The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War beginner’s guide

The newly released The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War offers something unique to base builders, in a way that allows each individual player to compete for supremacy in their own way. Below we’ll take a look at some tips and tricks to help you get started, and what exactly you should focus on from the very beginning.

Choose the right Faction, or swap before it’s too late

If you’ve already started playing, chances are you probably chose one of the ten Factions. What you might have overlooked, however, is the fact that each Faction comes with its own specific Commander and bonus stats. In short, there are two sides - the good, and the evil. To the good side, there is Erebor, Lothlórien, Gondor and Rohan, Arnor and Lindon, and on the evil side there is Mordor, Isengard, Angmar and Rhûn.

What is not obvious from the beginning is that a player can swap between the Factions, as long as they belong to the same (good or evil) side. Just keep in mind that the conquered tiles will be lost, so if you’ve already conquered some important ones, you may want to reconsider.

Each Faction specialises is something, so you should take into consideration that as well as the special unit type and the Commander available.

Conquer Food Plot tiles at the start, then Ore tiles, then try to focus on everything equally

Each tile has a specific design which represents what that tile offers. Food Plot tiles and Ore tiles will be the ones in demand at the beginning of each new Season, then the more difficult to attack tiles will be the main goal. As a new player, no matter if you’re starting out at the beginning of a new season or not, you need to look for those two tiles (Food and Ore).

Resources are extremely important from every single point of view, from the beginning to the very end. If you have the means, consider investing some of your Gems in the Resource Production boosts from the Store. One of those boosts costs 50 Gems, and if you’re trying to get to the late game sooner, this is something you may want to consider.

Decide how you want to use your Gems

Since Gems are basically the premium currency in The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, you want to find the best possible way to spend them - especially if you’re a free-to-play player. Some of the best items you can spend your Gems on include:

• Building speed-ups: these will be always helpful, and as you step into the late game, they will be even more important since upgrades will take hours.
• Equipment upgrades: buildings will reset at the end of each Season, so if you want to invest in something timeless, you can consider investing in your equipment (since that won’t reset).
• Resource boosts: as mentioned above, these will grant you additional resources for some time.

Form a Fellowship/Warband or join an existing one

The Fellowship/Warband is an important aspect of the game, and no player can reach the endgame without joining one. The Fellowship/Warband will allow for further territory expansion because each player will be able to use the Fellowship/Warband members’ tiles to conquer more.

There are also Fellowship Wars, which can take place between two Fellowships/Warbands that declare war to each other. When such wars take place, each player can deploy their desired units to help the Fellowship/Warband fight the way, and if they come victorious, they’ll earn a lot of resources.

Remember to expand as much as you can, every chance you get

Since the game is all about conquering tiles and increasing the Ring’s power, as you move into the late game you can un-conquer a beginner tile (by tapping the red X) and select a different one that grants more benefits.

This is something you should always keep an eye on, since players might un-select some (good) tiles, so make sure to scout the map every day for new opportunities.