Team Fortress 2/Soldier

• Health: 200
• Speed: 80%
• Type: Offense
• Special Ability: Rocket Jump

The Soldier is a solid combat class suited for any situation. With his easy to use rocket launchers as well as good backup weapons, he's the best class for a beginner. That doesn't mean the Soldier is any less effective at a higher level. Being able to deal a lot of damage as well as having great mobility through rocket jumping, he is a force to be feared on the battlefield. Being able to wreck havoc alone and boost the power of a group, he is always a welcome addition in any good team.

Weapons

The Soldier has a larger variety of weapons than any other class, giving him a lot of diferrent playstyles and letting him take on a lot of different roles.

Primary Weapons

If there's a medic around, call for a buff before rocketjumping up to that perch and you can fight with 200 health instead of 160.

Rocket Launcher

• Clip Size: 4 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 105-112
• Mid Range Damage: 50-90
• Long Range Damage: 45-60
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Critical Hit: 270

The Rocket Launcher deals a lot of damage on direct hits and a lot of splash damage to nearby enemies. A direct critical hit will kill most classes, even with a medic, in one hit. The rocket launcher is strong, but it fires slowly to make up for its power. Rockets from long range are easy to dodge and reloading is time consuming. Whenever you aren't in combat, reload your rocket launcher. Always be ready for combat.

The rocket launcher has a lot of knockback. Landing a direct hit on the feet of an enemy will send them flying into the air, which is incredibly useful. While they're in the air, you can hit them with another rocket (this is called an "airshot" or "middy"), which will not only deal more damage but also send them higher in the air, increasing the amount of fall damage they take. Launching ubered players into the air will delay them and if there's a friendly sentry nearby they can often be sent flying very far away, wasting the uber completely.

With the Rocket Launcher you can Rocket Jump by crouching, jumping and then firing. This allows you to get to high places that you couldn't normally reach or simply to get somewhere much faster. It is also very useful for getting to an ideal distance in combat, for instance, quickly getting close to a sniper.

Proper rocket jumping deals about 50 damage to you, but if you bungle it it can do up to 100 damage, so be careful. If you have a medic attached to you, rocketjump often as it helps build his uber and gets you moving faster.

The rocket launcher has a tendency to run out of ammo with heavy use. Find a dispenser or supply cabinet. If it's safe to do so, you can also pick up dropped weapons.

Direct Hit

• Clip Size: 4 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 140
• Mid Range Damage: 112
• Long Range Damage: 57
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Critical Hit: 336

The Direct Hit is designed for, well, direct hits with a rocket. Its rockets travel much faster and deal more damage, but has way less splash damage. Airshooting enemies launched by explosives will deal mini-crit damage on them. Practise with the default Rocket Launcher before trying this weapon. Learn to make accurate shots, especially at enemy feet. Take advantage of its faster speed to land direct hits better, and rely less on splash damage, since its blast radius is greatly reduced. Its higher damage is also good for dealing with low-health classes at close range, and destroys sentries much quicker. Try to land a hit on an enemy's feet, as it launches them up for an airshot. Note that the mini-crit from airshots apply to any enemy launched by any form of explosive, such as a Demoman's grenades or even enemy rocket jumping Soldiers.

Black Box

• Clip Size: 3 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 105-112
• Mid Range Damage: 50-90
• Long Range Damage: 45-60
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Critical Hit: 270
• Self Healing: 15

The Black Box heals 15 health upon hitting an enemy, but only carries three rockets in a clip. The self-heal it provides lets you survive in a heated battle longer, but makes it harder to sustain fire at your enemies due to its clip size. The smaller clip size means you will waste a lot of time reloading, so always remember to keep it loaded and reload an entire clip at once instead of each rocket individually. It's a good idea to bring your Shotgun along to help you keep dealing damage after you used up a Black Box clip. You can negate your rocket jump and fall damage by simply hitting enemies while midair and after falling back. You can also use the healing to survive and escape when you're low on health.

