Talk:Utumno/Strategies/@comment-33763020-20171223113433

Ok, went in and got out at first go (without going down to the third level..), here's my two cents (uhum, silver coins..): (playing beta 33 in normal mode, no cheats, no redstone, no visits to the Overworld) - Utumno is tough, but it depends how you want to play it: good preparation is half work and defensive play pays off, but deeper down it's quite difficult or takes really long. Let me explain a bit: - Your best bet are invisible archers, Galadhrim Wardens, that is. They go undetected until close combat, by that time taking out a lot of enemies. - Defensive pays off: bring a full large pouch of dirt (easy to remove when needed), that's about 1500 blocks, seal off every corridor behind you (your back is secured) and immediately in front of you when enemies spot you. Only one row of blocks needed, on chest level, so only spiders get through, easy target for your archers. - Bring a Blessed pike or anything with 200 % reach and poke away at their feet, heads, or make a oneblock plateau and target practice with the 300-500 arrows you brought cheaply instead of creating a giant chicken farm for feathers that keep your men awake at night ;) - Your Horn of Command is critical when progressing: if you let your archers get ahead of you before sealing off the enemy and they're lost in a few moments during close combat. Just Halt them before each progress, they'll be safe if you sealed off your back. - Bringing your troops in is tricky and unpredictable where they land. Timing seems everything: at first go, I managed to bring over most of the dozen or so. At second go, tried with 40 dwarves and only 3 could be collected with my Horn of Command summon. My chunk range is on 8 due to a weak laptop, maybe that's the reason?.. - A way to funnel all troops into the opening, think of a vanilla trap: make high sidewalls for the Pits, a broad staircase leading to the top and trapdoors facing inside. Then build a pillar upwards in the middle and the troops will follow you, falling into the Pits, before you jump in. If you want to time exact arrival with them, make a horizontal gate that blocks the Pits (3x3), so they stand on it (hence the need for a sidewall) and if you stand on it with them, opening it will make you fall at the same time. - Having said all this, at second go almost no troops made it, making me wonder about arrival mechanics.. - At second go, I tried going all the way to kill a Balrog. Having run out of Dwarven Tonic and with the dwarves I brought (big mistake) long dead, tried to go head -on with a pack of Wargs who pushed me to my death and here's a learning: never bring your best armor that you spent thousands of coins on to have reforged! You'll never see it again and that's a waste. Your death will not come by having your somewhat weaker lasting/deflecting/tough boots on instead of your eolean/steadfast/enduring one. The difference in crafting cost can be fivefold though before reaching perfection. - important point: after dying at my second go and losing a lot of hard -earned items (dwarven tonic, tons of Ent -draught, good armor and weapons, I thought screw it and I switch to Peaceful mode to get it over with and collect loot to continue life in Middle Earth, but surprise, surprise: it's still easy to die in Peaceful as well! The knockbacks can still push you in pits and since I took my armor off to prevent dents, turns out that projectiles still hit you! So Utumno is even lethal in Peaceful mode. - A last hint: if you die, you'll respawn fairly closely to the Pits. Make sure you left a way in and have a chest ready there with essential items if you want to jump right back in. There's nothing worse than hitting orcs to death in Peaceful mode in pitchdark with just an orc bone at a Melkor plate, just because you want to save some travel time back home to gear up..