- "The war between Sauron and the free people was long but suddenly a new danger appeared. A much mightier, even darker lord showed up and threatened the whole middle-earth. Now eight mighty warriors start out to curb him."
- —Greenwing's Challenge
Command eight mighty heroes, each with a special set of abilities, and fight through waves of enemies in an arena. How long can you last?
In this game mode, your worst enemy is flanking damage. When encircled, heroes will take ridiculous amounts of damage from enemies hitting them from behind or from the flanks, try to stay grouped and pay close attention to your heroes as the BFME pathfinding system will relentlessly try to murder them by taking them through clumps of enemies. In addition, when playing with other users try to communicate so as to time your abilities right, it would be a waste for two people to unleash their level 10 abilities on the same group of enemies essentially wasting one.
Heroes[]
The heroes you use share the namesake of familiar characters from Lord of the Ring and Edain but their powers are very different and their roles have changed radically. All the heroes' stats are extremely buffed to compete with the units on the map and they have gained new abilities and new AoE attacks.
Gandalf[]
Gandalf retains his role as a mass slayer but with the dial turned to 11. Every single of his attacks now creates lightning strikes around him, damaging all enemies. He also gains new abilities:
Level 1: Magic Blast - Gandalf attacks with a strong magic blast. It resembles his regular ability but goes much further and has a much wider angle.
Level 3: Devastating Firework - Gandalf stands still and fires off fireworks into the air, after a while, they fall back on the target area. For as long as Gandalf stands still it will fire off fireworks, however, the rate will gradually slow.
Level 5: Mighty Light of the Istari - Gandalf fires off a powerful beam which annihilates everything in its path. High single target damage.
Level 7: Glamdring - Gandalf lets his fabled sword fire lightning. Units in the target area are struck with high damage lightning from Gandalf's Sword, killing most enemy units in the target area with a single hit.
Level 10: Word of Enormous Power - Gandalf unleashes a powerful blast that will blast away all enemy forces. A much more powerful version of his regular Word of Power.
Upon death, Gandalf's fiery spirit is unleashed and he becomes a Fire Spirit for a short while, flying over the enemy, swooping down and unleashing devastating attacks. In this form he has the following abilities:
Fireball - Sends a fireball at the targeted area, dealing huge damage.
Wing Blast - Send powerful shockwaves in the target area, dealing damage and knocking back all enemy units.
Breathe Fire - Instantly unleashed a powerful fiery explosion on the target area.
Galadriel[]
Galadriel now deals damage in an AoE around her and has been given a new set of nature-themed abilities to destroy all the enemies of the Wild:
Level 1: Mighty bear - Galadriel summons a giant bear that cannot be controlled and attacks all nearby enemies. The summon knocks back all enemies and deals a small amount of damage.
Level 3: Plants of Lorien - Galadriel summons some plant of Lorien to attack enemies. Enemies in the target area will temporarily be stunned and sustain high damage. Additionally, tendrils are formed in a huge area around the target area. The tendrils slow and damage all enemies in the area.
Level 5: Summon eagles - Temporarily summons some eagles that attack all enemies nearby.
Level 7: Mooooh! - Galadriel uses her magical might to transform enemies in the target area into animals. Heroes and monsters cannot be transformed.
Level 10: Light of Retaliation - Galadriel unleashes her true power and cleans the area of enemies. Basically a giant Word of Power.
Upon death, Galadriel becomes a Seraphim, powerful angel with new abilities:
Holy Presence - The presence of the Valkyrie soothes nearby allies. All units near the Valkyrie heal rapidly. Passive Ability
Magic of the Angel - The seraphim lets her magic glide through the hearts of her allies, refreshing all their times.
Paralyzing look of the Angel - Nobody can resist the look of an angel, all enemies in the target area are paralyzed.
Gil-Galad[]
Gil-Galad remains mostly as he was, gaining additional abilities and his attack now hits everything in front of him with magic damage. His abilities are as follow:
Level 2: Aeglos' Might - The high king of the Noldor channels his full anger through his legendary spear on the target area. All units in the area take massive damage and are knocked back.
Level 5: Taunt - Gil-Galad taunts his enemies. All enemies will try to attack him, while he protects himself with his great star shield. He loses -75% speed but gains +1000% armor.
Level 7: Mighty Blast - Gil-Galad performs a mightly strike, throwing all enemies away.
Level 9: Might of Gil-Galad - Gil-Galad uses his magical powers to attack his enemies in the target area. Deal low damage to enemies but also weakens their stats enormously. Gil-Galad heals for the damage dealt.
Level 10: Destructive Rage - For a short period, Gil-Galad spawns magical explosions every couple of seconds, every explosion stronger than the last.
Upon death, Gil-Galad is reincarnated as a mighty Stone Golem that can trample indefinitely and whose attacks deal magic damage in a huge area. He also has access to the following abilities:
Earthquake - The golem creates an enormous earthquake around him, dealing huge damage to all enemy units and knocking them back.
Rockfall - The golem crushes enemies right in front of him under a rock avalanche, dealing fatal damage.
Cirdan[]
Cirdan is a powerful healer and supporter, whose abilities buff others massively, but he's no slack either, his blade infused with the powers of Ulmo deal magic damage in an AoE and knocks back enemies. His ability set offers many powerful ways to support your allies and slay your enemies:
Level 1: Narya's Aura - Cirdan releases a soft magic wave that envelopes allied heroes. Every allied hero near Cirdan gains massively increased armor, experience gain, and health regeneration. This is essentially a powerful AoE heal around Cirdan.
Level 4: Whirlpool - At his ferry ride through the seas of Middle-Earth, Cirdan became the beneficiary of Ulmo. By the help of the Vala, he lets the water rise to the surface and induces a deadly whirlpool.
Level 5: Blinding Light - Heroes hit by the ability deal triple damage for a short amount of time.
Level 7: Circle of Healing - Cirdan creates a pure light that subjects everyone to a test. Allies in the radius of the light are healed.
Level 10: Spouter - Cirdan lets burst out a huge amount of spouters from the earth. Enemies that are hit sustain much damage and are knocked back.
Upon death, Cirdan is reincarnated into a water spirit in the shape of a horse, by the grace of Ulmo, that can trample enemies without stopping, knocking them back and dealing heavy damage.
Gimli[]
Gimli, in this mode, becomes near godlike. His abilities are buffed immensely and his attack deals an AoE lifesteal that heals him for every strike. His new abilities are:
Level 1: Baruk Khazad! - The axes of the Dwarves come down upon their enemies.
Level 2: Might Jump - Gimli jumps to a targeted position and deals damage.
Level 4: Son of Aule - The Vala makes his son invulnerable for a short period of time.
Level 8: Slayer - Gimli deals quadruple damage in a bigger area and moves faster. In addition he has increased life-steal.
Level 10: Hammer of Destruction - Creates an earthquake. For 30 seconds enemies in the area deal only half as much damage and move 1/3 as fast.
Upon death, Aule cracks the ground open and summons a mighty monument to honor the fallen hero. Multiple towers are erected and guard the tomb of the dwarf. The central tower has the following abilities:
Baruk Khazad - Volleys of axes are flung from the central tower onto the target area, dealing heavy damage.
Skyfall - Nothing is feared more than the day the sky would fall. Too bad it's happening today. Calls in a bombardment on the target area.
Rebuild - Target buildings are fully repaired.
Glorfindel[]
Glorfindel's role is changed from tank to mass slayer and hero supporter. His attacks now deal fire damage in an area and he gains the following abilities:
Level 1: Prophecy - The targeted heroes gains experience five times faster and deal +30% damage.
Level 3: Flames of Heaven - Glorfindel focuses his inner heat, letting a great beam of fire hit the targeted area.
Level 5: Blade of Purity - The blade of the elven prince is filled with the power of the Valar. Glorfindel deals quadruple damage, abilities used while this ability is active will have a very short cooldown.
Level 7: Blazing Requital - Glorfindel uses the power of the slain Balrog. Shoots out a gigantic burst of flame in the target direction. Works kind like Light of the Istari except the blast lasts for much longer, immobilizing Glorfindel.
Leve 10: Rain of Fire - Glorfindel destroys all his enemies in a terrible Rain of Fire. Flames emerge from Glorfindel and target all enemies in the target area in three waves.
Upon death, Glorfindel will be reborn. Much like Karsh, if he is brought down he will return with full health. If he is killed again within a minute of his rebirth he will die for good, as long as at least one minute is spent between each death Glorfindel will continue to be reborn.
Elrond[]
Elrond is able to control the waters and wins with much greater power. His new abilities are:
Level 1: Wrath of the Loudwater - Elrond summons a giant water fountain in the target area that damages and knocks back enemies.