Rocket Jumper

• Clip Size: 4 - Reserve Ammo: 60
• Point Blank Damage: 0
• Mid Range Damage: 0
• Long Range Damage: 0
• Self Damage: 0
• Critical Hit: 0

The Rocket Jumper is a training weapon for rocket jumping. It deals no self-damage when rocket jumping, allowing you to rocket jump without worrying about damaging yourself. However, it deals absolutely no damage to enemies and you will be unable to pick up enemy intelligence. While being only meant for training, it is useful to some extent. Being able to constantly rocket jump improves your mobility a lot, and let's you soar through enemy fire. However, you are sacrificing your main source of damage when using this weapon, so you become much more of a support class.

Liberty Launcher

• Clip Size: 3 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 105-112
• Mid Range Damage: 50-90
• Long Range Damage: 45-60
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Critical Hit: 270

The Liberty Launcher's rockets travel 40% faster than the default Rocket Launcher, but holds only 3 rockets per clip. It's usage is similar to the Direct Hit's, able to hit more accurately and good for launching and airshooting enemies. It's rockets are slower and do less damage than the Direct Hit's, making it better for this purpose, but the Liberty Launcher has a much more forgiving splash radius. It's reduced clip is a significant drawback, so you need to manage your rocket supply similarly to the Black Box.

Cow Mangler 5000

• Clip Size: 5 - Reserve Ammo: Infinite
• Point Blank Damage: 117-121
• Mid Range Damage: 45-81
• Long Range Damage: 41-43
• Self Damage: 24-80
• Mini-Crit: 109
• Afterburn Damage: 36 damage over 6 seconds

The Cow Mangler 5000 has a higher clip and infinite ammo, but deals 10% less damage to players and 80% less damage to buildings. It also reloads slower and cannot get critical hits no matter how. Right clicking when your Mangler bar is full charges up a shot. This charged shot consumes all of your ammo and deals mini-crits, sets enemies on fire and disables buildings when it hits. It also ignites friendly Huntsman's arrows. Always charge up your charged shot when behind cover, as your reduced speed makes you vulnerable to enemy fire.

Original

• Clip Size: 4 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 105-112
• Mid Range Damage: 50-90
• Long Range Damage: 45-60
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Critical Hit: 270

The Original has the same attributes as the Rocket Launcher, so all strategy for it is applicable here. It is worth to note that the Original's unique first-person view let's you get a clearer view of your surroundings, as well as making your rockets more accurate.

Beggar's Bazooka

• Clip Size: 3 - Reserve Ammo: 20
• Point Blank Damage: 105-112
• Mid Range Damage: 50-90
• Long Range Damage: 45-60
• Self Damage: 27-89
• Overload Damage: 90
• Critical Hit: 270

The Beggar's Bazooka has the unique feature of letting you load up to three rockets before shooting them in rapid succession, which lets you do a lot of damage in a short time, enough to kill a fully overhealed Heavy immediately. However, trying to load a fourth rocket will result in an overload, causing an explosion that heavily damages you and anyone near you. Additionally, your rockets will deviate from your cross hairs by about three degrees randomly and you cannot collect ammo from dispensers.

This weapon trades your ability to readily respond to attacks with heavy burst damage. The inability to keep your launcher loaded at all times means you can't immediately launch rockets unless you've loaded them, and the overload means you can't hold the Fire button to keep loading rockets until you encounter an enemy. Since you also can't collect ammo from dispensers, loading your rockets to frequently can result in you running out of ammo very quickly. The inaccurate rockets can also mean you miss more shots than normal. However, the high burst damage you get from unleashing a three-rocket burst is undeniably powerful, especially in cramped areas like tunnels where the rocket deviation is less of a concern. The overload can also be used to your advantage, either to give you a stronger rocket jump or as a last-ditch attempt to take down your enemies.

