Soldier

"I have seen the Sun extinguished behind a rain of boulders, musket smoke form clouds denser than any fog, and the fell beasts of the skies scorch countrysides. Once again I have been commanded to seek victory... and on this field I shall again find it."

Soldiers are basic melee combat units.

Description
With their high attack damage, decent attack speed, plentiful Hit Points, and natural Armor, Soldiers are a fiercesome infantry force. Their attack speed and damage demand micro from those facing against them and their durability makes them well-suited to everything from small-scale battle micro to raids and sieges. Lack of range is no reason to overlook this powerhouse of a unit.

Abilities
None

Upgrades
Attack Upgrade

Increases the attack damage of your human units.

(Grants Soldiers +1 damage per upgrade, up to +5)

Armor Upgrade

Increases the armor of your human units.

(Grants Soldiers +1 armor per upgrade, up to +5)

Speed Upgrade

Increases the movement speed of your human units.

(Grants Soldiers +0.25 speed per upgrade, up to +1.25)

Usage
Durability

The Soldier starts with 1 armor, which means it will take 16% less damage from un-upgraded Archers and 20% less damage from un-upgraded Wolves, its main competition. It also has a full 125 hit points - the highest hit-point-to-cost ratio of any unit in the game. The combination of Armor and Hit Points enables three Soldiers to take down a Watchtower that isn't being repaired and to dominate early-game battlefields, forcing micro out of Archers and Wolves to avoid being wiped out. Soldiers also make ideal raiders due to how compactly they combine power and durability.

Cost

The Soldier's cost of 85 Gold makes it highly Gold-efficient - one of the most cost-effective units in the game in terms of brute strength.

This makes the Soldier an excellent and quickly replaceable unit to keep on the front lines to deal and tank damage.

Melee

However, Soldiers are very susceptible to kiting from Archers and have no defense against Dragons. Being melee attacking units, Soldiers are hardest hit by "Sim City", the defensive placement of buildings that reduces susceptibility to raids and harassment. This lack of range also means that Soldiers do well in open fields but suffer under choke points where they will clump up and stack behind each other.

Development
1.32: Movement speed from 2.2 to 2.4

1.70: Movement speed from 2.4 to 2.25

1.73: Attack upgrades from +1.5 to +1.0

1.74: Health from 100 to 125

1.80: Vision increased by 1

1.81: Attack animation changed

2.0: All units' cost have been lowered and some production times reduced

3.0: Reduced attack speed from 1,0 to 1,15 sec