One of our main goals for the sequel is to remove all of the repetitive tasks from the first game without losing the complexity and depth that they were supposed to bring. The first result was a new approach to runes. Runes are used like "ammo" for your spells. In other words, if you have five runes for a given spell you will be able to use that spell five times during a duel with an enemy. In the original, however, you would have to then visit a "Rune Shop" after the duel to replenish your spent runes. The original idea was good and provided an additional incentive to explore as much of the map as possible to find new shops, but in practice, constant trips to the shops wound up eating valuable time and action points that could have been better spent.

In Etherlords II, the "Rune Shop" has disappeared. Your runes will be restored automatically after each combat. At first glance it may look like we've oversimplified the process, but in fact we added a new twist -- the number of runes will depend on a special skill possessed by your hero. This means that you still have an incentive to explore the map in order to develop your hero's skill, but you just won't be running out on shopping sprees all the time!