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Shadow of War: No Man's Land (Bodyguard's Trail), The Arena (How to Survive the Arena Fight), Before Dawn

How to tackle the sprawling Middle-earth adventure.

No Man's Land, The Arena, and Before Dawn are three missions as part of the Gondor storyline in Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

These unlock one after another, and come after completing The Eyes of Sauron, Shadows of the Past and The Seeing Stone quests.

If you are interested in completing other missions in the game, our Shadow of War guide and walkthrough can help.

Digital Foundry takes a look at Shadow of War.Watch on YouTube

No Man's Land

Reward: 2700 XP, 370 Mirian Bonus objective: 500 Mirian

Find the Bodyguard's Trail: Head towards the marker, and send Baranor out to kill five Orcs as you go to meet the optional objective. Follow the Bodyguard's Trail.

Defeat the Bodyguard: He's mounted on a Caragor so your first order of business is to kill his steed - a few Charged Shots from range should do it. After that it's a straight up fight, and Baranor will pitch in to even the odds.

The Arena

Reward: +4410 XP, 405 Mirian

Defeat the Champion: Another Olog-hai, but despite his status as the Champion the same basic tactics will work here - dodge his attacks, then Stun when prompted and climb onto his back for stabby time.

He has the Death Defying ability so you may have to make the killing blow with a ranged weapon; once you've got him down to a sliver of health keep your distance and used Charged Shots to his head to take him down.

Taunt the Crowd. Stand in the middle of the arena.

Survive the Arena Fight: A few minor Orcs will pour in, but they should be easily defeated.

More troublesome are Kuga Skull-Lopper and Grisha the Red, although thankfully they only appear one at a time. Kuga has a leap attack that can cover large distances very quickly so we'd recommend dealing with him using ranged attacks, and Grisha is handy with a crossbow so sticking close to him limits his options.

In a pinch it's also possible to use the outside of the arena to hide allowing you to make a stealth attack if you find yourself on the losing end.

Defeat the Champion: Your final opponent is Pug Fear Monger, but he doesn't have any real tricks up his sleeve - he packs a hefty hit with his blade, but this is a straight up fight.

Before Dawn

Reward: 4720 XP 415 Mirian

Sneak into the Orcs' Camp: Follow Idril, and despatch any opposition you encounter on your way. (You don't need to sneak sneak.) Rescue the Captured Soldiers: Use your Wraith abilities to locate the captives - they'll show up in yellow - and then eliminate their guards before freeing them from their bonds. Idril will run off and free a few on her own, so don't rely on her for backup.

Defeat the Remaining Camp Guards.


Need more help? Our Shadow of War guide and walkthrough gives you an overview of everything you need, but if you need something in particular, we have pages on Shadow of War Fortress Sieges, how to earn Mirian in Shadow of War, a guide for how to import your Nemesis and Follower to Shadow of War, collectibles guides like how to get all Shadow of War Legendary Armour and Weapons sets, a list of Lost Artifacts and Web of Fate locations, and Ithildin Door poem solutions and Shadows of the Past, along with how to grind XP in Shadow of War to power through the tricky Shadow Wars endgame and get the true ending. Finally, there's Shadow of War's army building explained and the best skills and how to earn Skill Points.


Rescue Castamir: Head to the marker.

Reach the City.

Defeat the Bridge Guards: Castamir will assist - just work your way over the bridge killing anyone you meet.

Return to Minas Ithril: Head to the marker.