Hooded Empire Noble GuardReport
English：Hooded Empire Noble Guard · Characters
The elite bodyguards of the United Cities and the Traders Guild. They follow their noble everywhere, shout peasants out of the way, and attack the ones who do not move. Empire Samurai Armour, a Nodachi, and perception and crossbow skill near zero — pure melee.
Noble guardsmen, outta the way! — Hooded Empire Noble Guard
Hooded Empire Noble Guards are the elite bodyguards of the United Cities and the Traders Guild. Their job is to stay next to a member of the Noble Circle: posted inside the Noble House, out on the street the moment the noble steps out, shouting any peasant in the way aside and attacking the ones who do not obey.
Most players first notice the unit exists because one of them has just shouted that line at them in an Empire town.
Who they follow
They appear in three situations:
| Situation | Numbers |
|---|---|
| Noble House and street patrol | 4–5 per noble |
| Wilderness hunting party | Led by a Noble Captain, 6 around a Noble Hunter |
| Lady Sanda's retinue | Standard guards plus several unique, better-equipped variants |
The wilderness group deserves a separate note. It is outside town, so no city guard rules protect it — but it also means that when you meet an Empire noble party in open country, you are not facing stragglers. It is a full formation of elite melee troops.
The race column is more mixed than you would expect
This unit does not have a fixed race. The game data lists Human, Shek, Hive and Skeleton, with subraces covering Greenlander, Scorchlander, Hive Prince, Hive Soldier Drone, Hive Worker Drone and Skeleton. Female chance is 40%.
So the body taking a blade for a United Cities noble may be a skeleton, or a Hive worker drone. For a state that writes slavery into its law, that list is interesting in itself, though the game offers no comment on it. What is recorded here is only the data.
Statistics: they are blind
| Field | Range |
|---|---|
| Strength, Toughness, Dexterity | 50–70 |
| All weapon skills | 50–70 |
| Melee Attack, Melee Defence | 50–70 |
| Dodge, Martial Arts | -4–16 |
| Turrets | 50–70 |
| Perception | -9–11 |
| Crossbows | -9–11 |
Stats randomise by 10 and are then multiplied by each character's racial multiplier.
The bottom two rows are the point. Perception and Crossbows both sit near zero, which means a Hooded Empire Noble Guard has no ranged capability at all and does not see far. Dodge is on the floor with them. These are heavily armoured troops with heavy blades who can only fight at contact range.
The flip side is that melee 50–70 behind a full set of Empire Samurai Armour is overwhelming for an early squad. What kills you is not one of them. It is four to six of them arriving together.
What it costs to fight them
Drawing on them in town means open war with the United Cities or the Traders Guild, and the noble is usually standing right there, so it will not end with the guards. The wilderness group carries no such penalty, but the Noble Hunter will greet you first.
The valuable thing on the body is the Empire Samurai Armour. It cannot be crafted or bought, only taken off a corpse, and this unit is one of the few reliable sources.