"Fuck! Fuck! Nichols! Get your Kill-Warrants!"

"Wha — shit, give me a sec! Where's your shotty?"

"Lost it! Get me a pistol too, I'm watching the door!"

"Is it a Hidden? Why else you want the goggles up?"

"Fuck me, man, what else could it be? Yue and Lambert got their throats sliced right in front of us! Two down in half a second!"

"TWO down? Is that Hidden on crack? Where's Welles?"

"He stayed behind to try and spray it down! Where's my fucking gun at?"

"Here! I'm here!"

"Post up by the door! Lock it! Jump them with the spear when they come in, I'll double tap!"

"Alright, alright! Concertinas?"

"Used them already, didn't get anything!"

"Shit..."

"Hold position... we've killed Hiddens before, we'll be fine..."

"Half our team wiped out... Jesus Christ."

"Do you hear something scraping?"

"No, I don't have fancy hearing implants like you."

"I'm turning around. Call out if you see something from the door."

"Gotcha."

"...why the fuck is the window op— FUCK! OPENING FIRE!"

"It's flanking us? Shit!"

"Do you see it?"

"Nothing! No scans!"

"Keep an eye on the door!"

"Goddamn... Welles got fucked too... Hey. Is it dead?"

"..."

"Kang?"

"..."

"You there...?"

"*ggrrgl*"

"Oh my god. Oh god. Oh god. Where the fuck did it— *glkhrg*"

"All hostiles eliminated."

"Looks like your cloaking device is a success this time, then. Not even Kill-Warrants can pick you up anymore."

"I suppose not."

"Who's the FNG? Doesn't look like he's got much experience."

"Are you serious? Do you see that cybernetic eye of his?"

"Careful. He's Agency. Ex-Agency, actually."

"What the fuck. So we just let Agents have free tours in our castle now? What, are we giving the Agency the original blueprints to this place next? Has it occurred to literally nobody that he's a spy?"

"Would be a pretty thorough cover story. His exfil dropship got taken down by — get this — the Agency themselves."

"The hell? Why?"

"Okay, listen. While you and the rest of Canyon were gone, Equinox almost got taken out—"

"Equinox — you're serious? Her? No fucking way, man..."

"Yeah, got jumped by a Sickler and two Skinners at the same time. Apparently, some of these Sicklers know how to shut up now and jumped her in a lab."

"Jesus."

"Skinners were acting as one of our patrols, she thought she had backup. It's not like she's good with people either, remember? It's already hard enough catching those skinwalkers on a good day and when was the last time you saw them disguised as anything other than a Loner Scav?"

"Why'd she stick around to fight them?"

"Her new cloaking device failed completely, she just barely managed to kill them all. But her Cocktail shattered while they were all slicing each other up."

"And how's that Agent tie into all this?"

"He saved her life."

"You're full of shit."

"Seriously. Patched her up with one of those fancy Agency IFAKs, helped her walk three klicks in the middle of a snowstorm, and dropped her off just outside of the castle."

"And he just... did that? What's his angle?"

"Don't know. Maybe just because he wanted to."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm more interested in knowing in how he got here in the first place."

"He said something about being deployed here for a few months with his crew, not being happy with how the Agency was handling things, then went and saved Equinox even though he knew she was one of us."

"And the Agency didn't like that."

"No, they didn't. Everyone's current theory is that he was planning to blow the whistle, and the Agency tried giving him the highest award in journalism. We had our techies look at his exfil dropship. Looks like it got hacked remotely and sent into one of those mountains way out east. He doesn't say much right now, he's too shaken. Definitely got fucked up mentally."

"And?"

"Be patient, I'm getting there. Equinox got sent to check it out, surprise, it's him, and she carries his body back. That fancy eye he got? It's a prototype we bought and got customized by Halcyon and Conduit. Equinox insisted we use it on him, he would've died otherwise."

"And nobody goes against the Monarchy."

"So he's with us now?"

"Looks like it. Just a trial run, we're supposed to shoot him if he tries anything — but if he checks out, he's here for good."

Direct Game Mechanic Changes

• Let pistols swap hands when changing camera side. This used to be a thing I have no clue why this was removed
• Let Cavalry Sword be held in the left hand and pistol in the right
• Knell alt action gets reworked to a stance system. double actions in real life are generally: double action = faster firerate. single action = no trigger delay. single action should not be a direct upgrade, and yes, it actually has a faster RPM than double action due to the trigger delay. speaking of which, reduce delay between clicking and firing
• Veteran catches unspent Flyboy bullets when reloading. I don't care if it's intentional, it just doesn't make sense
• Veteran catches unspent Knell bullets when reloading by pointing the barrel down while using the ejector rod, holding unspent rounds in the cylinder while shaking out spent cartridges, and reloading from there (like Grace)
• Jaegers can't friendly fire their own teammates with Smokescreen Bomb
• Rooks can't friendly fire their own teammates with Mining Bomb
• Loadouts are added
• Honour will automatically go through the stock-removing animation when swapping guns
• Veteran automatically reloads Kingslayer, but without the faster reloading speed it has now. It literally makes sense both in gameplay and in lore
• Lantern Lures aren't held up on a super long, obvious stick (it's extremely shortened now) and are marked by Officer's Flares
• Hope gets a longslide modification
• Lancers don't need Vet/Butcher for improved charge handling. It's just innate. Charges are already bad enough even with these perks
• Lancers now get to strap dynamite to their melees. it does exactly what you think it does
• Veteran Lancers can also swing their polearm during a charge
• Lancer's arm + hatchet go invisible while the camera is on the left-hand side and preparing a throw
• You can have a very short amount of hair under a helmet/hat so you don't look bald before it gets shot off

Worldbuilding Changes

• Royal Nation is at least renamed to Royal Nations (I still think my People's Alliance idea was better but everyone thinks their ideas are better than everyone else's, including Red).
• I'd say that I'd directly change everything in current lore with my own ideas I put in the other posts but then people would get mad at me
• The Nations get a guitar in their base
• The Nations' bells and the Empire's horn swap places. Not sure why the modern kingdom has the old fashioned announcement and the traditional monarchy have a technologically developed horn
• Nations' Shock Troopers are represented by playing cards
• Empire and Nations have new headquarters during Final Stand: The Empire a literal castle with torches hanging outside; the Nations a steel-wrought fortress decorated with exterior lights
• Nation helmets are American (which are essentially British ones) instead of German
• Sledgehammer skin for Rook's heavy pick
• Prosthetic Leg cosmetic changes depending on which side you're on, like with the flower. Nations get a pretty advanced lightweight limb, Empire gets something more like a heavy and clunky peg leg

if you have any bright ideas comment them or don't I'm not your dad

As the fighting went beneath the Earth, a neutral organization formed for those who did not wish to fight in the Underground War, for varying reasons. In exchange for not having to take lives directly, they would do hard labour. Mining for materials, preparing meals, assembling munitions, and keeping the war going. The conditions are not favourable. Not horrible, but not a happy way of life. Work is often dangerous, and although the workers can return to a clean home, there is always the risk of Bandits raiding their bases and causing pandemonium. Deserters from either superpower are sometimes forced to take up work as armed security forces, despite trying to run away from the life of killing.

