Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory/Classes

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

This page also lists the weapons available to each class. Some weapons, however, are used by all classes, and are described below.


 * Knife: There isn't much to say about the knife. It's simply a knife, with no special features. It fires very quickly, but the "swish-swish" of the knife can sometimes give away a nearby user. High-levelled covert ops can use a knife on the back of a target to instantly kill them. Knife kills are difficult, but not unheard of. Using it with surprise is best.
 * Pistol: Consists of either the Colt .45 or the Luger for Allies and Axis respectively. They generally aren't favourable fall-back weapons, especially when compared to the two submachine guns, but they can prove much better than the knife at long distances. In their favour, however, pistols reload quickly. Experts in the Light Weapons category can wield two pistols at once. While the rate of fire is doubled (putting it on par with a submachine gun), the reload time is also doubled, making it tougher to reload.
 * Submachine gun: Consists of either the Thompson or the MP-40 for Allies and Axis respectively. The bread-and-butter weapon of the game, available to all classes except Covert ops. With a reasonable rate of fire and no major advantages or disadvantages, the submachine gun works well in almost every situation.
 * Grenade: Every class carries a grenade. Engineers carry the most, while field ops and medics carry the least. Grenades can be throwna reasonable distance. It does, however, take several seconds for them to explode. This can be remedied by holding the fire button. Doing so allows players to "cook" the grenade. The grenade's fuse is five seconds long, and will tick down as you cook it. Ensure to throw the grenade before the fifth tick.

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.

Special Weapons, Abilities, and Items
As mentioned earlier, medics can use the Syringe on wounded allies. So long as the icon to the right is visible, prodding an ally with the syringe will allow them to get up and fight again. Aside from giving you experience, it also allows an ally to not wait a full spawn cycle and get back in the game sooner. Additionally it helps your friend by making him or her not have to walk to where he or she was previously. The syringe can be activated with the 5 key and be used with the fire button. Medics also carry Health Packs which players of either team can pick up. It is best, therefore, to use it at point-blank range on a wounded ally, so that the enemy will not pick it up later. Medics gain experience for every health pack they pick up. Note, however, that enemies can pick them up as well. Naturally, medics do not gain experience when an enemy picks them up.

The presence of medics also slightly increases every player's max hit points for your team. The bonus, however gets smaller and smaller the more medics there are. Beyond four medics, there is no change at all. Two medics is often ideal.