Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War's Microtransaction Market Is Completely Gone

After earlier promising micotransactions would be removed from Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Monolith has officially removed all traces of the in-game market from the game. A number of new game improvements also accompanied the update.

To account for the removal of in-game purchases, the Orcs previously recruited through Online Vendettas or Ranked Conquests are now unlocked via the Garrison. Those Orcs can still undergo training and the player can still upgrade and customize them, but all of that will be unlocked with in-game Mirian.

There are new ways to customize the player's character as well. New prestige skills have been added to the game and the follower level cap has been increased to 80. Leveling up is faster than ever before, as completing Nemesis Missions, defeating Captains, and doing Online Conquests yield larger amounts of XP. New skins are also available, which allow you to play as Celebrimbor, Dark Eltariel, or Baranor.

Monolith is also addressing the complaints directed towards the Shadow Wars part of the game's campaign. In our Shadow of War review, we wrote that the Shadow Wars were pretty slow and not very fun. That section has been renamed the Epilogue and streamlined with new narration from Shelob, the Witch-king, and Dark Talion. Beating the Epilogue unlocks new rewards: the Masks of Nazgul and new combat abilities. These abilities range from raising the dead to curses. Once the Epilogue has been completed, players now have the choice to jump back into their game and keep defending their fortresses instead of immediately starting a new campaign.

The Nemesis system has also been updated. The Savior feature can now be turned off if you don't want anyone interfering in your duels. Followers can now surprise the player with gifts, and there are more ways to obtain Training Orders. There are more Legendary Orcs than ever before as well.

A full list of the patch notes can be found on Shadow of Wars' forums. Middle-earth: Shadow of War is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.