Anti-Soldier strategy

“

Oi, lend us yer shovel, so I can dig yer grave! Click to listen — The Sniper

”

The Soldier is a well-rounded, bulky class that is capable of both taking and dealing solid damage. While slow on foot, the Soldier is known for his trademark ability to rocket jump, which allows him to quickly maneuver around a map. He is most effective at medium range or on high ground, where he can use the powerful splash damage from his rockets to reliably dispatch foes. The Soldier has a number of different loadout options that, according to the situation, allow him to increase his offense, defense, or support options, making him extremely versatile. Although he lacks many exploitable weaknesses, the Soldier is not the master of any one trade; for example, the Scout is faster while the Demoman and Heavy can deal more damage.

General

Attributes	Anti-Soldier strategy
Role	The Soldier is effective at many different tasks, including frontal assault, defending objectives, flanking maneuvers, and picking off important enemy targets. No matter what you are doing, always be prepared to deal with a Soldier - he is one of the most commonly played classes. You may find a Soldier anywhere - he can reach normally inaccessible areas by rocket jumping.
Health	The Soldier has a relatively large amount of health, allowing him to stay in the fight longer. A competent Soldier is a formidable opponent while being healed by a Medic.
Speed	The Soldier's base speed is low. However, he can gain quick bursts of speed using rocket jumps, the Escape Plan when injured, or the Disciplinary Action when near teammates. If kept grounded, he loses his mobility and is much easier to hit.
Power	The Soldier’s rockets make up the bulk of his firepower and are highly damaging at close range, but are easily dodged and suffer from damage falloff at longer ranges.

Weapon-specific

Main article: Soldier weapons

Primary weapons

Weapon	Anti-Soldier strategy
Rocket Launcher + reskins	A Soldier will typically aim rockets at your feet to hit you with splash damage. Rockets travel slowly; controlling the high ground or keeping a distance makes it more difficult for him to hit you. The Rocket Launcher has a small clip size and reloads slowly; if a Soldier misses all of his shots, he will be forced to reload or switch to his Shotgun, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. Rockets suffer from falloff damage, which is calculated based on how far the Soldier is from the target when they explode, not where the rocket was originally fired from. Creating even a bit of distance from the Soldier after the rocket is fired can reduce damage taken.
Direct Hit	Rockets from the Direct Hit travel faster and deal increased damage which can one-shot low-health classes at close range. Stay at medium range to keep full control over your movement and have room to react. Rockets from the Direct Hit have an extremely low splash damage radius. The Soldier must line up his shots from out in the open while you can take cover without worrying about splash damage. Stay at mid-range and strafe against Direct Hit-wielding Soldiers, baiting out shots to make them waste time reloading or aiming, then pick them off with short bursts of damage or by chipping away at their health over time while dodging. The Direct Hit excels against immobile targets like a revved-up Heavy or the Engineer's Sentry Gun. If your ally cannot take cover, support them by attacking the Soldier whenever he pops out of cover. If you are launched into the air by an explosion, maneuver to avoid being airshot, as the Direct Hit deals mini-crits to those propelled airborne by an explosion.
Black Box + reskins	The Black Box heals the Soldier for up to 20 health when its rockets hit an enemy, allowing him to exchange harassment for prolonged periods of time. The Black Box only holds three rockets in its clip. Keep up offensive pressure to stop him from recovering health. The Black Box heals the Soldier linearly with how much damage he dealt, up to 20 health. Dodge, fall back to increase damage falloff, and stay at the edge of its blast radius for minimal healing to the Soldier.
Rocket Jumper	The Rocket Jumper deals no damage and takes away the Soldier's most practical weapon, in exchange for non-damaging rocket jumps. His offense is severely reduced, although he will be much harder to hit. Soldiers wielding the Rocket Jumper tend to also equip the Mantreads and the Market Gardener. Keep a distance if you see a Soldier approach with a rocket jump.
Liberty Launcher	The Liberty Launcher’s rockets maintain the splash radius of those from the Rocket Launcher but travel significantly faster. Attack from a distance and maintain space to dodge any rockets that come your way. The Liberty Launcher deals 25% less damage but can fire one more rocket per clip. Overall, it slightly decreases the Soldier's potential damage per clip but makes his attacks harder to dodge.
Cow Mangler 5000	The Cow Mangler operates similarly to the Rocket Launcher but replaces critical hits with mini-crits and inflicts minimal damage on buildings. Don't allow a Soldier to disable an allied Sentry Gun with a charged shot. It takes a few seconds to fire, so use this time to prepare to deflect it or kill the Soldier outright. If he succeeds in firing the charged shot, his entire clip will be emptied; either pursue him, defend the Sentry Gun, or switch focus to his teammates while he reloads.
Original	The Original is statistically identical to the Rocket Launcher, except the Original's rockets are fired directly down its crosshair, rather than slightly from his right side. Such a subtle difference allows him to be more effective at close range. Compared to the normal Rocket Launcher, the Soldier will have an easier time shooting rockets toward his desired targets. However, a Soldier using the Original will be slightly more exposed if he tries to fire it from around a corner. As a result, his shots are likely more predictable than if he were to use the normal Rocket Launcher.
Beggar's Bazooka	The Beggar's Bazooka can load up to three rockets at a time, then unleash them all at once in a single barrage. It takes a small amount of time to load a rocket, which can help predict when the Soldier will attack. A barrage of three rockets is devastating at close range, but you can force the Soldier to fire from a longer distance, where its lack of precision and smaller blasts will cause some rockets to miss. The Beggar's Bazooka can also be used to perform risky but unpredictable rocket jumping. While rocket jumping, he can also quickly shoot rockets at you partway through. Take caution if you're outdoors, as he likely has the upper hand while out in the open. The Soldier cannot restore ammo from Dispensers while the Beggar's Bazooka is his active weapon, forcing him to roam around for ammo packs if he is to maintain his constant assault. Use this behavior to predict where he may arrive, and try to steal nearby ammo packs to weaken his momentum.
Air Strike	The Air Strike's clip size increases if the Soldier gets a kill. As a result, the Soldier becomes stronger but needs to spend more time reloading. The Air Strike's rockets have reduced explosive radius and damage. This is offset by the increased projectile speed and difficulty of dodging multiple rockets fired from above. If you're an Engineer, you can somewhat negate damage by using the Short Circuit, but do be aware that the energy orb can only travel a set distance and it uses 65 metal, so be careful with your choices. An airborne Soldier is an easy target for hitscan weapons like the Scattergun, the Minigun, and the Reserve Shooter. An Air Strike with a Killstreak Kit attached to it can give away the number of bonus rockets a Soldier has, allowing you to choose your methods of engagement more precisely.

