So, I’m not sure if this is a bug or a skill issue, but I have a weird problem in Enhanced I don’t remember in the Legacy version. I completed a purge, killed the Stygian Hand of War, took his keys, and headed into the enemy base to collect loot, when I was insta-killed by a Stygian Soldier III. Even worse, when I respawned and came back to the camp again, this dude’s health bar was WAY bigger than the Hand of War. He killed me over and over until the enemy camp disappeared, so I never got my reward for the purge! I don’t remember there being any more enemies you had to kill to get the loot after killing the purge boss before?
That does seem weird. Not something I’ve ever encountered (but I also haven’t done any purges on Enhanced yet at all). (@stelagel you’ve done a hundred times more purges than I have on the Legacy version - did you ever encounter anything like this?)
It sounds to me like something that is probably worth reporting as a bug - the place for CEE bug reports is now - Contact Us — Conan Exiles Help Center - so that way the devs get it more quickly. Here’s hoping it doesn’t happen again.
It’s a rare bug that pleases me when it happens . But our fellow exile is correct, this dude is a better fighter than the hand of war.
The Solider III guards have been very tough, fast aggressive and strong forever. Did a Lot of purges in UE4 and 5, and it seems the Same. It’s weird and maybe should be changed, but ist Not a Bug per se, I’d say.
The bug my dear friend is that this guy stays alive after you kill the commander 
. That’s why i love it , because this particular NPC is really good when he shows up this way, a little bit stronger than the usual, awesome!
These guys are definitely a bigger threat than the commander, but players usually only encounter them if they manage to get into the enemy base (which they’re supposed to be guarding) during a purge, or if the base spawns too close and the thralls or the player lure them out.
Their damage is significant, and it’s important not to let them corner you; on the other hand, a Berserker can make short work of them.
But what the OP is describing IS a bug
because the moment you kill the commander, two things happen after a few seconds:
- The archers on the towers “surrender”
- Everyone else, even if they’re in combat, disappears, including these defenders
So they—and it doesn’t matter how much HP they had, which would be a separate bug— shouldn’t have been there in the first place after is commande gone
That’s what I thought!
True, they should despawn, but don’t.
I think (think!) that happens if they aggroed during the purge, possibly even on random mobs. Not new, but still annoying.
They are so dangerous due to the “spear phenomenon”. They’re all equipped with spears and attack very rapidly, thereby stun-locking thralls. Due to their high damage, they seem to almost one shot player characters, as they usually attack in unison. They seem more accurate with their spears than many NPCs and thereby feel a bit like homing missiles.
Well, I agree with that. Every player in the game soon realizes that the combat mechanics aren’t uniform
Here are a few of the most glaring examples:
- NPCs can change the direction of their attacks not only during combos but also during individual strikes; their aimbot is seriously overpowered, and it’s absolutely amazing to watch a guy with a two-handed mace—who I just rolled past—turn 180 degrees mid-strike and smash me in the head
- A Thrall will simply start a combo more or less against an opponent and only check where they are after finishing it, often wasting the entire combo on thin air.
The accuracy of archers is another extreme—90–100% for NPCs (both vs. players and against Thrall)—compared to pure RNG with Thralls, where it also depends a lot on the height difference
You can really see this with the first archer at the watchtower, who’s up on the tower, or at the Lianelle spawn—Thrall simply sends 99% of his shots RIGHT UNDER the opponent’s feet - NPCs also have much more agile AI when it comes to switching between ranged and melee weapons; when a Thrall decides it’s time to shoot, he’ll just keep trying over and over until he succeeds (or dies) instead of switching to a backup weapon
etc., every veteran knows this