Hobgoblin Plunderers

* Portrait
* In Game
* Crescent

"Though there was much Dwarf-treasure to be looted from the halls of Moria, in the end there were far more orcs than suits of armour. So it was that only the strongest and cruelest of orcs managed to muscle their way into completing their Dwarven armour collections."
—Age of the Ring team

When Moria was first invaded by orcs, there was not a single one that didn't possess the ambition of claiming an entire Dwarven armour collection for themselves. However, there were only a few suits of Dwarven armour available in Moria, and these collections were viciously contested by the orcs. The orcs who managed to successfully claim these suits were the strongest, cruelest, and most cunning of their numbers. These orcs managed to not only claim full suits of armors for themselves, but also successfully fended off and slew any rival claimants to the point that they had achieved a reputation of dread and respect in their own right. Such was their skill, power, and discipline that the legendary orc chieftain Muzgash himself took notice of their skill and power. Seeing an opportunity to wield their strength as his own, Muzgash enlisted several of the Hobgoblin Plunderers as his own personal bodyguards in exchange for promises of more treasure to claim and more bloodshed to satisfy their hatred of all the Free Peoples...with the idea of claiming more suits of Dwarven armour from their lifeless owners being the greatest promise of all.

The Hobgoblin Plunderers are the heroic unit for the Adventure: Shadow and Flame subfaction of the Misty Mountains, and they are limited to 2 battalions. The first battalion can simply be recruited from a level 3 Moria Orc Cave, while the second battalion can only be recruited once the Fortress upgrade Desecrated Halls (the equivalent of Gundabad Spires in the standard faction) has been researched.

## Abilities and Formations

**Crescent Formation (W)** – The units form a Crescent.

* Level 1: Hobgoblin Plunderers gain +25% damage and lose 25% speed
* Level 3: +25% damage, resistance to knockback and decelerate crush, -25% speed
* Level 5: +25% damage, +25% armour, resistance to knockback and decelerate crush, -25% speed
* Level 7: +25% damage, +50% armour, resistance to knockback and decelerate crush, -25% speed
* Level 10: +50% damage, +50% armour, resistance to knockback and decelerate crush, -25% speed

**Despoilers** – Plunderers steal resources whenever dealing damage to enemy structures. Muzgash gains +100% armour when near the Hobgoblin Plunderers. Passive ability.

**Level 3: Terror of Moria (T)** – Modifier Type: Leadership. Nearby enemy leaderships are passively nullified. Passive ability. When activated, nearby enemy units flee in terror. Left click to activate.

**Level 5: Poisoned Blades (C) –** Plunderers’ attacks passively deal damage over time. Passive ability.

When activated, enemies hit by the Plunderers lose -50% armour for 5 seconds. Lasts 20 seconds. Left click to activate.

**Level 2: Foul Recovery** – Heroic units regain health while outside of combat. Passive ability.

## Strategy

The Hobgoblin Plunderers are the heroic unit for the Adventure: Shadow and Flame subfaction of the Misty Mountains. They are somewhat unique in that they are Heroic pikemen and are statistically identical to the Watchers of Karna, thus being particularly effective in dealing with cavalry, heroes, and monsters. However, they are much more valuable as elite Pikemen units to their specific faction since it only has the basic Moria-orc Spearmen as Pikemen units otherwise. The Hobgoblin Plunderers have **Crescent Formation** just like the Watchers of Karna, which allows them to maximize their combat potential at the expense of speed, with the formation becoming more powerful the more the Plunderers level up. **Despoilers** allows them to steal resources from enemy structures, and also makes Muzgash significantly more effective since he gets a gigantic +100% armour boost when next to the Plunderers. **Terror of Moria** increases the threat of the Plunderers significantly as they will passively nullify enemy leaderships just by existing, and can also disrupt enemy armies by forcing them to flee in terror. **Poisoned Blades** increases the danger posed by the Hobgoblin Plunderers even more, as their attacks will passively deal Poison damage over time. By activating this skill, they can cause their attacks to inflict a hefty -50% armour penalty which allows both them and their surrounding enemy army to deal significantly more damage to upgraded enemies and heightens' the Plunderers' threat level against the cavalry, monsters, and heroes that they were already strong against.