- Estimated trophy difficulty: 3/10 (Personal Estimate, depends on captain traits RNG) (Platinum Difficulty Rating)
- Offline trophies: 49 (37, 11, 1)
- Online trophies: 3 (2, 1)
- Approximate amount of time to platinum: 40-50 Hours (Personal Estimate) (Estimated Time to Platinum)
- Minimum number of playthroughs: 1
- Number of missable trophies: 3, Vandal , The Operative , It Came From Within
- Glitched trophies: 1, The Operative
- Does difficulty affect trophies?: No, you can play the entire game on Easy difficulty
- Do trophies stack?: No
- Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No cheat codes
- Additional peripherals required?: None
Introduction
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is the direct sequel to Monolith Software's critically acclaimed Shadow of Mordor. The game picks up right where the first left off, and those who enjoyed the previous game will be pleased to know that the sequel is more of the same but with a lot of improvements, with the main new feature of Fort Conquest.
In terms of trophies it's very similar to the previous game, with a mix of story, combat, Nemesis and collectible-related trophies. The entire game can be played on Easy difficulty and even the 3 online trophies only require an internet connection, there is no traditional multiplayer and you won't have to actually play the online conquest mode at all if you don't want to.
Walkthrough
Update: July 17th 2018 - This update has made some significant changes to the game, the requirements for most of the trophies remain the same but a few has been made easier such as the Shadow Wars, see the full list of changes HERE.
When playing through the game, you can find collectibles or just go through through the main story and clean up everything after but note this will be more tedious than collecting as you go along, which you should do.
Do not to progress to Act 4 (The Shadow Wars) until you have the 3 missable trophies and all combat/Nemesis related trophies, as the latter are considerably more tedious to obtain at this point in the game.
Step 1 - Play through the story until you reach Act 3, focus on Haedir, Artifacts, Shelob Memories as you play and the 3 missable trophies.
Focus on the main storyline until you reach Act 3 and stop here, the reason for this is because after the end of this act all enemy captains and fortress will be allied to you, making the next step much more tedious.
Make sure to purify all Haedir towers so you can highlight all Gondorian Artifacts and Shelob Memories on the map and collect them as you explore each new area, getting these collectibles now will make it much less tedious when you revisit areas.
With the removal of the marketplace as of the July 17th update, you can no longer acquire the Act 1 Starter bundle meaning you cannot obtain any XP boosts or gold chests. However you now earn significantly more XP from Nemesis missions and Captain kills, as well as being award XP for online conquests so you can earn plenty of XP from these avenues now.
By the end of this step you will have unlocked at least the following:
What Once Was Lost
Hostile Takeover
First Steps
Lord of Horror
Undeath Defeats Undeaths
Fall and Rise
Banished
Brought to Heel
Banish the Darkness
For Gondor
Purge
Finished Tales
The Web Revealed
And the following missable trophies:
Vandal
The Operative
It Came From Within
Step 2 - Combat, Nemesis, sidequests and Miscellaneous Trophies
Now that you have reached Act 3 focus on other characters quests, Bruz, Carnan, and Eltariel.
After this you will have access to most of the skills and every region in the game so you can freely explore and grab all trophies you didn't get naturally during the previous step. Perform any tasks relating to combat/Nemesis now as after Act 3 all captains and fortresses will be allied, making the process very tedious.
Also keep in mind that Wild Things is more easily obtained on 'The Scourge' quest, so use this opportunity to get the trophy.
By the end of this step you will have unlocked the following:
Forger
Rule of Three
Best Defense
Fit for War
Speak Friend and Enter
Bound by Blood
Avenged
Master Forger
Promise Keeper
No Orc Left Behind
Better Luck Next Time
Everything is Permitted
Power Couple
Overkill
Life of the Party
If You Can't Beat Them
Headhunter
I Like to Watch
Second Age Warrior
Rough Rider
Wild Things
Trolling
Vertical Mobility
Blood on Blood
Nemesis
Feed the Beasts
Bad Boss
Follower Perks
Step 3 - End game, Shadow Wars, Captain Rank, Cleanup
Now you need to complete Act 3 which will then make every skill in the game available. Focus on the few remaining trophies that are now possible here.
Next you need to complete the Shadow Wars and obtain Captain Rank in Online Conquest. The Shadow Wars consist of fortress defence missions previously you had to perform 25 defences with each one taking around 10-20 minutes, this has been reduced to only 5 defences as of the July 17th update. Make sure you are playing on Easy difficulty and are actively purchasing siege defences as well as recruiting any high level orcs that attack your fortresses, you will likely unlock Master Forger and Such Great Heights here.
By the end of this step you will have unlocked:
The Stuff of Legend
Stalemate is Victory
Such Great Heights
Forged by War
Death is not the End
No Orc Lives Forever
The Bright Lord
Massive thanks to PowerPyx for the Videos and icon images in the guide!
[PST Would Like to Thank Sellers for this Roadmap]