Despite the Coalition being neutral, the Golden Empire are far more reliant on the Solace labourers than the Democratic Nations. The Queen's battle-honed mind is sharpest for only war, and with her best managers having seceded and formed the Alliance, she has no gift for overseeing logistics like the Presidents do.

In exchange for sending the Coalition squads of Imperial soldiers to guard against rogue elements, predomianantly Bandits, the Coalition gives food and materials for the undersupplied Empire. The Nations themselves do trade with the Coalition, filling in gaps that their own logistics cannot handle — usually due to a lack of manpower, rather than a shortage of materials. However, they are much more self-sufficient and do not rely on them as the Empire does. After all, what if the supplies they barter with the Coalition end up being sent to the Empire?

Both sides respect the Coalition's pacifism and neutrality. If one side were to attack the Coalition and annex it, the surviving Solace workers would fall in with the opposing power and give them a direct advantage. Despite this, the Coalition only wishes to see the end of the Underground War. They do have a plan, but it comes at a great cost and now is not the time to carry it out.

If the Coalition were to halt work and let both sides burn themselves out, the war would end, but not without fierce retribution, as the Nations would likely emerge victorious, but only a pyrrhic one. The Queen understands that without her main supply chain, the Empire would surely fall, and would throw everything she has at the Nations in a suicidal final attack. They would lose, but they would ensure the Nations did as well.

The Nations themselves are more self-sufficient and would not be nearly as affected if Solace support halted, but if the Empire were to enact their final assault, millions of innocent lives would be lost in the suicide attack. As long as the Solace Coalition exists, the Alliance can keep the Empire in check with the belief that they keep the Empire going after the war ends. After all, the most dangerous person is with nothing left to lose. The Nations' plan is to slowly wear down the Imperials in a war of attrition, feeding them false hope that they can win and tempering their anger; the Empire's objective is to decisively crush the Alliance before it is too late. Like a fire, it will slowly flicker out as there is less fuel to keep it going, and it eventually shall become only embers. Yet if every last log of firewood is burned at once in a brilliant blaze of glory, the ensuing inferno would consume all.

>"The Light shall shine upon all who are deserving, for it is kind, just, and swift in judgement."

The Holy Golden Empire is the largest global empire in history, originating from Western and Central Europe. Having comprised vast dominions, colonies, and territories, it had control across roughly half the world, and at least some degree of influence and political pressure further. Their power came from a strong heartland — the riches of Britain, the engineering of Germany, the people of Russia, and the military might of France were the four core pillars that upheld this kingdom for two centuries.

There is also the ruler of the Empire itself, a legendary figure known only as the Queen. A veteran long before the Underground War or the Sleepless War, she has risen though renown and experience to take the crown. As it happens, every other competitor for the throne either stepped down, mysteriously disappeared, or was killed in action. Even with rivals, however, the Queen would have likely been the most popular candidate, given her status as a war hero.

Eventually, this status escalated into something akin to a cult of personality combined with religion. The Queen is a mixture between an agent, an assistant, a messenger, and a wielder of the Light — a god-like entity that rewards those who are upstanding in loyalty, unity and kindness. However, these morals of course only apply to those in the Empire, for nobody else is capable of this goodness. Any who are outside of the Light's grace are lesser and are not of the same standing as a devout Imperial. You are either with the Empire, or you are against it, and anything that happens to you are merely the consequences of your own actions.

Yet with so much ground to cover abroad and only one monarch, it could not have authority over the entire globe without stretching its numbers thin. For this reason, the reigning Queen put a group of deputies, the Kings, to rule over the New World of the Americas. She would handle the militaristic might, and they would manage the supplies and bureaucracy as the Dominion of Royal Nations. However, these Nations gained their independence through a revolution, leaving the Empire reeling without their best managers and administrators. They reformed into the People's Alliance, favouring a democratic approach to government.

With her unparalleled intellect for war, the Queen could have likely won, but it would have done too much damage to the Empire for her to believe it to be be worth the trouble. With such a bright mind comes a degree of arrogance, no matter how well-deserved it may have been, and she believed the Kings would run their lands into the ground without her support, refusing to respect the men's strengths. She was surprised, to say the least, when they had managed to thrive after their secession and become the greatest threat to her kingdom — an equal threat, in fact, although she would never admit it publicly.

Unlike the Nations, the Empire holds a far more centralized command, headed by a monarch whose word is law. There is no petty infighting as there is amongst the alliance, for the Empire is one. However, the Nations do keep each other in check, challenging each other's opinions for mutual growth. If one President disagrees with another, they will usually come to an agreement and ensure each other's plans are of sound logic. However, this red tape does slow down operations. Meanwhile, the Queen's decree is executed immediately, with this decisive action usually leading to favourable results, given her strategic prowess. It would not be inaccurate to say the Queen is a chess grandmasterfacing off against a group of Presidents, less competent in the game but able to advise and give constructive criticism with each other.

The Empire maintains a matriarchal, militaristic, and arguably misandristic society. It is said that women are wiser and intellectually gifted, holding positions of authority. Men, meanwhile, are the strong and loyal yet simple-minded workers, being put to rather menial roles. The Queen had tried to reform this with the Kings, but for reasons debated it did not work out and she over-corrected the course of this society, putting males in even more demeaning roles, treating them in a manner vaguely like you would to one's dog. Despite this, there are few who question this power imbalance, for the Queen can utilize propaganda well with her citizen's blind faith in her rule.

This focus on religious reverence is a double-edged sword. It breeds great devotion to those who believe in the Light, and great resentment to those do not, such as those who worship any other god. The Arab world in particular is a thorn to both the Empire and the Nations alike, for the Queen has attempted to overwrite their God with hers, and the Nations reject old-fashioned tradition in favour of radicalized rationale, believing religion to only restrain a world of thinkers. They had actually been part of the Empire before the Underground War, but with the Queen deploying them during the Sleepless War in a manner almost comparable to trying to be rid of them has left them bitter of her rule, and they seceded as well. These countries are rather isolated and prone to infighting, though, and are not as much of a threat as the Nations.

