U.S. $14.99 Can. $21.95 U.K. £12.99 Games/ActionPlatforms: Nintendo GameCube™,

PC, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox™

The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.,registered in the United States and other countries. Primagames.com is aregistered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States.

primagames.com®

primagames.com®

This game has received thefollowing rating from the ESRB

©MMIII New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.The Lord of the Rings,The

Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places

therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a/ Tolkien Enterprises

under license to New Line Productions, Inc. Game code and certain audio

visual elements ©2003 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. Electronic Arts,

EA, EA GAMES and the EA GAMES logo are trademarks or registered

trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All

other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA

GAMES™ is an Electronic Arts™ brand.

The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King—Prima’s Official

Strategy Guide is published with the permission, but not the

approval, of The Estate of the late J.R.R.Tolkien. “Tolkien”® is a

registered trademark of The J.R.R.Tolkien Estate Limited.

The Lord of the Rings, and its constituent volumes, The

Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the

King, are published by HarperCollinsPublishers under licence

from the Trustees of The J.R.R.Tolkien 1967 Settlement.

Mario De Govia

Walkthrough for every adventure

All secret characters revealed

Detailed maps of every environment

Strategies for defeating every boss

Combat techniques for all characters

EX

CLU

SIV

E M

AP

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TH

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RD

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S™:T

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PRIMA’S O

FFICIAL STRATEG

Y GU

IDE

The Path of the WizardCharacter: Gandalf Enemies: Uruk-hai, shielded Uruk-hai, archer Uruk-hai,

Orcs, archer Orcs

The Forest PathIt's time to address the issue of Saruman'streachery. He's turned Isengard into afortress, raised an Uruk-hai army,and destroyed trees, which hasangered the Ents. Gandalf isthere to support the massivecreatures in their fight. Chasethe Orcs running away downthe forest paths.

They may be running, but the Orcshave some fight left.

A few creatures come at you. Parrytheir large swords then answer their

attacks with a few of your own. Asyou near a tree fallen across the

path, you'll see an Ent trompingthrough the forest. Gandalfurges it on to Isengard,crying out that he will dealwith the Orcs in the forest.

Your first encounters are warmups for what is to come.

Just beyond, you'll face Uruk-hai on theground and an archer in a rotted tree abovethe path. Fight the two ground soldiersunder the tree and avoid the arrows. Whenthey fall, back up and use your RangedAttack to destroy the archer Orc.

Now you'll see a cart piled withexplosive charges. Wait for an enemy todraw near, then fire your Ranged Attack toblow it up. You must still deal with anarcher on the hill. Use another shot todestroy him.

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A little farther, and the path opens intoa huge chamber. Legolas states it is wherethe dead gather, an evil place. The only wayout is across a narrow bridge. Start acrossand two rocks jut out of the bridge,blocking you at either end, and deadsoldiers pour out.

This engagement will be taxing. It willtake all your skill to get through.

During the bridge battle, kill the dead swordsmen asquickly as you can to avoid having to go up againstthe more difficult dead shield men and Championsthat spawn later in the fight. —Paul Pettross

Notice the counter in the upper rightcorner of your screen. You must defeat thenumber of enemies shown before you canproceed. As you fight, the foe type willchange, from common dead soldiers toones with shields, archers, and dead soldierChampions. When you've fought off theamount shown on your HUD, the rockblocking your way breaks apart. Get acrossthe rest of the bridge and out of there.You've successfully completed the Paths ofthe Dead.

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Road to Isengard

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Road to IsengardRoad to Isengard

The Orc in the tree is an archer, and won't take much to defeat.

The cart will do some of the work for you, but don't ignore

the archer on the hill.

The path splits after the cart encounter.To the left is a stone bridge. At the foot ofthe bridge is a cart full of explosives. Quitea few Orcs are gathered around it, andthere are two archers at the peak of thebridge.

Use your Ranged Attack to set off theexplosives, then use the same projectiles to

deal with the archers. You may have topause to Parry a few arrows as youwork. You could then cross the

bridge, but to gain experiencepoints, head down the right

fork instead. This leads youunder the bridge, into themidst of another group of

foes. Fight them off andcontinue on. You'll

emerge at the oppositeside of the bridge.

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CheckpointCheckpoint

CheckpointCheckpoint

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Orcs are gathered on the bridge and under it. Take the time

to dispatch them all.

Press on and you'll encounter more footsoldiers. Near the hairpin turn, a pair ofarchers is hiding in the brush. Use yourRanged Attack to flush them out andcontinue on. Just at the turn, a gaggle ofenemies will rush in to hamper yourprogress. Parrying is important. Do not getsurrounded—keep them in front of you asyou attack, blocking when they startswinging.

When it's clear, turn to your right andyou'll hit a Checkpoint.

The hairpin turn is an ambush point.Be prepared to fight.

The Ents

Down the narrow slope, the Ents arerampaging around a circular clearing,stomping and sweeping away all creaturesin their path. You can't progress until a setnumber of Orcs have been defeated. Thecounter will appear in the upper rightcorner.

Any Orcs the Ents destroy count towardyour total. This is good news, since the Entswill crush you if you get underfoot. Head tothe bottom of the slope and a group of Orcs

will charge. Do away with them, thendecide: Wade into the fray and risk gettingstomped (but collect a lot of experiencepoints), or stay at the foot of the slope anduse Ranged Attacks to pick off foes and letthe Ents do most of the work.

