Lothlórien Fortress

* Standard
* Banners of the Golden Wood
* Mists of the Anduin
* Protection of Narya
* Waters of the Celebrant
* Veteran Marchwardens
* Blessed Lanterns
* Eärendil's Guidance
* Expansions

### Upgrades

Banners of the Golden Wood, Mists of the Anduin, Protection of Nenya, Waters of the Celebrant, Veteran Marchwardens, Blessed Lanterns, Eärendil's Guidance

### Bonus

n/a

"Suddenly they came out into the open again and found themselves under a pale evening sky pricked by a few early stars. There was a wide treeless space before them, running in a great circle and bending away on either hand. Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone. Upon the further side there rose to a great height a green wall encircling a green hill thronged with mallorn-trees taller than any they had yet seen in all the land. Their height could not be guessed, but they stood up in the twilight like living towers. In their, many-tiered branches and amid their ever-moving leaves countless lights were gleaming, green and gold and silver.
Haldir turned towards the Company. "Welcome to Caras Galadhon!" he said. "Here is the city of the Galadhrim where dwell the Lord Celeborn and Galadriel the Lady of Lórien."
—Fellowship of the Ring, The Mirror of Galadriel

The Elves of Lothlórien  resided in the city of Caras Galadhon, ruled by the Lord Celeborn  and Lady of Light, Galadriel, who kept the Forces of Darkness at bay with the Elven Ring Nenya. During the War of the Ring, the Fellowship were escorted to this Elven Fortress by Haldir following their escape from Moria. After they departed, Lothlórien came under attack from the armies of Dol Guldur, Sauron's stronghold in the North. The Elves perservered and drove the forces of evil back before leading an assault on Dol Guldur, where Galadriel threw down its walls and purified it of evil.

In Age of the Ring, the Lothlórien 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

**Banners of the Golden Wood (W)** - Allies near the fortress gain +33% damage, +33% armour and earn experience twice as fast. Reduces hero cost by 10%. Reduces hero recruit time by 10%. Reduces builder cost by 20%. (cost: 500)

**Mists of the Anduin (E)** - Nearby allies become camouflaged. Modifier Type: Passive Debuff. Nearby enemy units suffer -25% Damage and -20% Armor. Does not stack with other Debuffs. (cost: 600)

**Protection of Nenya (R)** - Increases fortress armour by 65%. (cost: 1500)

**Waters of the Celebrant (T)** - Provides healing to nearby troops. Heroes revive 25% faster at this Fortress. (cost: 1000)

**Veteran Marchwardens (S)** - Places Tawar-na-Pengryn upgraded with Mallorn Bows onto Fortress. Unlocks **Border Patrol**, which allows the player to summon a trio of individual Marchwardens anywhere on the map to reveal the area, detect stealth, and fire on nearby enemies (cost: 1500)

**Blessed Lanterns (D)** - Enemy units near the fortress are slowed more the closer they come to it, with a maximum of -33%. Prequisite to Eärendil's Guidance upgrade. (cost: 1500)

**Eärendil's Guidance (F)** - Requires Blessed Lanterns upgrade. Unlocks Eärendil's Guidance Vision Power. Increases Fortress vision range. (cost: 1000)

## Expansions

**Flet Expansion (W)** - Defensive flet that fires at nearby enemy units. (cost: 400)

**Axe-elf Garrison Expansion (E)** - Axe-elves will defend the garrison and attack nearby enemy units. May purchase **Forth, Axe-elves!** upgrade, which allows the Axe-elf Garrison to summon a horde of Axe-elf Warriors onto enemy battalions and siege engines. (cost: 500)

## Function

The Fortress shoots at nearby enemy units and periodically produces +25 resources.

### Recruitment

All of Lothlórien's heroes can be recruited from the Fortress as well, with the exception of Treebeard.

### Abilities

**Border Patrol (T)** - Requires Veteran Marchwardens upgrade. Summons a trio of individual Marchwardens anywhere on the map to reveal the area, detect stealth, and fire on nearby enemies. Left click icon then left click on target area.

**Eärendil's Guidance (S)**- Requires Eärendil's Guidance upgrade. Covers the area around the fortress in light, healing nearby friendly units and causing nearby enemy units to flee in fear. Left click to activate.

## Strategy

As with all fortresses, the Lothlórien Fortress is vital to the Lothlórien player's gameplay. Without it, builders 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.

The Lothlórien Fortress has significant potential as a defensive structure when expanded with Flets and the **Veteran Marchwarden** upgrade, which increases the firing of the Fortress at enemy units. This is particularly effective when used alongside Mists of the Anduin as enemy units nearby the Fortress are debuffed and so are more susceptible to archer fire. **Eärendil's Guidance's** passive vision increase and **Border Patrol** gives Lothlórien the advantage of being able to quickly track down and kill Gollum, so that the One Ring can either be kept safe in the Fortress or used to recruit the army buffing Frodo.