BEAT Chapter 5 Mirkwood glitch without playing online! Ironically, requires online PS+ subscription

[Beartrap25]

So, I had the pain in the A#$ Mirkwood glitch happen to me.  On my heroic playthrough, I had to quit in the middle of Chapter 5 because a giant spider grabbed me and the pulling animation screwed up my screen.  It was kind of like the camera got stuck inside my character's head. (lots of bugs in this game, literally and figuratively).    I loaded up my mid-chapter save, killed the boss spider, saved the wizard, but could not proceed to the next chapter because the map marker would not show up on my map.    

 

Luckily, I copied my save file to the cloud after rescuing the two dwarfs in chapter 4.  I also turned OFF the automatic cloud saving (done outside the game in the XMB screen while hovering over the Lord of the Rings game).  I heard some people were able to delete a patch and then restart the game and that cleared the glitch.  I have the digital version (it was five bucks in the PS Store a few months ago) and it didn't show I had any patches. 

 

I got past the chapter five glitch generally by: 

 

(1) quitting the game and making a backup of my save to the PS + cloud upon regaining control of my character after Chapter 4.  I saved to the cloud immediately after talking to the dwarf king, who gives you the Mirkwood quest.  You will have just defended the dwarves with two ballistae in a big cave in Chapter 4.  Make sure that automatic cloud saving is disabled/off.  If auto ps plus saving is turned on, you could corrupt your online save too.  

(2) After you've copied your save to the cloud and reload your save in-game, the Mirkwood quest will probably have disappeared.  I read on another forum that if that happens, immediately quit to the main menu (using start and then quit).  Then reload your save and the Mirkwood quest should reappear.  It did for me, every time.  

(3) using the cloud save and overwriting the system save if I beat the boss spider and the game wouldn't let me proceed (happened about four times on my heroic playthrough).  You can't copy to a usb, only the cloud.  I tried.  And, the cloud only lets you download your save file to the system one time every 24 hours. Lame.    

(4) completing Chapter 5 in one sitting, without ever getting the "you are dead" or game over screen.  It's incredibly easy if using a high dexterity dwarf and fully upgraded explosive shot, even on legendary.  Make sure to have plenty of power potions.  With the right set up, you will one hit kill EVERYTHING on Chapter 5, except for the boss, which takes about three explosive shots.  It's also a good idea to upgrade the "faster cool-down reduction" skill.  I think you can dump two points in that skill.  It seems that exiting to the main menu at any point and then reloading is the number one reason that the game glitches.  It is imperative that you play through all of chapter five in one sitting.  

(5) going straight through into the next chapter after saving the wizard.

 

In addition to saving to the cloud before stepping foot in Mirkwood, I followed these steps and the game did not glitch on me while playing Chapter 5.  

 

- Talk to the eagle before you leave Nordinbald.  He is standing right in front of the "Proceed" portal outside of the main gate in Nordinbald.  You will talk to him about the wizard and why would he leave his home, something to that effect.  

- It's also worth noting that I let ALL of the cutscenes play out in Chapter 5.  Do NOT hit start and skip.  I played chapter five on heroic several times from start to finish but skipped the cutscenes because I was impatient.  I don't know if skipping caused the glitch, but every time I skipped cutscenes, it would not let me go to the next chapter after saving the wizard.  

- Try to avoid letting the larger, non-boss spiders shoot you with their web.  The animation where they are dragging you toward them may cause your screen to go black.  It happened to me.  If you have only one explosive shot and have to choose between killing a dozen little spiders, or just one of the larger ones, kill the big one.  Every time.  

- Make sure you pick up the staff at the wizard's house (it is flat on the ground) before hitting "proceed."  You have to be careful because the staff is right in front of the "proceed" portal and you could hit that before getting the staff.  

- It seems like the playthroughs when I saved the elf (as opposed to skipping him) were the ones that let me progress to the next chapter (might be a coincidence).  The elf is off all the way to the right at the first split in the road in Chapter 5.  You'll go under a tree root and emerge near a lake with one large orc walking around, probably with his back to you.  Kill everything in sight and keep heading on that path where the elf is.  Make sure to interact with the elf after killing all the orcs in the area.  You need to untie the elf, done simply by interacting with him.   

