Soldier

Soldiers, aka Hell Soldiers or Zombie Soldiers, are a common Fodder enemy in Doom Eternal, replacing the Possessed Soldiers and Possessed Security in DOOM. Though similar in behavior and role to their direct predecessors, they have been equipped with jump-jets and redesigned to closely resemble their classic counterparts.

Codex
Once frontline infantry fighting to protect Earth from the demon invasion, the Hell Soldiers have been claimed by darkness, turning them against their fellow soldiers in the midst of battle.

Appearance
Soldiers are divided into two variants: those equipped with automatic plasma blasters, and those equipped with plasma shotguns and shields. Both variants bear certain similarities: glowing red eyes, torn flesh and bullet holes, battle-damaged combat armor over drab uniforms, and small jetpacks with which they can briefly leap to higher platforms. Compared to 2016 's soldiers, they are markedly more "intact", without much of the melted flesh of their predecessors. Nonetheless, closer inspection reveals skullish faces, torn lips, and withered fingers, indicating both battle damage and corruption has taken their toll on the soldier's body.

Blaster Soldiers wear dark green buzzcuts, with tan and green battledress. They are equipped with a large cylindrical blaster, either covering or completely replacing their right arm from the elbow. This weapon fires red plasmoids, unlike the player's blue projectiles.

Shield Soldiers are bald, with dark blue-grey uniforms and armor that almost resembles a Shotgun Guy. Their weapons are stubby and tri-barreled, and fire spread-shots of narrow plasma bolts. They are most notable for the large blue holographic shield emitted from their left forearms, resembling a conventional riot shield in shape and marked with the UAC logo.

Soldiers are the only enemy in Doom Eternal to speak (aside from the Pain Elemental ), as opposed to simply growling and moaning. In combat they shout short phrases in deep, distorted voices. These lines are spoken in an unknown demonic tongue, likely spoken by whatever is taking control of their bodies.

Combat Analysis
Soldiers are a tougher and more defensive counterpart to imps and gargoyles; they prefer to fight at medium to long range if possible, avoiding closing to melee. They will pursue the player if they lose sight of them, but only as far as is needed to open fire again.

Blaster Soldiers run around the battlefield, seeking firing positions from which to engage the player. From there, they unleash barrages of plasma while either standing still or slowly strafing. While easy to dodge, their plasmoids inflict reasonable damage and can quickly kill the player in confined spaces.

Blaster Soldiers are capable of charged shots, the probability of which increases the further they are from the player. When preparing charged shots, they brace their blaster with their left hand and lean onto their leading foot. Charged shots can be easily identified by their size and brightness relative to normal plasmoids; they are typically fired in threes, with shorter charging intervals between each. Charged shots, unlike normal plasmoids, are precisely aimed at the player's position; as soon as they travel the requisite distance they will rapidly slow down and then explode, dealing sizable splash damage, however they can still be evaded by staying mobile.

Blaster Soldiers are tougher than imps, but they still have low health can can be killed easily by any weapon in the Slayer's arsenal. Faltering or staggering them will cancel their charged attacks.

Shield Soldiers behave differently to their blaster-wielding counterparts. As soon as they spot the player, they will activate their shields and slowly advance; they never lower their shields intentionally. Consequently, they struggle to keep pace with the player around the battlefield and can be safely ignored much of the time. Their shotgun rapid-fires hitscan shots that are powerful, but have very low range. Shield Soldiers are at their most dangerous in confined spaces, and vice versa in open arenas.

Their shields are highly resilient to most attacks and will take a huge amount of damage to disable, but it does have weaknesses. For one, it is extremely vulnerable to Plasma Rifle shots (but not Ballista shots). Plasma shots can very quickly overload the shields and cause an explosion when it breaks, killing the Soldier instantly while dealing heavy damage to any nearby enemies. Blood punches will also instantly destroy their shields. Explosive weapons such as Frag Grenades, Sticky Bombs, the Rocket Launcher and the Arbalest can deal splash damage and hit the soldiers around their shields, but direct hits to the shield will do nothing. Because Shield Soldiers are slow to turn, dashing around their flanks to attack their exposed backs can be valid tactic. Without their shield, shield soldiers are killed as easily as blaster soldiers. They are so annoying to me.