Basic Soldier strategy

The Soldier is a tough, all-purpose assault class. He's easy to pick up but difficult to master, capable of both ranged spam and close quarters violence. His slow movement speed belies his potential agility. He can Rocket Jump to cover distances quickly and reach unusual locations, and his weapons are excellent against all foes.

General

• Rocket Jump to the tops of structures that no other class can reach. Enemies are easy to shoot from up high, but most will have difficulty firing back.

• Lead your targets! Even the Direct Hit suffers from significant flight time, so you must judge your opponent's position a moment ahead.

• Avoid unloading multiple rockets or Shotgun shells until you're in a proper fight. While spamming or approaching a position, fire a rocket, reload, and fire again. This way you're always at tip top condition before facing foes at short range.

• If you do empty your entire Rocket Launcher clip in a fight consider switching quickly to your Shotgun. It is a powerful primary weapon and deals massive hitscan damage very rapidly. You'll do far better finishing them off immediately than reloading another rocket.

• Help your Medics out in areas where there is no fighting by damaging yourself with your rockets. Damaging yourself allows Medics to fill up their ÜberCharge faster, but only after setup is finished.

• When attacking Sentry Gun nests with anything besides the Direct Hit, remember to shoot the ground or wall behind the gun. If you aren't damaging the Engineer at the same time, you're wasting shots.

Weapon Specific Tips

A list of useful tidbits about the Soldier's tools.

Rocket Launcher

• Always keep your Rocket Launcher loaded.

• When fighting classes with little health such as Scouts, Engineers and Spies, rather than using two rockets, fire one rocket then finish them off with your Shotgun. This will assist you by keeping one extra rocket loaded.

• Try to juggle or bounce an enemy by shooting a rocket at their feet. By throwing them up in the air, you will be able to predict where they will land and you can follow up with ease.

• The Rocket Launcher is often a better choice for Soldiers acting as Medic buddies than the Direct Hit. The wider splash radius makes protecting the Medic and attacking groups easier.

• If you are firing a rocket at an enemy who is very close to you, jump and fire your rocket at their feet. Doing so will minimize the amount of damage you deal to yourself, while putting some distance between you and your opponent at the same time.

• The Rocket Launcher has the most devastating Crits in the game. If you have any kind of Crit boost, immediately take the Rocket Launcher over any other weapon, as one crocket can take out multiple enemies with ease.

Direct Hit

• Aim directly at the enemy, not their feet. The explosive radius is tighter than a Shotgun's spread, and an enemy can easily jump over the explosion.

• Hit the lower half of the enemy if possible. This will pop them into the air, allowing you to hit them a second time for an aerial Mini-Crit.

• The Direct Hit can destroy any Engineer building with two rockets, rather than three. The Direct Hit is thus a superior choice for taking out Engineer buildings.

• Direct Hit rockets are great for spamming stationary Snipers or Engineers huddled in one position behind their Sentry Gun.

• The blast radius for self-damage with the Direct Hit is almost the same as the self-damage radius of the Rocket Launcher. This allows you to rocket jump easily, but be careful. At short range, you can blow yourself up.

Black Box

• The Black Box holds fewer rockets but effectively gives you at least an extra 45 health in combat. If you have plenty of time to reload and pressure the enemy, this is the better long-term choice. If you need immediate fighting power, such as when facing off against another skilled Soldier, you might want to stick with the Rocket Launcher.

• The healing provided from the Black Box along with the defense boost from the Battalion's Back-up can make a Soldier very difficult to kill - even more so if using the complete Tank Buster set, due to the reduced sentry damage.

• The Black Box healing more than covers the damage you take while rocket jumping with the Gunboats. You can remain mobile for a very long time with this combination.

• If you hit more than one enemy, you will be healed for 15 hp per enemy hit.

• Try to engage Heavies at a long distance. Not only will the Heavy only be able to inflict minimum damage to you due to the range, that damage should be healed instantly once he is hit with a rocket.

Rocket Jumper

• If you intend to use the Rocket Jumper in online play, you may want to bring your Shotgun since you won't have a primary.

• Since the Rocket Jumper does no damage, you can shoot the rocket before hitting the ground after a high rocket jump to slow your speed and prevent fall damage.

