Spearman

The Human Spearman is a human starting class that excels at standing on a frontline, tanking damage and crowd-controlling enemies.



Tactics
The Human Spearman is rather formulaic, but very effective. He’s a big, beefy tank that controls hexes, taunts enemies, and soaks damage. He fits on every team comp and against all enemy factions, and every player should be familiar with using him.

There’s pretty much one right set of mutators to use on Spearman, with minor variations depending on your team and your enemy. Light Foot, Critical Counterstrike, and Pushing Criticals are mandatory, as they dovetail with the Spearman’s goal of shoving enemies away and keeping them away. Vigorous is highly recommended, as it helps convert your (low-damage) Crits into much-needed sustain. Next, you will need a good HP mutator (eg Strong Body or Overdose). The remaining slot (2 slots if you start with him on Desolation) is left to the player’s discretion. Spearman doesn’t really benefit from becoming an Urtuk - you would take a HP hit with only marginal power increase in compensation.

Spearman should level AGI to hit Stamina breakpoints of 72, 102, and 132. These allow for a Taunt (40 Stamina), multiple Spearwalls (30 Stamina each), and a Crit Counter afterwards. The remainder of the points should all be put in VIT. It is not exigent to rush to hit a Stamina target immediately, getting tanky is more important. Spearman also cares a lot about his Plate Armor: he needs it to score Counterstrikes (unless you use Shields or Aegis) and he gets % boost(s) to it, so make a priority to buy or loot the nicest Plate Armor you can find.

Playing Spearman is straightforward. Put him on your frontline and Spearwall and Taunt enemies away from your higher damage targets. He works best when he works in tandem with his teammates. It can be tempting (and sometimes useful) to run and Taunt an annoying archer, but be careful about doing this, because it’s not much help if enemy melee units run in and slaughter your remaining troops. In any case, Footman is better in a more offensive capacity, Spearman shines as a defensive frontliner.

As stated above, Spearman works well on most team compositions and against all enemy factions. He makes a good protector for a high-damage ranged unit like a Hunter Urtuk. You should bring another damage dealer as well, like a Forsaken Berserker or a Valdor Assassin, which can butcher taunted targets. Spearman doesn’t fear any enemy faction (though Valdor Crossbowmen can cause trouble with their high-damage blasts), and he particularly shines against Necroreavers due to their overall low mobility (except for a Spearwall-blockable jumping unit).