Vampire hunter pillagers

Vampire Hunter Pillagers were human vampire hunter enemies and part of Moebius's Mercenary Army. Encountered primarily by Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, they were the among the lowest ranked of the Vampire Hunter classes seen in Defiance and were seen predominantly in Raziel's chapters in the Blood Omen era at the Cemetery and Pillars of Nosgoth - although they would be featured again later a later chapter in Vorador's Mansion. They were notable for their use of grenade-like firebombs.

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Vampire Hunter Pillagers were male troops of Moebius's Vampire hunter faction, encountered by Raziel in the Blood Omen era at the start of Defiance. The Pillagers wield a set of handheld claw-like blades and wore clothing that consisted of various mismatched materials including a white undershirt and several brown belt-like leather straps across the neck and chest and extra leather padding on the shoulders and forearms. They also wore khaki shorts with several further brown leather straps and padding on the thighs, knees and ankles - with lighter brown greaves and boots on the lower legs. Most of the pillagers hair was shaved into a mohawk and they grew long fu manchu style moustaches.^[Defiance]^[Defiance/4]^[Defiance/6]^{[Defiance/12]}^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

Defiance-Abilities-Pillager-Firebomb — A Pillager projectile

Pillagers were the long range troops of the Vampire hunter faction in Defiance. They were generally quite weak in close-quarters combat and preferred to stay at range and throw grenade-like firebombs in a high arc. When pressed they could also use the claws to attack at close range using their notable agility to roll out of range. Despite their relative weakness, their ability to disrupt battles from a distance made them a higher priority in combat. They were among the first enemies to be encountered by Raziel as he returned to the Material Realm in the Blood Omen era in Find the Path to the Pillars and could later be encountered in the chapters Find the Location of Vorador's Mansion and Battle Kain.^[Defiance]^[Defiance/4]^[Defiance/6]^{[Defiance/12]}^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

Like many of the Vampire Hunter classes in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Pillagers could be 'enhanced' by the spells of the Vampire hunter sorceresses.^[Defiance]^{[Defiance strategy guide]}^{[Defiance manual]}

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Vampire Hunter Pillagers 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 Vampire Hunter enemy types.^{[Defiance strategy guide]} Scripts refer to the Pillagers in cutscenes simply as "Male Vampire Hunter".^[Defiance]^[Defiance/4]. Game files label the class as "vh_skinny" or "p_vh_skinny".^[Defiance]
- The name "Pillager" implies a class responsible for violent robberies - especially in wartime.^[1]^[2]
The Vampire Hunter Pillagers notably bear a strong resemblance to the Vampire hunter ascetics which appear in later chapters. The classes appear to be visually identical save for the claws which are used only by the pillagers. Despite this similarity the ascetics class is counted as separate in game files and the strategy guide - and their distinct combat styles can be easily observed in game.^[Defiance/4]^[Defiance/6]^{[Defiance/12]}^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

A Pillager
An Ascetic

Like many of the Defiance Vampire hunter classifications, the design and role of the Vampire Hunter Pillagers does not match with the roles seen previously in the Pre-Blood Omen era in Soul Reaver 2 or the Blood Omen era in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - this may be due to time or timeline differences, but could be justified due to the undisciplined nature of the mercenary vampire hunters as a whole.^{[Blood Omen]}^{[Soul Reaver 2]}^[Defiance] Ultimately the Pillager rank fills in a role similar to the water balloon throwing hunters cut from of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - although their long distance range attacks also make them somewhat comparable to the Vampire hunter cannoneers of Soul Reaver 2.^{[Blood Omen]}^[3]^[4]^{[Soul Reaver 2]}