Brett- “veteran”

'The Old Guard' are the common terms used to describe most Vanguards, and there is truth to it after all, most Vanguards are those of older folks, usually more well suited and able-bodied to carry a massive shield compared to most other young soldiers at the time. Vanguards hold themselves as bastions for the weak, those who are selfless and believe that life is sacred, so much so that it is not an un-commons sight to see Vanguards that forgo a pistol. The sanctity of life is their belief, and while they hope for the war to come to a swift end, there will be nothing left of civilisation if we all end up as barbarians fighting for scraps of dying lands — so they prop themselves high — for friend or foe. — In-Game Description of the Rally Banner The Vanguards, like other classes in the game, are grouped in a "corp" of sorts, dubbed the "Old Guard", due to them being mostly compromised of older folks, as the Rally Banner description states. The "Old Guard" are notorious for their kind-hearted nature and selflessness throughout the Community, a form of parallel to the Jaeger Corps. The Vanguard is equipped with the Bulwark's Shield, a heavy ballistic shield capable of protecting the user from bullets from the front and partially the side. It features four parts, the main component of the shield, that being the centerpiece, which is unbreakable, both of the side pieces that extend out to the side and in towards the user, and the top part, which protects the face and allows the user to see through. The side and top pieces can be broken off after being shot enough times, leaving parts of the Vanguard vulnerable once shot off, most notably the top part revealing the Vanguard's face. At any time with the shield equipped, you can hit the T button and repair the pieces, that being taking any notably damaged parts off and replacing them with new ones. These will not replenish unless you refill at a universal cache at the points or your spawnpoint. The Judgement rifle does considerably more damage to these pieces in the same manner that it does to the Rook's constructs, doing 3x as much damage. It is advised to take cover if you find yourself in the line of fire of one or more of these rifles, as they will often shoot the panels off of your shield. The shield, when not equipped, will rest on the user's back. For the most part these shields are so large, that when turned backwards, it is difficult to be shot. When the user has the shield equipped, they will hold their secondary out to the side along with their shield. Their left hand side is very protected, with only a part of their helmet and leg sticking out. If they are to look down like this, they're completely protected from that side. This is advantageous to putting the shield up fully as you are faster, but you cannot see very well. If you aim your pistol without putting the shield up, the Vanguard will hold their shield up and to the side and aim their gun. The shield will not protect the vanguard entirely from the front, but will make it harder to be shot. Any enemies on the left hand side are unable to usually hit you, unless they manage to shoot your hand. Upon hitting Q, the Vanguard will put their shield up to protect their full body. Even while standing up, from the front and around 60 degrees either direction, it's almost impossible to hit a shot on the user. The user can aim their gun while doing this, however compared to normal aiming their accuracy is reduced considerably. The Vanguard's speed will also be heavily slowed, and jumping is disabled. Crouching is still possible, phasing the bottom part of the shield through the floor. (Note: at any time when a Vanguard is using their pistol while holding their shield, they suffer from a 15% firerate reduction. According to Red, this is due to how the shield would be so heavy it would be awkward to fire a pistol at the same time.) Bulwark's Hope Hitting G while having your shield equipped will perform the "Bulwark's Hope" and have your character slam their gun, hand or sword against their shield. This will allow for any troops BEHIND you to benefit from an enhanced fire rate. If they go too far from you or go in front of you, they will lose this buff. It lasts for fifty seconds. It only has one charge and a somewhat long cooldown. It is noted to do this when you're not planning to move any time soon, and there's multiple people behind you who could use the buff. (Note: The vanguard performing this and any other vanguard cannot benefit from the buff.) Rally Banner The Vanguard also has the ability to place down a Rally Banner, which provides buffs to teammates. Upon equipping, it's disassembled into pieces of wood and the banner. Once you begin to use it, your character will assemble it and place it down in front of you, about 3-4 studs in front of your character. This banner causes an effect in its radius that will enhance the gun handling and support (first aid kit usage) of any people within that radius, except for you and any other vanguards. The Vanguard can only currently use pistols and the Cavalry Sword with the shield. Knives and Maces will not work and must be equipped outside of the shield. Any 2 slot weapons, such as the 'Prince', must also be equipped outside of the shield, and cannot be used alongside it. Curiously enough, the Talon's incredibly fast aim speed carries over to when the shield is being used, causing the user to bring the shield up very quickly. This looks odd from an outside point of view, as the shield has a much larger field of motion than the pistol. The Vanguard takes considerably increased damage from any melee sources. This causes most Vanguard units to be very vulnerable to melee charges if they are unprepared or rushed too close, as with only a single swipe of a Lancer's axe or 2 stabs of a knife, they're dead. This is the most effective way to kill a Vanguard, as no other notable tactics are known outside of hit your shots, and aim for the top section of the shield to deter them or kill them via headshot once it's shot off. While the shield is raised completely, you are able to perform a shield bash while not aiming your pistol and hitting the left click on your mouse, which deals 105 damage, able to kill an enemy in two hits. This is VERY highly advised to ONLY be used as a last resort, as attempting to engage in melee with an enemy is essentially suicide with your melee vulnerability. However, it is there, and leaves you with one last line of defense. While the shield is equipped, you also have immunity to certain hits, that being any charging attacks (the shield acts as a wall, causing them to be knocked down), any gun bashes (not including the bayonet on the Judgement), the standard mining pickaxe, and while the shield is up, you are able to deflect any Lancer's thrown throwing axes. Helmet: The Nation Vanguard wears a black Adrian Helmet, a (unfortunately) French helmet from the first world war. Around it they have a band or rope of some sort, with two unnamed Royal Nation dogtags tucked under it. The metal face shield is reminiscent of British tanker face shields, however is actually a special visor for the Adrian helmet. This appears to be incredibly rare, as I could only find it here and here. (In the first source, the concept for the Royal Lancer's helmet can also be seen!) However, it appears that this face shield is more flat, as the sides of it in the images are more rounded, whereas in-game it is not nearly as curved. Armor: The Nation's Vanguard seems to be wearing a Rook armor on top of the normal Soldat uniform, albeit with less defense around the arms and the steel bib being smaller than the Rook's one. Accessories: The Nation Vanguard wears a belt around the waist. Like all Nation classes, this character has an electric lantern on the left hand side, alongside their melee and first aid kit, with their standard pickaxe on the right hand side. On their back rests their Bulwark's Shield. The centerpiece of the shield is a black plate with many steel pieces covering the front in a 12x3 pattern, likely to protect the shield and cause more damage when hitting someone with it. Both sides are made of two parts and have their own writings on the front, the right hand side saying "DEATH TO THE EMPIRE", the left hand side saying "Remember The 17th". On the inside of the left hand side plate, it says "give them HELL". According to Red, "Remember The 17th" is a date that the Empire took an "embarrassing" loss during a skirmish. It does not have anything to do with a regiment. It was probably written as a taunt to piss off any Imperials, same as "DEATH TO THE EMPIRE", with the "give them HELL" being the only thing visible to yourself and allied teammates. The top piece is a simple plate with a small hole in the middle that allows to see through it. Enemies cannot shoot through it. The Grace is a single-action top-breaking revolver holding 6 rounds, adopted as the third infantry design by the golden empire.