It's been relatively public knowledge for several months now that Middle-earth:
Shadow of War would have some form of microtransactions, ever
since Steam listings and pre-order bonuses revealed that Warner Bros.
Interactive and Monolith studios would be including Loot Chests of
varying quality. Today, we got our first full look at that system.
First off, there are two types of currency, one called "Mirian"
which can be earned in-game through doing missions, breaking down gear
you find, picking it up in the world, defeating "Treasure Orcs,"
etcetera. The other is called "Gold" and is premium currency. During
the livestream, where this was all announced, they had no information
about how much real-world money that premium currency would cost. The
loot and war chests you can buy with this currency uses the standard
"Common, Rare, Epic and Legendary" rarity classifications. Here is a
breakdown of all the different Chests you can buy with that currency:
- Loot Chests - Loot Chests contain gear, meaning
weapons and armor.
- Silver Loot Chests cost 500 Mirian, and contain two items,
with at least one of "rare" value.
- Gold Loot Chests - Price and contents unknown, will cost Gold.
- Mithril Loot Chests - Price and contents unknown, will cost
Gold.
- War Chests - War chests contain Followers and
one consumable item that will either boost or train your current
followers to upgrade their traits.
- Silver War Chests cost 500 Mirian, and contain two followers,
at least one of "Epic" rarity, and one consumable item.
- Gold War Chests - Cost 200 Gold (can only be bought with
Premium Currency), and contain four followers, at least one of
"Legendary" rarity, and one consumable item.
- Mithril War Chest - Cost 600 Gold (can only be bought with
Premium Currency), and contain four followers, all four of them of
"Legendary" rarity, and one consumable item that brings another
follower up to "Legendary" level.