Pikemen

* Knights
* Samurai
* Vikings

**Pikemen** are enhanced variants of Soldiers that appear exclusively in the Breach game mode.

## Appearance

There are Pikemen for all three factions and are identifiable by the unified design of their helmets, body armor, and shield. As their name indicates, all Pikemen use a spear as a weapon.

* Viking soldiers do not have visible armor, only some clothes. Wearing spangenhelm helmets, their beards cover their mouths. They wield tall kite shields and Vikings thrusting spears.
* Knight soldiers wear brigandine over chainmail, along with sallet helmets. their chainmail covers their mouths. They wield bossed tower shields and European spears.
* Samurai soldiers wear tosei-gusoku (armor made of horizontal plates), kabuto helmets and mempo. They wield tate shields and yari spears with sei sankaku heads.

Keep in mind that these changes are purely aesthetic. All Pikemen behave the same way.

Just like Soldiers, Pikemen are noticeably dwarfs in comparison to the Heroes of each faction, with even the smallest of Heroes (ie. Peacekeeper, Nobushi) standing a bit taller than the Soldiers. This may be justified by the fact that after The Cataclysm, there was a lack of access to resources, thus only the strongest or fortunate (Heroes and Captains) were properly nourished, while others such as Pikemen were left without the means necessary to hold a physique like the others.

## Combat

As purely AI controlled units, they operate similarly to Soldiers. However they pose a more significant threat as they now have health that won't cause them to die in one hit, and arguably have more offensive damage to chip at the Heroes' health. Just like Soldiers, Pikemen can interrupt important actions such as performing Feats or reviving an ally. While fighting an enemy in a crowd of soldiers may prove annoying, fighting an enemy surrounded by their Pikemen can be dangerous.

Fortunately, Pikemen come in smaller groups compared to soldiers, coming only in groups of 12 to 15 in the main lane, and groups of three to four in the Side Lane. They are also slower than Soldiers, only able to jog around, causing them to be slow in reaching the front line.

Like Soldiers, the most efficient way to kill Pikemen is with basic attack combos. However, because of how they have health, some Heroes will need to take more than a few strikes if their damage does not suffice. Take note that just like Soldiers, Pikemen do not take active Bleed damage, although it is possible to mark Pikemen with Bleed for the purpose of Peacekeeper's Exsanguis passives and Shaman's Blood Trance.

### Breach

In Breach, the majority of the Pikemen on both teams will converge on the Battering Ram. Attacking Pikemen will surround the ram and defend it, staying at the front to block incoming enemies. The defending Pikemen are tasked with attacking the Ram, and when it becomes unguarded they start attacking it, causing minimal damage.

Three Pikemen, along with an Officer every few spawns, on each team will be in conflict for an Archer Point on the sidelines. These Pikemen will continue to spawn on either side, even when an Archer Point is captured. If there are already Pikemen on the point, more won't spawn until a Pikeman is slain.

During the last phase, the group of Pikemen that once attacked or defended the Ram will now pull their focus to the Commander. Compared to before, these sets of Pikemen spawn a little more often, with Defending Pikemen having multiple points of spawn.

## Trivia

* While named "Pikemen," they actually wield spears.
	+ Spears are polearms roughly the height of the wielder and can be wielded with one hand.
	+ Pikes are polearms much taller than the wielder. They are so long, they require two hands to use effectively, thus using them with shields would be a difficult if not impossible task.
* While the shape of their shields remain uniform between all Pikemen of the same faction, the paint pattern on the Pikemen's shields vary, similar to soldiers.