Moria-orc Shaman

* Portrait
* In Game

"Enraptured by the ancient mysteries of the Shadow and the Flame, these orcs have gathered a band of hapless followers, who will gladly sacrifice themselves in order to fuel the dark sorcery that Durin’s Bane bestows upon their masters."
—Age of the Ring team

Amongst the countless hordes of orcs who dwelled within the depths of Moria, a select few of them would delve deep into forbidden and unholy knowledge and dare to directly commune with Durin's Bane in the hopes of receiving some of his power. The Balrog would grant these orcs some of his mastery over fire and darkness in exchange for direct worship and service, a bargain that the orcs eagerly accepted. These shamans would be dreaded and respected by other Moria orcs as direct emissaries and conduits for the Balrog's power. Countless weaker orcs would join them as acolytes, and through sacrificing their bodies, the shamans would use their fiery magics to empower their allies with the fury of Durin's Bane and unleash deadly blasts of fire upon any who dared to enter the defiled Dwarven realm.

In Age of the Ring, the Moria-orc Shamans are a special support unit for the Adventure: Shadow and Flame subfaction of the Misty Mountains that, similar to Zigûr Cultists, focuses on the sacrifice of acolytes to use powerful abilities.

## Abilities

**Servants of the Flame (W)** – Unit cost: 3. Targeted friendly units permanently deal added fire damage with their attacks and to enemies that attack them. Grants 50% armour against fire as well. Can only be used on Misty Mountains melee infantry. Does not affect heroic units or monsters. Left click icon then lift click on target units.

**Valaraukar’s Wrath (R) –** Unit cost: 3. Durin’s Bane was capable of casting powerful spells, and could be persuaded by his servants to use them to their advantage. Summons Valaraukar’s Wrath from the ground. Enemies in targeted area are knocked back and suffer moderate damage. Left click icon then left click on targeted area.

## Strategy

The Moria-orc Shamans serve a similar role to the Zigûr Cultists from the Haradwaith faction as a powerful magical support units. Although the Shamans have a basic ranged attack dealing Fire damage similar to the Cultists, they are quite different from them in that the Shamans have only 2 spells to choose from. **Servants of the Flame** functions identically to **Hearts of Fire** as a buffing spell that increases the Fire damage of allies and protects them from Fire damage. **Valaraukar's Wrath**, on the other hand, functions identically to **Fist of the Underworld** as an offensive attack which disrupts enemies, dealing moderate damage to them and leaving them vulnerable to further attacks. Although they may be less versatile than the Cultists, the Shamans also do not need to research any upgrades or spend any money to use unlock and utilize their spells, being limited only by how many acolytes they have available out on the field at any given time. Similarly to Cultists, the primary weakness of the Shamans is how fragile they are in direct combat. The player must be careful to keep them behind defensive lines and protect them to take full advantage of them.