Desolation of Mordor - Torvin upgrade and augment locations

When you first meet Torvin he'll give you a fancy gauntlet and some sketches of where to find upgrades for it. What follows is the exact locations of all the upgrades in those sketches.


This upgrade can be found under an arch in the middle of the north-east outpost.


This upgrade is found in the big dragon skull on the southern edge of the desert near where you start the campaign. You can get in through its eye sockets or squeeze between its front teeth.


Chain Kills can be found atop the Graug cages west of the arena in the north-western corner of the map.


Cyclone is found on top of the large building in the mercenary camp. You can reach it immediately after the mercenary purchasing tutorial.


Fatal Counter is found in the large area on top of the fortress's keep.


This upgrade is located atop a large tower over the entrance to the north-west outpost.


Might Shield is located near some bushes in the south-eastern outpost.


This upgrade is on a ledge under the large stone arch in the central outpost.


And finally, the Wormrot Oils upgrade is inside the large structure in the south-western outpost.

In addition to the upgrades you can turn in to Torvin, which stay with you even if you die and restart the campaign, your equipment can be upgraded further with augments. These can be found by killing captains or by looting special dead orcs called loot bodies found throughout Lithlad. You only get eight augments per piece of equipment, so choose carefully which ones you want to apply and which ones you want to scrap for coin. Once you apply or scrap an augment you cannot reverse that decision. Common augments, however, can be stacked indefinitely to increase their effects, so feel free to apply as many of those as you'd like.

Captains will drop augments according to their rank. Normal captains will drop common augments, epic captains will drop epic augments, and legendary captains will drop legendary augments. Additionally, treasure orcs can be found from time to time around Lithlad. Common treasure orcs will drop common augments, whereas treasure ologs will drop epic augments. Treasure orcs and ologs will appear as white triangles on your minimap, so seek them out and kill them whenever you can.

Loot bodies work a bit differently. Common loot bodies will give you a bit of coin and refill your health packs and ammo, but won't give any augments. You can also find common loot bodies on the minimap. If you're in a fight and need to refill your health or ammo, just find one and run to it real quick. Epic and legendary loot bodies will not appear on the minimap; you have to find them yourself. Epic and legendary loot bodies will always spawn in set locations, though whether a particular loot body spawns is determined randomly each run. Some loot bodies will spawn every single run, whereas others will only spawn very rarely.

What follows is a list of each augment in the game as well as my opinions on whether or not they're worth using.

+7 Melee Damage (stackable)
More damage is always good. Grab as many of these as you can. Cyclone causes a Fire explosion
Not incredibly useful, since you can shoot a fire bomb at your feet for the same effect, but it is a lot of fun. 30% increased Critical Hit chance for Melee Attacks when your Health is full
This is a fantastic option if you can keep your health full. Works very well with Blasting Powder and Poison Coating. 50% increased Critical Hit chance when your health is low
If you're low on health, this can help you get out of trouble. Like Sympathetic Tuning, works well with Blasting Powder and Poison Coating. 3% increased Critical Hit chance per point of Hitstreak
This one depends on your ability to maintain high hitstreaks. If you've got the skills, you can potentially land a crit on every hit, making this a formidable choice. Critical hits light enemies on Fire
One of the best augments. Just be careful around captains who are enraged by burning. 100% increased Melee Damage to Enraged enemies
Getting close to an enraged captain is a dangerous game, but this augment can make it a very viable tactic. +30% Might on hit while your Health is full
Again, this is contingent on being able to keep your health full. If you can do that, this augment is very powerful, as you can use cyclone and execution attacks much more often. Restore 50 Might when you use a Healing Elixir
I've never found this very useful. There are better ways to gain might. Might is unlimited for 10.0 seconds after killing a Captain
Absolutely fantastic for taking on multiple captains at once. Kill one captain and then spam execution attacks on all the others. Critical melee hits Poison enemies
Just as good as if not better than Blasting Powder. +2 Might recovered per second
This one doesn't gain might fast enough to be of much use in fights, but it does mean you'll go into each fight with full might, which is useful. +100% Melee damage when no allies are nearby
This one depends on your play style. If you rely on your allies a lot, this is pretty much useless. However, if you roll solo you're effectively doubling your damage output. +100% Might on hit. Might fully resets after you take damage.
Very useful if you can avoid getting hit. +10 Might recovered per second while your health is low
I'm not a fan of this one. If your health is low you should be running away to heal, not diving into the thick of the fight. Melee attacks have a 100% chance to inflict Poison while your Health is low
Same as Heartsblood Rally, run away when you're hurt instead of fighting. Gain Might each time you are damaged in combat
If you get hit a lot this is great, otherwise not so much. Melee Damage increases by 1% for each 2% decreased Health
This one is usable if you don't feel like healing much, but keep in mind that it doesn't work super well with the augments that proc when your health is full.