The Ent rampage area is an experience gold mine.Kill as many Orcs as possible. —Michael Q. Lin

Being around angry Ents is perilous work.

Whichever you choose,after you reach the limit on

Orcs, a path leading forwardwill open. Follow it. Through the rocky

canyon, you'll encounter afew foot soldier Orcs (with

archers to back themup) on an outcrop. Deal

with the immediatethreat first (the groundtroops) then knock outthe archers with yourRanged Attack.When the first few are

defeated, anothergroup of archers

show up. Use thesame attacks on them toclear the way, then press on.

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primagames.com 47

Road to IsengardRoad to Isengard

The archers are well hidden inbrambles but your Ranged Attack will still be effective.

A few more turns in the path and you'llfind a large group of hostiles.

Continue down the rocky canyon and acrush of Orcs will come at you. Parry first,then use Speed Attacks to clear them away.If you have the Orc Hewer move, Gandalfcan use it effectively against a group.

The Tower of Orthanc is in sight.

You'll get a quick look at the Tower ofOrthanc as you move forward. Then you'llhit a Checkpoint. A few steps beyond that isanother cart of explosives and more Orcs.

A shot with your Ranged Attack takescare of your foes, allowing you access tothe next level.

Aim for the cart and let fly.

Beyond the cart is a gorge with ricketytowers on the other side. The Orcs haveunwisely placed a cart of explosives at thebase of each tower. You must set off theexplosive carts under each. Beware: Eachtower has a set of archers and all of themare firing at you. Parry their arrows (ordodge out of the way) as you make yourway down the line, targeting and setting offthe carts.

As you run along your side of the gorge,foot soldier Orcs will attack, distracting youfrom your tower destruction. Dispatch themand continue targeting carts.

The first tower at the dam can be blown up from thetrail in the area just before entering the riverbank.

—Michael Q. Lin

Swat away the arrows, then fire on the carts.

You'll see a bridge. Pass by it at first anddestroy the last two towers. Once they'redown, go back to the bridge and start tocross. A pair of shielded Uruk-hai will blockthe way. Use your Fierce Attack to smashtheir shields. Don't get impatient, use yourParry until you get the right opening orthey'll take turns carving you up.

Once across, go left to find an Elfstone.More foes will rush you. Destroy them, thencarry on down the path.

Luckily, they can't surround you at this point.

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Just past the bridge, Orc foot soldiersattack, along with more archers. Deal withthe threats on the ground first, then useyour Ranged Attack on the archers.

After they're cleared away, head down anarrow path, which opens to a smallplateau where another horde of Orcsawaits. An archer takes shots at you to keepyou distracted. Take your time and Parry tokeep safe.

This archer will fall easily to a Ranged Attack.

Keep to the path and you'll soon see anEnt attempting to break the dam thatoverlooks Isengard. Orcs are harrying itwith flaming arrows. Your task is to keepthe Orcs from bothering the Ent as it workson the dam.

Realize that there are archers on theother side of the dam, too. Clear out thearea on your side, then use Ranged Attacksto get the ones across the way. A toughUruk-hai Champion guards the two archers.To begin, focus all your energy on him untilhe falls, then knock down the two archerson your side and fire shots at the archers onthe other side.

The Orc champion at the bottom ofthe dam is easier to defeat ifyou hit him from a distancewith a charged Ranged Attack.

—Michael Q. Lin

Several waves of Orcs will attack. Donot forget about the opposite side of thedam: Whenever you have a break in theaction on your side, aim a few shots at theother platform to clear away any archersgathered there.

After dealing with the strong Uruk-hai, you'll be faced with

several waves of Orcs. Don't ignore theother platform, or the Ents will never

finish pulling down the dam.

Given enough time to work in peace,the Ents will yank the supports from thedam and send the river crashing intoIsengard. The waters flood the plain,bringing an end to Saruman's plans.

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U.S. $14.99 Can. $21.95 U.K. £12.99 Games/ActionPlatforms: Nintendo GameCube™,

PC, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox™

The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.,registered in the United States and other countries. Primagames.com is aregistered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States.

primagames.com®

primagames.com®

This game has received thefollowing rating from the ESRB

©MMIII New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.The Lord of the Rings,The

Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places

therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a/ Tolkien Enterprises

under license to New Line Productions, Inc. Game code and certain audio

visual elements ©2003 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. Electronic Arts,

EA, EA GAMES and the EA GAMES logo are trademarks or registered

trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All

other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA

GAMES™ is an Electronic Arts™ brand.

The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King—Prima’s Official

Strategy Guide is published with the permission, but not the

approval, of The Estate of the late J.R.R.Tolkien. “Tolkien”® is a

registered trademark of The J.R.R.Tolkien Estate Limited.

The Lord of the Rings, and its constituent volumes, The

Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the

King, are published by HarperCollinsPublishers under licence

from the Trustees of The J.R.R.Tolkien 1967 Settlement.

Mario De Govia

Walkthrough for every adventure

All secret characters revealed

Detailed maps of every environment

Strategies for defeating every boss

Combat techniques for all characters

EX

CLU

SIV

E M

AP

S!

TH

E LO

RD

OF T

HE R

ING

S™:T

HE R

ETU

RN

OF T

HE K

ING

PRIMA’S O

FFICIAL STRATEG

Y GU

IDE

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