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Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Ithildin Poem Walkthrough - how to open Ithildin doors to get the Bright Lord gear

by RPG Site Staff on 13 October, 2017

While Talion's quest in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War mostly leads him down the path of killing orcs, you can take a bit of time out from that - and in this instance, with some poetry. The Ithildin Door Poems are part collectible, part puzzle, and if you correctly solve them you'll get access to something to help you out with the bread-and-butter business of orc slaying, the Bright Lord Armor Set.

There are five total Ithildin Doors in the game: one for each region - Minas Ithil, Nurnen, Seregost, Gorgoroth and Cirith Ungol. You'll want to unlock each by completing a poem.

The Bright Lord Armor comes in two parts, armor and cloak, but then of course there is a sword, bow and dagger to match making up the five doors to the five crypts, each containing a piece of this treasure.

Completing all of the poems, opening all the doors and getting all the gear will in turn get you access to some great Bright Lord themed set bonuses for wearing all of the gear together. This is just one of several Legendary Sets of Gear in the game, but it's one worth having - and its level depends on your level when you discover it. Here's how it all works, plus the solutions for all the Ithildin Door puzzles.

Want more Middle-Earth: Shadow of War help? Check out our other guides:

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How the Ithildin Door Poems work and how to get Ithildin Fragments for poem words

The game will push you towards this quest in the first area of Minas Ithil, but you won't actually have to complete it. There are essentially six Ithildin Fragments in each region, and you frist locate them by climbing the Haedir Towers and using their sight to look around the area and sight nearby objectives.

Once you have the fragments marked, head to their points on the map: they take the form of graffiti-like scrawls on the wall only visible with your unique sight. Complete each mini-puzzle to gain access to the word, and when you have all six in any given area of the game you'll be ready to tackle the Ithildin Door's Ithildin Poem puzzle, the solutions to which we've detailed below.

Once you've all six Ithildin Fragments, head down to the Ithildin Door. The doors can always be found near the Barrows Fast travel point (and remember, fast travel is one of the ways you can force the game to save), and they're usually low down, buried into the geography of the area - it is a crypt, after all. Inside, you'll be charged with completing a poem, and the reward will be a piece of legendary gear, the level of which will be based on your level when you open the door. Solving the poetry puzzles this could be a headache, but not with this page to help you!  Here's the answers:

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Minas Ithil Ithildin Door Poem Solution (your first poem)

Okay, so - your first poem. In order to open up the Minas Ithil Ithildin Door you'll first need to gather the various Ithildin Fragments across the region in order to pick up six words: Doom, Land, Drums, Wrath, Shadows and Cadence. Once you have these words, these are the order they go in:

  1. Shadows
  2. Drums
  3. Cadence
  4. Land
  5. Wrath
  6. Doom

The poem should read like this:

In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie
We bear our banners aloft, boots like Drums
Our Cadence quick, our countenance dire.
For who in this dark, dream-haunted Land dares
Resist the righteous flame of Wrath
And Doom themselves to despair and death?

This rewards you with the Bright Lord's Armor.

  • Its set bonuses (gained when equipped with other gear) are to Gain Wrath 50% faster and Replenish Elf Shot when enemies are killed during Eleven Rage.
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Cirith Ungol Ithildin Door Poem Solution

After gathering up the Ithildin Fragments across the region, find the Cirith Ungol Ithildin Door. You'll have five shiny new words to work with in this poem - Beacons, Shines, Marching, Rises, Fires and Night. Here's the correct order:

  1. Rises
  2. Fires
  3. Night
  4. Beacons
  5. Shines
  6. Marching

Here's the Cirith Ungol Ithildin Door poem in full...

When the sun Rises, the shadows must retreat
Fleeing in fear from the Fires of dawn
The Night never knew that its end was fleet
As a Bright Lord bears Beacons of flame.
The sun rises, yes — but from the West it Shines
Marching e’er Eastward, e”er eternal, e’er bright.

The Bright Lord’s Cloak is your reward.

  • It has the same set bonuses to gain wrath more quickly and replenish elf shot when in Elven Rage.
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Gorgoroth Ithildin Door Poem Solution

Once again trek across a region to track down the Ithildin Fragments, and when they're all yours head to the Gorgoroth Ithildin Door to be presented with another poem. The words are Fail, Bulwark, Powers, Vicious, Impervious and Lurk. Here's the correct order for them:

  1. Lurk
  2. Bulwark
  3. Impervious
  4. Powers
  5. Vicious
  6. Fail

The poem you get as a result, in full:

They stalk and Lurk, then lash out so furious
Yet our Bulwark is proof against their rage
Our hard-ringed, hand-forged armor Impervious
To predations from the Powers of darkness
No matter how Vicious or how vile
To assail the Bright Lord is to falter and Fail.

Beyond this door you'll find the Bright Lord’s Sword.

  • Its perks give you wrath for performcing an ice storm finisher and offer health recovery for executions.
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Nurnen Ithildin Door Poem Solution

To tackle Nurnen's Ithildin Door you'll once again have to gather up those Ithildin Fragment words. This time they're Hordes, Serpents, Claim, Woe, Avail and Iron. The order they go in is as follows...

  1. Iron
  2. Serpents
  3. Avail
  4. Woe
  5. Hordes
  6. Claim

That means the poem reads like this...

Let our foes fortify with Iron and stone
Let them summon scabrous Serpents, feral beasts
It will Avail them nought. Across the ages none
Have an army that wield such weapons, such Woe
Such doom against the dark-benighted Hordes who dare
Claim dominion over a Mordor soon bright.

This rewards you with the powerful ranged weapon the Bright Lord's Bow.

  • This is a level 53 legendary bow with a ranged attack rating of 229.
  • It has additional initial perks that make charged headshots freeze nearby enemies, plus recovery of focus for ranged attacks landing.
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Seregost Ithildin Door Poem Solution

To open Seregost's Ithildin Door you'll once again have to gather up those pesky fragments to get yourself some words. Once you've done so, you'll find yourself with the words Poisoned, Comes, Slumbers, Trapped, Base and Nest. This is how they're ordered:

  1. Slumbers
  2. Nest
  3. Poisoned
  4. Trapped
  5. Comes
  6. Base

The Seregost Ithildin Door poem looks like this, then:

Fair Mordor Slumers, entangled in night
A vipers’ Nest of sorrow and strife
Poisoned by pernicious betrayal and blight
Trapped in the grasp of gelid corpse-hands
Yet behold! The Bright Lord Comes as a wildfire
Burning only what is Base, that all else may thrive.

The Bright Lord's Dagger is your reward.

  • It also has the great initial perks of gaining wrath for killing frozen enemies, mixing that with a perk that applies frost to enemies when you quick throw them.