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    Soldier

    Character » appears in 5 games

    The soldier is an offense-oriented character class in the Team Fortress 2 franchise. With a robust hit point total, splash-damaging rockets, and the temperament of flaming sandpaper, he is the backbone of any attack force.

    Short summary describing this character.

    No recent wiki edits to this page.

    Overview

    The Soldier is one of the three offense characters in the Team Fortress franchise. His weapons are the Rocket Launcher, the shotgun and the shovel. Though he can be damage control if necessary, he is predominantly an attacker. The Soldier is the second slowest class in the game but has fewer class-specific weaknesses than anyone else (the most notable weakness being the Pyro). Usable in any situation, the Soldier is the easiest class to learn and easier than most to master.

    • Health: 200
    • Speed: 80%
    • Armor: 150 (only present in Team Fortress Classic)
    • The Soldier is voiced by Rick May.

    Backstory

    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.

    • Country of origin: Midwest, USA
    • Motto: "I'm a rocket man"
    • Emblem: Rocket

    Personality

    • Likes: Captain Dan's Army Surplus Soup, eating ribs, smoking cigars, the Badlands Brawlers baseball team, fishing, reading books by Sun Tzu, manly things like defending hills, protecting young children (He took a group of them trick-or-treating, and defended a child who was being kidnapped by Old Nick, the game's version of Santa, who is an Australian gambler/arms dealer who employs child slave labor), photographs of the BLU Scout's mother having sex with the RED Spy, pretending to be a robot, playing chess, having tea parties with his cardboard cutout "friends", joining the Space Marines, and delivering long speeches, especially on the official blog.
    • Dislikes: His former housemate, Merasmus the magician, who couldn't agree with him whose turn it was to do the chores (It is through Merasmus that Soldier gained a secondary job as a lawyer, as well as sending the mercenaries back in time to Medieval Mode. As of the Pyromania Update, Merasmus has kicked Soldier out, leaving him homeless), and "unmanly" things like Twitter, body sprays, and painting things that aren't houses.
    • Soldier appears to be a history buff, but his view of history is wildly inaccurate, even within the alternate history of the TF2 universe.

    Default Weapons

    Rocket Launcher (primary)

    Shotgun (secondary)

    Shovel (melee)

    Unlockable Weapons

    The Direct Hit (primary)

    The Direct Hit
    The Direct Hit

    The Direct Hit is a fancy new Mann. Co variant of the standard rocket launcher. It's rockets boast a 25% increase in damage and a stunning 80% increase in rocket speed, but can only offer a shameful 30% of the standard rocket's explosion radius.

    All these modifications require it's wielder to stop shooting at people's feet, and use precision and timing to make direct hits as the weapon's name hints.

    The Direct Hit's changes make for a very different soldier, Heavies will drop much quicker to the rocket's increased damage and shouldn't prove difficult to hit. Also engineers are no longer able to repair away all your rocket's damage if you unleash your deadly salvo on an out-of-range sentry.

    On the other hand critical rockets are much less devastating in most situations when you have such a small splash radius. Also while your hits will do more than the standard rocket would (Enough to sometimes kill low health classes in one hit), it can be difficult to make any hits at all on nimble opponents.

    The Direct Hit also has a unique ability to do mini-crits on juggled targets, meaning your rocket launched him into the air and then you make a successful air shot on them before they land.

    Notes:

    • The Direct Hit is awarded to the player if they achieve "Soldier Milestone 2" (Get 11 soldier achievements)
    • The Direct Hit's rockets work exactly the same when they damage you. This means it's easier to hurt yourself with splash damage, but overall self damage will be less and the end goal is that rocket jumping works exactly the same.

    Damage:

    • Base: 112
    • Max Ramp Up: 125% (140 damage)
    • Max Fall Off: 51% (57 damage)
    • Mini-Crit: 151
    • Critical Hit: 338

    The Equalizer (melee)

    The Equalizer
    The Equalizer

    When you're on the ropes, and everything is looking grim, The Equalizer is there to turn the tides. This spiffy pick-axe increases in damage and movement speed as your health drops when equipped. Its only downside is that when you are at full or close-to-full health its damage is less than that of the shovel.

    Statistics:

    Health=DamageHealth Range=Speed Increase
    20033161-3000%
    12165121-16110%
    1007381-12020%
    509341-8040%
    11131-4060%

    (As with all other weapons Critical hits are 300% damage and Mini-crits are 135% damage)

    Notes:

    • The Equalizer is awarded to you for reaching "Soldier Milestone 1" (Get 5 soldier achievements)
    • The Equalizer's taunt has the soldier toss the pick away, crack his knuckles, then let one of his grenades blow up in his hand. (Kills you and any enemies around you)

    The Buff Banner (secondary)

    The Buff Banner
    The Buff Banner

    The Buff Banner is for the soldier who loves to charge straight into the heart of the enemy. As he does damage to the enemy a "rage" meter will fill up, once it's full (600 damage dealt) he can sound his bugle to let his allies know it's time to attack. After the bugle is blown a battle standard will pop out of the backpack which gives the soldier and everyone around him constant Mini-crits for 10 seconds.

    Notes:

    • The Buff Banner is awarded to those who unlock "Soldier Milestone 3" (Get 17 Soldier achievements)

    The Gunboats (secondary)

    The Gunboats
    The Gunboats

    To the victor goes the spoils, and for winning the great WAR!, the Soldier is awarded...new boots! These metal studded honeys protect the Soldier when rocket-jumping decreasing the damage from it by 75 percent.

    Notes:

    • The Gunboats can be crafted by combining a Razorback with a Chargin' Targe.
    • The Gunboats are best used for reaching high ground as you still take full fall damage.

