How a war line is weighed
When your guild answers a war, the heroes you send form a contingent, and the game turns that contingent into a strength figure between 0.35 and 0.88:
- start at 0.38;
- add 0.012 for every point in the contingent’s combined score, where each hero contributes their level, plus 0.4 for every point their hidden big-game rating sits above 10 (minus for every point below), plus any war-related vow bonus;
- subtract 0.05 if nobody in the contingent is a tank.
An Old Soldier adds 5 to that combined score, exactly as if they were five levels higher. Five points at 0.012 each is +0.06 on the contingent’s strength, about six percentage points. Since 2.1.9 the half-orc custom Horn-Called adds 3 more on the same scale, and half-orcs roll Old Soldier more often, so the two can meet on one hero.
Where you stand changes how much it counts
The contingent’s strength is compared with an even 0.45, and the difference shifts the war’s odds. How far it shifts depends on where you placed your people:
| Placement | Sway on the war | Death risk | Renown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard | ×1.5 | ×1.4 | ×1.4 |
| Line | ×1 | ×1 | ×1 |
| Reserve | ×0.5 | ×0.6 | ×0.6 |
So the Old Soldier’s six points become nine in the vanguard and three in reserve. The vanguard is also where heroes are most likely to die, which is the trade the game wants you to think about. A guild with an Old Soldier and a tank in the same contingent avoids the no-tank penalty and gets the bonus, so an Old Soldier who is also a tank pays twice.
After a war, each hero comes home killed, hardened, wounded or simply returned. The trait does not change those odds directly; it changes how likely the side is to win.
Outside war
- Forks in the dungeon. Old Soldier is one of the game’s careful leaders. A careful leader with no other leanings takes a side room 60% of the time when the party is fresh, but only 10% of the time when the party is hurt (anyone down, or average health below 60%), against 20% for an ordinary leader.
- Sellsword jobs like it. Sellsword postings list Old Soldier among their liked traits, worth 5% on that hero’s suitability.
- Two events. In “The Yard at Dawn” you can ask an Old Soldier (or a Mentor or Old-School hero) to watch the two sparring heroes: each gains 2 experience and +4 bond with the old hand. In “One Too Many” an Old Soldier, Haunted or Weathered hero can talk to the one drinking alone, which takes 12 stress off them and adds 6 to their bond. See the events page.
- Flavour. Old Soldier has quest-report lines and speaks with the “veteran” voice on pair duty. Neither changes an outcome.
The hero card links the trait to Discipline and Resolve. That is a description; the attributes are not raised.
Combinations
- It can never appear with Cowardly.
- Big-Game Player raises the hidden big-game rating, which also feeds the war score, so the two stack on the same contingent.
- Quick to Mend and Indomitable suit a hero who will spend seasons on war contracts, where wounds are routine.
Rarity and history
- Rarity: uncommon, positive · draw weight 45 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 57
- Founding draft: any card.
- In the wiki’s archive: first present in the 2.1.8 build (absent from 2.0.7).
Recruiting
A strong pick for guilds that answer wars, especially on a tank you would put in the line anyway. For a guild that never goes to war, the value shrinks to the careful fork behaviour and two event options, which is close to neutral.