Soldier

Soldier
Basic Information
Icon
Type	Offensive
Health	200 (300 with overheal)
Speed	80%

The Soldier is an offensive class which can fulfill a variety of roles for his team, acting as a jack-of-all-trades that can easily adapt to different situations. He has 200 health, 80% speed, and weapons which cover every distance. His ability to rocket jump can give him unexpectedly high mobility if the user is skilled enough, and even an inexperienced user can find flank routes and means of escape that other classes cannot. This comes at the cost of health, to the point where the Soldier often arrives to battles far slower than the other classes, or arrives there with less health than the others. The ability to dive in and out of combat, given proper health management and team coordination, means the Soldier can pressure objectives in a way that few other classes can, and makes him a persistent threat that must be dealt with. His splash damage from the Rocket Launcher also gives him good crowd control and ease of use, and is devastating when critical boosted from a friendly Medic's Kritzkrieg. These attributes make him a powerful and versatile class that can be easily picked up by new players, while offering deep mechanical gameplay for players who master the intricacies of rocket jumping.

The Soldier's biggest downsides are his low speed when not rocket jumping, reliance on health sources to be effective, and reliance on predicting enemy movement. His slow speed means he is easily outmaneuvered by more mobile classes such as Scout and Pyro. While his rocket launcher deals good, reliable damage, it is not too exceptional, and can easily die to a surprise attack from an enemy if he does not have an escape route, even from his own self-damage. Additionally his Rocket Launcher has a small clip, which can hinder his primary damage output. His large frame means he often takes damage from enemy projectiles, and rocket jumping will always damage him. This means he requires a constant source of healing to be at peak capacity, whether from health packs, friendly Medics, or friendly Dispensers. A Soldier starved of health has very little capacity to move around, and therefore is stuck in the backlines with little influence. Like Demoman, Soldier suffers from self-damage from his own rockets, which even have the capability to kill himself in close quarters. Even landing direct hits on an enemy in close range can self-damage him. Luckily, his Shotgun can help him defend himself. In addition, rocket jumping into battles (sometimes called "bombing") is often an all-or-nothing endeavour - if he misjudges the situation, he will die upon arrival without a chance to fight back. And finally, although his Rocket Launcher deals splash damage, the speed of the rockets are quite slow, and so it's necessary to predict the enemy's reactions to land hits - a difficult task in the face of mobile Scouts and airblasting Pyros, or even a sufficiently slippery Medic.

When properly executed, and when backed up by a competent team, the Soldier is one of the game's most powerful classes. His ability to deal devastating damage at point-blank while appearing anywhere on the map makes him a force to be reckoned with. However, without proper team support, or the ability to execute his technically-demanding rocket jumps, he ends up being a class that is above-average in many ways but does not excel at anything. On offense, he usually takes point in the absence of a friendly Heavy, acting as the team's damage sponge while picking off anyone who gets close to him, including enemy Sentry Guns. On defense, his splash damage makes him a potent area denier that can clear out any enemy who tries to contest the objective. This makes him a good class for people just starting out with the game and want to try out a variety of roles without committing to any single one, while making him an excellent class for those committed to understanding his movement without requiring too much skill in aiming.

Bio

Location of Origin: Midwest, USA

Job: Shock & Awe

Motto: "I'm a Rocket Man."

Favorite World War: 2

Special ability: Rocket jump

Though he wanted desperately to fight in World War 2, the Soldier was rejected from every branch of the U.S. military. Undaunted, he bought his own ticket to Europe. After arriving and finally locating Poland, the Soldier taught himself how to load and fire a variety of weapons before embarking on a Nazi killing spree for which he was awarded several medals that he designed and made himself. His rampage ended immediately upon hearing about the end of the war in 1949.

Weapons

Primary

Weapon	Kill icon
Rocket Launcher
R.P.G.

Secondary

Weapon	Kill icon
Shotgun
Gunboats	N/A

Melee

Weapon	Kill icon
Shovel

Tips

Main article: Basic Soldier Strategy

As a Soldier…

• …hit E to call for a Medic if you get hurt. Nearby Medics will be notified of your need.
• …you can rocket jump to great heights by firing a rocket at your feet while jumping.
• …aim rockets at enemies' feet to ensure they can't avoid the explosion damage.
• …make sure you keep your rocket launcher loaded. Hit R to reload it at any time.
• …your rockets have strong knockback. Use this to jostle enemies or knock them airborne.
• …use your shotgun to conserve rockets and avoid waiting for your rocket launcher to reload in the middle of combat.
• …use your shovel to deal consistent close-range damage without having to worry about reloading.
• …the Gunboats greatly reduce health loss from rocket jumps. Use them when positioning and mobility are especially important.
• …your RPG's rockets can shoot over cover. Be sure to aim your rockets carefully.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Bulgarian	Войник	Soldier
Spanish	Soldier	-
English	Soldier	-
French	Soldier	-
German	Soldier	-
Hungarian	Katona	Soldier
Italian	Soldato	Soldier
Polish	Żołnierz	Soldier
Brazilian Portuguese	Soldier	-
Romanian	Soldier	-
Russian	Солдат	Soldier
Turkish	Soldier	-
Ukrainian	Солдат	Soldier

Trivia

• The ability of rocket-wielders being able to use their rockets to jump higher originated from Quake and was a bug in the original Team Fortress games. Valve embraced it in TF2, as evidenced by the addition of weapons such as the Rocket Jumper found in TF2 and Soldier rocket jumping in the first modern TF2 trailer.
• Despite the Soldier's Grenades acting more as decoration than actual weaponry, they were intended to be used as a weapon during Team Fortress 2's development.