SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest

SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest is a 2019 standalone expansion to the critically acclaimed SpellForce 3, developed by Grimlore Games and published by THQ Nordic. Far more than just a simple DLC, Soul Harvest functioned as a massive, sweeping overhaul of the base game’s entire mechanical foundation. Grimlore Games took the community’s feedback from the 2017 launch to heart, completely rebuilding the RTS economy, the UI, and the RPG skill trees to create a vastly superior, highly polished hybrid experience.

The narrative takes place three years after the events of the base game (the Purity Wars). You do not play as Tahar; instead, you step into the boots of General Aerev, a disgraced commander of the Queen’s Wolf Guard. Aerev is recalled to active duty to investigate a sudden, violently escalating civil war within the Dwarven kingdom. However, what begins as a political mission quickly spirals into a terrifying conflict against a mysterious cult of Dark Elves who are systematically harvesting the souls of the fallen for an apocalyptic ritual.

Gameplay

Soul Harvest aggressively tightened the pacing of the game. The developers realized that the base game’s economy was a bit too slow and tedious, so they streamlined it while preserving the highly strategic “sector-based” territory control.

Key gameplay mechanics and massive overhauls include:

• Streamlined Economy: The complex, somewhat bloated resource system of the base game was simplified. Carriages still transported goods between outposts, but resource management was made vastly more intuitive, allowing players to focus much more heavily on combat and map control rather than micromanaging lumberjacks.
• Flying Units: Soul Harvest introduced advanced aerial warfare to the modern SpellForce engine. Players could now field flying units, which could bypass terrain obstacles and walls, completely changing the defensive meta for base building.
• Overhauled RPG Systems: The hero skill trees were entirely ripped out and redesigned. The new system offered much clearer, highly impactful synergies between different magic and combat classes, allowing players to create incredibly specialized, combo-heavy hero parties.
• Mercenary System: To spice up the RTS combat, the expansion introduced mercenary camps scattered across the maps, allowing players to hire unique, neutral units to bolster their armies.

The New Factions

The expansion added two brand-new, wildly distinct playable factions to the game’s multiplayer and skirmish roster, bringing the total up to five (Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and Dark Elves):

• The Dwarves: A heavy, deeply defensive faction. They rely on incredibly durable, heavily armored infantry, devastating siege weaponry, and the mining of unique resources like Moonsilver. Their base building is highly compact and resistant to raids.
• The Dark Elves: A fast, highly aggressive, and deeply sinister faction. Their entire economy and combat loop revolve around the “Soul Harvest” mechanic. Whenever units (friendly or enemy) die near a Dark Elf harvester, their souls are collected. These souls are then used as a primary resource to summon powerful demonic entities, cast devastating global spells, and resurrect elite troops.

Development and Legacy

Released in May 2019, Soul Harvest was universally praised. It is widely considered the exact moment where the modern SpellForce revival truly hit its stride. Reviewers and hardcore fans lauded the darker, heavily political storyline, which was praised for its complex characters and fantastic voice acting.

More importantly, the mechanical changes introduced in Soul Harvest were so fundamentally superior to the 2017 base game that they became the new gold standard for the franchise. Grimlore Games would use this exact upgraded engine for the next standalone expansion (Fallen God). Ultimately, these sweeping mechanical improvements were permanently retrofitted directly into the original base game when THQ Nordic released the unified SpellForce 3 Reforced update in late 2021.

Because it was a standalone release, new players didn’t even need to own the original SpellForce 3 to jump in, making it the perfect, highly polished entry point into the franchise for many strategy fans.

Key Features:

• A Darker Narrative — Command General Aerev through a gripping, 20-hour campaign focused on political betrayal, Dwarven civil wars, and soul-stealing cults.
• Two New Factions — Master the unyielding, heavy armor of the Dwarves or the fast-paced, sacrificial blood-magic of the Dark Elves.
• Aerial Warfare — Take to the skies with newly introduced flying units, adding a massive new vertical layer of strategy to the RTS battles.
• Streamlined Systems — Enjoy vastly improved UI, highly polished sector-based economics, and completely redesigned RPG skill trees.
• Standalone Accessibility — Jump straight into the action; this expansion requires no prior knowledge or ownership of the base SpellForce 3 game.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — May 28, 2019
• PlayStation 4 & 5 / Xbox One & Series X|S — June 7, 2022 (Included as part of the console release of SpellForce 3 Reforced).