The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Beginner Tips - Classes, Co-op, and Loot

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is Snowblind Studios’ 2011 co-op action RPG, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. This guide covers that specific three-hero game, not a Lord of the Rings MMO, strategy title, or later Middle-earth action game.

Content warning: ESRB rates War in the North M for Mature 17+ for Blood and Gore and Intense Violence. This guide keeps its combat descriptions non-graphic.

The advice below is spoiler-light and focuses on Eradan, Andriel, Farin, fellowship play, Hero Mode, equipment, and skill progression. It does not provide exact builds, damage numbers, item farming, boss routes, or a quest walkthrough.

Legacy multiplayer note: The official manual documents three-player online and LAN play at release, and the preserved Steam page still labels the game co-op. Steam also says the game is no longer sold there. Confirm the multiplayer path available on your platform before organizing a session.

Essential Tips

1. Choose a Fellowship Job, Not Just a Favorite Character

Each hero can fight in several ways, but their strongest beginner identities are different.

Farin is the clearest durable melee choice, Andriel brings magic and group protection, and Eradan offers flexible archery, Evasion, and weapon options. Pick the job you want to perform first. You can refine the weapon setup after you understand how the hero’s skills fit that job.

2. Read Skill Requirements Before Spending Deeply

A skill point is most useful when its weapon requirement matches what you actually equip.

The three heroes have unique skill trees, and later sections open as you invest. Avoid buying into competing weapon plans by accident, such as committing to both a shield-focused route and a two-handed route without a reason. Shops sell re-spec tokens, but deliberate early spending saves coins and confusion.

3. Let Every Hero Search

The fellowship leaves loot behind when it ignores character-specific clues.

Farin can expose cracked walls and gold veins. Andriel can open rune-marked secrets and gather potion ingredients. Eradan can follow tracks to Ranger caches. Slow down when one of those cues appears, because only the matching hero can reveal that opportunity.

4. Check the Fellowship Before Selling a Drop

Loot that is wrong for you may be exactly right for an ally.

Some equipment is restricted by hero or weapon type, and the official manual says characters regularly find items better suited to someone else. Compare a drop against the whole group’s needs, then trade useful gear before turning the remainder into coins.

5. Treat Elf Stones as Commitments

A slotted Elf stone is consumed and cannot be removed.

Inspect the item’s requirements, properties, and likely role before using a stone. An empty slot is not a reason to spend immediately, especially when a later drop may replace the item.

6. Repair Before Durability Becomes a Combat Problem

The durability warning is part of your preparation loop.

Blacksmiths repair weapons and armor, and worn equipment loses effectiveness. Check durability whenever you return to town, especially before a long combat section. A better item is not better if you let it remain damaged.

7. Build Hero Mode Through Clean Play

A prompted critical strike starts the game’s main combat streak system.

After entering Hero Mode, keep landing attacks without getting hit to raise damage and XP bonuses. Use normal attacks, ranged pressure, and skills to keep contact when safe. The goal is a controlled streak, not a reckless race into every enemy.

8. Dodge the Attack You Cannot Block

Preserving a streak is never worth standing inside an unblockable attack.

Blocking handles ordinary melee pressure, and a shield can also stop ranged attacks at the cost of movement. Some heavy enemy attacks ignore a block. Roll away from those attacks, reset your position, and resume the chain after the danger passes.

9. Make Revives the Immediate Priority

One ally bleeding out sends the fellowship back to the previous checkpoint.

Clear space and revive downed allies before chasing damage. Eradan can approach through Evasion, Andriel can protect the group with Sanctuary, and Farin can use War-cry to endure pressure. In co-op, call the rescue before multiple players abandon their positions at once.

10. Coordinate Roles in Co-op

Three different answers are more useful than three copies of the same plan.

Agree on who absorbs close-range pressure, who protects or restores the group, and who handles ranged targets or priority enemies. The heroes remain flexible, but their signature tools work best when the fellowship knows who is covering each problem.

11. Budget Ranged Resources by Hero

Eradan and Farin spend ammunition; Andriel spends power.

Arrows and bolts are limited, so keep a melee fallback for the Ranger and Champion. Andriel does not need ammunition, but repeated magic attacks draw on the same power resource used by her skills. Restock the resource your hero actually consumes instead of buying by habit.

12. Use Character Switching and Re-specs to Learn

An early choice does not have to define every later run.

The official manual says the end-of-level summary can swap the controlled hero while matching the previous hero’s level and redistributing skill points. Re-spec tokens also let you rebuild a tree. Use those systems to test roles rather than locking yourself into an exact build too early.