• The Rocket Jumper works very well when trying to capture the intelligence in CTF. Assuming there are no Sentry Guns locking down their Intelligence room, you will be able to rocket jump through the corridors of the enemy base and out of the other side with the intelligence in tow.

Shotgun

• Don't be afraid to use the Shotgun at medium to short range. It's as powerful as a primary weapon!

• Pyros utilising the Airblast can be defeated safely with the Shotgun.

• The Shotgun is useful against Demomen using the Chargin' Targe. They're weak to bullets!

• You can use the Shotgun to destroy an enemy Demoman's stickies.

• One direct rocket and one Shotgun shot is enough to kill light classes in almost all circumstances.

• If you are using the Direct Hit, it is highly advisable to use the Shotgun rather than the Buff Banner or the Gunboats. You need the backup weapon in case you miss.

Buff Banner

• Just like the Kritzkrieg, the Buff Banner is best used with the Rocket Launcher. The wider blast radius will make it easier to build Rage and it also makes the Mini-Crit boost more effective.

• When a friendly Medic ÜberCharges a teammate, contribute to the rampage by using the Buff Banner.

• The area of effect for the Buff Banner is large and passes through walls and floors.

• If the Buff Banner is used next to an Engineer, his Sentry Gun will fire Mini-Crits no matter where it is on the map, even if it is nowhere near you or the Engineer.

• Snipers with the Bushwacka equipped can be effective with the Buff Banner's boost, as their melee weapon does Critical hits instead of Mini-Crits.

Battalion's Backup

• The Battalion's Backup can act as a strong counter to its brother the Buff Banner and any critboost such as a Kritzkrieg or First Blood.

• The Battalion's Backup is also useful on offense, as it allows your pushing team to absorb more enemy fire.

• Since the Backup's Rage Meter is not dependent on the damage you do to the enemy, you can also use it in conjunction with the Direct Hit for an even bigger punch against Sentry Guns.

• The Battalion's Backup is well paired with the Black Box, allowing you to take more damage (and thereby build more Rage) without dying.

Gunboats

• Use your Gunboats often. Rocket-jump and find high positions to fire from.

• Due to the fact that you take 60% less damage from rocket jumps, it is best to travel long distances so you can get to a destination first.

• Although you receive 60% less damage from rocket jumps, damage received from falling remains the same.

• Since you won't have a Shotgun, it's more effective if you don't use the Direct Hit with your Gunboats.

Shovel / Frying Pan

The Shovel is a reasonable choice when conserving ammo

• The Shovel is a viable option as long as your health is above 120 or you want to be healed with your melee weapon equipped. Otherwise, the Equalizer is more powerful.

• The Frying Pan is much louder than the Shovel, but is otherwise statistically identical.

• Since the Shovel is only efficient at high health, the Black Box minimizes the downsides of not having the Equalizer equipped.

Equalizer

• Unless you plan on using the Pain Train, always have the Equalizer equipped. You will not be using melee when at full health, so the Equalizer is essentially a straight upgrade over the Shovel.

• The Equalizer can be used as a tool of escape. A highly damaged Soldier can outrun most classes..

• Do not run into a fight alone with the Equalizer out. You should ONLY take out the Equalizer when at low health and you are already in the thick of an engagement.

• The Equalizer prevents Medics from healing you when you have it in your hand. If you pull it out during an Über, you will break the ÜberCharge, and possibly get yourself killed.

• Be careful who you pull out your Equalizer in front of. It tells the enemy that you're at low health and are an easy kill.

Pain Train

• Never equip the Pain Train on a CTF map or while defending in an attack/defend map. It grants no advantage in these situations, but still applies bullet vulnerability.

• The Pain Train is a highly situational weapon. You may want to switch between the Pain Train and a different melee weapon in the middle of a round.

Tank Buster Set

• Since you're excellent at cornering Sentry Guns, remember to fire behind the Sentry at the ground. If you aren't hitting the Engineer with every rocket, you won't win.
• The Tank Buster set's reduced sentry damage upgrade can be taken to advantage in a multitude of ways. One could lead a team into the intelligence room and be the first one for the sentry gun to target, so you take less damage while your teammates grab the Intelligence or take down the sentry gun while it isn't firing on them. Beware, though, you need to watch your health carefully to know when to escape.

See also

• Community Soldier strategy
• Soldier match-ups