spamtide of Mordor and Moria especially is boring yeah. Isengard and Gundabad do alleviate this to some extent and I find Dol Guldur to be refreshing as they are Mordor but with more flavour. Also there are significantly fewer evil nations disregarding what the 2-4 nations that might flip allegiances depending on the game.
The way this man pronounces Dol Guldur and Mordor really grinds my gears
I'm happy that someone is doing the overviews again but please work on ur pronounciation it's tearing my ears apart :( Other than that nice video :>