Alongside their avatar, players are also joined by two types of NPCs, both of whom earn levels but are placed a few behind the player's avatar: up to five Heroes, whose equipment can be defined by the player, alongside whether skills are automatically or manually assigned and up to two Companions, who join temporarily, but cannot have their equipment or skills chosen by the player. When the player's character levels up, they earn a skill point, which can be allocated to a skill, with new levels in a skill only possible when players allocate points within the skill tree – for example, unlocking the highest rank of an armour skill, requires spending a number of points not only in that skill, but other skills in the skill tree that are available for acquiring. In Shadow Wars, skills are divided between two categories of skill trees: Melee, which is focused on heavy armour, ranged and close-combat weapons, and melee abilities and Magic, which is focused on robes, staff and staves, and various types of magic spells. Alongside their character, players also control additional NPCs to help with exploration and combat, as well as armies of military units - done through gathering resources, building structures, and then recruiting units that are unlocked as a result - to help with large-scale battles.Īs with traditional role-playing games, player-created characters can be defined by what skills players choose for them, which in turn impact what combat abilities and equipment they can wield in battle alongside their level. In the game, players take on the role of a character that they create (an avatar) who explore a variety of maps, conducting quests and killing monsters, and earning experience to level up, improve skills, and unlock the ability to wield new equipment. SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is both a real-time strategy and role-playing video game played from the third-person perspective. A remastered version of the game complete with its first expansion, featuring an updated engine and widescreen support, was later released in April 2017, and a sequel, SpellForce 3, was released later that year on 7 December. The game received three expansions following its release: SpellForce 2: Dragon Storm in 2007 SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny in 2012 and SpellForce 2: Demons of the Past in 2014. Shadow Wars received positive reviews by critics, who praised it for improving on many areas that the first game had been lacking in. Additionally, the game includes skirmish features, allowing players to fight battles against the AI or other players outside of the campaign, using any of the game's playable factions. The game's campaign can be played by a single player, or up to three players either online or via a local area network. The game combines elements of role-playing such as taking on quests, equipping characters and improving them when levelling up, alongside real-time strategy elements focused on gathering resources to construct bases and units. The second instalment in the SpellForce series, the game takes place several years after the events of 2003's SpellForce: The Order of Dawn, with players assuming the role of an immortal warrior who seeks aid to protect his homeland from invaders, only to be drawn on a quest to defeat a powerful alchemist responsible for creating the immortality of the warrior and his people. SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is a 2006 real-time strategy and role-playing video game, developed by Phenomic and published by JoWooD Productions.