Level 3: Dispersal - Elrond generates a circular wave of pure light. Nearby enemies will be caught by it and be cast away. Enemies suffer damage depending on the distance.
Level 5: Silence - Elrond silences all enemy heroes and troops in the target area. They are paralyzed and don't attack but still take damage. Elrond won't be paralyzed.
Level 8: Regeneration - The Lord of Imladris helps all other heroes by refreshing their cooldowns.
Level 10: Tornado - Summons a destructive tornado on the battlefield.
Upon death, Elrond becomes the embodiment of Wind, a powerful tornado that deals heavy damage and sucks up enemies it goes over or that walk into it. He also gains the following ability:
Flash of Punishment - The targeted area is struck by lightning, dealing heavy damage. This ability has a very short cooldown.
Boromir[]
Boromir has been gifted powers much beyond those of mortal men, his sword now deals damage in a huge AoE and knockback all troops. He still has his Last Stand ability, simply it does not appear in his Palantir, instead, he has the following abilities:
Level 2: Boromir's Horn - Boromir blows his horn, all enemies except for the most powerful and heroes are stunned.
Level 3: Veterans of Osgiliath - Boromir temporarily summons eight might veterans of the Osgiliath wars to the battlefield. This summons 8 very powerful tower guards.
Level 5: Valiant Resistance - Boromir uses his massive round shield and defies all enemies. Boromir gains +100% armor and is immune to all knockback.
Level 7: Dance of the Sword - Boromir swings his sword with incredible speed through the air, heavily damaging all enemies.
Level 10: Warriors of Dol Amroth - This ability appears as a black icon in the last slot of the Palantir. Boromir temporarily calls two swordsmen and a horseman of Dol Amroth, all which have powerful spells.
Upon death, Boromir returns as a vengeful ghost, bound to this earth for a short time in order to try and complete his task. As a ghost, he has the following abilities:
Death Laughter - The horrible laughter of the dead causes enemy units to flee in terror before him.
Summon Oathbreakers - The king of the dead calls for his servants to temporarily aid him.
Touch of Death - The king of the oathbreakers unleashes his wrath in a huge poison cloud. Enemy units are severely poisoned and have drastically reduced armor.
Spellbook[]
The map provides a custom spellbook regardless of the faction you pick. The spellbook is set up like a regular Edain 4.5 spellbook but none of the powers have prerequisites so you can get them in any order.
Meteor - Costs: 1 point. Calls down a single meteor, which crashes on the target area. Knocking back and damaing all enemies in the target area.
Heal - Costs: 2 points. Heals all units for 1500 hitpoints
Fell Wind - Costs: 2 points. Moves all units in the target area to its center.
Magic of the Evening Star - Costs: 5 points. Can only be used once per wave. The power of the evening star grants the player one Power Point when the ability is used.
Help from Imladris - Costs: 5 points. Temporarily summons three very powerful Imladris Swordsmen at the target area to fight for you.
Knowledge of the Ancients - Costs: 4 points. Grants experience to all heroes upon use. An additional spell will be cast when a hero has used ten abilities:
- Boromir: Temporarily summons a controllable mighty warrior
- Cirdan: All heroes gain some experience
- Elrond: All heroes are healed slightly
- Galadriel: All enemies will become feared and temporarily stop attacking.
- Gandalf: The recharge times of Heal, Meteor and Fell Wind will be refreshed.
- Gimli: A few meteors will crash into the arena and damage enemies.
- Gil-Galad: The recharge times of Vilya, Ring of Air and Ereinion's Might will be refreshed.
- Glorfindel: For a short time, Glorfindel takes no damage.
Summon Mirkwood Archers - Costs: 9 points. Summon Mirkwood archers on the the edge of the map that attack all units in the arena.
Awakening of the Forest - Costs: 10 points. All heroes in the target area are paralyzed and invulnerable. Many ents appear and attack all nearby enemies.
Magic Wind - Costs: 7 points. Summons a magic whirlwind in the targe area for a short time, knocking all units away and healing allies in its center rapidly.
??? - Costs: 42 points. Not even Greenwing knows what this ability does. Apparently it is from a mighty Wizard, that created it without anyone being able to resist that deed.
Summon Feanor - Costs: 42 points. The ultimate ability, save your Power Points to unlock it at the end of the game and summon a LEGEND permanently.