The Gondor Culture

This Strategy-Note article was written by Hayden-William Courtland and was published first on "Lord of the Rings Online (lotrtcg.decipher.com)".

Most famous of the Dunedain are the men of Gondor whose rule extended over all lands west of the Sea of Rhun, and whose two Gondorian white towers, erected in the year 3320 of the Second Age, were known across all of Middle Earth. And yet, the years have taken their toll on the Gondorian people - we now see them divided, with a shattered nobility, and little time remaining for them to set their course true. But it is the people of Gondor that must carry Middle Earth into the dawn of a new age and so begins the ultimate journey for redemption.

The Gondorian culture made its Lord of the Rings TCG debut with just two companions (Aragorn and Boromir) and even then we saw two of the most robust characters in the game. Aragorn, Ranger of the North sports a Defender +1 ability and Boromir, Lord of Gondor cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled. Both Aragorn and Boromir have solid strength/vitality values - a hallmark of the Gondor culture. Of course, it's the culture's mastery of swordsmanship and fighting tactics that is truly defining of the race. Gondor offers a host of events for all phases (maneuver, skirmish, and regroup) that boost strength, prevent wounds, remove twilight, add defender +1, and even wound minions directly. Such are the tricks of the trade for the rangers of Gondor.

With the introduction of the Two Towers block there are yet more Gondorian rangers, led by Boromir's brother Faramir. These "Ring-bound" rangers are adeptly suited at making minions roaming. The roaming characteristic becomes a distinct advantage for Ring-bound rangers, who gain strength bonuses and special abilities when skirmishing roaming minions. In addition Two Towers block gives us the beginnings of a unified kingdom with the emergence of Gondorian Knights, whose unique strengths lie in their ability to transfer fortifications to minions, thereby weakening their strength and vitality.

As a culture, Gondor has some difficulty in removing conditions and many of the non-unique characters have low strength values. Nevertheless, such deficiencies are not insurmountable since the culture, largely through Aragorn's effort, can work well with other cultures. By teaming up Gondor with Rohan, Elves, or even Hobbits, there is ample opportunity to balance out the weaknesses with strengths. The Gondorian peoples' ability to unite with other cultures in times of dire need is at your command and with it, the salvation of Middle Earth is at hand!