Balrog

"And in Utumno [Melkor] gathered his demons about him, those spirits who first adhered to him in the days of his splendour, and became most like him in his corruption: their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame. Balrogs they were named in Middle-earth in later days."

- The Silmarillion, Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor

A Balrog is one of the ancient servants of Melkor, first of the Dark Lords. They are among the most powerful and feared of all his servants, and only a few have ever been slain by any of the Children of Ilúvatar. They appear as a mass of shadow and flame, shaped into a humanoid yet demon-like likeness. Even during the First Age, there were few Balrogs; only seven were said to have survived to the Third Age.

Spawning
Balrogs spawn in the deep fire level of Utumno and are quite powerful. They are immune to fire and some of them spawn with a Balrog whip. They also may spawn with Utumno swords or hammers (see Utumno equipment).

Balrogs are aligned with the Utumno faction and cannot be hired.

Killing a Balrog earns you the achievement "Balrog Slayer" and the title "Balrog Slayer".

Lore
Balrogs are Maiar, originally of the same order as Saruman and Gandalf, but they were later seduced by Melkor's power. They joined his service long before Arda was created, and they attuned their own music to Melkor's theme rather than that of Ilúvatar. Therefore, Balrogs didn't only exist before the world was created; they also played a part in its corruption. They were the oldest and most trusted servants of Melkor.

During the First Age, the Balrogs were among Melkor's most feared forces. When his fortress of Utumno was destroyed by the Valar, seven fled and lurked in the Pits of Angband. If any more existed before this time, they were slain by the Valar in Utumno. The Balrogs were first encountered by the Elves during the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the Battle under the Stars, in the First Age. After the great victory of the Noldor over the Orcs of Melkor (recently re-named Morgoth by Fëanor, meaning "Dark Enemy"), Fëanor pressed onwards to Angband, but was attacked by the Balrogs. Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs, mortally wounded him.

A second major encounter the Free People had with the Balrogs was in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Gothmog, the High-Captain of Angband, led the attack. He led Morgoth's forces to victory in that battle, slaying High King Fingon by cleaving his head with his black axe. Gothmog and the other Balrogs proceeded to beat his body into the dust long after his death.

The third Balrog encounter during the First Age was during the Fall of Gondolin. Ecthelion of Gondolin slew Gothmog at the cost of his own life when he tackled him into a large fountain, extinguishing Gothmog's flames. As the Elves retreated through the mountains, another Balrog followed them and attempted to hinder their escape. Glorfindel of Gondolin fought the Balrog valiantly, but died when he tackled the Balrog off the edge of a cliff, killing them both.

Most of the Balrogs that remained after this point were destroyed in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age; some, however, flew and hid themselves in caverns at the roots of the Earth. During the Third Age, it was discovered that one of these Balrogs, known as Durin's Bane (see next paragraph), was hiding deep beneath the Misty Mountains.

The fourth and best documented encounter the Free Peoples of Middle-earth had with a Balrog was with Durin's Bane. He had been awoken by the Dwarves of Moria while digging too greedily for mithril. It was Durin's Bane who drove the Dwarves out of Moria. Later on, in the year 3019 of the Third Age, when the Fellowship of the Ring passed through Moria, they awoke Durin's Bane again. After a long chase, Durin's Bane was slain by Gandalf the Grey, although he perished in the process. Gandalf the Grey, however, was sent back as Gandalf the White.

Durin's Bane was the last known Balrog to have existed in Middle-earth. Yet who knows what enemies dwell in the dark places of the world…

Behaviour
Balrogs attack every faction except for their own. They also leave a trail of fire behind them, so if in creative mode, don't spawn them in any flammable structure unless you want them to cause some major damage.

As far as this mod goes (the issue is debatable in Tolkien's writings), Balrogs have wings but have not been seen to fly.

It should be noted, however, that Balrogs are incapable of damaging Swans, and that Swans will deal 100 HP of damage per hit to a Balrog. This is rather difficult to make happen in practice, however, unless you have the patience to lead a group of swans all the way from Swanfleet or Dor-en-Ernil to Utumno.

Combat
As any hired troops that you may have probably won't be able to enter Utumno (unless you push them into the Pit one by one), you will be by yourself in this fight. If you really want help, the best option is to do this with another player.

Here are some useful tips: Note that the Balrog will continuously heal itself by 1 HP as long as it is hurt. It is therefore prudent to defeat the Balrog as quickly as possible, meaning that the player should take only a little time (if any at all) to rest or heal.
 * Bring Fire Protection armour or Fire Resistance potions (red Ent-draught also gives Fire Resistance).
 * Have a strong ranged weapon.
 * Bring water buckets. The Balrog takes damage from and is weakened by these. Its fire is also extinguished.
 * The best thing to do, though, is to spawn a Goran's Block. No Balrog can beat you if you have a Goran's block, but you should bring some Water Breathing potions. By the way, you will have to ‘cheat’ and summon this block with a command, since it is not obtainable through either survival or creative mode.
 * bring blocks to get above the balrog (fire proof blocks)

Drops
Balrogs have a chance of dropping coal or their equipped weapons, which could either be a piece of Utumno equipment or a Balrog whip.

Be careful, as the drops will be burned to ashes should they fall into any of the countless fires created by the Balrog, which is another reason why taking water is a good idea.