Secondary weapons

Armaments

Weapon	Anti-Soldier strategy
Shotgun + reskins	A Soldier will typically use the Shotgun if he has no time to reload his Rocket Launcher or does not wish to damage himself by firing rockets at point-blank range. Either way, he deals less damage and is more vulnerable. Shotgun pellets have a wide spread, so back away or dodge to the side to reduce the damage you take.
Gunboats	A Soldier wearing the Gunboats will often rocket jump to higher ground without suffering too much damage and rain rockets down on you. Either take the high ground yourself or back away to dodge his assault. The Soldier trades in his Shotgun to use the Gunboats. At close range, he either risks self-damage from his rocket explosions or needs to take out his easily dodgeable melee weapon.
Reserve Shooter	The Reserve Shooter is capable of landing mini-crits on targets sent airborne by certain means. If propelled into the air by a rocket, air-strafe to avoid his fire and do your best to quickly reach solid ground. The Reserve Shooter's reduced clip size makes it less reliable of a sidearm than the Shotgun. If he misses his 4 shots, he becomes vulnerable far more quickly. Weapon heckling is less effective against a Soldier with the Reserve Shooter due to its decreased weapon switch time.
Mantreads	A Soldier using the Mantreads will receive considerably less knockback from most enemy weapons, allowing him to more easily maintain a high-ground advantage. However, like with the Gunboats, he is deprived of a secondary weapon. Keep an eye out for airborne Soldiers; aside from firing rockets at you, one might try to fall on you and inflict damage with his Mantreads. The Mantreads only negate fall damage taken if the Soldier actually manages to land on an enemy; if you see a Soldier dropping towards you, back away so that he takes fall damage. The Mantreads grant the Soldier 200% more air control when explosive jumping, allowing him to do extremely sharp turns midair.
Righteous Bison	The Righteous Bison deals considerably less damage than the Shotgun, but pierces through enemies and is effective at medium-range harassment. Avoid clustering near your teammates to reduce the effectiveness of its piercing shots. The Righteous Bison's shots can hit the same target multiple times. Avoid backpedaling or you will suffer extreme damage.
B.A.S.E. Jumper	The B.A.S.E. Jumper allows a Soldier to slow his descent and fire more rockets at you from mid-air. Watch out for the potential barrage if a rocket jumping Soldier suddenly deploys it. The B.A.S.E. Jumper slows the Soldier's airspeed. Shoot him out of the sky with an accurate weapon. The B.A.S.E. Jumper cannot be deployed again once retracted until he touches the ground. Fire at him to force a retraction so he takes fall damage.
Panic Attack	The Panic Attack deploys quickly but suffers from massive bullet spread with consecutive shots. Survive the first shot, and the following ones are easier to dodge.