=Shotgun

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 32
• Point Blank Damage: 86-90
• Mid Range Damage: 24-67
• Long Range Damage: 3-26
• Critical Hit: 120

The standard shotgun. While the rocket launcher deals superior damage, the shotgun is useful when you need to finish off an enemy quickly or if your rocket launcher is empty and reloading it is too slow. It is also good for dealing with enemies who are harder to hit with rockets, like Scouts. Pyros that airblast your rockets back will also die quickly is you use this close enough.

Buff Banner

• Effect: Player and nearby teammates deal mini-crits
• Damage Dealt For Effect: 600
• Effect Duration: 10 seconds

The Buff Banner is your unlockable secondary weapon. Dealing damage to enemies gradually builds up your Rage Meter. Once it's full, activating the Buff Banner causes you and nearby teammates to gain mini-crits on their weapons. It is best used during pushes, as mini-crits can be as useful as an Ubercharge when dealing with lots of enemies. Stay near a bunch of teammates to boosts the most players. Take cover behind your teammates with the buff active as you become a major target for the enemy team.

Gun Boats

The Gun Boats reduce the damage dealt from rocket jumping by 60%, but you lose your Shotgun and backpack buffs. The Gun Boats greatest advantage is that it allows you plenty of mobility while keeping your high firepower. Rocket jump above your enemies and rain rockets down, then rocket jump away from them. Make sure your rockets hit, as the loss of a Shotgun means you don't have a reliable weapon for dealing with Scouts and Pyros.

Battalion's Backup

• Effect: Damage dealt to player and nearby teammates are reduced by 35% and enemy crits are negated.
• Damage Taken For Effect: 350
• Effect Duration: 10 seconds

The Battalion's backup builds up it's Rage Meter by taking damage instead of dealing it. Once the meter is full, activating it makes the damage taken by nearby teammates to be reduced by 35%. Critical hits by enemies are also canceled out. Like the Buff Banner, it is best used when close to a bunch of teammates. The damage reduction can extend your teammates lives during a push. It is great for countering a Kritzkrieg Ubercharge or for crossing areas covered by Snipers, as the immunity to critical hits can effectively negate the advantage of these enemies.

Concheror

• Effect: Player and teammates are healed to 35% of damage dealt
• Damage DealtFor Effect: 480
• Effect Duration: 10 seconds

Like the Buff Banner, the Concheror builds its rage meter by dealing damage. Upon activating it, you and your nearby teammates will be healed 35% of the damage they dealt. The Concheror is better for a general attack rather than a concentrated push, as it's healing effects can keep teammates alive and fighting on the battlefield while taking pressure off of Medics. It also charges faster than the Buff Banner, letting you activate the buff more frequently.

Mantreads

• Damage: 3x Fall Damage
• Intrinsic Effect: 75% reduction in knockback

The Mantreads are the offensive versions of the Gun Boats. It turns rocket jumps into a way of dealing damage, and let's you tear through attacks that will normally knock you back. It is more useful when high vertical spaces are common in a map, as it allows you to attack enemies from above without fear of dying from fall damage.

Reserve Shooter

• Clip Size: 3 - Reserve Ammo: 32
• Point Blank Damage: 86-90
• Mid Range Damage: 24-67
• Long Range Damage: 3-26
• Critical Hit: 120

The Reserve Shooter has only half the clip size, but has a faster weapon switch time and deals mini-crits to airborne enemies for up to 3 seconds after taking it out. The Reserve Shooter can deal with any midair enemy, regardless if they're launched by a rocket or just jumping. This is great for dealing with Scouts, since they usually use double jumping as an evasion tactic. The fast weapon switch time also applies to your other weapons, so you can quickly switch back to your Rocket Launcher or switch to your melee weapon.

Righteous Bison

• Clip Size: 4 - Reserve Ammo: Infinite
• Point Blank Damage: 17-63
• Mid Range Damage: 11-42
• Long Range Damage: 11-42
• Damage to Buildings: 4
• Critical Hit: 36-60

The Righteous Bison fires shots that penetrates buildings and enemies, and has infinite ammo. It also ignites friendly Huntsman arrows. However, it deals pathetic damage to buildings. It is good on maps with lots of tight quarters combat such as 2fort, as the penetration allows you to hit multiple enemies at once. It is not a good weapon for dealing with Engineer buildings, but if the Engineer is hiding behind his building you can instead concentrate fire on him.