It is rumoured that the Queen was not always so harsh, being still strict yet fair in her judgement in the past. She was said to be more reasonable and willing to listen to her subjects regardless of social class, as well as treating even her enemies with respect. Yet even if this is true, the past is the past, and is not at all what she is today. With power comes corruption, something she declares the Presidents to be guilty of, but a plague that she has perhaps fallen into today.

The Empire is incredibly resistant to change, unlike the possibly over-progressive logic of the Nations. After all, they are already the epitome of humanity, so why try to fix something that is not broken? This mindset also extends to both the people and their technology. The Queen knows it would be unwise to be at a technological disadvantage, yet is far more unwilling to invest in research and development. The Sleepless War drained the Empire's wealth heavily, while the Nations are abundant in natural resources that put them leaps and bounds ahead in terms of logistics. The Presidents are also willing to forgive mistakes and delays in research, for there are plenty of materials, as long as the end result is favourable. The Queen has no materials to squander and punishes failure, keeping her engineers on a tight leash.

On the other hand, the Empire does have a certain advantage — they have reserves. Millions upon millions of men and women that can die and replaced without consequences. If the Nations dare go headfirst against this behemoth, they will be crushed under it's sheer might, and it would not be a close competition. Yet with these many soldiers, there is simply not enough to go around. Not enough food, not enough supplies, and not nearly enough goods, the luxuries and comforts of home. As such, the Empire relies heavily on the Solace Coalition, trading excess munitions and weaponry just for food. There are stories of Imperials despairing upon capturing Allied supplies, seeing how much better off their enemies are, and some even defecting upon tasting the relatively higher quality of food shipped to soldiers of the Nations from their home countries. The Americans joke that their bakeries are the most dangerous enemy, for even the most dedicated fanatic can be brought to her knees upon sampling a fresh birthday cake, intended for a only a mere private.

Despite this, morale is high due to propaganda and faith. Sheer willpower and hatred of the Nations keeps the Imperials going strong, and it does not seem there will be a shortage of manpower anytime soon. The Nations' morale would fall if there was to be a lack of supplies, but the Empire would have faith it is part of their Queen's plan and ignore any shortages. Alongside this, any beratement is tolerated as the people respect their ruler's brutal honesty, believing she knows what is best for them. The monarch knows that if this veil falls, with the Empire's fervour burning out, all hope would be crushed. Thus, she puts a great deal of effort into ensuring it does not. Interestingly, the Queen herself cannot be replaced so easily. If she dies before naming a successor, the Empire would certainly fall in the wake of the ensuing power struggle. Nevertheless, she is only middle-aged, giving her plenty of time to teach and train an heir to take over.

In this regard, the famed Crusader Legions are soldiers only the Empire can truly realize to their fullest potential. With the Empire's vast numbers, there is no shortage of pious volunteers willing to die for the Light, and to potentially take a Nations soldier with them, skewered on their polearm, sliced by their blade, or crushed by their stave. They often spend their last hours praying and reciting mantras, reverently listening to Imperial propaganda, before charging headfirst into the battlefield without fear or hesitation.

The Nations do not have nearly as many of their own specialized melee combatants, for they cannot afford to lose a single soldier in a recklessly suicidal charge. As such, the majority of Allied Lancers are either defectors from the Empire, the desperate, or the dying. A truly patriotic soldier from the Nations, in a show of fearless valour with a readiness to die can pick up an ordinary wire-cutter, attach a bayonet to it, and proudly breathe their last. For this, the Crusaders will honour even their enemy counterparts if they have fought a worthy battle, giving them a hero's funeral alongside their own people's bodies. Their idolization of a honourable warrior's life and death, regardless of affiliation, will never falter, no matter how hard the Queen tries to crack down on "sympathy for the heathens". Their zealotry may be too much for even her to handle, and could end up working against her in the end.

Despite its flaws, the Golden Empire is the only pillar of stability against the Presidents' foolish heresy that will ruin society. They are the fortress of tradition, the stewards of the Earth, the Old World that shall never crumble, and the coming of utopia.

Or so it declares.

Formerly known as the Dominion of Royal Nations, now commonly referred to as the Democratic Nations, or the Alliance.

This alliance is mainly comprised of former territories of the Golden Empire, having gone through a revolution and overthrown the Empire with the support of the former Kings that ruled these semi-independent dominions. This conflict would come to be known as the Sleepless War, ending on Armistice Day — November 11th, 1918. Other countries would come to join this alliance, either being the Queen's historical enemies, like China, or small yet fierce resistances in Imperial lines, such as Poland.

The reasoning for this rebellion is heavily debated, with a clear origin that most can agree on. The Golden Empire had practically ruled the entire world in the 19th century, but there were clear flaws. Most importantly, the heavily-militaristic society and a matriarchy that greatly favoured women over men. The Queen, in an attempt to disprove the Empire's power imbalance in gender, appointed the Kings to far-away nations, most prominently the New World of the Americas, alongside Imperial armies, and from there the stories shift.

The Nations claim the Empire was tyrannical, having oppressed the people, censored all criticism, and generally abused power for their own gain, sending resources to the Monarchy and leaving none for the Nations' citizens. They removed loyalists who benefited from the exploitation of these new lands and replaced them with fairer, kinder figures.

However, the Empire maintains their position that they generously supported aided the Nations' countries, providing them with economic aid, materials to develop cities, and the Empire's armies were only sent to protect the people. The Queen stated that the Kings, sensing opportunism born out of entitlement, selfishly seized power for themselves, executed any Kings who did not follow this betrayal, and rejected all potential peace talks, leaving the Empire with no choice but to crush the insurgency.

Either the Kings' revolt proved the Queen's misandristic views right in how the Kings were inherently selfish, treacherous scoundrels, ensuring that she would never again be able to trust a man after this great betrayal, or the Kings only rebelled after constant belittlement, exploitation, and degradation, being denied necessities for their lands to flourish alongside the Empire's and that the Queen already had great prejudice, refusing to give the Kings an opportunity to prove their worth.

This revolution is also why the Queen holds absolute rule and refuses to share power with anyone else - she does not want a repeat of power being seized by those she has appointed to similar levels of power.

