Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory/Classes

In Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, the player can choose 5 different classes. Each has a different task in the team.

Soldier
Soldiers are the base grunt on every team. Despite this you won't see too many of them amongst experienced players - while they can wield the largest number of weapons, they also do not have the healing power of medics, the dynamiting ability of engineers, or the explosive power of field ops. Since every class - except the covert ops - can hold the submachine gun, it is often not a good idea to have a soldier with a submachine gun. One might as well, if one is a soldier, use the specialized weaponry that only soldiers can use.

Weapons
Heavy weapons are the soldier's specialty. Heavy weapons, however, slow your character down considerably while equipped (though movement speed can be recovered through experience). Soldiers have a semi-exclusiveness to the heavy weapons skill. Other players can upgrade it by using mounted MG-42s, but soldiers can use mounted MGs, portable MGs, flamethrowers, Panzerfausts, or mortars to gain EXP.


 * Flamethrowers have a short range but they are very deadly. A flamethrower, when fired, sends a spurt of flame. It takes a while to dissipate, so a good flamethrower person can cover an entire room of flames and hit large groups of enemies. Flamethrowers are deadly in close quarters, making it deadly in rooms and at chokepoints, where the enemy has little place to run. Flamethrowers are useless at range and in open areas. If used incorrectly, however, a flamethrower can easily harm yourself and/or your teammates, especially if friendly fire is on. It works well in an ambush since the flames often obstruct a player's view and prevent them from firing back (though it does not prevent lucky hits). Flamethrowers do, however, have weaknesses - their short range means that backpedaling enemies are tough to incinerate. As aforementioned, friendly fire is always a factor.
 * MG-42s are the opposite in flamethrowers for the most part. MG-42s are not useful at all at close range, but excel at longer ranges. If you want to release some bottled up teenage angst, try walking into a field of enemies with the MG-42 and just start shooting. It is highly inaccurate, but somewhat damaging. Where the MG-42 really shines though is when the user goes prone and right-clicks. This sets up a bipod and, while it reduces mobility, vastly increases accuracy. An MG-42 is ideal at the end of a long hallway which gives the enemy little room to manoeuvre yet is at a long distance. MG-42 soldiers can be often easily flanked, necessitating their defence. Machine guns often also run out of ammo, making best friends with Field ops.
 * Mortars are a highly explosive weapon, but tough to use. Mortars can only set up from a crouching position, just like a machine gun (except the machine gun must be set up while prone). You will then be prompted to adjust the elevation and the azimuth (vertical and horizontal settings respectively) and then use the primary fire key to lob the mortar. The G key can allow you to see where your mortar landed. Any artillery strikes called by Field Ops will also appear on your map and in your sights, so you can sit back and let others pick your targets for you. Note that, assuming equal elevation and no intervening barriers, each 5 degrees of elevation below 90 will lob a mortar round almost exactly 1 square's distance on the command map. The mortar begins with 12 shots, and each drains 1/2 of a full power bar.
 * Panzerfausts are the other highly explosive weapon. Unlike mortars, Panzerfausts are ridiculously easy to use, and very easy to get a kill with - to the point of overpowered-ness. When triggered, the launcher charges for about two seconds before firing a ridiculously fast-moving rocket. The resulting explosion is often more than enough to disintegrate a target. The explosive power of panzerfausts works against infantry and vehicles (ones that can be disabled, anyway) to equal effect.

Medic
Medics often start with barely any ammo (a single clip for a submachine gun and a single grenade) but the power to create health and use syringes to assist your teammates more than compensates. Whenever a player is shot, she or he can either sit around and wait for a medic, or press jump to attempt to respawn. If a medic is nearby, the medic can use the syringe on the wounded player (with the red syringe icon appearing over them) and let them back into the game. They won't have to walk all the way back to where they died previously, or wait to respawn. It also gives the medic some experience, so resurrecting players is almost always a good idea.

Engineer
As Engineers are needed for most objectives, they are unmissable in any team. Engineers can use either the submachinegun (MP40 / Thompson) or the K43 rifle(M1 Garand if allies). A unique ability of the engineer is that he can fire a grenade with his rifle. When the right mouse button is pressed, the engineer puts a grenade on the end of his rifle. He can then fire it for over 100 yards with extreme accuracy. A rifle grenade is very powerful, it has almost the same effect as the panzerfaust. The only difference is that the grenade's height will decrease at longer ranges. Also two unique abilities are that he can place land mines and dynamites. Dynamites are often only used for objectives (e.g. blowing up walls) and rarely for taking out enemy troops. Land mines are very useful to prevent the enemy engineers from getting to objectives, or just to make sure no-one enters an area.

Field ops
A field ops is usually found near allied troops with the Soldier class. A soldier usually uses up his ammo quickly, and one of the unique abilities of the field ops is to give ammo to his teammates. Each ammo pack contains one (or two, if level one signals is reached) ammo clip and a grenade. Medics also receive more syringes. A field ops can only use an MP-40 if Axis or Thompson if Allies. If the field ops uses his binoculars, he can mark a spot on the map for off-map artillery to fire at. This only lasts a few seconds (Twice as long if level 3 Signals is reached), but it is often devastating against all enemies. Artillery is useful for guarding a territory that enemies are not allowed to enter. A field ops can also throw a kind of smoke grenade, with different colors for Allies and Axis, which makes allied airplanes drop bombs near the marker, in a straight line. One disadvantage of both artillery and airstrike is that it can only be used outside, as buildings in ET are indestructable. When inside, pilots can't see the airstrike marker and artillery won't work as it can't go through walls.

Covert ops
The Covert ops class is not recommended for new players. The Covert ops can use 3 different weapons, the Sten rifle, the FG42 rifle and a M1 Garand with a scope (or a K43 rifle if Axis). The Sten has greater accuracy than the MP40 and Thompson, but it can overheat when the player does not fire in bursts. It will then jam for a few seconds, and the player can't shoot, reload or change weapons in that time. The FG42 rifle's fire rate is about as high as a submachinegun's, but it has only 20 bullets in each clip. It has, however, a scope, so it is useful for taking out troops at longer distances. The scoped M1 Garand / K43 is a sniper rifle. It has 10 bullets in one clip, and fires semi-automatically. If the scope is used, its effectiveness is more than doubled. It can take out most enemies with two or three shots, depending on the enemies health and how many of the hits were headshots. A unique ability of the covert ops is that he can use Satchel charges, a remote-controlled bomb. This is useful for blowing up the smaller objectives and Command Posts. A covert ops also has a smoke grenade, so he can't be seen by enemy forces.