Shadow of the Past

* Loading Screen
* Map Layout

"Frodo: But he was destroyed! Sauron was destroyed.
Gandalf: No, Frodo. The spirit of Sauron endured. His life force is bound to the Ring, and the Ring survived. Sauron has returned. His Orcs have multiplied. His fortress of Barad-Dûr is rebuilt in the land of Mordor. Sauron needs only this Ring to cover all the lands of a second darkness. He is seeking it, seeking it - all his thought is bent on it. The Ring yearns above all else to return to the hand of its master. They are one, the Ring and the Dark Lord. Frodo, he must never find it."
—Fellowship of the Ring

Thousands of years passed following Sauron's defeat at the hands of Isildur and the One Ring remained dormant until it was discovered in the possession of the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins before it was passed on to his nephew Frodo Baggins. At the insistence of Gandalf the Grey, Frodo leaves the Shire with his friend Sam because Gandalf believes that Sauron has discovered that the Ring can be found there and has sent his deadliest servants to retrieve it. The Hobbits are told to make for the village of Bree, where Gandalf is expected to meet them.

Shadow of the Past is the second mission of the Lord of the Rings Campaign, its playable heroes consist of Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gildor Inglorion, Tom Bombadil and Strider. All heroes must be kept alive otherwise the mission is failed.

## Guide

**New Objective - Reach the Buckleberry Ferry**

After encountering a mysterious Black Rider on the road, the four Hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin) decide to make their way to the Buckleberry Ferry through the Old Forest to avoid detection by the potentially dangerous Riders. The forest is a maze with randomised paths in each playthrough. Its paths are patrolled by Nazgûl which shall attack the Hobbits if they spot them; trying to fight off the Nazgûl is futile and will undoubtedly result in one of the Hobbits' death and mission failure. Instead, players must make use of the Hobbits' **Hide Here, Quick!** ability which makes them invisible as long as they remain still. Remembering the hotkey C for this ability is invaluable. They can use this ability whenever a Nazgûl is close and then move once the Nazgûl has moved on. A useful tip is that the Hobbits will unsheathe their swords if a Nazgûl is nearby, which gives the player some warning before that they will need to hide soon.

The goal of the maze is to find Gildor Inglorion and his fellow Exiles, players will know that they are nearby Gildor's camp as they will hear the sounds of Elves singing to Elbereth. Upon reaching the Elves, the Hobbits are safe from any pursuing Nazgûl from the maze; however the camp is soon attacked by Risen Dúnedain and Wights. In this section, the player gains control of Gildor and the Noldor Exiles.

**New Objective - Defend Gildor's camp from the Risen Dúnedain**

Gildor should be micro-managed to deal with the Wights, as these replenish health per hit and so must be quickly dispatched. The Hobbits can either be toggled to rock throwing mode or can be hidden to reduce the risk of them dying. There are three waves of attackers, which must be defeated before the player is prompted to sally forth and cleanse the Barrows which are under the Nazgûl's influence. The player has a limited number of Exiles, this number can be temporarily increased by Gildor's Summon Exiles spell to bolster the player's forces.

**New Objective - Destroy the Barrows**

There are three barrows to destroy: each is guarded by a Nazgûl, some Risen Dúnedain and Wights. During the assault on the first barrow, Tom Bombadil spawns and is controllable. He and Gildor should target the Nazgûl whilst the rest of the Exiles bring down the barrows, which drop treasure when destroyed - these resources will be important later in the mission. Once all three barrows are cleared, the player is reminded that they must reach the Buckleberry Ferry which lies very close.

**New Objective - Reach the Prancing Pony**

The Hobbits arrive at the village of Bree and make their way to the inn where a hooded stranger called Strider waits for them, they learn that Gandalf has not arrived in Bree and it is no longer safe to wait for him - the enemy is coming. A mounted Nazgûl and several Risen Dúnedain hordes begin to attack Bree from the south, all of Bree's inhabitants as well as Strider become controllable. The troops and Strider should be used to fend off the attackers whilst the Hobbits capture various neutral buildings in the village, which either produce resources or recruit units for the village's defence. Bree-land Townsguard and Took Archers are the best options as they deal significant damage against the mounted Nazgûl leading each wave.

**New Objective - Defend the Prancing Pony from the Black Riders' assault**

Once the first wave has been defeated and the neutral buildings are captured, it is recommended to pull all units back to the Prancing Pony, as this is the attackers' main target. If the Prancing Pony is destroyed, the mission is failed. Waves of attackers arrive from the east, south and west gates. Hobbits are advised to be kept on rock throwing mode to avoid being cut down by a Black Rider and Strider should be used as crowd control because his attacks deal splash damage and kill multiple enemies at once. After surviving multiple waves, the mission is complete.

## Trivia

* The maze at the start of Shadow of the Past used to be fully randomized during its development. Every time you failed, the maze would reconfigure, meaning that memorizing the path was largely futile. Not only that, during play certain paths would become blocked over time, so that it changed even as you were trying to find your way through. This iteration of the mission has successfully traumatized at least 2 members of the team, and it was greatly simplified before it was released.