No matter how true either arguments is, one thing is for certain: this new government is the greatest threat to the Queen's rule. The Kings have abandoned their old names and now, like their territory, have taken on a new moniker: the Presidents. These rulers are democratically elected, for if the people are unsatisfied with one's rule, they can vote for a new man to take control.

In their own defiance, the Golden Empire refuses to acknowledge the new name the Nations or the Kings themselves have taken, only mentioning them as the Royal Nations, Royalists, Nationers, or dogs.

After the Sleepless War that granted the Nations their independence, both authorities at least pretended to respect the other's power, if only for a few years. This also allowed the Nations to recover and reorganize, for the rebellion succeeded, but at great cost. If the Empire had attacked again, the Alliance would have likely fallen. With the new structuring of their military, there was a clear weakness — they had far less manpower than the Empire, having only a few decades to settle in the Nations rather than the long, rich history of the Empire, which provided her far more families and thus soldiers at her disposal.

The Presidents, with their experience developing countries, are wise in the management of logistics. However, they are much weaker in combat tactics and strategy. Of course, they are not stupid or incompetent. After all, they managed to successfully seize power from the Empire's army and establish themselves into a world superpower. They just do not have the prodigous tactical acumen only the Queen seems to have, granting her a reputation as the brightest military mind in all of history.

With this, the Presidents set their sights on the abundant natural resources the New World had to offer. Within years, they had developed a powerful industry, their own farmland, and durable, quality equipment. The Nations knew that they could not afford to lose soldiers like the Queen could, so they had to do everything they could to ensure a soldier would never fall. In fact, they are responsible for the creation of the Old Guard, with their life-saving Vanguards wielding incredibly well-crafted shields that the Empire could only dream of matching in build. As a result, the average Nations soldier is far better equipped and fed than an Imperial, who rely more on supplies from the Solace Coalition and their own willpower.

However, this is not to say they are without flaws. They have far less soldiers and would likely lose in head-to-head combat against the sheer might of the Empire's vast military, so they elect to engage in guerilla warfare and dirty tactics. On this note, the Nations were also responsible for the Raider Corps. These units originally comprised of the most professional, cut-throat Canadian and American trench raiders, veterans from the Sleepless War. The Nations recognized how well a small unit fared against larger groups with the right tactics, and began their expansion until every country had Jaeger units.

Then came the Phantom Troopers. It would not be inaccurate to describe these Shock Troopers in particular as monsters, the worst humanity has to offer. Even a typical member of the Raider Corps would shudder at just how much a Phantom revels in suffering. Yet their actions, although horrifying to anyone with half a conscience, were indeed useful against the Imperials, destroying both bodies and morale. It is with great and likely justified anger that the Golden Empire developed their own counterparts, the Jaegers and the Geists respectively.

On a very slightly lighter note, the elections and government, although rare, can sometimes be manipulated. Corruption is not unheard of, and some Presidents truly have become what they fought against — power-hungry despots that serve not the people, only themselves. Rarely, a Nations-aligned country will start their own revolt born of greed and opportunism, and every other country must put attention to resolving the issue as quickly as possible, appointing a new leader, and re-establishing order before they end up splintered and ripe for the Queen to annihilate them all.

Similarly to the Empire's misandry, the Nations do not, have not, and will likely never have a woman as a President due to the implications of Imperial propaganda. However, it is uncommon although not unique or taboo to have women in lower positions of power, such as in Officer roles or in high ranks, with Liutenant generally being the highest standing a woman can reach with great effort and luck. Nonetheless, women in power usually tend to be victims of misogyny, not respected as much as their male counterparts. There are very, very few female Captains active in the entire Alliance, and with only seven Brigadiers personally appointed by the Presidents' votes, it seems it will be a very long time, if ever, until a lady is promoted to the rank of Brigadier. Besides this, there are higher ranks such as a Major General, General, and General of the Army, but it is equally difficult for a man to ever reach this status, and thus technically there is no discrimination for ranks so high.

Despite their flaws, the Democratic Nations are the only resistance to the Queen's autocracy. They are the stronghold of equality, unshackled by tradition, the New World free of the Golden Empire's tyranny, and a dream of liberty.

Or so they say.

>Sabotage an operating base set up by the coast of Canada. The fundamentals of Jaeger.

Played as Corporal Tremblay. Tutorial is told in first person through internal monologue.

Sensitive Hearing Tutorial

As Tremblay, you have infiltrated deep into Imperial lines, tasked with disrupting an expeditionary force trying to establish presence in Royalist homeland. The tutorial begins by ambushing a patrol of Imperials mining through the rock.

>'Fools. Making this much noise, of course I can hear them.'
Jaegers can track enemies mining near them, allowing them to hide or ambush their prey.
Stay concealed and wait for both soldiers to be exposed.

Upon killing the Imperials, the tutorial provides information on the 'Whisper' Rifle.

>The 'Whisper' Rifle has a silencer, masking your report and location.

However, a third Imperial arrives, concealed due to 'Tunnel-Rat'.

>'There's another guy! They're more careful at mining than these idiots!'
Quickly eliminate the third Imperial before she can sound the alarm.
Enemies with the 'Tunnel-Rat' perk mine quietly, and must be closer to be detected with your Sensitive Hearing.
'Wonder if they'll notice this patrol missing soon. I should probably leave.'
'Then again, the Empire has more than enough bodies to throw into the meat-grinder.'

Trapping Tutorial

After a brief timeskip, you reach a different sector on the Eastern coast, where the mechanics of traps are introduced.

>'I've got my orders. Sabotage, raid, and kill these cultists. Average day's work.'
Jaegers are armed with a Hunter Kit, allowing deployment of various, lethal traps.
'Let's see now... a Gas Shell would cause some trouble.'
Deploy a Gas Shell trap. Then, connect a tripwire [M2] to it.
Tripwires must always be deployed after a trap, not before.
'Wouldn't be a bad idea to pair it with a Mantrap.'
Tripwires can be avoided by crouch-walking over them.
However, Mantraps do not have this property.
Mantraps are like beartraps, but for humans.
Come on, nobody's gonna be walking right when their leg gets caught in it.
'It'll be a while before anyone comes across this. Should set up shop in other places too.'

In several different tunnels, you set up your other traps.

>'I need more immediate lethality. The Gas is deadly, but it takes a while for it to take effect.'
Tin Bomb traps explode when triggered, potentially taking out groups but losing power on further enemies.
Shotshell traps are difficult to set up, but will guarantee kills if they hit your mark.
'I like these two. Very, very powerful.'
Dynamite Stacks do not activate with Tripwires. Instead, they explode when shot or the rocks they're placed on are mined.

