Soldier

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With a lot of hit points and strong physical defense, the Soldier is the best “front lines” fighter. Soldiers can equip powerful weapons and armor and are the only base class that can also equip shields. Apart from direct physical attacks, Soldiers have access to a variety of skills for use in combat and the overworld. A Soldiers' primary weakness are magical attacks, which can be devastating due to their low intelligence/magic defense. Soldiers can slightly offset this weakness through investment in the Well Read, StopSpell, Dig Deep, and Unstoppable skills of the Guardian skill tree, but magic defense will never be a Soldier's strong point.

Equipment

Soldiers can equip Axes and Swords. They can wear Heavy Armor, Helmets, and equip Shields in their Offhand slot.

Will System

The soldier does not have mana in the normal sense. Instead they use a system called Will to activate their abilities. When a fight starts, a soldier has no Will. At the beginning of each round a soldier will gain one point of Will, up to a maximum of five stocked points. Investment in Resolve (Berserk Tree) grants a chance to gain two points of Will per round instead of just one, with the maximum being a 30% chance. The soldier can use these points to activate abilities such as Inspire and Impale.

Skill Trees

Skill Trees are the basis of leveling and customizing your character in NEStalgia. The skill tree menu unlocks at level 5 and at that point the player will be able to customize their character with available skill points. There are two ways to gain additional points:

• Gain an experience level, which grants one point.
  
• Progress through the plot of the game, which grants one point after completing the main quest connected to Verity's lighthouse and an additional point after completing the main quest connected to the Arctic's ice palace.
  

As of v1.68 this allows for a maximum of 30 points to spend.

Berserker Tree
Icon	Node	Level	Required Nodes	Max Points	Description	Image
	Butcher	-	-	3	+10% to the rates of Impale and Gore
	Last Stand	-	-	3	+6% to physical damage dealth when HP is below 40%
	Wounded Prey	5	Butcher (2)	2	+4% to Bonus Crit when attacking Bleeding foes
	Thick Skull	5	Butcher (1) or Last Stand (1)	2	+15% to the Rate of Headbutt
	Desperate	5	Last Stand (2)	2	+4% to Bonus Crit when HP is below 40%
	Ability: Gore	10	Deep Cuts (1)	1	Ability. Inflicts direct damage with a chance to bleed on All Foes
	Deep Cuts	10	Butcher (2)	3	+30% to Bleed damage
	Resolve	10	Last Stand (2)	3	+10% chance to gain an extra point of Will at the start of each round
	Blood Lust	15	Deep Cuts (2)	3	+6% to physical damage dealt to Bleeding foes
	Double Vision	15	Resolve (2)	3	+20% chance to hit when Blinded or targeting Vanished foes
	Ability: Reckless	15	Double Vision (1)	1	Ability. Deals direct damage to All Foes and partial damage back to the attacker
	Sharp Blades	25	Blood Lust (2)	3	+5% chance to inflict Bleed with all physical attacks
	Violence	25	Double Vision (2)	3	+1 to Attack for every 3 levels
	Death Blow	25	Sharp Blades (2) or Violence (2)	2	+25% to the damage of Critical Hits
	Self Control	25	Ability:Reckless	2	-15% to self inflicted damage from Reckless

Berserker Tree Overview

"Overview information goes here"

Guardian Tree
Icon	Node	Level	Required Nodes	Max Points	Description	Image
	Defender	-	-	3	+1 to Defense for every 3 levels
	Tenacity	-	-	3	-5% to all damage received when HP is below 40%
	Dig Deep	5	Defender (2)	2	-10% to damage received when available Will is maxed at 5 points
	Stamina	5	Tenacity (2)	3	+1 to Max HP for every 2 levels
	Shield Wall	10	Dig Deep (1)	3	+10% to Defense while using Guard, Charge and Counter
	Well Read	10	Dig Deep (2)	2	+1 to Intelligence for every 3 levels
	Good Patient	10	Stamina (2)	3	+5%/+10%/+15% to all healing received in battle
	Lucky	10	Stamina (1)	3	+1 to Luck for every 3 levels
	Disintegrate	15	Well Read (1)	2	+5% chance to inflict Blind on attacking foes
	StopSpell	15	Well Read (2)	1	Ability. Reduces all elemental damage by 30%; lasts two rounds
	Debilitate	15	Good Patient (1)	2	+5% chance to inflict Weaken on attacking foes
	Inspire	15	Lucky (1)	1	Ability. Bestows speed on All Allies
	Deflect	25	Shield Wall (2)	2	+5% chance for Guard to reduce the damage from incoming attacks to 50%
	Unstoppable	25	Disintegrate (2) or Debilitate (2)	2	-5% to all damage received

Guardian Tree Overview

The Guardian Tree is the difference between life and death, literally.This Overview will highlight the more useful things in the tree, rather than all. Subject to Change.

