It’s been relatively public knowledge for several months now that Middle-earth: Shadow of War would have some form of microtransactions, ever since Steam listings and pre-order bonuses revealed that Warner Bros. Interactive and Monolith studios would be including Loot Chests of varying quality. Today, we got our first full look at that system.
First off, there are two types of currency, one called “Mirian” which can be earned in-game through doing missions, breaking down gear you find, picking it up in the world, defeating “Treasure Orcs,” etcetera. The other is called “Gold” and is premium currency. During the livestream, where this was all announced, they had no information about how much real-world money that premium currency would cost. The loot and war chests you can buy with this currency uses the standard “Common, Rare, Epic and Legendary” rarity classifications. Here is a breakdown of all the different Chests you can buy with that currency:
- Loot Chests – Loot Chests contain gear, meaning weapons and armor.
- Silver Loot Chests cost 500 Mirian, and contain two items, with at least one of “rare” value.
- Gold Loot Chests – Price and contents unknown, will cost Gold.
- Mithril Loot Chests – Price and contents unknown, will cost Gold.
- War Chests – War chests contain Followers and one consumable item that will either boost or train your current followers to upgrade their traits.
- Silver War Chests cost 500 Mirian, and contain two followers, at least one of “Epic” rarity, and one consumable item.
- Gold War Chests – Cost 200 Gold (can only be bought with Premium Currency), and contain four followers, at least one of “Legendary” rarity, and one consumable item.
- Mithril War Chest – Cost 600 Gold (can only be bought with Premium Currency), and contain four followers, all four of them of “Legendary” rarity, and one consumable item that brings another follower up to “Legendary” level.
From your Fortress Screen, they’ve also made the marketplace where you can buy these chests one button press away so you can better fill those open slots. There are also bundles that you can purchase, that include several types of chests, but these were not detailed by Monolith.
The increase in rarity only advances the amount and rarity of items you can get. The developers stated that no items are exclusive to one type of chest.