Piercer

The Piercer is the Profane province’s line infantry — the Pikeman answered in black. Where the Pious fold a long, patient pike, the Profane crease ink-soaked stock into a hooked jab-spear and hand it to something meaner. The Piercer hits lighter than its white-paper mirror but jabs noticeably faster, and it trades a little of the Pikeman’s hide for a quicker step.

The two provinces pay the same bill for their front line — 50 Paper and a pinch of Pencilcore — so the difference is all temperament. The Piercer’s rapid hooked jabs actually grind out slightly more damage over time than the Pikeman’s measured thrusts; the Pikeman answers with more health and a longer reach. Black paper favors the aggressor.

Strategy

The Piercer does everything the Pikeman does for a Profane army: it is the cheap, sturdy body that holds the front while your Poachers and Plaguebearers work from behind it. Its faster jab cadence makes it a shade better in prolonged brawls and at chewing through shielded or armored targets, while its shorter reach and thinner hide mean it wants to commit fully rather than fence at the edge of range. Fold Piercers in numbers early — they are your wall against rushes, your escort for workers, and later the screen that keeps pouncing raiders off your siege engines. Like all line infantry they melt to splash and fire, so spread them when Pyros or Proxies are about.