(I'm going to ignore Lantern Lures, because they're super useless. When was the last time you ever used a Lantern Lure over a Dynamite Stack?)

After deploying the three, you get an alert that your Gas Shell trap has been triggered.

>'I heard a tripwire go off. I should inspect the damage.'
When a trap is triggered, you are alerted.
Hurry back and see who caused it.

You arrive just in time to see an enemy Soldat struggle in the Mantrap before dropping dead. His partner is quicker and takes a Peridaxon pill.

>'The gas... you only have seconds before it rots your lungs.'
Gas Shell traps release Initropidril, a lingering poison with horrifying effects.
When inhaled, it will take ten seconds to kill, alongside crippling one's health.
'Seems like first aid kits have those miracle pills now. Even clears out our newest concoction.'
Peridaxon, accessed by a First Aid Kit, will clear and repeatedly flush ALL Chemicals in one's bloodstream.
'No cure for a bullet, though.'

Alerted, a large squadron of Imperials arrives, while you hide and observe. The lead Soldats trigger the Shotshell and one of the Tin Bomb traps, stopping the group in its tracks. Afraid, a Rook splinters off from the group into a different tunnel, where the Dynamite Stack awaits. Now on guard, the Empire squadron shoots the other Tin Bomb trap.

>"Jaeger! There's a Jaeger here!"
"We've got three Soldats and a Rook down!"
"Schofield, tripwire on your left! Break it!"
'Damn... I was hoping to take out their Mortician...'
Traps can be destroyed with bullets or melee.

Toxication Rounds Tutorial

The Mortician applies Stimulants to the squad, where the game explains how to disrupt Chemicals with Pox ammunition.

>'Giving your friends a kick? Bad idea.'
Much like Morticians, Jaegers can also apply Sickness with special Pox rounds.
Each bullet is coated with 10u of Pox.
However, Morticians are not immune, as it is not inhaled but injected by the coated bullet.
"Augh! What the hell is this?!"
"I can't see! I can't see!"
"My chemicals! Why aren't they working?"

Smokescreen Bomb Tutorial

>"I see him! Next to that coal vein!"
'Can't take all of them on. I've done my job, it's time to go.'
Jaegers' equipment [G] is a Smokescreen Bomb, which obscures vision and spreads Pox.
Throw the Smokescreen Bomb and escape down the leftmost tunnel.
"What? Where'd he go?"
"Don't breathe in that smoke, I recognize it!"
"Go! GO! He's running!"
"What if he has a trap in that smoke?"
"No! He's getting away!"

After escaping, the tutorial cuts to black.

The Jaeger

"If you succeed, who will punish your actions?"

>When killed by an enemy who had the support of another, briefly mark the one who finished you. When an ally is killed after you aided them (an action that can garner a Thanks) or vice versa, mark the murderer. Silenced kills gain ha;f-immunity. You can only have one Retribution mark at a time.

"Three months after we went underground, my older brother died in a battle that didn't even have a name. My pa was killed by artillery when they was still on the surface fighting. My ma got cave-sick, real sick, and she ended up in a coffin. My sister, she's still fighting somewhere west. Don't know if the next letter she writes will be the last. My younger brother can't even sleep because those nightmares keep him awake. If he holds anything, it's not long until he drops it.

And I know whose fault it is. It's those monsters on the other side who laugh and cheer every time they pull that damn trigger. We get bombed to all hell and back and they're happy because it's not them suffering, it's us. It's because they hate us. That's fine, because I hate them too. I'm gonna make sure they feel, and I mean really feel how it feels to be on the other end of that barrel.

They think we're just gonna keel over and die. While we're pushing up daises, they'll be dancing on our graves. They'll destroy our towns, our people. We'll be subject to the worst atrocities. They're going to do this to us, because they're nothing but evil.

No. They'll get what they deserve. It'll be them getting what they wanted done to us. I'll make sure it'll be them."

I smile as I pull the trigger again, blowing another Nation dog's skull out.
They cannot see the tracer left behind, nor a muzzle flash, nor even the gunfire.
A silent kill, but it shrieks loud enough for all to know my presence.
"Geist! Geist!", they scream. "Fwwsh, fwwsh," my rifle mutters.
Their officer scrambles to spot me. It won't work, of course.
I render his pathetic effort futile when my bullet pierces through his binoculars right into his eye.
I smile again. Hunting is the best way to relieve stress.
No wonder these Nation dogs enjoy their 'Whisper' rifle.
The silencer design was, admittedly, too good to not use for ourselves.

Another Royalist is cowering behind stone. His uniform is green and a size too large.
Clearly a conscript. Just one more mark to the tally.
My grin grows ever wider as my finger tightens on the trigger.

It misses. Rather, blocked. I see not a Vanguard, but a walking coffin.
A Dreadnought, finally deployed for the year. Fierce, bulky, and perfect prey to hunt.
Surely this overconfident mutt will be enough to cement my status as a legendary hunter.

I fire again. The Dreadnought responds with a wild burst of machine-gun fire, spraying all around
All miss, of course. It cannot hit me, not at this range, and with it not knowing where I am.
I fire again. It hits the helmet, but the Dreadnought is unfazed.
I shot it in the head. Surely it must be concussed. So why are the bullets getting more accurate?

I quickly reposition further away, from a different angle. It can't see me, not at this distance, not with my lantern off.
So why is the gunfire getting more accurate?

I reposition again. So how did it hit me? One in my leg, another my shoulder, and one shattering my rifle.

How can it see me?
How can something so large move so fast?

The Queen has always said the Royalists were dogs, or vermin, or heretics.
Of course I believed it. It's true, after all.
The Nation called us freaks, or fanatics, or devils.
Of course they believed it. All lies, after all.

But the Dreadnought has seen me.
Without the machine-gun it carries, it runs terrifyingly fast.
And suddenly, I find that I am not smiling anymore.
I see a freak. A fanatic.
That is not a Nationer dog I can hunt.
It is a demon.

It is coming for me.

“Fuck this. Fuck it all. I’m done fighting. This isn’t my war.”

“Careful. You don’t want the Lieutenant to hear you talkin’ like that.”

“I don’t care. Don’t think he really cares anymore either, saw him with a whole bottle of moonshine last night. Most of the company’s dead. Battalion’s a trainwreck. We have no reinforcements coming and the Kings probably don't even know we exist.”