Choose Your Hero

Hero	Core Identity	Signature Tools	Beginner Direction
Eradan, the Ranger	Flexible ranged and melee fighter	Bow, Evasion, Ranger Strike, Heavy Shot, hidden Ranger caches	Use range to control priority targets, then keep a dependable melee option
Andriel, the Lore-master	Magic and fellowship support	Staff, Sanctuary, control magic, runes, potion ingredients	Protect the group first, then add offense around available power
Farin, the Champion	Durable melee and crowd pressure	Broad melee access, shield, crossbow, War-cry, cracked walls	Hold close-range pressure and choose deliberately between defense and two-handed reach

Eradan has flexible ranged and melee options, but that flexibility still needs a plan. His Evasion branch supports stealth and reveal attacks, Ranger Strike supports heavy melee options and dual wielding, and Heavy Shot develops bow attacks.

Andriel’s defining value is Sanctuary. It can protect and restore the fellowship, while her other branches add area control and staff offense. She can fight aggressively, but a beginner group should know where its protection comes from before turning every point into damage.

Farin’s trees support War-cry, sweeping group attacks, and heavy single strikes. Decide whether your current weapon setup emphasizes a shield’s defense or a two-handed weapon’s reach and damage, then spend around that decision.

Combat and Co-op Fundamentals

Situation	Best Habit	Why It Works
Critical prompt appears	Take the prompted critical when the area is safe	Starts Hero Mode and its streak bonuses
Hero Mode is active	Keep contact without trading hits	Successive clean attacks increase damage and XP bonuses
Large attack winds up	Dodge instead of relying on block	Some powerful attacks are explicitly unblockable
Ally is downed	Create space and revive immediately	A full death resets the fellowship to a checkpoint
Ranged target is distant	Let Eradan or a prepared ranged setup answer it	Prevents the whole group from breaking formation
Group is under pressure	Use Sanctuary, War-cry, control, or Evasion by role	Signature tools are built around fellowship survival
Human players reach a gate	Gather and confirm everyone is ready	The release-era co-op rules require all players at checkpoints
Playing solo	Use attack/defend ally commands and keep your own role versatile	AI partners cover the other heroes, but the controlled hero still draws pressure

Normal attacks form the basic combo, while heavy attacks are slower and stronger. Skills add stronger attacks, control, protection, or movement, but they require power and have cooldowns. Use them as part of the combat rhythm instead of saving every ability for an undefined emergency.

The fellowship receives XP from enemy kills, while criticals, skills, and hit streaks can add bonuses for the active hero. This makes clean combat its own progression tool. Chasing that bonus still comes second to surviving an unblockable hit or completing a revive.

Loot and Progression Habits

1. Search enemies, crates, and chests - The main loot loop includes weapons, armor, shields, jewelry, coins, and consumables.

2. Inspect item restrictions - A drop may belong to another hero even when your character found it.

3. Check set seals - Some gear belongs to sets with bonuses for wearing more pieces, but exact set rankings belong in a build guide.

4. Trade before selling - Move useful off-class equipment to the ally who can equip it.

5. Commit Elf stones carefully - The stone is consumed when slotted and cannot be removed.

6. Repair on town visits - Use the durability warning as a prompt to visit a blacksmith.

7. Spend toward one clear job - Open stronger parts of a relevant skill tree before scattering points across incompatible equipment plans.

8. Keep re-spec coins available - Re-spec tokens let you correct a tree that no longer matches your weapon or fellowship role.

9. Treat the first run as foundation - The manual documents Easy or Normal first, then Heroic and Legendary unlocks in sequence, with character progress carrying into another story run.

10. Use every hero’s exploration ability - Secret caches, cracked walls, runes, gold, and ingredients all feed the same equipment and resource loop.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not spend across incompatible weapon branches without a plan - Match skills to the shield, two-handed weapon, bow, crossbow, staff, or dual-weapon setup you use.

2. Do not pick up every drop and sell immediately - Check whether another fellowship member can use it first.

3. Do not slot an Elf stone into disposable gear - Inspect the item because the stone cannot be recovered.

4. Do not ignore the durability warning - Repair worn equipment before its reduced effectiveness hurts the next fight.

5. Do not rely on arrows or bolts as if they are unlimited - Keep a melee fallback and restock ammunition.

6. Do not empty Andriel’s power on routine ranged attacks - Leave enough power for the support or control skill the group may need.

7. Do not trade hits just to preserve Hero Mode - Dodge unblockable attacks and rebuild the streak safely.

8. Do not leave a downed ally while chasing an enemy - A full bleed-out resets the entire fellowship.

9. Do not walk past tracks, runes, plants, or cracked walls - Those cues mark hero-specific resources and secrets.

10. Do not duplicate every co-op role - Coordinate defense, support, ranged pressure, and crowd control before spending deeply.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Hero choice	Pick a fellowship job before choosing a weapon branch
Co-op	Coordinate complementary roles and treat revives as urgent
Combat	Start Hero Mode with criticals, then preserve it through clean defense
Ranged play	Budget arrows, bolts, or power according to the hero
Loot	Check allies and item restrictions before selling
Elf stones	Inspect gear before making an irreversible slot choice
Exploration	Watch for all three heroes’ unique secret cues
Progression	Use focused skill spending, character swaps, and re-specs to adjust