    The Pain Train (secondary)

    The Pain Train
    The Pain Train

    The Pain Train is the Soldier's first community weapon and is shared with his old friend/recent nemesis the Demoman. This gnarly looking implement of war gives the soldier the ability to count as two people (Same as with the Scout) when capturing points on CP maps, or pushing carts on PL and PLR maps. This tactical advantage comes at the price of receiving 10% more damage when hit by bullets or shotguns.

    Notes:

    • The Pain Train can be crafted by combining a Sandman with one scrap metal.
    • The Pain Train functions exactly the same as the shovel as a melee weapon.

    Black Box (primary)

    The Black Box
    The Black Box

    The Black Box is a community-made primary weapon for the Soldier. It is a black, rectangular rocket launcher with rounded edges, sporting two dark grey fastening bands near the front end and case coverings hanging open at both ends of the weapon. The rear case covering swings idly. For every enemy successfully hit with the Black Box, the player will be awarded 15 health points per enemy hit, regardless of how much damage is dealt.

    Statistics:

    Maximum ramp-up - 112

    Base damage - 92

    Maximum fall-off - 48

    Point blank - 105/112

    Medium range - 50/90

    Long range - 45/60

    Critical hit - 270

    Mini-crit - 122

    Battalion's Backup (secondary)

    The Battalion's Backup
    The Battalion's Backup

    Secondary weapon. Provides a defensive buff that protects nearby team members from crits and blocks 35% of incoming damage.

    Battalion's Backup and Buff Banner count for the same achivements, it just depends on what your usual strategy is. Buff Banner is more offensive, Battalion's Backup is better for defensive players.

    Frying Pan (melee)

    The Frying Pan
    The Frying Pan

    A promotion weapon given to player who have purchased Left 4 Dead 2. It works the same as the Shovel.

    Statistics:

    Base damage - 65

    Point blank - 55/75

    Critical hit - 195

    Mini-crit - 75/101

    The Liberty Launcher (primary)

    The Liberty Launcher
    The Liberty Launcher

    The Liberty Launcher is a community-made primary weapon for the Soldier. It is an army green rocket launcher with tan wooden handles, a leaf sight adorned with a white U.S. Army insignia, and a wooden shoulder-rest with a wire frame exhaust port.

    This weapon is capable of launching rocket projectiles that travel at a rate of 1540 Hammer Units per second; roughly 66 mph, and 40% faster then the default Rocket Launcher's rockets. However, the Liberty Launcher only supports three rockets loaded at once.

    Statistics:

    Maxumum ramp-up - 112

    Base damage - 90

    Maximum fall-off - 48

    Point blank - 105/112

    Medium range - 50/90

    Long range - 45/60

    Critical hit - 270

    Mini-crit - 122

    The Beggar's Bazooka (primary)

    This item was released in the Pyromania Update Day 2, and is a replacement for the rocket launcher.

    • hold fire to load 3 rockets
    • release fire to launch all at once
    • +3 degrees random projectile deviation
    • overloading will cause a misfire
    • cannot collect ammo from dispensers.

    Advanced Techniques

    Rocket Jumping

    Rocket Jumping can bring players to various areas they could not normally reach (i.e: A ledge that is too high to jump, or even crouch-jump onto), and get them places much faster (i.e: rocket jumping across the water in 2fort). There are several ways to Rocket Jump in Team Fortress 2, each has it's own advantage.

    Traditional Rocket Jump

    The traditional rocket jump is the jump used most often, and gives you the most height.

    There are 3 steps to execute one:

    1) Jump;

    2) Look down at the ground;

    3) Shoot a rocket towards the ground.

    These 3 steps should be done in quick succession (the rocket should hit the ground while you are still in the air).

    The Distance Rocket Jump

    The distance rocket jump (as the name implies) is used to get across longer distances, it usually does not get as much height as the traditional.

    There are 4 steps to the Distance Rocket Jump:

    1. Turn 180 degrees from the way you want to rocket jump (remember to keep moving in the same direction);
    2. Jump;
    3. Look down at an angle less than 90 degrees;
    4. Shoot a rocket;
    5. Turn back to the way you were originally facing.

    The "Super" Jump

    Crouch, jump, and shoot at the floor at the exact same time to gain more height.

    Extra Notes about rocket jumping

    -If you do not jump before shooting, you will take much more damage than if not

    -You can turn in the middle of a rocket jump by doing what's called 'air strafing'

    To air strafe, simply look the way you want to move to with your mouse, and press the corresponding movement key (i.e: using the standard movement configuration, if I wanted to move left, I would look left with my mouse, and press the 'a' key). But beware, on normal gravity settings, making too sharp a turn will make air strafing useless.

    Advanced Rocket Jumping

    The most common (and most useful) is rocket jumping off another object, to gain extra distance. If done in mid-air, it will allow players to achieve much greater distances in a single rocket jump.

    Wall Jumping seems pretty straight-forward in theory, but is much harder in practice.

    1. Rocket jump close to, or alongside a wall.
    2. Look behind you, shoot at the wall, the angle of which it is shot will affect the direction you push away from the wall.
    3. Hope to God you still have enough health to fight :P

    Air Shots

    Learning how to shoot people with rockets while they are in the air can be quite difficult, but if done correctly, can be absolutely devastating. There is no real way to explain how to Air shot, though there are a few maps that can greatly enhance your skills.

    The First map is tr_airshot_0. This map will shoot up bots into the air, and you have to shoot them down, great for getting started (note: the user must spawn the bots)

    The second map is ctf_bball, This map is a decent way to hone your skills as a soldier all around.

    Hats

    Below is a list of every hat the Soldier can equip in the cosmetic slots.

    Miscellaneous items

    Below is a list of every non-hat item the Soldier can equip in the cosmetic slots.

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