“Yeah… think the fanatics are in the same boat. The trigger-happy bastards should’ve been attackin’ by now either, but…”

“They have no one left either.”

“...”

“...what if we all just stopped?”

“Huh?”

“All of us. The Officers can't put an entire army up against the wall. Let the Kings and the Queen and their brass just go onto the battlefield themselves. They sit far away enough where they don’t ever risk getting shot at. They want to fight so badly, then let them fight.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. But you forgot that just a week ago, we overran their factory over by Ink sector. They’re not forgettin’ that.”

“Of course they’re not forgetting that, because it was stupid and we got nothing out of it. A month ago, they pushed us back to the Lamplights and they didn’t get anything out of it either. They have to know this is bullshit.”

“Do you really think they care? That they just want to… stop? What if they just say ‘thanks for giving up, Nations mutt,’ and then they shoot you in the face?”

“Yeah, they could. But think about it. Say they execute us, we're dead. We keep fighting, we're dead anyways. Same goes for them.”

“So? Aren't they suicidally-aggressive?”

“If they're suicidal, then why do all of us beg for mercy? What if they just want to go home too? Do you want to risk giving up the chance we could end it all?”

“...no.”

“You think we should talk to the others about it?”

“Know what, fuck command. It’s about time we got a say.”

“We’ll hold a vote over this, then.”

“Here’s hoping the Empire feels the same.”

...

“There is no point in this.”

“In what?”

“The Nationers, this war… why is Her Grace so happy to see them dead?”

>In Russia, hastily train a group of recruits before an attack on a Nations communications relay. The fundamentals of Officer.

Played as Inquisitor Bochkareva. Tutorial is told in first person through internal monologue.

Whistle Tutorial

As Bochkareva, you prepare to receive a group of soldiers that will attack a Nations facility. However, you discover they are all conscripts with no basic training and must instruct them mere hours before the assault. There is no way to properly build up their muscle for weeks beforehand, so you need to see if they are physically capable enough by having them run laps with their gear on.

>"Do better! Try harder!"
'If they do not move quickly enough, enemy fire will tear them apart before they reach their objective.'
Issue an Advance [1] order, greatly increasing sprinting speed.
"The key to a continued heartbeat is to MOVE YOUR FEET!"
"Run faster than those Nationer dogs can keep up and outmaneuver them!"

The recruits move faster under the Advance order, but slow down when they get far enough, showing they must be in whistle range to continue receiving buffs.

>'These idiots... they seem to slack off when they think they're enough from my eyes. They'll only listen to my orders while I'm near them.'

After a brief timeskip, a rudimentary firing range has been set up and the conscripts have begun training. However, their performance is lacking and they shoot wildly. They noticably gain better handling and accuracy after the whistle order.

>'This is no good... they know how to pull the trigger but not to shoot.'
Issue a Focus [3] order, increasing weapon performance all-around.
"Calm down! A bullet fired means nothing if it does not hit the enemy! Draw quick, but aim carefully!"

Objectives & Reconnaissance Tutorial

Hours later, you and the conscripts wait in caves high up above the communications facility. With a Focus order, your squadron opens fire from above. As you do so, the spotting mechanic is introduced when you shoot an enemy.

>"I wounded the one by the searchlight! Take him out while he's weak!"
Officers will call out enemies they have shot, marking them to allies.

As a separate assault team on the ground moves in, the objective begins capture.

>'Good, they are taking control of this facility now.'
Both teams fight to capture Control Points, no matter the game mode.
The more soldiers on an objective, the quicker it will be gained.
If there are more attackers than defenders, the capture will be slowed but not stopped.

However, a reinforcement wave arrives alongside an opposing Officer, eliminating most of your ground team.

>If there are more defenders than attackers on the Control Point, the capture will regress.
One Officer will be worth the strength of two people on capture progress.
'These heretics! They cannot be allowed to hold this site!'

The Nations Officer deploys a Defend order, and you begin taking losses.

>"Hold fast, men! It's just a flesh wound, push through the pain and repay it to them tenfold!"
The Defend [2] order increases resilience to injury. Soldiers do not flinch when shot and perform surgery faster.

You are then tasked with spotting enemies, searching for the Officer.

>'I must eliminate their Officer, these dogs will fall without his command!'
Orders end early if the issuing Officer is killed.
Fire a flare [T], which marks all enemies inside its range. Line of sight is not required.
Other classes have the option to forgo a helmet, but Officers refuse them no matter what. Search for the soldier not wearing one.
With your Binoculars, aim and click on enemies for a more powerful mark.
"There! The Officer is by the flag on the left!"

After marking the enemy Officer, he is shot in the head and the tutorial cuts to black.

The Officer

"Men and women will die if you order it so, but on which side will the corpses be from?"

>Undergo specialized medic training at a British field hospital. The fundamentals of Mortician.

Played as Armsman Brown. Tutorial is given by her experienced mentor, Knight Commander Nightingale, who teaches Brown about in-depth health mechanics, Stimulant effects and sickness. This is one of the most complex tutorials, going over many mechanics.

Healing & Health System Tutorial

Your mentor Nightingale leads you through rows of soldiers lying on sickbeds whilst explaining the training Morticians go through.

>"Brown, you should've gone through basic medical training, for emergencies. Problem is, it's rudimentary and messy.
"People aren't in the best shape when someone with shoddy training pulls a bullet from them, their medic usually has shaky hands and their tools go everywhere. One more bullet and they're dead anyways."
Other classes do not heal teammates to full health immediately.
"Morticians like us need to work quickly under pressure, keep the wound clean, and make sure not to cause damage when patching our soldiers up."

She stops at the end of the row, next to a man shot in the arm and tells you to perform surgery on him.

>"On average, it takes about two rifle rounds to kill somebody."
"This man got lucky, only took one shot. Still, he needs to be treated, it's too much damage to walk off."
Every standard soldier has 200 health, no matter the class.
Soldiers will naturally regenerate health shortly after being injured.
However, soldiers under 100 health cannot regenerate and require surgery.
"Keep a steady hand and a calm mind. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."
Morticians can heal quicker and restore more immediate health.

As the healing tutorial wraps up, Nightingale explains Medical Syrettes while standing next to an injured woman.

>"Sometimes we don't have time to patch up everyone."
"Morticians are given a supply of syringes, they're full of adrenaline and painkillers."
"Helps them ignore the pain and not need surgery."
"Just toss them to an injured comrade, they'll inject themselves and get back into the fight."
"Give one to this lass, I don't have any on me."
Press [G] while targeting an injured ally to quickly heal them and bypass surgery.
"Two issues, though. First is you have a limited supply."
Like other Class Equipment, Mortician's Syrettes recharge slowly over time.
"Second, it's not as good as you healing them yourself."
Syrettes perform better healing than other classes, but not as much as you would.

