Rise of the Witch King FAQ

Rise of the Witch King FAQ

By Nacht Jager.


Why can’t I play BFME2 campaigns?
OK, so what are these new units?
Any new regular units?
Are there any changes to the buildings?
What about this new faction, Angmar?
Are there any new campaigns?
Has War of the Ring been changed?
What’s new in Create a Hero?
Can we use maps and downloaded stuff for BFME2 with it?
Help! There’s no Replay/Maps folder to add downloaded content to!
Is there a patch for RotWK?
What if I have an unanswered question?


Why can’t I play BFME2 campaigns?

They were meant to be played with vanilla BFME2, and wouldn’t work as well with RotWK due to new units and mechanics. The tutorials are also not available.

OK, so what are these new units?

Each faction has at least two new units or heroes. Also, each faction has a new hero-like unit, powerful against all regular units, and only three can come into play at one time. The hero-like unit for Men is the Knights of Dol Amroth, for Goblins the Fire Drake Brood, for Mordor the Black Rider (Only one can be in play at a time), for Elves the Noldor Warriors, For Isengard the Uruk Deathbringers, and for Dwarves the Zealots. Also, three new heroes have been added to the game. The Dwarves get Prince Brand, Captain of Dale, who is somewhat like Faramir. The Goblins get Azog of Moria, and Mordor gets Gothmog.

Any new regular units?

Yes. Men of the West get the Rohan Spearman, a good cheap anti-cavalry unit. The Elves get the Lindon Cavalry Archer, a fast archer trainable at a Level 2 Green Pasture. Isengard gets the Wildmen Axethrowers, weak but cheap archers, and the Warg Pack, a large group of wolves. Mordor can now create Black Orcs, which are much like Orc Warriors but can receive upgrades, and the Haradrim Lancer, which makes up for Mordor’s lack of good cavalry. The Goblins get the Half-Troll Swordsman, much like the Half-Troll Marauders. They are trainable at a Level 2 Fissure.

Are there any changes to the buildings?

Yes again. The Men of the West’s Barracks is now 400 resources instead of 300, and the Tower Guard is stronger, costs 450 resources, and requires a Level 2 Barracks. Flaming Arrows now requires a Level 3 Archery Range, and the upgrade to Level 3 is reduced to 500 resources. For Isengard, the Siege Works has been modified slightly. The Ballista now only requires a Level 2, and the Explosive Mine now requires a Level 3. There is also a new building, the Clan Steading, where Wild Men of Dunland are trained. Mordor’s buildings have been modified the most. The Haradrim Palace now must be upgraded to Level 3 to train Haradrim Archers and research Fire Arrows, and requires a Level 2 to train Haradrim Lancers. The Great Siege Works is where you research unit upgrades now. Catapults and weapon upgrades require Level 2, and armor upgrades require Level 3. The Orc pit now must be upgraded to Level 3 to research Banner Carriers, and requires Level 2 to train the new Black Orcs. For the Goblins, only the Fissure has been revised. Half-Troll Swordsman require Level 2, and the Fire Drake Brood requires Level 3.

What about this new faction, Angmar?

Angmar is a very unique faction to say the least. They are sort of a mix of fast and slow. They have around two sets of each unit types, cheap and weak, and expensive and strong. At a Level 1 Barracks (Called Hall of the King’s Men), the Thrall Master can be trained. This is perhaps the most interesting unit in the game. They are trained one at a time, and aren’t very good by themselves, but for little or no resources they can summon a horde of weak units. Just be careful, if the Thrall Master dies then the rest of the horde dies as well. At a Level 2 Barracks, the Black Numenorean is available, a moderately priced, strong swordsman. At Level 3, the Dark Ranger can be trained, which is much like an Ithilien Ranger (They even have a long-shot ability). Angmar Trolls serve very different purposes than those of Mordor. The elite cavalry of Angmar is the Snow Troll, a fast and tough unit trained in groups of six, and the elite pikeman is the Hill Troll.

Are there any new campaigns?

Yes, and it has nothing to do with the BFME2 campaigns, except that it also takes place in the North. The RotWK campaign is set about 1000 years before the War of the Ring, during the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Arnor. The northern lands have been reduced to a group of provinces fighting over petty squabbles, and a powerful new sorcerer, known only as the Witch King, has come to take advantage of that. You follow the Witch King’s path from arriving in Arnor with only his right-hand man Morgomir, to his final conquest of Arnor. The epilogue tells of his defeat at the hands of the allied forces of Gondor and the Elves. This campaign is a lot harder than the original one, and don’t be surprised if you have to restart a mission more than once.

Has War of the Ring been changed?

Yes. There are more territories, siege weapons can now be built at armories, advanced units no longer take two turns to build, farms and fortresses now generate resources, units cost resources instead of merely taking up command points, players now control four hero armies instead of three, hero armies can move through two friendly territories a turn instead of one, AI is improved, and several other things.

What’s new in Create a Hero?

Several things. All classes have several new additions to appearance, such as weapons, robes, etc. There is also a new class, the Olog-hai, or troll class. Also, say goodbye to CAH’s always being 2000 resources. The default hero cost is 500, and each power has a cost assigned to it, which is added to the price when you equip your hero with it. There are also a handful of new powers thrown in.

Can we use maps and downloaded stuff for BFME2 with it?

Yes. Go to the same place you would normally, but instead of the folder “My Battle for Middle-earth(tm)II Files”, go to “My Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-King Files”. In the same way as BFME2, put maps in the “maps” folder, replays in “replays”, etc.

Help! There’s no Replay/Maps folder to add downloaded content to!

Create a “Replays” or “Maps” folder in your game documents directory to add replays and maps to, respectively.

XP: C:\\Documents and Settings\\[Username]\\Application Data\\My The Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-king Files
Vista: C:\\Local Disk\\Users\\[Username]\\App Data\\Roaming\\My The Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-king Files

Is there a patch for RotWK?

Yes. You can download patch 2.01 here.

What if I have an unanswered question?

Ask in the forums- you can find them here.