Soldier

Story
The blow rattles off the banded iron of his buckler. Taking the energy from the strike, the Soldier spins to his right, swinging his longsword low, hacking off the Grubber’s leg below the knee. Continuing his momentum, the Soldier angles the sword in an upward arc, burying it deep into the flank of the Mucker. The ground below the Soldier’s feet begins to soften from the bodies and blood saturation. Raising his boot to the Mucker’s belly, he pulls his weapon loose, then turns to face his next foe.

No solitary figure splits the dawn, but a seemingly endless stream of Grubbers shuffle from their lair with sinister intent. He can see second-thoughts pass over their faces as he slowly begins to advance, banging sword on shield. The Soldier can feel his ire rise from within, a rage so powerful surely it will consume him with bloodlust. He cracks a small smile as the Grubbers trip over themselves backing away from his terrible visage.

This Soldier is something more. They should not have come.

Like a flash of lightning and with the force of thunder, the Soldier charges into the mass of minions, splintering their morale. Those that aren’t felled by the shining Soldier’s sword, bright as the day, are trampled by the terror-struck horde in full flight. They flee from a war-possessed fighter wielding fury and judgment.

Cleaving a wide swath through the frightened foe, the Soldier’s rage surges uncontrollably. He finds himself overcome, lost in the slaughter, helpless in the wrath, bellowing battle roars.

I have become Death and the Darkness will flee from me!

Playing the Soldier
A stalwart Hero, the Soldier’s primary method of engaging the forces of Darkness is through his use of weapons. There are very few weapons that the Soldier can’t utilize to their fullest capacity. He has a good mix of area-of-effect and direct-damage attacks. He has little time for ranged attacks and should be at the forefront of any assault where his strengths feed into each other.

He has two very clear tracks for players to explore.

The Soldier is a prolific offensive threat. He is able to use his attacks and Rage mechanic to kill many Minions and out-muscle even the mightiest Monsters. However, when used in this way, the Soldier must be aware of his Threat. It can quickly get out of hand and inexperienced groups will find themselves overwhelmed quickly.

The Soldier is also an amazing defensive target. Sometimes referred to as a “tank” or “meat-shield,” the defensive-minded Soldier builds Threat to draw attacks to himself, leaving his allies with opportunities to kill in relative safety. Being better equipped to deal with mass enemy attacks, the Soldier makes any engagement with the enemy easier to manage.

Interrupt The Soldier is the undisputed king of acting in a Darkness Cycle. He has more Interrupts that can be used in combination than any other Hero. He can both protect the party he is with and damage the Darkness with great skill.

Rage The Soldier’s unique deck mechanic is manipulated through playing Rage cards. There are no cards that are specifically titled Rage. However, EVERY card in the Soldier’s deck can be a Rage card.

Any defensive ability or offensive attack that draws extra cards played as Rage refers to cards played from the Soldier’s draw deck face-down into Action Spaces. The Soldier is not allowed to look at, or know, what cards are being played as Rage. This is a built-in cost of playing Rage cards; the Soldier will have fewer options.

The Soldier can never play more Rage cards than he has Action Spaces. Cards played as Rage cannot be played over; they are considered to have used the Action Space.

Tricky Cards

Riding The Edge

This is a very straight-forward attack, no pun intended. Basically, the Soldier is charging in a straight line through the enemy. He can extend the range of this attack, and thus the distance he travels, by using cards as Rage.

On the other hand, there are a few important things to remember. First, Riding the Edge is an AoE. If there are multiple Monster- types in the area-of-effect, he needs multiple dice successes. He can still apply them to do the most damage.

Second, there are some enemies that cannot be moved through. In these cases, the Soldier cannot attack this enemy with Riding the Edge, nor can he travel through this enemy to attack other Monsters.

The Easy Way

The Easy Way seems imminently dismissible. It seems like the Soldier’s version of a non-combat action card, which it is. However, the other thing this card does is let the Soldier search his draw pile and add one card to his hand. This is extremely useful and should not be overlooked.

Threat

The Soldier, blinded by Rage, places cards face down in Action Spaces to make face up abilities better, and to maintain high Threat. Rage is used to fill the Action Spaces even when there is no Soldier ability to power. He can, at any time during the Hero Cycle, add Rage cards to his Action Spaces to keep his Threat up. Maintaining a high Threat is important for Soldiers who want to go with a defensive build. Adding Rage never costs AP.

Battle

Abilities with the Battle moniker are conditions applied to the Soldier that provide him or the party with benefits. They are always helpful and should rarely be sent to the discard without being played.

Card Synergy

''I’ll Take That + You Can Have This''

This is a nice, easy Interrupt combination that allows the Soldier to parry and counter- attack for one AP, but it is only available if the player adds You Can Have This from the advanced Hero cards.

Impenetrable + Battle Rage + Everyone Behind Me

Impenetrable with Battle Rage stands as the best way for the Soldier to survive when he is surrounded and outnumbered. When the advanced Hero card Everyone Behind Me is used as well, those adjacent to the Soldier gain his shield bonuses and become Impenetrable, too.

Blade Dance + Battle Rage

Battle Rage is a powerful card. It turns all cards into a Rage. When Blade Dance is used with Battle Rage and full Action Spaces, the Soldier can counter-attack four targets as an Interrupt. And all that for one AP. The value is extraordinary.