Stimulants Tutorial

After leaving the medical ward, Nightingale grabs a few vials of Stimulants, describing their usage and how it's being given out to all Morticians.

>"Take a look at this."
"Back then, we used to put these into syringes like the medical syrettes, but we had to inject them ourselves instead of trusting our friendly soldier. Much slower."
"We upgraded to throwing them and letting our soldiers breathe it in. More of them can be bolstered at once."
"Take some."
Morticians carry Stimulants that provide a variety of powerful buffs.

Nightingale gives a moderately injured soldier a dose of Bicaridine, showing how his health regenerates instantly to the player's UI.

>"First stimulant is Bicaridine. It helps blood clot up faster. Blood cells work quicker to heal the body if they get hurt afterwards, too."
Bicaridine [1] instantly heals soldiers to maximum health if they do not require surgery and triples health regeneration.

She then explains the chemical tolerance mechanic. A group of Bandits raid the hospital, however, and Nightingale leads you downstairs.

>"Each vial we put in a bottle, that's 10 units. Soldiers can only handle up to 30 units of chemicals in their bloodstream.
"Doesn't matter if those chemicals are good for them or not."
"The Jaeger Corps, they specialize in the harmful type. Stay away from them."
Morticians can buff themselves with their own Stimulants, but not other Morticians.
"Your gas mask protects you against most dangerous vapours, but fellow Morticians can't administer Stimulants to you due to it."
"However, the syrettes are still fine, you inject them yourself."
"Tonight, I expect you to read up on what each Stimulant does."
"You carry five types for your allies. The sixth one is for-"
explosion.wav
"ATTACK! IT'S AN ATTACK! TO POSITIONS!"
"Brown. Stay calm, come with me. We'll take cover and support the guards."
"Bandits incoming! Take them out!"

Stimulants (continued) & Sickness Tutorial

While the player stays in cover, they fill up Stimulants and watch the fight around them.

>"Stay low and keep that helmet on."
"I suppose we'll be having a field lesson on Stims."
"MEDIC! MEDIC!"
"Sir! Come to us!"
Give the Soldat a syringe. Then, apply Bicaridine [1] to him.
"He'll need something to move quicker as well. Possibly outmaneuver those Bandits."
"Synaptizine will help with that."
Apply Synaptizine [2] as well.
Synaptizine increases sprinting speed while active.

The Soldat runs off to rejoin the fight. Another Soldat is returning fire from a window, but he is shot. After performing surgery, the handling of his rifle is noticeably poor and he cannot control the recoil. After applying Stimulants, his performance improves.

>"Mort! Come on, give me the good stuff! You know, help me control the kick of this thing!"
"He means Hydrocodone and Haloperidol. Both start with H, easy to remember."
"Hydro for recoil management, Halo for weapon handling. A reliable mixture."
Apply both Hydrocodone [4] and Haloperidol [5].
You can load multiple Stimulants into a bottle before throwing.
"Why are you even standing there and talking? Pick up a rifle and help us!"
"I don't carry a weapon."
"What? Are you insane?"
"My morals don't allow it. Come quickly, Brown."
"Freaks like you are going to get us killed when we go against those Nation dogs! You're a traitor to this Empire!"

Nightingale and Brown run through a back door, stumbling across two Rooks and a Lancer, hastily making a plan to mine around the caves of the compound. However, the second Rook protests that they cannot mine there quickly enough. Nightingale has you give them Mephedrone, explaining its usage.

Finally, Nightingale provides two vials of Amatoxin to the player as they wrap back around to the front of the hospital, where the Bandits are attacking.

>"Be careful with these. This is the last Stimulant available to us. They can induce sickness via overdosage. Very dangerous."
"Coughing, weakness, poor vision. It will cripple anyone not wearing a mask like we do. However, your fellow soldiers will know not to breathe it in."
Morticians and Jaegers can apply harmful chemicals to enemies, which can go over the 30u tolerance limit.
Soldiers with more than 30u in their blood will become Sick.
Sickness turns the screen grey, pauses positive Stimulant effects, and degrades weapon control.
"Now. Throw it at the Bandits, stop them in their tracks."

Inflicting Amatoxin on the Bandits will cause their fighting capabilities to sharply degrade. Shortly afterwards, the Rooks and Lancer finish mining around and flank the Bandits. After watching the Lancer charge and impale a Bandit, the tutorial cuts to black.

The Mortician

"Will you take more lives than you save?"

>Participate in a mining and building operation for a planned outpost in the caves of Latin America. The fundamentals of Rook.

Played as Private First Class Serna. Tutorial is given by your Officer, Sergeant Amador, who gives orders for both mining and building.

Heavy Pick Tutorial

As Serna, you lead a tunneling group towards a Nations outpost using your heavy pick. However, you have to sharpen it midway through because you took a shitty used pickaxe.

>"Serna! Start tunneling, you've got the best pickaxe out of all of us."
Rooks carry a stronger pickaxe than other classes.
"Serna, your mining's slowed down. Pickaxe dull already?"
However, it will mine at low strength when dull, with the same performance as standard picks.
"Don't panic, Rooks do most of the mining work. That's why we give you guys a whetstone to sharpen your pickaxe to full strength."
[R] sharpens your pick. You have only one stone, get another at a Resupply Cache.

Building Tutorial

When you reach the lot, your officer tells you to make some constructs and explains what they do. He explains all they are temporary defenses and an actual building will be erected later, so as to not confuse new players into thinking they'll be making actual Compounds.

>Rook has a variety of constructs designed for defensive usage.
"Make a few barricades, Private. These are what you'll generally be building during combat. Sturdy and with an opening to shoot through."
"Palisades were designed to be set up very quickly, but they're small and relatively more fragile."
"You can repair those last two defenses, reinforce it with some extra wood and steel."
"However, you can't do the same with sandbags. Harder to mend the sack spilling sand everywhere. The good news is they're so tough you usually won't have to in the first place. Put a couple over there, that angle's exposed.