- I killed the boss spider before the small ones at the end of Chapter five, every time.  Instead of immediately saving the wizard after the boss is dead, kill the little spiders first.  It's rather odd.  The boss lays there, dead, while little spiders are running around.  The screen prompts you to save the wizard when the boss is dead but little spiders are still attacking you.  Kill the little spiders first.  I didn't intend to kill the boss first, it's just how it happened for me because I focused my explosive shot on the boss.  

- Do NOT loot any of the piles if the boss spider is dead AND the wizard is still trapped in the web.  I only looted the piles while the boss was alive OR, after having killed the boss and smaller spiders and saved the wizard.  

- After rescuing the wizard and watching the entire cutscene, I would talk to the elf I saved, who gives you a reward.  After the cutscene where Agandaur is talking to the dragon, I never talked to the wizard again.  

- Then I talk to the eagle, and then move on to the next chapter using the "proceed" portal.  Go straight into the next chapter.  Do NOT go anywhere but to the next chapter.  One time the game glitched on me when, after saving the wizard and seeing the next chapter show up on my map, (hooray!) I went to Nordinbald to sell and repair items.  When I tried to leave Nordinbald, the map marker disappeared.   

 

Do not write over your cloud save unless you are doing so at the exact same spot (beginning of Chapter 5) in the next higher difficulty on your next playthrough.  It's a hell of a lot faster and easier to replay a few chapters (if, for example, you also happen to glitch in the "Defend Nordinbald Gates" quest after beating the Carn Dum captain) than to have to start from scratch and start a whole new game on normal. 

 

I've read generally that if you play online with someone else who is at or near where you are in Chapter 5 and you beat Chapter 5, that will also clear the glitch.  I've also heard that in doing so, there is a chance the host's game can get glitched too.  I hope this helps. The game is actually pretty fun but the game-breaking glitches are just awful.  

 

[skateak]

So, I had the pain in the A#$ Mirkwood glitch happen to me. On my heroic playthrough, I had to quit in the middle of Chapter 5 because a giant spider grabbed me and the pulling animation screwed up my screen. It was kind of like the camera got stuck inside my character's head. (lots of bugs in this game, literally and figuratively). I loaded up my mid-chapter save, killed the boss spider, saved the wizard, but could not proceed to the next chapter because the map marker would not show up on my map.

Luckily, I copied my save file to the cloud after rescuing the two dwarfs in chapter 4. I also turned OFF the automatic cloud saving (done outside the game in the XMB screen while hovering over the Lord of the Rings game). I heard some people were able to delete a patch and then restart the game and that cleared the glitch. I have the digital version (it was five bucks in the PS Store a few months ago) and it didn't show I had any patches.

I got past the chapter five glitch generally by:

(1) quitting the game and making a backup of my save to the PS + cloud upon regaining control of my character after Chapter 4. I saved to the cloud immediately after talking to the dwarf king, who gives you the Mirkwood quest. You will have just defended the dwarves with two ballistae in a big cave in Chapter 4. Make sure that automatic cloud saving is disabled/off. If auto ps plus saving is turned on, you could corrupt your online save too.

(2) After you've copied your save to the cloud and reload your save in-game, the Mirkwood quest will probably have disappeared. I read on another forum that if that happens, immediately quit to the main menu (using start and then quit). Then reload your save and the Mirkwood quest should reappear. It did for me, every time.

(3) using the cloud save and overwriting the system save if I beat the boss spider and the game wouldn't let me proceed (happened about four times on my heroic playthrough). You can't copy to a usb, only the cloud. I tried. And, the cloud only lets you download your save file to the system one time every 24 hours. Lame.

(4) completing Chapter 5 in one sitting, without ever getting the "you are dead" or game over screen. It's incredibly easy if using a high dexterity dwarf and fully upgraded explosive shot, even on legendary. Make sure to have plenty of power potions. With the right set up, you will one hit kill EVERYTHING on Chapter 5, except for the boss, which takes about three explosive shots. It's also a good idea to upgrade the "faster cool-down reduction" skill. I think you can dump two points in that skill. It seems that exiting to the main menu at any point and then reloading is the number one reason that the game glitches. It is imperative that you play through all of chapter five in one sitting.

(5) going straight through into the next chapter after saving the wizard.

In addition to saving to the cloud before stepping foot in Mirkwood, I followed these steps and the game did not glitch on me while playing Chapter 5.

- Talk to the eagle before you leave Nordinbald. He is standing right in front of the "Proceed" portal outside of the main gate in Nordinbald. You will talk to him about the wizard and why would he leave his home, something to that effect.