• Defender: A starting point for the Guardian Tree. It is ideal to have this either way, as more defense means less physical damage. The more times you're able to guard/counter for your allies. Of course if magic is used, you wont be able to block much of that. Its a missed 32 Defense if you opt not to go down this branch.
  • Dig Deep: The chances of you getting Max Will can be very high as the Soldier doesnt have a whole lot moves that should be used over and over again, unlike most classes. So the -20% to all damage received is very good and pairs well with Unstoppable making it a whopping -30% to all damage received.
    • Well Read: Why would a Soldier need INT, more INT means higher Magical Defense. There is an Item Set for the Soldier that can be of use if you decide to go this route. Its a roughly missed 21 Intelligence.
      • StopSpell: In the off chance you are in a party with non magic users, this can come in handy. This can be avoided if you have a good healer with you, as this would usually end up benefiting you. Either way it is not something to easily overlook, especially in late game.

• Tenacity: Adds a total of -15% damage received when bellow 40% Health. With Dig Deep and Unstoppable this further makes it a good skill to have as that means even less damage when you are in a critical state.
  • Stamina: Higher Health is always good for a Tank. This skill also complements both Tenacity and Last Stand, as higher Health Pool means more health at the 40%. Though it is a double edge sword as it will take that much longer for those buffs to kick in.
    • Inspire: If you did not grab SpellStop, this the alternative, as this will always assure that your allies go first, including the healer or a healer. This also a double edge sword if you happen to get into a rhythm to it is imperative that you say you will use it before actually casting it.
    • Debilitate: As a Soldier you will always be attacked, and having a high defense for physical damage over other classes, this can help you to focus your attacks instead of worrying too much. If you end up Guarding other allies, Weaken can be afflicted rather easily.

• Unstoppable: -10% to all damage received, is a godsend. This is what you should ultimately want in the Guardian Tree. Combined with both Dig Deep and Tenacity this what it means to be an unstoppable immovable force. All these skills could further shine if you have Deflect.

Abilities

Abilities are skills that the player can use both inside and outside of battle. These abilities will either be bought on the skill tree using skill points or will be learned automatically once the player hits a certain level. Soldiers currently have no abilities that can be used out of battle.

Learned Automatically

Ability	Will Cost	Level	Base Power	Rate	Target	Damage	Description
Guard	0	1	N/A	N/A	One Ally	N/A	Boost caster's Defense and redirects targeted attacks to the caster.
Headbutt	3	4	N/A	45%	One Foe	N/A	Chance to damage and Stun; attacker takes damage if fail.
Impale	2	5	65%	70%	One Foe	Physical	Inflicts direct damage with a chance to Bleed.
Charge	2	10	N/A	N/A	One Foe	Physical	Power up for one round then deal a critical hit to a single target.
Counter	3	15	75%	N/A	One Ally	N/A	Counters all single-target attacks directed at the Soldier. Occurs at the start of the round.
Roar	2	?	N/A	N/A	All Ally	N/A	Dispels Sleep.

Learned from Berserker Tree

Ability	Will Cost	Base Power	Rate	Target	Damage	Description
Gore	2	50%	50%	All Foes	Physical	Inflicts direct damage with a chance to Bleed.
Reckless	4	90%	N/A	All Foes	Physical	Deals direct damage to foes and partial damage back to attacker.

Learned from Guardian Tree

Ability	Will Cost	Base Power	Rate	Target	Damage	Description
StopSpell	3	N/A	N/A	All Allies	N/A	Reduces all elemental damage by 30% for all allies for two rounds.
Inspire	3	N/A	N/A	All Allies	N/A	Bestows Speed.