Melee Weapons

Shovel/Frying Pan/Saxxy/Conscientious Objector/Freedom Staff/Bat Outta Hell/Memory Maker

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 65
• Critical Hit: 195

The shovel is your basic melee weapon. While your Rocket Launcher does more damage in close range, your Shovel is good when you want to conserve ammo or don't want to hurt yourself with your rockets. Your slow speed means it is not a good idea to use this weapon offensively, only as a fallback weapon.

Equalizer

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 33-107
• Critical Hit: 98-321
• Kamikaze Duration: 4 seconds
• Kamikaze Damage: 500

The Equalizer is the Soldier's unlockable melee weapon. When you have lots of health you deal less damage than your Shovel. However, as your health gets lower, your power steadily increases. You cannot be healed by Medics with the Equalizer out and your Medic calls will also be suppressed.

The Equalizer supports a more ruthless and suicidal playstyle, buffing you as you get closer to death and blocking of healing from Medics. Your rocket jumps help lower your health for the buffs, but it is unwise to purposely get your self closer to death just to get the increased damage. It is a good weapon to use as a final attack, since the increased damage when you're at critical health is enough to kill most wounded classes. Remember that Medics cannot heal you if you have it out, and taking it out while Ubercharged will break the link.

The taunt kill of the Equalizer, and its counterpart, the Escape Plan, is the Kamikaze. The Soldier throws away his weapon, takes a grenade from his bandolier and pulls it's pin. The resulting blast kills him and any enemy or building nearby. The Kamikaze is fairly ranged. You can catch multiple enemies in the blast if you pull the taunt by surprise. Note that with the Lumbricus Lid hat on, the taunt will play a Hallelujah sound clip before the blast, which can be a warning for enemies that you're about to pull off the taunt.

Escape Plan

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 65
• Critical Hit: 195
• Kamikaze Duration: 4 seconds
• Kamikaze Damage: 500

The Escape Plan was created as a result of splitting the original Equalizer into two different weapons, with the Escape Plan getting the speed buff while the current Equalizer keeps the attack buff. It now does the same damage as most melee weapons, but your speed will steadily increase the less health you have. You still cannot be healed by Medics with it out, and your Medic calls will be supressed.

The Escape Plan is a more defensive counterpart to the Equalizer. It lets you escape battles when low on health more easily, letting you kill another day. It can also be used to get to objectives quickly, by using rocket jumps to lower your health then using the speed boost from the Escape Plan to get to where you need to be. Remember to switch to a different weapon if there is a Medic who can heal you nearby, or if you're about to be Ubercharged.

Pain Train

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 65
• Critical Hit: 195

With the Pain Train equipped, you capture points and push carts at the rate of a Scout, but receive more damage from bullets. The Pain Train is a good weapon when you are needed more for capturing points than killing a bunch of enemies, as Scouts would have difficulty holding on to a point while a Soldier's firepower can keep enemies off. Don't stay in battles too much with your bullet vulnerability, or bring the Black Box to help heal the damage from the bullets.

Half-Zatoichi

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 65
• Critical Hit: 195/Instant Kill
• Self Heal on Kill: 200

The Half-Zatoichi cannot be sheathed upon equipping it until killing an enemy, but fully restores your health upon a kill. If another enemy also have their Half-Zatoichi drawn, one hit from the weapon will instantly kill that player.

The Half-Zatoichi is a good weapon for flanking, as your slow speed makes it a bad weapon when attacking head-on. Since you cannot switch to another weapon until you get a kill with it, only take it out when you are sure about getting a kill or when you're desperate for health.

