The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria - How To Get Black Diamonds

A big part of The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria is mining and digging through the earth, as many of the old pathways have been blocked off or cursed by the Shadow. You'll come across enemies, abandoned resources, ores, and even precious gems, all of which are useful to a stranded Dwarf.

The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria - How To Get The Steel Pickaxe

This guide will show you where the Steel Pickaxe is in Return To Moria, as well as how to repair The Great Forge.

One of these gems is the Black Diamond, and they're an important mid-game material that you'll need plenty of for tool upgrades and to progress in the campaign. They don't drop from any ore nodes like other gems, and they aren't in any Dwarven chests – you'll have to fight for them.

How To Find Black Diamonds

There are two ways to get Black Diamonds: finding them inOrcish Chests throughout Khazad-dûm or killing Orcs either found lurking in the mines or those in hordes occurring in theMines of Moria or deeper.

Getting Black Diamonds From Horde Attacks

The earliest way to get them is by reaching the Mines Of Moria after getting through the Elven Quarter, and intentionally triggering a horde's arrival by making noise through mining.

You can tell if you're about to be attacked by a horde by looking at the noise meter at the bottom right of your screen – the more vibrations surrounding the circle, the sooner you'll trigger a horde's arrival.

While Orcs don't spawn in every horde, there's a high chance they will and each onehas a chance of dropping a Black Diamond upon their death.

You can find a pocket of ore, set up a small fortified area, then mine until you trigger a horde and defeat as many enemies as possible before they retreat, then continuously repeat the process until you get enough of them.

Orcs also have a chance to drop other useful gems like Sapphire, Topaz, and Jade, which can be used to inscribe Runes on your weapons for bonus effects.

Killing Orcs For Black Diamonds

Besides hordes, any random orcs encountered in camps throughout the Mines of Moria can drop Black Diamonds, but this isn't efficient for farming.

The earliest location with more consistent Orc spawns is in Orc Town, a zone located near the entrance to Crystal Descent once you progress further and is reachable via the staircase leading up and away from it.

Two Orcs are still guaranteed to spawn in the hallway near the entrance to the Crystal Descent​​​​​​, and they can easily be farmed by sleeping, going to kill them, sleeping again, and repeating this process.

There are generally around four to five chests in scattered camps in the area, each of which has the same chance to drop Black Diamonds, and there can be anywhere from eight to 15 Orcs guarding them or wandering the area for you to kill as well.

The boss of the area, Bolgakh, is also guaranteed to drop eight Black Diamonds once you defeat him, and he also spawns plenty of Orc minions during the fight that you can kill for an additional chance at getting them.

Looting Black Diamonds From Chests

Another, sooner way to start getting them is opening Orkish Chests, which you'll start finding in the Elven Quarter, the Mines of Moria in enemy camps, and Orc Town further beyond that.

Each one of these chests has a high chance of having betweenone and three Black Diamonds, and while the chests don't respawn, you still find quite a few of them, especially in Orc Town.

This applies to both the Campaign and the Sandbox worlds, though the exact locations of these biomes may differ depending on which type of world you're playing on.

What To Use Black Diamonds For

Black Diamonds are used in a few important crafting recipes, most notably in repairing the Mine Hoist that will take you down to the Crystal Depths. To repair it, you'll need quite a few ingredients:

Material

How To Obtain

Black Diamond x15

Kill orcs or unlock Orkish Chests.

Elven Wood x20

Cut down trees in the Elvish Quarter.

Natural Fiber x30

Kill Cave Spiders or destroy Spider Nests in the Mines of Moria.

You'll also need Black Diamonds to craft additionalMap Stones, and the First Age Pickaxe, alongside several late-game weapons and tools, such as the Ironwood Pickaxe and Shanôr Hammer.

Map Stones become available in the Mines of Moria, and once crafted or repaired, they allow you to fast-travel between other Map Stones, and each one you craft requires three Black Diamonds and 20 Stone.

The First Age Pickaxe is the next major upgrade after the Steel Pickaxe, and it allows you to not only mine through tougher sediment, but also mine the next tier of ores, such as Silver.

You'll need to have unlocked and placed a Gem Cutter near your Forge before you're able to craft the First Age Pickaxe, even if you've unlocked the recipe for it.

Material

How To Obtain

Steel Ingot x2

Crafted at a Furnace from Iron Ore and Coal after unlocking the Great Forge.

Bronze Ingot x1

Crafted at a Furnace from Copper Ore and Tin Ore.

Black Diamond x1

Looted from Orcish Chests or slain Orcs.

Ubâsam Wood x4

Harvested from large mushrooms and mushroom trees in The Lower Deeps.

The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria - Beginners Tips

Here is everything you need to get started in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria!