One of Shadow of Mordor’s biggest features is the “Nemesis System,” a mechanic that gradually beefs up unique Uruk rivals for the player. The more you progress, the more menacing your Nemesis becomes, and the more gratifying it is when you finally kill it. But what happens if you go out of your way to avoid nemesis assignments?
Uruk’s Hollow spent a month trying to answer this question, dutifully avoiding identifying captains (or immediately killing any story ones that the game provided), branding everyone, scaring any potential nemeses away, all so that they could get to the “Lord of Mordor” mission without any specific rival. As you might already know, the Lord of Mordor story mission is the final showdown against your nemesis, right before taking on the final boss.
If you get to that point without a nemesis, the game apparently just gives you Ratbag as your big baddie instead. By the looks of it, Shadow of Mordor definitely doesn’t expect you to arrive to Lord of Mordor without a rival, because in Uruk’s game, Ratbag was very glitchy and could be killed with ease. (Still, though: good for Ratbag for making it that far!)
“The complexity of moving bodyguards from one Warchief to another and the careful movements to avoid all Captains possible proved to be quite challenging,” Uruk’s Hollow wrote. “I must admit, I was really impressed when I got to the end of this journey.”