Sarafan Crusaders were troops of the Sarafan faction, encountered by Kain in Nosgoth's early history at the start of Defiance. The Crusaders wielded a two-handed polearm and wore a uniform that had a metallic armor with purple clothing underneath of a similar shade to the Sarafan Archers - from whom they could be distinguished by weapons and attack style. The crusaders were described as faithful rank-and-file soldiers of the Sarafan with little training, hence they were a lower priority in combat than their brethren - the ranged attacking Archers, charging Zealots and skilled Templars. Crusaders aspired to reach the higher ranks of Templar or Inquisitor, but relative lack of skill meant they were ordinarily 'teamed' with the better ranks to attack and overwhelm Kain.[Defiance][Defiance/1][Defiance/3][Defiance/5][Defiance strategy guide]
Sarafan Crusaders are not named in game. They are however titled as such in Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide where they are classified and grouped along with other Sarafan enemy types.[Defiance strategy guide] Scripts refer to the Sarafan in cutscenes alternatively as "Sarafan Guard" or simply "Sarafan".[Defiance][Defiance/1] Another alternative term "Sarafan Warrior" is seen in Daniel Cabuco's former online profile concept of the class - although he does mention the piece bears "crusader style armor".[1] The Sarafan Cursaders are labelled as "sarafanpole" in game files and their weapons as "sarapolea", "sarapoleb" and "sarapolec".[Defiance]
Early Sarafan designs resembling for Sarafan Crusaders can be seen in artwork for Defiance fan kit, Bonus materials and the former online profile of artist Daniel Cabuco where they can be seen utilizing twin swords - despite this crusaders in the game only wield staff-like weapons and it is the Sarafan zealots that use twin blades.[Defiance] Ultimately it's probable that the troops colors and weaponry varied through the development of the title and the artwork was produced before the final distinctions were put in place. The accompanying annotation on Cabuco's website also provided some background to the Defiance Sarafan design:
" For Defiance we added Aikido style pants and color coding for the Sarafan. It supposed to be a few years after SR2, so I evolved the armor from Roman to Crusader style armor"
