Altar of Flame

"Down the centre stalked a double line of towering pillars. They were carved like boles of mighty trees whose boughs upheld the roof with a branching tracery of stone. Their stems were smooth and black, but a red glow was darkly mirrored in their sides. Right across the floor, close to the feet of two huge pillars a great fissure had opened. Out of it a fierce red light came, and now and again, flames licked at the brink and curled about the bases of the columns. Wisps of dark smoke wavered in the hot air."
—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Bridge of Khazad-dûm

The Moria-orc Shamans worshipped Durin's Bane as a dark and powerful god, and demonstrated their worship through the creation of malevolent altars wrought in the likeness of the fiery demon that ruled Moria. These altars, while few in number, were filled with the powers of fire and darkness, and the Shamans used them to fuel unnatural powers to strengthen their allies and destroy their enemies in the name of the Balrog they revered and dreaded above all else.

The Altar of Flame is a unique structure that belongs solely to the Adventure: Shadow and Flame subfaction of the Misty Mountains. It is a structure of paramount importance to that Adventure subfaction and one of the defining aspects that separates the subfaction from standard play, allowing for the recruitment of Moria-orc Shamans and the usage of other very helpful powers.

## Function

The Altar of Flame can be used to recruit the following unit:

The Altar of Flame has access to the following abilities:

**Drums in the Deep** – Requires Drums in the Deep fortress upgrade. Temporarily summons 2 hordes of Moria-orc Screechers. Left click to activate.

**Flame of Udûn (T)** – Requires four full battalions of Moria-orc Shamans. Sacrifice all Shamans on the battlefield to summon the wrath of Durin’s Bane and burn all enemy units in a target area. Left click icon and then left click on target location.

**Plundered Tribute (R) –** Selected Orc Tunnel or Goblin Hoard’s resource output is raised to 275% for 5 minutes. Left click icon then left click on target resource structure.

**Dark Renewal (E) –** When activated, one fallen unit from all friendly resources across the map is replenished. Left click to activate.

## Strategy

The Altar of Flame is a vital structure to the Adventure: Shadow and Flame and one of the aspects that distinguishes it the most from the standard Misty Mountains faction. It is similar to the Sanctum of Zigur in that it allows for the recruitment of a magical support unit, the Moria-orc Shaman, but it does not get any upgrades and does not allow for the researching of further upgrades for the Shamans. Rather, the Altar of Flame itself has a wide variety of powerful skills that it has immediate access to that can help a Shadow and Flame player tremendously. **Drums in the Deep** comes with all of the faction's buildings, allowing for the temporary summoning of 2 hordes of Moria-orc Screechers that can serve as a temporary defense to buy time if the Altar of Flame comes under attack while the player's main armies come to reinforce it. **Plundered Tribute** is an incredibly useful ability that dramatically increases the output of a resource structure for 5 minutes, granting the player a significant economy boost that can make it much easier to access upgrades, mid- and late-game units and heroes. **Dark Renewal** allows for the replenishment of 1 unit by every horde currently controlled by the player, and is best utilized on powerful hordes that have lost single units such as the Pack of Trolls or the Hobgoblin Plunderers. Finally, **Flame of Udûn** operates similarly to **Blessing of Belegûr** as a powerful defensive AOE strike over a target area that requires the sacrifice of a number of shamans to perform.