Gravewalker is the Hardest Difficulty in Shadow of War
As an avid Shadow of War player and content creator, I can definitively say Gravewalker stands at the apex of this acclaimed game‘s challenge levels. Designed to push even seasoned rangers to their absolute limits, Gravewalker Difficulty lives up to its billing as a master class test for the most skilled generals of Mordor.
1. 3X Enemy Health and Damage – Mistakes Are Not An Option
The math says it all – enemies have triple their base health pools and deal triple their base damage relative to the default difficulty. To illustrate how insane this is, even lowly grunts can wipe out your health bar in just 1-2 attacks. With Talion dying in 2-3 hits from a captain‘s combo, there is zero margin for error. Players cannot rely on button mashing or hack and slash tactics. Perfect parrying, strategic positioning, and properly leveraging buffs/debuffs make all the difference between life and death.
2. True Tactical Gameplay Shines Through
Facing such asymmetrical challenges, successful Gravewalker players emphasize how it forced them to engage Shadow of War‘s systems on a deeper level. With Talion so vulnerable, you must survey battles from afar using your wraith powers, stealthily take down isolated threats, and carefully manipulate captain strengths/weaknesses to sow chaos organically. Ambushes also become more critical than direct confrontations (which usually end badly). Combined with tweaked AI reactions, Gravewalker enables Shadow of War‘s combat to shine by introducing non-stop tension. You are always fighting uphill against the odds, forcing you to utilize every system from skill combos to grunt manipulation as a necessary tool for victory.
3. The True Tolkien Struggle Against Darkness
Alongside white-knuckle gameplay improvements, various critics highlight how Gravewalker better captures Middle-Earth‘s darkness compared to lower difficulties. Talion feels appropriately overwhelmed and outmatched at all times against Sauron‘s imposing armies – reinforcing a key theme of desperate longshot battles to contain Mordor‘s evil. By removing most safety nets and power trips, Gravewalker better immerses you in a dynamic but terrifying world where the forces of darkness can crush you if you let your guard down. This tension and danger makes scraping by against an Uruk onslaught much more rewarding.
Even winning battles in Gravewalker difficulty feels like desperate longshot efforts against the endless armies of Mordor – perfectly capturing Middle-Earth‘s darkness (Credit: Monolith)
4. Brutal Difficulty – A Fierce Pretender To Gravewalker‘s Throne
Some fans highlight the newer Brutal difficulty as an even harsher challenge possibly surpassing Gravewalker. Brutal boosts enemy health to similar extremes as Gravewalker, however it grants players much higher damage to offset this rather than keeping you vulnerable. Various players argue this undermines Gravewalker‘s signature tension – allowing you to bulldoze captains 1v1 rather than having to use advanced tactics to survive. At higher levels, equipment boosts can also greatly reduce Brutal‘s threat, while Gravewalker consistently delivers an asymmetrical nightmare. For these reasons, Gravewalker remains the supreme test of skill and attention span for those seeking to prove themselves in Mordor against all odds.
While great arguments exist on both sides, based on my hundreds of hours enjoying Shadow of War‘s content and combing through community opinions, Gravewalker retains its crown as the unanimous hardest difficulty setting. This ghastly gauntlet forces you to embrace every system, assess battles tactically, and wield Talion like a surgeon among disabled patients. Fearsome as the task may seem, overcoming the asymmetric onslaught of an entire Uruk army out for your blood grants a satisfaction quite unlike anything else Shadow of War offers. For those truly seeking to challenge their inner ringwraith abilities, Gravewalker difficulty beckons.