Banners

A Soldier's banners provide a 10-second area-of-effect buff to himself and nearby allies once he has dealt enough damage. The Soldier's teammates must remain close to him, so weapons with splash damage are effective for fighting a wave of buffed enemies. Killing the Soldier will end the effect immediately; if possible, aim for him first. Additionally, a Soldier using a banner lacks a secondary weapon; any class that can negate his rockets, such as a Pyro, can prevent him from charging his banner.

Weapon	Anti-Soldier strategy
Buff Banner + reskins	The Buff Banner allows a Soldier and his allies to deal mini-crits; it's best to fight from behind cover while his team is buffed. You may also choose to retreat, wasting the limited time your enemies have to inflict more damage.
Battalion's Backup	Use teamwork to overpower enemies buffed defensively by the Battalion's Backup, one by one. Do not activate crit boosts, such as that from the Kritzkrieg, while the enemy has the Backup's buff; they will be immune to critical hits. Wait until the Backup's effect has ended or if there's a Spy on your team or if you are a Spy and the opportunity shows itself to backstab the Soldier.
Concheror	When an enemy Soldier activates his Concheror, he and any buffed enemies will heal from inflicting damage - consider taking cover until the effect wears off. Your team should concentrate fire on single targets to prevent them from healing, or on the Soldier himself to end the effect. A Soldier with both the Concheror and its active buff lets him gain access to two different healing sources, its passive health regeneration, and its health-per-damage. Constant damage will overwhelm him. The Concheror takes less damage to charge than the other banners. Don't let an enemy Soldier deal enough damage to activate his buff; keep attacking him while avoiding his attacks.

Melee weapons

Weapon	Anti-Soldier strategy
Shovel + reskins	You should be able to outmaneuver a Soldier charging you with the standard Shovel, as his low movement speed puts him at a heavy disadvantage in melee combat.
Escape Plan	A Soldier will typically use the Escape Plan's speed boost as a last resort to escape. When the Escape Plan is his active weapon, he takes guaranteed mini-crits. Note his movement speed to gauge his health; if a Soldier is running quickly while holding this weapon, he's heavily injured. A few long-range shots, even from the Scattergun or Shotgun, may be enough to kill him.
Equalizer	The more injured a Soldier is, the more damage the Equalizer does. If a Soldier attacks you with this, he might be already injured. Treat him as if he were using the default Shovel and end the fight quickly.
Pain Train	The Pain Train increases the Soldier's capture rate. Be wary of any Soldier that may sneak by to capture your team's control points quickly, or quickly fly overhead to capture a objective that is nearly finished, particularly with the Rocket Jumper. The Pain Train causes the Soldier to take 10% more bullet damage, which allows a Scout or Heavy to have an easier time killing him.
Half-Zatoichi	The Half-Zatoichi heals its wielder by 50% of his base health upon obtaining a kill. If you see a Soldier slay a teammate with this weapon, know that he will have more than 100 health. If the Half-Zatoichi's wielder does not obtain a kill before switching weapons, he loses 50 health. The Soldier moves slowly, so stay outside his melee range to force a weapon switch. Reducing the Soldier to below 50 health prevents him from sheathing the weapon - you can then stay away and fire with impunity.
Market Gardener	Be wary of a rocket-jumping Soldier trying to enter melee range - if he holds the Market Gardener, his attack will be a guaranteed critical hit, which will instantly kill most classes. Keep your distance until he lands, throw off his aim by shooting him and dealing knockback, or snipe him out of the sky. Use weapons like the Direct Hit and the Reserve Shooter to deal damage or kill Soldiers using the Market Gardener before they can kill you. Additionally, sources of knockback such as the Force-a-Nature and Sentry Guns can easily prevent diving Soldiers from reaching you in the first place. Sometimes simply walking under a roof can remove the threat of a Market Gardening soldier, but experienced rocket jumpers can maintain rocket-jumping status and can still hit you with a Critical Hit if they bunnyhop.
Disciplinary Action	An enemy Soldier equipped with the Disciplinary Action will use it to hustle his team to the battlefield rather than fight. Take care that you aren't outnumbered by any additional enemies he brought along. The Disciplinary Action has a very large melee range. Stay farther away from him than you would if he was wielding the Shovel - he might still be able to hit you.

See also

• Rocket jumping
• Team strategy