Denethor

* Portrait
* In Game

"He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try."
—Gandalf

Denethor II was the Steward of Gondor during the War of the Ring. While at first he was a masterful leader, he slowly began to see the war as being between himself and Sauron, becoming too proud to consider those not under his command. He had two sons but cared more for his eldest, Boromir, as he resented Faramir's closeness to Gandalf as well as his attitude towards war. After his wife died, Denethor began to use the Palantir of Minas Tirith and saw the armies of Mordor. His despair grew and only increased after Boromir was killed and Faramir was almost slain. In his grief, he abandoned hope and tried to cremate himself and Faramir. Although his son was saved, Denethor himself was killed in the fire.

In Age of the Ring, Denethor is a hero for Gondor. He is protected by four individual Citadel Guards although he can fight by himself as well.

## Abilities

**Level 1: Steward of Gondor** - Denethor is protected by his guards. Modifier Type: Leadership. Allied units near Denethor gain +25% armour. Faramir loses -15% armour and -15% experience gain. Stacks with buffs and spells. Passive ability

Level 3: Allied units near Denethor gain +33% damage. Gandalf loses -15% armour and -15% experience gain.

Level 6: Allied units near Denethor gain +25% experience gain. Elessar loses -15% armour.

**Level 1: Stone of Anárion (R)** - Can be cast to reveal shroud. Modifier Type: Active Debuff. Targeted units, both friend or foe, lose all leadership. Does not stack with other debuffs. Left click icon then left click on target area.

**Level 3: High Authority (T)** - Commands target units to flee for their lives. Left click on icon then left click on target units.

**Level 6: In Service of the Steward (C)** - Summons a temporary battalion of Citadel Guards. At level 10, also temporarily summons Berethor. Left click icon to activate.

**Level 9: Contest of Wills (V)** - When cast on a friendly hero, increases damage output by +100% at the cost of -50% armour for 15 seconds. When cast on an enemy hero, causes the hero to lose -33% armour and speed for 15 seconds. Left click icon then left click on target hero.

## Strategy

While not a strong fighter, Denethor can act as a support and disruptive hero. His leadership is very strong as Denethor increases in rank but also comes with the downside of negatively affecting some of your heroes. This forces the player to either split up their forces or to accept the consequences of weakened heroes. **High Authority** can cause enemy units to flee, allowing your own units to take advantage of the disruption either by moving in to attack or retreat. **Stone of Anárion** can both reveal shroud and remove leaderships. However, the player must be careful not to cast on their own units in the process. The summoned Citadel Guards are a powerful battalion that can be used to reinforce your own forces where ever necessary. Meanwhile, Berethor can be used to damage and heavily weaken powerful heroes and units with his abilities, countering some of the largest threats to Denethor in the process. Lastly, **Contest of Wills** can be used to affect strengthen allied hero damage while reducing armour. This can be useful for heroes to allow them to take out strong targets although it is a risky strategy. A safer one may be to use the ability on an enemy hero to weaken them and allow them to be killed.