Middle-Earth Shadow of War Best Starting Skills

When playing Middle-Earth Shadow of War, you’ll get to develop your character any way you like. You can focus on combat skills and just cut your way through the game, or you can invest into stealth abilities that will allow you to end fights before they’ve even begun. There are many choices, which can make the early game a bit overwhelming. That’s why we’ve written this Shadow of War best starting skills guide, to help you get through the beginning without having to deal with such terrible dilemmas.

Best skills in Shadow of War

There are very few skills that are worthwhile no matter which build you choose to go with. Treasure Hunter is one of them – it’s the fifth skill in the wraith tree, but it’s extremely useful even to those who don’t care about wraith abilities. It allows you to automatically pick up loot when you walk over it, which saves a lot of time. It can be upgraded to increase your chances of getting better stuff, as well. Another is the Elven Agility, the first skill in the predator tree – it increases your mobility considerably.

If you’re going to focus on the combat tree, you should get Perfect Counter before you upgrade Execute. It allows you to knock down enemies when you counter them. If you buy the Fatal Counter upgrade, you can kill them instead of just knocking them down.

In case you want to play it stealthily, you should get the Silent Runner upgrade right after the Elven Agility skill. It will let you sprint without making a sound. Afterwards, go for the Poison Tendrill ability, which lets you poison barrels. Orcs drinking from said barrels will die of poisoning, and you can even shoot the containers and make them explode.

Some players will want to fight from a distance. They should get the Bursting Arrow upgrade for the Detonate skill first – it lets you shoot firepits to detonate them. Afterwards, the Freeze Pin ability allows you to pin an enemy in place by shooting them in the foot.

Wraith skills are great as additions to your arsenal, but they shouldn’t be what you base your build on. Same goes for Mount skills, which are mostly about letting you ride different kinds of beasts.