The Southern Gate
Available Heroes: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli
After securing the services of the King of the Dead, the warriors of the Fellowship advance to the Southern Gate. Shortly after advancing toward the unbelievably poorly-guarded gate, you'll be set upon by an ambush of enemies, so be ready. You can fight out here as long as you want if your goal is to gather some experience. When you're ready to advance, fire the left two catapults, and a way over the wall will be created. Firing the lone catapult to the right will soften up the wall-walking defenders.
Once you've climbed the ladder onto the wall, hide behind your invincible buddies and eliminate the adjacent defenders. Once they're down, a Mûmakil will approach, bearing cargo in the form of servants of Sauron who are less than pleased to see you. Fire a volley of ranged attacks at them, and they'll go down in a display of fireworks. In a less-than-subtle hint, the game will highlight the nearby winch for you. Indulge the developers and pull it, but not before tipping the nearby burning coals to sear anyone unfortunate enough to still be waiting by the gate. You'll need to pull the winch several times to fully open the gate. Once it's completely ajar, more evildoers will come forth to block the entrance. Show them some burnin' love from the cauldrons you just practiced with, and they'll go down.
Return to ground level, and either practice your smiting to gain some more experience, or sprint through the gates to end the level.
Pelennor Fields
Available Heroes: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli
After advancing through the Southern Gate, our fearless party finds themselves at Pelennor Fields, in the midst of a gigantic battle--incidentally, this is the centerpiece of the third movie in the trilogy. It's time to kick some butt. If you have Legolas up to a decent level, his quick-release sharp-shooting will come in handy.
As the level begins, the goal is simply to aid the forces of good by taking out as many enemies as possible, so have at them! As usual, remain near your companions so as to divert some enemy attention from yourself. Once you've defeated the set number of enemies, a Mûmakil will begin to charge the field--right toward Eowyn and one of our vertically-challenged friends. You'll automatically charge the hillside overlooking the battlefield, where the developers were once again kind enough to place some ballistae and war pikes for use against the invading creatures. You'll also hit a checkpoint. As with Gandalf's earlier mission atop the wall at Minas Tirith, we are no longer concerned with run-of-the-mill enemies, unless they impede our progress of taking down the larger baddies. Sprint toward the left-hand side of the screen to get a look at the Mûmakil. If there's a pike or ballista near the Mûmakil, toss/launch it; otherwise begin throwing ranged attacks. You need to take them down as quickly as possible.
As the first Mûmakil falls, immediately sprint back toward the ramp down to the battlefield, as another will follow, and this one's too far from this hill for your attacks to reach it. (When the game cuts to show an advancing Mûmakil, look closely and you can see which side it's closest to--the ordering is random.) Run across the field and up the ramp on the other side, and repeat the process of taking the beast down. Once this second animal bites the big one, stay on this hill but move to your left, toward our endangered friends. The Witch King will appear and begin attacking them. Your job is to convince him that that's a bad idea, and your ranged attack should do the trick from here. If at any point you notice yourself running short of ranged ammo, more constantly spawns in at the top of the ramps. Next comes another Mûmakil, then the Witch King once more. One more Mûmakil, then a third attack by the Witch King. A fifth Mûmakil, then another showing by the Witch King (sick of this pattern yet?). A final Mûmakil, once last battle with the King, and then things will begin to look grim--for a moment.
Help arrives, and the mission is complete.
The Black Gate
Available Heroes: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf
For the first time thus far, the main Fellowship members are not invincible--in point of fact, you'll find that they are your greatest weakness on this mission.
The level opens with a duel between Aragorn (or whomever you are playing as) and a masked enemy, outside the Black Gate of Mordor. Parrying will not avail you, as this enemy's powerful attack will knock you from your feet anyway. Nor will simple fierce bullrushing tactics work. Your best bet is to come flailing at him with combo moves; he'll go down fairly quickly, but you are going to take some damage during this fight. After he falls, Sauron's army emerges from behind the Gate, and you receive a checkpoint.
Your goal at this point is simply to keep the adjacent members of the Fellowship alive. Six waves of enemies will come at you, and each of your friends will have a tough time of it--thankfully, they heal rapidly, so if you get to them in time and clear their immediate area, they'll recover so that you can tend to another member of the company. Be sure to use the weaponry around you--the burning coals and spears can diffuse a difficult situation quickly. Also, keep tabs on any uber-enemies that arrive (the ones with their own health bars), and take them out quickly--they will gravitate toward members of the Fellowship, and drain their health reserves.
After the first two waves of enemies, they will start coming from all sides rather than a single bottleneck, so keep a watchful eye on the health of your companions. Again, the key here is to take out the powerful enemies quickly, while spending the rest of your time defending whichever Fellowship member needs you most.
Defeat the advancing hordes, and the Ringwraiths will arrive. As all familiar with the books or movies know, fire is their weakness. You can take them down in melee, but ranged attacks, burning coals, and searing spears will serve you much more effectively. Get a spear in them, and ensuing regular attacks will do severe damage. Down them all, and you'll win the mission.
