“ | But at the end of the Third Age a troll-race not before seen appeared in southern Mirkwood and in the mountain borders of Mordor. Olog-hai they were called in the Black Speech. That Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was not known. Some held that they were not Trolls but giant Orcs; but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind quite unlike even the largest of Orc-kind, whom they far surpassed in size and power. Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race, strong, agile, fierce and cunning, but harder than stone. | ” |
–The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F |
Mirk-trolls are monstrous, steel-clad, fearsome trolls found in the biome of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood. They are a variant of the Olog-hai which can be found in Mordor, both having been bred by Sauron. They are about four meters high and feared for their brutal force. They are highly valued by evil commanders.
Contrary to popular belief, the Mirk-trolls are actually a canon addition; as seen in the above quote, Tolkien mentioned that Olog-hai were found both in Mordor and in southern Mirkwood.
Spawning[]
Mirk-trolls only spawn in Dol Guldur itself and in Dol Guldur invasions. Like Dol Guldur Orcs, they do not spawn in the rest of Mirkwood unless invading.
Mirk-trolls have less health than their Olog-hai cousins in Mordor. Olog-hai have 80 health (120 if two-headed), while Mirk-trolls only have 70 health (105 if two-headed).
Behavior[]
Unlike all other troll varieties, including the Olog-hai of Mordor, Mirk-trolls are unique in that they do not target players with less than +100 alignment with their home faction. They will attack any player who has negative alignment with Dol Guldur, as well as any NPC that is an enemy of Dol Guldur, like the Wood-elves and Men of Dale. When not fighting, they wander the land.
Mirk-trolls, like their Olog-hai cousins, have been specially bred by Sauron for their strength and resistance. Therefore, they are not turned to stone or killed by sunlight like regular trolls. They can wander or invade all the lands of Middle-earth freely at any time of day.
Attack[]
Mirk-trolls will charge at a frightening speed and attack with the large, triple-pronged scythes in their hands. These scythes do not have the area of effect damage or enormous knockback that Mordor's Olog-hai deal with their hammers, but instead they attack only one player or NPC at a time. They inflict the poison effect on the person on the receiving end. Each attack deals +6 damage to unarmored opponents, and all in all, this mob is a formidable foe.
At times, when a Mirk-troll is fighting an enemy within a group of NPCs neutral to Dol Guldur (for example, chasing a good-aligned player near a group of Isengard Uruks), their lack of an area-of-effect attack and high knockback can prove to be an advantage. If an Olog was in the same situation, not only could it aggravate the Uruks with its attack and get itself killed much faster, but the knockback unleashed by its attack can push the player further away and give them time to escape while the provoked Uruks stall the Olog. However, on the flip-side, an army of strictly enemy NPCs will have a much easier time taking out a Mirk-troll than an Olog because it can only attack one of them at once.
Combat Strategies[]
A Mirk-troll can be a formidable foe against a single player who is attempting to take one down using melee combat, due to their speed, strength, and poison effect. However, unlike Olog-hai, they do not have an area-of-effect attack, which can often be exploited. For instance, charging at them with a mount is less risky as the mount won't be hurt if the Mirk-troll hits the player. For the same reason, they are easier to kill with hired armies than Olog-hai, as they are only capable of targeting and damaging one enemy at a time, limiting their ability to engage in crowd control and making them vulnerable to getting swarmed by a group of weaker units.
Like most trolls, their large hitbox also makes them vulnerable to ranged attacks, both by players and NPC's. If they end up in the water, they are easy to kill using ranged attacks, as they are slow swimmers.
Hiring[]
Mirk-trolls can be hired from Dol Guldur Orc chieftains, for +400 alignment and at a starting price of 100 coins per unit. As always, as one's alignment increases, price decreases.
Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|
Powerful melee attack | Rather expensive in cash |
Inflicts poison that ignores armor | Doesn't fit into confined spaces (underground combat is difficult) |
High health and armor. | Weaker against ranged units; a group of archers can kill them. |
Very strong against smaller groups of melee infantry | Extremely weak when stuck in the water; a single archer can take a Mirk-troll down |
Has a chance to be double-headed, increasing health and attack damage. | Lacks an AoE attack (unlike Mordor's Olog-hai). |
Surprisingly low alignment requirement for a troop who is very hardy, armored, strong and fast | |
Completely immune to sunlight like Olog-hai; this puts them on a higher level than most Trolls, who die in sunlight |
The One Wiki to Rule Them All has an article on:
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The Tolkien Gateway has an article on:
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The Regiments of Dol Guldur |
Orc (Archer, Banner Bearer) •
Olog-hai •
Spider
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