Dol Guldur Fortress

* Default
* Swarm of Bats
* Pale Torches
* Guldur Palantir
* Dark Encroachment
* Blight
* Hill of Sorcery
* Expansions

### Upgrades

Swarm of Bats, Pale Torches, Guldur Palantir, Dark Encroachment, Blight, Hill of Sorcery

### Bonus

n/a

"Now the Shadow grew ever greater, and the hearts of Elrond and Mithrandir darkened. Therefore on a time Mithrandir at great peril went again to Dol Guldur and the pits of the Sorcerer, and he discovered the truth of his fears, and escaped. And returning to Elrond he said:
'True, alas, is our guess. This is not one of the Úlairi, as many have long supposed. It is Sauron himself who has taken shape again and now grows apace; and he is gathering again all the Rings to his hand; and he seeks ever for news of the One, and of the Heirs of Isildur, if they live still on earth.’"
—Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, The Silmarillion

The Fortress of Dol Guldur was once known as Amon Lanc when the elves of Greenwood lived there. Once they moved their homes north, the Necromancer began to abide within the ruined castle, slowly corrupting it with his fell magic and filling it with evil creatures. By the end of the Third Age, Dol Guldur was a blight upon the forest of Mirkwood and had to be cleansed by the elves of the Woodland Realm and Lothlórien.

The Dol Guldur Fortress is the central building of the faction. It allows heroes and builders to be recruited, provides multiple defensive bonuses and allows the spellbook powers to be used.

## Upgrades

The Fortress can be improved with the following upgrades:

**Swarm of Bats (W)** - The Fortress gains a vision bonus and can detect stealthed units. (cost: 500)

**Pale Torches (E)** - Adds fire damage to Fortress and all attached Unquiet Ruins. (cost: 1000)

**Guldur Palantir (R)** - Can be cast to reveal part of the map. Enemy units caught in the radius take minor damage over time. (cost: 600)

**Dark Encroachment (T)** - Permanently reduces all structure costs by 33%. Doesn't affect fortress. (cost: 800)

**Blight (S)** - Prerequisite to Hill of Sorcery. Enemy units surrounding the fortress take damage and turn into Wraiths upon dying. (cost: 1500)

**Hill of Sorcery (D)** - Requires the Blight upgrade. Increases the Fortress armour. Allows use of **Ensnare** ability. Temporarily take control of enemy units within the radius. When Ensnare runs out, enemy units take damage.

## Expansions

The Fortress can also have the following expansions on the surrounding build plots:

**Unquiet Ruin (W)** - Fires arrows at nearby enemy units. Benefits from the Pale Torches upgrade. (cost: 400)

**Boneyard Expansion (E)** - Risen Dead will emerge and attack nearby enemy units. (cost: 500)

**Forlorn Statue Expansion (R)** - Nearby enemy units suffer -25% damage and -20% armour. Causes enemy units to flee in terror. May purchase **Restless Bones** upgrade, which allows the Forlorn Statue to summon a horde of skeletal warriors onto enemy battalions and siege weapons. (cost: 600)

## Function

The fortress shoots at nearby enemies and periodically produces +25 resources.

### Recruitment

All of Dol Guldur's heroes can be recruited from the Fortress as well.

### Abilities

**Dark Presence** - Nearby Dol Guldur units afflicted by Slow Decay are no longer drained over time, receive +15% damage and armour, and are healed by a small amount. Passive ability.

**Guldur Palantir (T)** - Requires the Guldur Palantir upgrade. Can be cast to reveal part of the map. Enemy units caught in the radius take minor damage over time. Left click icon then left click on target area.

**Ensnare (S)** - Requires the Hill of Sorcery upgrade. Temporarily takes control of enemy units within the radius. Ensnared enemies are invulnerable but when the spell runs out, they take damage. Left click icon then left click on target.

## Strategy

As with all fortresses, the Dol Guldur Fortress is vital to the Dol Guldur player's gameplay. Without it, Tethered Shades and heroes are unable to be recruited, spells are unable to be used and the player would lose a vital defensive structure. The building is therefore an important target for any enemy forces, making the defensive upgrades and expansions very useful. This is especially important in Dol Guldur's case as being able to produce Shades and have access to sources of **Dark Presence** is vital.

The fortress has many upgrades available. **Guldur Palantir** can be used both for scouting and to gain an edge in combat. **Dark Encroachment** is a very powerful upgrade for the faction, allowing it to spread its buildings across the map with ease. **Blight** is a powerful defensive upgrade, damaging enemies and turning them to wraiths upon death. This can counter most melee armies in the game and can be combined with other units, arrow defences and Risen Dead from the Boneyard to deal heavy losses to enemy armies. This will have little effect on enemy siege however. Instead, the player will need to use the **Forlorn Statue** to summon warriors onto siege units to destroy them. The fortress has no traditional long range defensive option and so the **Forlorn Statue** is its only option to counter enemy siege. If all else fails, the player can use **Ensnare** to convert an enemy army to deal heavy damage to their opponent, and then deal damage to ensnared units, at which point they will be vulnerable to the Fortress' own defences (Blight in particular).