- It's also worth noting that I let ALL of the cutscenes play out in Chapter 5. Do NOT hit start and skip. I played chapter five on heroic several times from start to finish but skipped the cutscenes because I was impatient. I don't know if skipping caused the glitch, but every time I skipped cutscenes, it would not let me go to the next chapter after saving the wizard.

- Try to avoid letting the larger, non-boss spiders shoot you with their web. The animation where they are dragging you toward them may cause your screen to go black. It happened to me. If you have only one explosive shot and have to choose between killing a dozen little spiders, or just one of the larger ones, kill the big one. Every time.

- Make sure you pick up the staff at the wizard's house (it is flat on the ground) before hitting "proceed." You have to be careful because the staff is right in front of the "proceed" portal and you could hit that before getting the staff.

- It seems like the playthroughs when I saved the elf (as opposed to skipping him) were the ones that let me progress to the next chapter (might be a coincidence). The elf is off all the way to the right at the first split in the road in Chapter 5. You'll go under a tree root and emerge near a lake with one large orc walking around, probably with his back to you. Kill everything in sight and keep heading on that path where the elf is. Make sure to interact with the elf after killing all the orcs in the area. You need to untie the elf, done simply by interacting with him.

- I killed the boss spider before the small ones at the end of Chapter five, every time. Instead of immediately saving the wizard after the boss is dead, kill the little spiders first. It's rather odd. The boss lays there, dead, while little spiders are running around. The screen prompts you to save the wizard when the boss is dead but little spiders are still attacking you. Kill the little spiders first. I didn't intend to kill the boss first, it's just how it happened for me because I focused my explosive shot on the boss.

- Do NOT loot any of the piles if the boss spider is dead AND the wizard is still trapped in the web. I only looted the piles while the boss was alive OR, after having killed the boss and smaller spiders and saved the wizard.

- After rescuing the wizard and watching the entire cutscene, I would talk to the elf I saved, who gives you a reward. After the cutscene where Agandaur is talking to the dragon, I never talked to the wizard again.

- Then I talk to the eagle, and then move on to the next chapter using the "proceed" portal. Go straight into the next chapter. Do NOT go anywhere but to the next chapter. One time the game glitched on me when, after saving the wizard and seeing the next chapter show up on my map, (hooray!) I went to Nordinbald to sell and repair items. When I tried to leave Nordinbald, the map marker disappeared.

Do not write over your cloud save unless you are doing so at the exact same spot (beginning of Chapter 5) in the next higher difficulty on your next playthrough. It's a hell of a lot faster and easier to replay a few chapters (if, for example, you also happen to glitch in the "Defend Nordinbald Gates" quest after beating the Carn Dum captain) than to have to start from scratch and start a whole new game on normal.

I've read generally that if you play online with someone else who is at or near where you are in Chapter 5 and you beat Chapter 5, that will also clear the glitch. I've also heard that in doing so, there is a chance the host's game can get glitched too. I hope this helps. The game is actually pretty fun but the game-breaking glitches are just awful.

While I have never played the game, I plan to but have held off because of the glitch and my insane backlog. That was nice of you to write up all this seeing as this is only your second post on the site and I am sure there will be people here that are appreciative if they are able to replicate it.

Edited November 23, 2016 by skateak

[Beartrap25]

Thanks, skateak.  I hope this helps somebody.  I was frantically searching everywhere online when the game glitched on me.  I was relieved that the ps plus cloud save was there when I needed it.  I was not going to start from scratch.  

[thistleboy]

I'm kinda fucked by the Mirkwood glitch right now and nothing I've tried is working. The write-up is nice and all, but the TL;DR is "I had a convenient backup save from the previous chapter I loaded up". For anyone who doesn't this doesn't help. Unfortunately a lot of people like me don't learn of the glitch until it happens.

 

It's starting to look like I'm going to need to find someone at the beginning of chapter 5 to run through it with me.

 

UPDATE: I started over completely and my game glitched on Mirkwood on my Legendary run AGAIN! Luckily I offered to run through Heroic and Legendary with another player just to finally get it done. Had to leave unexpectedly early in the Legendary run and found that my once corrupted save was now reset to Chapter 1 Fornost. This allowed me to come back later and run the whole thing through again and pass Mirkwood.

 

TL;DR: Finding someone on your difficulty right before Mirkwood is impossible. Play the last level on Heroic to reset to our save to the beginning of Legendary and try again.