Disciplinary Action

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 49
• Critical Hit: 147
• Speed Boost: 40%
• Effect Duration: 4 seconds

The Disciplinary Action deals less damage, but hitting a teammate temporarily boosts the speed of both you and your teammate. The Disciplinary Action is more of a support weapon. Hit many teammates to get them to the frontlines quicker. As for direct combat, the Disciplinary Action has a longer range than your Shovel, so you can hit them further than they can usually hit you.

Market Gardener

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 65
• Critical Hit: 195

The Market Gardener inflicts critical hits when used during a rocket jump, but doesn't randomly crit. This weapon is usually too situational to be effective, but it can be useful for maps with lots of vertical space and different floors, such as cp_egypt.

Weapon Sets

The Tank Buster

• Consists of Black Box, Battalion's Backup and the Grenadier's Softcap hat.
• Set Bonus: +20% Sentry damage resistance on user

The Tank Buster set let's you be better at destroying Sentries, something a Soldier is already good at doing. It also makes you more of a supportive class, having a smaller clip and no ranged alternative weapons. However, you do have a source of healing, which can make survival a bit easier. The Battalion's Backup is really useful in this set when pushing through sentry-infested territory. Activate it while teammates are near and go for the push. Focus on Sentry Guns while your teammates deal with other players. Your damage reduction combined with the set bonus can make kills with the Sentry Gun very difficult.

Airborne Arnaments

• Consists of Liberty Launcher, Reserve Shooter, Market Gardener and the Jumper's Jeepcap hat.

This set is for Soldiers who are constantly airborne, as with his enemies. The Liberty Launcher makes launching enemies and airshots easier. The Reserve Shooter finishes airborne enemies and is good for dealing with bunny-hoppers while it's quicker switch time benefits all the weapons. The Market Gardener can be quickly switched to after a rocket jump to surprise enemies.

The General's Formals

• Consists of Mantreads, Disciplinary Action, the Armored Authority hat and the Fancy Dress Uniform item.

The General's Formals is highly mobility and support oriented. Your Disciplinary Action let's you get to the frontlines quickly and your Mantreads let you utilize rocket jumping as a form of attack. Generally, stay airborne or whip teammates, move around as much as you can. The lack of a reliable fallback weapon means you must fully rely on your Rocket Launcher for damage.

Dr. Grodbert's Victory Pack

• Consists of Cow Mangler 5000, Righteous Bison, the Lord Cockswain's Pith Helmet hat and the Lord Cockswain's Novelty Mutton Chops and Pipe item.

This set makes you completely independent from ammo, so you don't have to worry about resources. You will have much more trouble destroying Engineer buildings, so leave them for your teammates.

The Tin Soldier

• Consists of the Idiot Box hat, the Steel Pipes item and the Shoestring Budget item.

This set contains no weapons and is purely cosmetic. It enables additional voice responses and a new taunt for the Soldier. Keep in mind that you can't equip the Gunboats or the Mantreads while wearing the Shoestring Budget.

Using the Soldier

Be careful! Rocketjumping while you're too low on health often results in an embarrassing fall damage related death.

The Soldier has a lot of health which means he can take significant punishment before he goes down. This contributes to his rocket launcher primary weapon, which often requires him to be in the line of fire to get a clear shot and has a tendency to deal heavy damage to the soldier himself. Their rockets are also useful at range against mostly static targets, like Sentries and other buildings. Two to three direct hits from a rocket launcher will kill anything providing they're not being healed or repaired.

He is also surprisingly good at close range, since his health allows him to be reckless with the rocket launcher, dealing with low-health enemies quickly by firing a rocket when they're pretty much toe-to-toe with someone and soaking up the splash damage whilst they fly away in small bloody bits.

However, Soldiers are quite slow and susceptible to Snipers and Spies, so moving in and out of cover as much as possible is a good idea, and be vigilant about anybody who tries to get behind you. Soldiers make good teams with Medics because the extra health plus constant regeneration allows them to be even more reckless and make frequent use of rocketjumping.

