Middle Earth: Shadow Of War Guide — How to Complete The Bruz Quests

Talion gets his very own Olog-Hai companion in the Bruz quest line, which can be a bit difficult to complete if you don't know how to do it.
Talion gets his very own Olog-Hai companion in the Bruz quest line, which can be a bit difficult to complete if you don't know how to do it.

Middle Earth: Shadow Of War, much expanded from its predecessor, lets Talion recruit huge armies of orcs, as well as some new additions like war trolls and drakes. While many dominated-followers are just randomized stats and names, the Olog-Hai named Bruz gets his own specific quest line, teaching you how to conquer and defend strongholds.

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Unlike most other missions that clearly go from A to B without any problems, you frequently have to complete other quests to unlock new areas and continue Bruz’s saga. In the Shadow of War guide below, we outline all the Shadow Of War Bruz missions, what is required to unlock them, and how to complete each quest.

 This guy will be nice to have on your side!

Ring Of Power Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Start Act 2
  • Primary Reward: 7,080 XP; 890 Mirian
  • Optional Reward: Wealth gem X 1

Domination is one of the only major abilities from the Shadow of Mordor that’s missing at the start of Shadow Of War, but you can finally start dominating enemies again early in Act 2 with this quest.

All you have to do is battle Bruz in the same way as any of the other war trolls you’ve come across at that point. Hit “A” (Xbox One) or “X” (PS4) when prompted to dodge his attacks three times in a row, attack him from behind, and then finally dominate him to get Bruz on your side.

 Getting some conquest advice from your new troll pal

The Etten Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Complete the Ring Of Power, Violent Nature, and The Witch King’s Vision quests
  • Main Reward: Nurnen Fortress; 8,105 XP; 920 Mirian

Talion will need to recruit three Captains (besides Bruz) to build up a force to capture Nurnen in this siege segment. After you’ve got your army, capture the two Victory Points and take out the overlord to install Bruz as your new second in command. Completing the mission opens up the map so you can get into the full meat of the game.

 Talion also weirdly gives a motivational Braveheart style speech to…
his army of mindless dominated orcs?

Conquest Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Capture Nurnen Fortress
  • Main Reward: None

This quest and the next one don’t have a whole lot for Talion to do except follow tutorials. You can get the I Like To Watch achievement here by having a follower murder another captain without helping him during the pit fight segment.

The Fight Pits Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Complete Conquest
  • Main Reward: None

This is another tutorial mission. Just watch the fights and move on to the next quest.

The Best Defense Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Complete the Fight Pits, Tower Of Sorcery, and Carnan’s Bane missions
  • Main Reward: 13,930 XP; 10,00 Mirian

Some players have had trouble getting this Bruz quest to unlock. If the quest isn’t available after The Fight Pits, go make sure you’ve progressed along the Carnan quest line as far as you can, then come back and it should be available.

This quest is just a siege defense, but it is possible to lose the mission entirely, so make sure you’ve got some warchiefs and captains to help you defend the Victory Points. Pay attention to this mission: the grueling Shadow War end-game content is a whole lot of this exact scenario, over and over.

Damaged Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Complete the The Best Defense mission
  • Main Reward: 18,260 XP; 1,050 Mirian

This is your typical rescue mission (which were so prevalent in the previous game) and stealth is key so you don’t get swarmed. Make sure to kill the archers above first, before you start releasing prisoners so you don’t have to deal with ranged fire if someone notices you.

If you imported your follower from Shadow Of Mordor, that orc can be randomly assigned as one of the prisoners to save, so be on the lookout!

After the stealth part of this Bruz quest, it’s time to fight Bruz again — just use the same war troll tactics you know by now, avoiding his big attack and getting behind to freeze and get in a few swings.

The big problem here is that there can be multiple captains with the army, so you need to keep them apart if you want to survive. If any of them are vulnerable to freezing or pinning, make sure to lock them in place while you take care of the rest.

 Rescuing some orc prisoners

Missing Bruz Quest

  • To Begin: Complete the The Damaged mission
  • Main Reward: 15,950 XP; 1,030 Mirian

For this final Bruz quest, head to the meeting point and be prepared for an ambush with caragor-mounted orcs. From there, follow Ratbag and rescue more followers, then go on a mad dash to rescue the Ranger troll with a 30-second countdown.

Don’t get too close, though, as Bruz has set up a not-so-cleverly disguised Ranger that’s actually a bunch of explosives. Wait for the Ka-Boom and then follow the ever-helpful Ratbag to get revenge on your erstwhile lieutenant.

 No, that’s definitely not Ranger.

From there, sneak into Bruz’s camp without raising any alarms (be on the lookout for archers!) and get ready for your final battle against the upstart troll. Instead of killing him though, you need to dominate him again and pick the “shame” option to show the other warchiefs who is boss!

That’s all you need to know to complete the Shadow Of War Bruz quest line!  Need help with the rest of the game? Be sure to check out our other Shadow Of War guides for more tips, tricks, and strategies:

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Author
Ty Arthur
Ty splits his time between writing horror fiction and writing about video games. After 25 years of gaming, Ty can firmly say that gaming peaked with Planescape Torment, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a soft spot for games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout: New Vegas, Bioshock Infinite, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. He has previously written for GamerU and MetalUnderground. He also writes for PortalMonkey covering gaming laptops and peripherals.