Soldier

The Soldier is a uncommon enemy in Doom Eternal, based on the classic Zombieman. Soldiers (Also referred to as Hell Soldiers) are former human beings possessed by an unknown demonic power, turned against their human allies to fight on the frontlines for the demonic invaders. While serving the same role as the Possessed Soldiers and Possessed Security in Doom (2016), they have been redesigned to more closely resemble their appearance in the original Doom.

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
The redesign of the Soldiers from Doom (2016) to Eternal has made them resemble stereotypical military grunts; sporting kevlar under armor with pieces of armor plating on their chest, shoulders, and lower legs. Blood, bullet dents and tears in their uniforms that expose their flesh are littered throughout their bodies. They have an arm-cannon attached to their right arm. They also sport a pistol holder on the right side of their legs, yet no pistol is equipped. Both types of Soldiers have one key similarity: having glowing red eyes that indicate their demonic possession, just like in the original Doom. They use jetpacks to leap up and down platforms, but they cannot sustain flight for more than a few seconds at a time.

The Soldier (Blaster) has a dark-green buzzcut, green under armor with sandy-white colored armor plating, and an arm-cannon on their right that acts like a Plasma Gun making them look closer to the Zombieman enemies from the original Doom.

The Soldier (Shield) looks similar to the Soldier (Blaster) except for having no hair at all, leaving them bald, and their armor re-colored to a dark grey-ish blue (which almost looks black in some lighting). Their arm-cannons are also different, as it now has three smaller barrels instead of one and acts like a shotgun. They also have the ability to raise a blue holographic shield (as their name implies) to protect themselves from attacks. They closely resemble the Shotgun Guy enemies from the original Doom.

Combat Analysis
The Blaster Soldier will run around the battlefield, trying to reach a tactically advantageous position from which to fire upon the Slayer with its energy blaster. On occasion, the Blaster Soldier will also charge up a powerful ball of plasma, firing three large, slower-moving ball of energy in quick succession at the player. When in close range, the soldier will attempt to beat the Slayer with their arm-cannon or kick the Slayer and retreat to a better firing position.

The Shield Soldier plays more defensively, keeping an energy shield in front of it constantly as it advances towards the Slayer. Once within range, the Shield Soldier will unload a salvo of rapid-fire, high damage shotgun rounds towards the player. If within arms reach, the Shield Soldier will bash the player with its shield, slowing the player down temporarily.

Thwarting the Blaster Soldier is easy enough. While bulkier than an Imp or zombie, the Soldier can still be dispatched with little effort. A point-blank Combat Shotgun blast will always stagger the Soldier, allowing for an easy Glory Kill.

The Shield Soldier is a bit more difficult. Their shield can take a serious pounding, and any projectiles that make contact with it will deal no damage. Fortunately, plasma weapons are capable of overloading the shield, and enough rounds will cause the shield to explode violently, killing the soldier and damaging nearby demons caught in the blast. If one has no plasma rounds on tap, a well-placed explosive from your grenade or rocket launcher going off behind the soldier should be able to kill him. Alternatively, a Blood Punch is capable of instantly destroying the shield.

It is recommended not to waste non-plasma rounds on the Soldiers shield, as it takes an absurdly large amount of damage before breaking, ammo that could and should be better spent on other threats.