The rocket jump is one other perks of being a Soldier, since a correctly-performed rocket jump can propel a Soldier ridiculous distances (i.e. from the front entrance to Cap C of cp_gravelpit all the way up to the top of the tower where the control point is) at the cost of losing a chunk of health. Since this opens up a lot of potential shortcuts to a skilled Soldier, this can greatly make up for his lack of speed, allowing him to reach places as fast as a Scout would. It can also be exploited to start battles before time, for example in Well, where a Soldier can rocket-jump over the cargo containers separating the two sides in the middle and start firing rockets at enemies waiting to be let into the central control point (although this also has the downside of pitting the Soldier against three or four enemies at once, which might be too much to handle).

Defeating Soldiers

There are usually multiple Soldiers on a decent-sized team, so often you will have to deal with more than one Soldier at once. Staying mobile is important, but also make sure you dodge the rockets as opposed to moving randomly. With two or three Soldiers the number of rockets in flight can make you walk straight into one. The best way to reduce damage from rockets is to jump and crouch just before it hits, reducing the damage taken greatly.

Soldiers are best taken out at range since their rockets take time to travel distances, whereas a Sniper bullet travels instantly and has a much larger effective range. Failing that, surprising them with a Pyro, another Soldier or a Heavy/Medic combo is also effective at dealing lots of damage to multiple Soldiers in small spaces, especially since they can fire rockets around and wind up killing themselves with the blasts. A demo is moderately well off against a soldier as some good aim and a few pipe bombs can take care of a soldier easily.

Rocket jumping carries the downside of health loss, so if a Soldier manages to take a particularly big shortcut with one such jump, they'll be a little easier to deal with. A Soldier/Medic team can be dealt with if you kill the Medic first. If they use an Übercharge, avoid them until it's over and ambush the Medic.

• Scout: Scouts are fairly evenly matched versus Soldiers. An ambush is a good way of taking care of lone soldiers. When fighting directly, use your pistol at a range where you can dodge the rockets and the soldier will be forced to use his shotgun. When he switches, go in for a quick hit or two with your primary and he'll be forced to use his shotgun. Repeat.
• Another Soldier: Without medic assistance, soldier vs soldier fights depend on who uses the terrain to their advantage. A soldier with the high ground will usually win against a soldier down low.
• Pyro: Pyros have an interesting time versus the soldier and the usable tactics depend on the pyro's loadout. The easiest way is a backburner ambush; the criticals will make short work of the soldier. However, if you can't get the criticals, direct flame vs rocket combat is suicide. If you are a good shot with the flaregun you can try and snipe him from a distance. This takes a long time but there's not much he can do about it. On the other hand, a medic will completely ruin this strategy and you are very vulnerable during the 15-20 seconds it will take to kill the soldier. If you have the flamethrower and are good with the airblast you can try the risky strategy of staying midrange and bouncing his rockets back. Unfortunately, you can't bounce them all and the soldier will quickly swap to shotgun as soon as he catches on, so it's important to avoid damage and hit him with at least 2 rockets so that you can have a health advantage in the shotgun vs shotgun or shotgun vs flaregun fight.
• Demoman: The demoman is a good counter for soldiers. At midrange the demoman deals much, much more damage than soldier, so as long as you can kill him before he gets close this fight shouldn't be too much of a problem.
• Heavy: Heavies are very weak against soldiers without medic support. A soldier can simply pop in and out of cover, slowly wearing down your health while you are powerless to stop him.
• Engineer: As long as you are actively repairing your sentry gun, a soldier cannot kill it without backup. Be careful though: He may use splash damage to kill either you or your dispenser, leaving your sentry vulnerable.
• Medic: Medics are weak in direct combat, but if a patient survives the initial onslaught of rockets the medic's healing can often outpace the damage dealt by a constantly reloading soldier.
• Sniper: Snipers are fairly good against soldiers as they tend to move slowly and rockets are easy to dodge from a distance. Beware of rocketjumps.
• Spy: Soldiers move slowly, which makes them easy to backstab or headshot with the ambassador. In direct combat, however, soldiers are deadly against spies and are also good at finding you if you cloak.