Edited January 2, 2017 by thistleboy

[GarryKE]

I gave the game a chance coming on for about a year ago now. I really loved it but I only had the patience for one normal playthrough. Seeing all this glitch news - which ideally should have been fixed years ago - made me wonder what the point in this game really is. It's silly that it's all still going on. It's a shame because it's a brilliant game. Or it was. I came back here to see if things were any better so I could buy it again... but nope.

 

 

On 23/11/2016 at 4:14 AM, skateak said:

While I have never played the game, I plan to but have held off because of the glitch and my insane backlog. That was nice of you to write up all this seeing as this is only your second post on the site and I am sure there will be people here that are appreciative if they are able to replicate it.

Go for it but don't expect to plat it without a few headaches. You may still enjoy it though!

Edited February 22, 2017 by GarryKE

[Rum82eF1sh]

Removing the 1.01 upgrade (highest up in the game files directory, just where all your games are) seemed to unlock my glitched Mirkwood, could progress through it, and solved all the bisarre quests not starting. After Mirkwood, I installed the patch and all was normal. Got me thru Heroic.

 

I'll try this on Legendary.

[djcawood]

On 22/01/2019 at 11:49 AM, Rum82eF1sh said:

Removing the 1.01 upgrade (highest up in the game files directory, just where all your games are) seemed to unlock my glitched Mirkwood, could progress through it, and solved all the bisarre quests not starting. After Mirkwood, I installed the patch and all was normal. Got me thru Heroic.

 

I'll try this on Legendary.

Thanks for this I can confirm also it works 

[scoreaddict]

On 22.1.2019 at 0:49 PM, Rum82eF1sh said:

Removing the 1.01 upgrade (highest up in the game files directory, just where all your games are) seemed to unlock my glitched Mirkwood, could progress through it, and solved all the bisarre quests not starting. After Mirkwood, I installed the patch and all was normal. Got me thru Heroic.

 

I'll try this on Legendary.

 

I am on my legendary playthrough and I got the glich.

 

I removed the 1.01 update and started the game again. My save is just before the spider boss fight. I let play every cutscene until the end. I also changed the character.

Nothing. No new quest marker. I have no backup save.

I tried to start a new legendary playthrough but with a LVL 1 character I die in 1 hit (even 1 first enemy in the game one shots me.)

 

Am I screwed? I AM SCREWED!

 

So, if there is some one who can help me with my situation.

I am looking for some one who is about to do a legendary playthrough or is near Mirkwood chapter and is willing to invite me.

 

I am very happy to assist with a legendary playthough in Co-op mode.

 

EDIT: I just played through the game 3 more times. And I found a nice reddit user who helped me with the multiplayer trophy

 

My advice for everyone who consider this game.

- Don’t skip cutscenes/dialoge (especially in chapter 5).
- always make the THE CAPTIVE side quest in chapter 5.
- upload the save file (end of chapter 4) to PSN ( make sure that automatic cloud saving is disabled/off )

 

Good luck.

Edited January 24, 2021 by scoreaddict

[misterjakemczill]

I also just had my game glitch during Mirkwood where it was stuck on "Continue on to the home of Radagast" I believe it said. I followed the guy's strategy here: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/k2m5ak/i_know_how_to_fix_the_mirkwood_glitch_war_in_the/

 

Unfortunately this method did not work for me the first time but I kept starting over from the beginning after I went through everything. Once I got the game to where it would remove the current quest I would try going back into Mirkwood at different points of the level with different characters and eventually it pushed me forward to the next quest goal which was defeat the spider hoard. It still would not do anything so I went through and made it remove my progress again and then went through the reddit post's process until one time I went into the heart of the web section of the level with Andriel ( not my main character on this playthrough) and the quest finally updated to Free Radagast and I was able to move on. After defeating Saenathra. The point being keep trying and trying while switching characters up and it will hopefully push your progress forward.

[Aluminium_Sirius]

No, it does not require anything, just to play it through like usual. I don’t what is all that nonsense the internets are howling about, but I encountered zero glitches so far, no nowhere and not in the Mirkwood. And frankly, this place is even easier to beat that the previous one - Gundabad. But what’s in the woods? Wulfrun? Easy. Flaky spiders? Very easy. Boss? Easier than Thazog lol

Was I lucky? No. I enjoy the lore as well as action of LotR.

 

Join me online if you wish, I play it online as of late. It’s fun.

[Clavietka]

I got a glitch at Nortinbad where I couldn't progress and had to restart. Apparently it is a known glitch