Ered Luin Guards

* Portrait
* In Game
* Upgraded

"So Thráin and Thorin with what remained of their following (among whom were Balin and Glóin) returned to Dunland, and soon afterwards they removed and wandered in Eriador, until at last they made a home in exile in the east of the Ered Luin beyond the Lune. Of iron were most of the things that they forged in those days, but they prospered after a fashion, and their numbers slowly increased. But, as Thrór had said, the Ring needed gold to breed gold, and of that or any other precious metal they had little or none."
—The Return of the King, Appendix A

After the attack of Smaug on Erebor and the War of Dwarves and Orcs, many of the remaining Longbeards of Erebor were left homeless. Though some went to the Iron Hills, others moved to the other side of the Misty Mountains, spending some time in Dunland before eventually settling in the Blue Mountains. Here, they built up a life for themselves where they trained with those living west of the Misty Mountains. These lands were not always safe though and traders here would require their own guards.

The Ered Luin Guards are the Auxiliary Camp unit for the Free Peoples in Enedwaith maps. They are also available to the Adventure: Durin's Folk subfaction of Erebor, recruitable from a Level 1 Erebor Assembly with a different skillset.

## Abilities and Formations

**Dwarven Waybread** - The Rangers passively heal outside of combat. Passive ability.

**Level 5: Bodyguards (R)** - Modifier Type: Spell. Ered Luin Guards empower a friendly hero, granting them 20% armour, 50% faster experience gain, and 75% faster power recharge times for 30 seconds. Left click icon then left click on target hero. *(Auxiliary camp variant only)*

**Crossfire (R)** - For 30 seconds, target unit or hero is marked by the Ered Luin Guard. The target takes 20 more damage from Ered Luin Guard and Ered Luin Ranger attacks. Left click then left click on target. *(Adventure: Durin's Folk variant only)*

## Upgrades

**Mithril-tipped Arrows (C)** - when equipped, increases the damage done by arrows. Cost: 300

**Ered Luin Chief (V)** - when equipped, increases this battalion to level 2. Cost: 100

## Strategy

The Ered Luin Guards are the archer equivalent of the Ered Luin Rangers, though available for all Free Peoples on Enedwaith maps. This means that, though they do not have the survivability and armour upgrades of other dwarven units, they are more mobile. In addition, they have their own survivability from **Dwarven Waybread** which, with their higher speed, lets them be used for hit and run tactics. Their arrow upgrades support this playstyle, letting their attacks deal high damage, as does the fact that they can stealth in trees to set up ambushes. However, their primary ability is a supportive one. Though it is obtained late at level 5, **Bodyguards** is a powerful ability that grants a large boost to the combat power of a target hero. Keeping the Ered Luin Guards alive is therefore very valuable, as is using XP granting abilities such as those used by Roäc, Glorfindel, Théoden or Boromir to let them reach level 5 as soon as possible.

The Ered Luin Guards are also available to the Adventure: Durin's Folk subfaction of Erebor. In this subfaction, they no longer have the ability to protect allied heroes with **Bodyguards**. Instead, they gain the **Crossfire** ability, which is immediately available to them and allows them to mark a specific unit or hero and increase the damage done to the marked unit from both Ered Luin Rangers and Ered Luin Guard attacks. This essentially replaces their defensive utility with offensive pressure, allowing them and their Ered Luin allies to deal extra damage to high priority targets such as enemy heroes. They are otherwise statistically identical to their counterparts in standard play.