+50 Stealth Damage (stackable)
Extra damage is always good. Grab as many of these as you can and you'll be one-shotting captains in no time. +50% damage for Stealth attacks performed while Gliding
I really like this one. I do most of my stealth attacks from the air anyway, so this one comes in handy a lot. Stealth kills are guaranteed to drop Coin
If you find yourself short on coin or going through mercenaries a lot, check this one out. Otherwise, save your augment slots. Stealth Attacks on Captains cause nearby grunts to Flee
If you want to fight captains without any grunts getting in the way, this one is for you. I've never found it terribly useful, though. Stealth Attacks light enemies on Fire
This one isn't tremendously effective, but it is tremendously fun. Restore 1 Healing Elixir on a Stealth Attack
Excellent augment. If you're out of healing you can bug out of combat and stealth kill some random orc for an elixir. Refill all Health on Stealth Attack
A bit redundant with Trollblood Unguent, but it still has its uses. Restore 1 Poison Bolts on a Stealth Attack
Useful if you use poison bolts a lot. Enemies killed with a Brutalize attack create a Poison explosion
This one isn't terribly good. If you brutalize an enemy all the other orcs in the area will run away before the explosion triggers. Recover all Health and gain full Might after Stealth Killing a Captain
Excellent choice for fighting multiple captains at once. Increase Stealth rating by 60, decreasing the range at which you are spotted
This is only really useful on higher difficulties. On normal the enemies are so oblivious that this won't make much of a difference. +300% Stealth Attack damage, -50% max Health
This one is a lot of fun. You'll be one-shotting captains left and right with this on. Just make sure to run away after each kill so avoid retaliation from their friends. Vigilant against Stealth captains will give you a very hard time with this one, though. It may be worth checking the hierarchy and killing those guys before applying this augment. When your Health gets low, an explosion triggers, stunning all nearby enemies
This is very useful on higher difficulties where it gives you an opportunity to escape and heal up when you're in trouble. Friendly ghûls are summoned after performing a Stealth Kill
This one is super fun. It triggers on chain kills too, so you can easily amass an army of ghûls very quickly. Friendly spiders are summoned after performing a Stealth Kill
This one is even more fun than Carrion Reek. If you're lucky enough to find both in the same run you'll have a huge crowd of critters fighting for you everywhere you go. Time slows for 10 seconds after performing a Brutal Stealth Kill
Great for clearing out outposts. The time slow lasts long enough for you to go from orc to orc brutalizing each one in turn.

+15 Ranged Damage on Steel, Fire, and Poison Bolts (stackable)
Extra damage is good. If you get enough of these you can oneshot grunts with the quickshot button. +1 Steel Bolts restored on headshot kill
Excellent augment. Chain-kills are headshot kills, so having this equipped instantly refills your steel bolts when you use chain kills. 100% increased Ranged Damage to Enraged enemies
This one is very good. You always want to keep your distance from enraged captains, and this will make sure you can still dish out the damage while you do. +35 Focus on Ranged Hit
Excellent augment. Combine it with Blood-formed bolts and you can chain-kill to your heart's content for free. Concussion bombs emit a freezing blast
Excellent crowd control augment. If you're in the middle of a big mob of enemies, shoot one of these at your feet to freeze them all. Chained kills explode heads, inciting terror
This one isn't super useful, but it is super fun. Chained kills require 50% less Focus
This one is great if you're low on Focus upgrades. Steel Bolts pierce through enemies
Hitting multiple enemies gives you more damage for each bolt. If you like shooting dudes, this one is for you. Pin affects Olog-hai and Beasts
This one is especially useful when used against olog captains who have a fear of pinning. Otherwise it's kind of mediocre. 100% increased Ranged Damage to enemies that are on fire
Fire in this game tends to spread, so you'll get lots of opportunities to take advantage of this one. 100% increased Ranged Damage to Poisoned enemies
There are fewer opportunities to poison dudes than there are setting them on fire, so this one isn't quite as useful as Oiled Bolts. Focus is consumed 250% slower while in the air
This one depends on your playstyle. If you really like raining death from above, this is a fantastic augment. Concussion bombs confuse and enrage enemies, causing them to fight each other
Once again, not very useful, but very, very fun. Bombs also create a mine
Kind of mediocre. Steel Bolts do no damage, but explode shortly after impact
This augment sucks. Don't use it. Headshots Freeze nearby enemies
This one is very good. Baranor doesn't have a lot of ways to freeze enemies, but this is one of the better ones. Enemies killed with headshots explode after a few seconds
Very fun. If you combine it with Terminal Velocity your chain-kill victims will explode twice.