>"Now, the last two constructs Rooks make with their supplies aren't about stopping bullets."
"Ammo Caches don't resupply Equipment. Need to make more room for bullets and it's heavy to carry things like those Sharpening Stones in those boxes. However, they do carry an emergency helmet or two in case if somebody lost one."
"Speaking of which. González! Get your ass over here and wear a helmet! Not like you have much brain to be protecting."
"Says the Officer."
"What was that?"
"Nothing..."
Rook's Ammo Caches only supply Ammunition and Helmets.
However, Officers by nature do not wear Helmets.

>"Finally, barbed wire. Slows those cultists down, either they carefully step over them or they get sliced to bits. However, it doesn't discriminate against you or your friends. Think carefully about where you want to put them."

Mining Bomb Tutorial

An Empire squadron suddenly attacks the outpost from the cover of the rocks, forcing you to take cover behind your recently-placed barricades.

>"Serna! Keep these structures up, no matter what!"
Only Rooks can repair constructs. Repair them with your hammer.
"Forget it, we can't out-repair the damage quick enough! Serna, your Mining Bomb Launcher! Take out their cover!"
Your Mining Bombs are effective in clearing out rocks, but perform poorly as a weapon.
Equipment accessed by [G] recharges over time, the same is true for other classes.

After killing some Imperials, a mining bomb blasts apart a barricade and exposes two Nation soldiers to a hail of bullets.

>"They have a counter-Rook!"
Direct hits with Mining Bombs do heavy damage to Constructs.
Rooks are each other's greatest weakness.

Sergeant Amador marks the enemy Rook with his Binoculars.

>"Right by the jutted rocks on our left, there's the Rook! Take them out!"

Upon killing her, the Rook tutorial cuts to black.

The Rook

"Welcome to the front line."

no surprise that after a series of making games with no tutorials, the first one red makes is a complete dogshit one. she forgot that it had to have substance alongside style, not just an extended cutscene that doesn't teach anything useful. a few amendments should hopefully fix that.

The Actual Lore Itself

Red seems to have forgotten that it's actually the Vanguards described as the selfless class, not the Rooks. Then again, she's too busy glazing the Empire and making the Nation incompetent just because she felt like it. Issue is, with so much focus placed on Kyle Weller as the pseudo-protagonist of G/D, either the whole character gets rewritten to be a Vanguard or just simply remove mentions of Rooks being the selfless class. They're not. Alternatively, it could be some other random Nationer conscript that ISN'T Weller.

The second issue is there's too much emphasis on the lore in what is supposed to be the barebones gameplay tutorial. I get that sprinkling lore throughout is important. I do think it's a good idea, it's just that with too much focus on the Geist interrupting the tutorial, it'll only confuse players when they reach the actual multiplayer aspect and it's far different from the slow-paced tutorial. However, that won't be too important if it's just the introduction and all core mechanics are actually taught afterwards. Problem is, they aren't.

The Mechanics

Tutorial doesn't teach teamwork. Simple. You toss ammo to yourself, you do surgery on yourself, but you are not taught to work with your fellow man.

The Firing Range

There is a fellow soldier there, Private Aldina. However, she serves no real purpose other than to give a few lines. Just make her have a use by having Sergeant Port ask you to toss ammo to her when she's done shooting.

Additionally, introduce the ammo-checking mechanic instead of just mindlessly shooting. Counting your shots is important. Reloads on a partially-loaded rifle will eject a round.

Sergeant Port briefly explains this, saying how catching bullets is too difficult for most soldiers to get the hang of and it's to be expected. He then tells Weller to not worry about it, Soldats carry enough ammo on them anyways.

The Train

This is a nice place for a narrative break. Good to introduce the world organically and provides a brief break from the instructions. Too bad the part that comes after...

The Bandit Attack

...is completely atrocious in depicting how actual gunfights go. This is my main complaint of the tutorial.

First: Helmets. Nobody really paid attention to them. Sure, there was a 'Helmets Save Lives' sign, but Red just has to vaguepost about how exactly they do that and people don't care. One of the conscripts talks about the other's blood brother, the Officer. The former brings up how they never wear helmets. Then, during the firefight, we see one of the conscripts get shot in the head and die immediately. The bandit that shot him specifically calls this out. "Fool should've worn a helmet, haha!" However, the Corporal who was on the train gets his helmet shot off but survives. The area is better-lit so we can see all of this.

Second: Ammo. Let's see if the player remembers how to toss Ammunition. The other conscript calls out for ammo and reminds the player that's a thing they can do.

Third: Healing. After you get hit, you perform surgery on yourself. Shortly after, the Corporal takes a bullet and calls for a medic. Game teaches surgery on other players and how it's far faster than self-surgery. However, it's not a full heal*.

^(*I'm writing tutorials for each individual class, because Red couldn't be bothered to.)

All of this is the basic tutorial, teaching the basics of both the game and Soldat as a whole. No fancy tricks, no special gimmicks. Just another pair of hands with a gun.

A follow-up to my Lancer alternate weapon concepts.

'Chemist'

>Painkiller Injector repeatedly flushes negative effects while active and does not remove positive Stimulant effects if there is room for tolerance. Gain an extra 10u of chemical tolerance.

Lancer's Painkillers remove ALL other chemicals in the bloodstream when applied, including positive effects from friendly Morticians. Now, you can also keep the chemicals in your blood to make it a controlled substance in 39 states.

However, given that Painkillers grant 20u of Inaprovaline, this would only leave room for one other chemical. With an extra 10u of chemical tolerance granted, you can keep up to 2 chemicals when Painkillers are applied.

If more than 20u of chemicals are applied already, then Inaprovaline will override the chemical with the least duration remaining. If all chemicals have the same amount of duration remaining (say, if a Mort gave you 40u of chemicals in one bottle), then the priority list for chemicals allowed to stay can be edited in your loadout. However, the game will prioritize variety of chemicals over having multiple units of one.

'Leatherneck'

>Immune to flinches and knockback from being shot. Gain increased resilience to incoming melee damage. Additionally, halves knockdown and stun time.

Leatherneck typically does not stack with Lancer's innate melee damage resistance. That's stupid, given how bad Lancer already is. We're fixing that.

Getting stunned because you hit a very slightly elevated piece of rock is not particularly fun. Sitting in a stun animation at the end of your charge also is not fun, given how bad charges already are. We're fixing that as well.

'Apparation'

>Remain silent during charges, alongside standard bonuses.

You just don't scream while charging. Simple. Just stop talking.

'Survivalist'

>Gain an extra inventory slot, alongside extra Equipment and class supplies.

Guncers need to die.

'Ambidextrous'

>What is my purpose?

You don't have one. Why are you even in the game and why did Ambi even need to be a perk on its own? You don't do anything man.