Honestly I prefer soldiers over just about every other Mistlands enemies. Yeah, they're complete hp sponges, but they're loud, slow, easily spotted even through the mist, and pretty much the only enemy you can actually run from if things go poorly. They're one of few enemies with defined weaknesses to be played around.

They do probably take a bit too long to kill for how simple they are though, so they overstay their welcome. A slightly longer stun duration might help with that so that you can actually get weakpoint hits when you stun them. I also wish enemies didn't instantly turn to face you when you parried them. It makes flanking & landing weakpoint hits harder against the ground slam attack in particular and is just a bit jarring. Granted, Lox have that problem too. Trolls & Abominations do it too, though it's not as problematic on them.

But yeah, I'll take a soldier over a one/two star Seeker or a Gjall any day.

Two tips though. Bows are pretty weak against them unless you're landing weakspot hits, their dps just can't compete with parries and it shows on the Soliders. Also, when using staves, keep in mind that you can actually parry with them!