Boletarian Soldiers are enemies in Demon's Souls.
Location[]
They are found all throughout the Boletarian Palace, and are extremely common from 1-1 to 1-3, although they become far rarer afterwards.
Description[]
Soldiers of Boletaria who have had their souls stolen by demons. In their mindless state they continue to do the one thing they were trained to do - defend the palace from intruders.
Variants[]
Boletarian Soldiers come in five different variants, each of which utilizes a different weapon.
All variants except the halberdier and crossbowman will gain a kick move in 1-3, which will break the guard of any player with less than 55 shield stability.
All variants can also heal themselves, which they will do when their health falls below 30% and they are some distance from the player.
Swordsman[]
The most common variant of the Boletarian Soldier uses a Long Sword along with a Soldier's Shield. Their attacks consist of standard swipes and thrusts.
At medium range, the long sword variant will attack players by throwing Firebombs. These can be dangerous as some of these soldiers are placed in areas with large amounts of explosive barrels, which will be detonated if the firebombs connect. Others are placed in areas out of the player's reach, where they will continually throw firebombs at them.
Axeman[]
This variant uses a Battle Axe with the Soldier's Shield. They function similarly to the Long Sword variant, and have much the same attacks, including the guard break - however, these soldiers have a higher base HP than the Long Sword wielder, and also drop more souls. Much like the Long Sword soldier, Battle Axe soldiers will also throw firebombs if the player is further away from them.
Spearman[]
A rarer variant of the soldier uses a Short Spear along with the shield, and attack with stabs and and a running slash. These enemies are typically more difficult to deal with than the previous types, as they put up their shield significantly more often, and can use their stab attacks with their shields up. They can also throw firebombs, but will do so more rarely than the previous two types.
Halberdier[]
The rarest type of soldier wields a Halberd, and uses it with two hands, without a shield. Their attacks are slow, but have large range and hit harder than any of the other types. However, they lack any defensive options, and also cannot throw firebombs at range.
Crossbowman[]
The final variant uses the Light Crossbow. They are typically placed far away from the players position, either on raised up ledges or behind other soldier variants. They will only attack the player by firing their crossbow at them - they do not have any melee capability, so even if a player is in melee range, they will continue using the crossbow regardless.
The cooldown between shots is lengthy and offers plenty of time for the player to close the distance between them and the soldier. However, they are often - particularly in 1-3 - found in places where the player cannot easily get to them, and must resort to using their own ranged attacks or simply dodging the bolts until they can reach them.
Drops[]
All variants often drop grasses upon death: Crescent and Half Moon Grasses in 1-1 and 1-2, and Late and Full Moon Grasses in 1-3 and 1-4. They also frequently drop the Soldier's Lotus. All except the crossbowman also drop the Soldier's Shield and Firebombs.