Take 5% less damage (stackable)
This only protects against melee damage, but it's still worth grabbing as many as you can find. Reduce damage from Beasts by 60%
Caragors can be a real pain, but this one makes them more bearable. 60% less damage from Enraged enemies
Enraged enemies can mess you up bad if they can catch you in a stunlock. This augment is a good way of surviving those attacks. 40 Health Recovery per second while Cursed
There aren't many things that can curse Baranor, so check the hierarchy for cursed captains before applying this. +7 Health recovered when you will an enemy
Health recovery is always welcome, but the health from this augment is kind of small. 3.0% Health Recovery per second while your Command meter is Full
One of my favorites. I never bother with the rally command so this one is basically perpetual health regen. Remember that getting cursed will drain your Command, so be careful. Recover Health while gliding
This one recovers your health very quickly. If you get into trouble, you can catapult into a glide, recover your health, and then stealth attack from the air back into the fight. Take no damage from Poison
This doesn't prevent the might loss or lack of combat prompts, but it's still very useful. 50% less damage from Ranged Attacks
Archers and javelins are a real nuisance, and Reinforced Plating does nothing against them. You want this augment. Shield bash freezes enemies for a long duration
This one's utility depends on how much you rely on shield bash. 30% chance enemies are Poisoned when they hit you with Melee Attacks
This one is pretty good since it also triggers on attacks that are blocked by your shield. You can just hide behind your shield and let your enemies poison themselves to death. Healing Elixir is automatically used if you would die from taking damage
This one is an absolute must-have if you play on Gravewalker difficulty. Even on lower difficulties it's incredibly helpful. Creates a Fire explosion when you are set on Fire
Fire spreads, so this one will get a lot of use. Perfect Counters Curse nearby enemies
Easily one of the best augments and literally the only way Baranor has of cursing enemies. Gain one extra Last Chance
Lets you stay in the fight longer, or just live through those BS one-hit kills on Gravewalker difficulty. Definitely use this one. Survival Challenge: You lose the ability to use Healing Elixirs, but you restore 75 Health on each kill
If you've earned this augment, you're clearly good enough at the game that you need an additional challenge. Go for it, you masochist.

+25 Focus (stackable)
Focus is always good to have. It takes about twenty focus for each chain kill. +15 Command when a Follower dies
This one depends on how much you use your Rally command. Also, stop letting your followers die, you monster. +3 Command when a Follower kills an enemy
If you're letting your followers do the bulk of the fighting this is very useful. +4 Command when you kill an enemy
This is good for refilling your Command meter for the Vim and Vigor augment, but not good for much else. 40% reduction in charge time for Follower abilities
Very useful if you like using your followers' abilities a lot. Followers heal 150 health when you kill an enemy
Keeps your followers alive, which saves you from having to spend coin on replacements. Reduces Call Followers cooldown by 50%
This one is of limited use, really. If you summon your followers and just never dismiss them, they'll never go on cooldown to begin with. Followers heal 2% per second
Keeps your followers alive, which saves you from having to spend coin on replacements. Using a Healing Elixir heals all nearby allies
If you need to heal a follower real quick, this is the way to do it. This can save your followers from getting killed at inopportune moments. +4 Might when an ally takes damage
Fantastic augment. During outpost missions and the fort assault you practically have unlimited might. Refresh allies' Combat and Stealth Abilities when an enemy Captain is killed
Quite good. Kill one captain with your follower's abilities, and then use the instant refresh to turn on the next. Picking up Coin increases damage by 1% per Coin gained for 20 seconds
This is my favorite armor augment. With the right outpost boosts enemies will drop coin left and right. Also, killing captains gives a few hundred Coin, which in turn means a massive damage boost for killing all his friends. If you take damage that would normally kill you, a nearby Mercenary Bodyguard sacrifices himself in your place
It stinks to lose a follower, but it stinks worse to die and have to restart the game. All allies gain +50% Defense and Damage. Your max Health is halved.
If you like to lead from behind, as the name implies, this augment is for you. Hang back and let your followers do the work for you. Allies become Enraged when you take damage
Another excellent augment. This applies to all mercenaries, not just the captains you specifically hire. Picking up Coin recovers 2 Health per Coin gained
Put this on and you'll never want for health again. Combine with Time and a Half and you'll be unstoppable. +4 Might when an ally hits an enemy
Very similar to Protective Command. Apply both at once and you can spam cyclone attacks during the fort assault all you want. Increase your chances of high-quality gear drops from Captains or higher ranking Orcs
Good augments are good. Not much to say about this one.