Team Fortress 2 Team Fortress 2

Soldier can be pretty fun class to play, but you have to know how to play him and that's why I'm here for.

Introduction

Soldier is an offensive class, but he can be used for pretty much every situation - Attacking, Defending or Flanking.

Soldier can also be played differently:

Roamer - Highly offensive Soldier with the Gunboats that uses Rocket Jumps often & focuses on map objective.
Pocket Soldier - Pocket Soldier is defensive type of a Soldier. His playstyle is passive, he's near a medic & he uses a Shotgun when his rockets run out.
Flanker - This type of Soldier plays completely away from main combat. He can be used to spam rockets on point or flanking the cart on payload.

Deathmatch Skills

Deathmatch Skills are really important. Deathmatch Skills are basically things like Combat Abilities, Rocket Shooting or Dodging Rockets.

Always try to predict the movement of your enemy. If it is a scout, wait for him to land on the ground & then shoot under him. What would you do is shooting under your target, because when a rocket his your target, It blasts him in the air. This mechanic is called The Juggle, which is slightly controlling your target's movement with a rocket & It can become really usefull when you need to a Scout, Demo or Medic etc...

Good Ways to practice Deathmatch skills aren't set, but I'll give you tips where to go to:

tr_walkway_rc2 - tr_walkway is really popular map for practicing basically anything in TF2 and that's why I have mentioned it in this guide because It's a great place where you can practice your Aim or Dodging Rockets.
MGE Servers - MGE servers are 1v1 based servers where you can go to practice 1v1 combat skills. It's really great & effitient way to learn something new or master well known mechanics such as Airshots, Predicting target's movement etc...
Casual - Oh Yeah, I almost forgot. Some of you can argue about it, but playing casual can really help you. It's not that effitient as tr_walkway or MGEs, but hey, It works.

Aim

Playing Soldier requires some aim and that's the point of this section. Your aim is really important because players with great aim can hit more then beginners with worse aim. As I previously told you, always aim under target's legs because when the rocket hits him, It blasts him into the air & you can juggle with him easily.

Ways of practicing your aim are nearly identic to practicing DM skills.

tr_walkway_rc2 - tr_walkway is really popular map for practicing basically anything in TF2 and that's why I have mentioned it in this guide because It's a great place where you can practice your Aim or Dodging Rockets.
MGE Servers - MGE servers are 1v1 based servers where you can go to practice 1v1 combat skills. It's really great & effitient way to learn something new or master well known mechanics such as Airshots, Predicting target's movement etc...
Casual - Oh Yeah, I almost forgot. Some of you can argue about it, but playing casual can really help you. It's not that effitient as tr_walkway or MGEs, but hey, It works.

Movement

Your movement is as important as your aim. If your opponent has a height advantage, It's really hard to dodge his rockets, but always keep in mind that he's aiming under your legs, so try to dodge into side before he shots. Your movement should be unexpected. Don't just run into one side because you will be easy to shoot down.

For me, Ideal movement is quckly pressing A and D key, then make small strafe in one side, then another to another side.
Another way of Soldier's movement is Rocket Jumping. Rocket Jumping is Soldier's big plus, so If you don't know how to Rocket Jump, I recommend going on Jump_Beef or Jump Academy and practice it. How to make a Rocket Jump you ask ? Make a crouch jump (Pressing SPACE key + CTRL key) and shoot a rocket under your legs in the same time. This needs to be done really quick to perform a sucessfull Rocket Jump. If you still don't know how to do Rocket Jumps, try to search TF2 Rocket Jump Tutorial on YouTube and I'm sure you will find how to do them.

Rocket Management

Rocket Management is really important when playing soldier. Know how many rockets you have in a clip & Always have at least one rocket in a clip, because having an empty clip can cost you a live.

When you want to do a Rocket Jump and you have empty clip, first, reload your entire clip (All 4 Rockets) and then make a jump because you can take down people while in the air.
If you come on new map, It's good to create your own server and go for a short walk to find out where Ammopacks & Healthpacks are located.

Height Advantage

If you know how to use Height Advantage as your plus, you can become really hard target for enemy team. Height Advantage is basically when you're above your enemies. This makes killing your enemies much easier because you can just shoot the floor. Another good thing is you can hit multiple enemies with Splash Damage and you are not forced to shoot direct shots.

Height Advantage is a main way of Roamer's damage to in competitive matches.

Choosing A Great Loadout

It can take a while to find a loadout that fits your playstyle & every player can use different. Here are some examples of loadouts I suggest as best in each role. (Roamer, Pocket, Flank).

Roamer's Loadout

Primary Slot - Stock Rocket Launcher; It has great damage, great projectile speed & mainly great clip size.
Secondary Slot - Gunboats. They alove you to take -60 % of blast damage you take when rocket jumping.
Melee Slot - Escape Plan. You take mini - crits when holding The Escape Plan, but you can run very fast (Depends on how many HP you have).

Pocket Soldier's Loadout

Primary Slot - Stock Rocket Launcher; Again - It has great damage, great projectile speed & mainly great clip size.
Secondary Slot - Stock Shotgun; Great firepower when you run out of Primary Weapon ammo & you don't want to run out of a fight. Shotgun has good damage to nearby enemies, but really, really low damage to enemies in long distance.
Melee Slot - Escape Plan. Again - You take mini - crits when holding The Escape Plan, but you can run very fast (Depends on how many HP you have).

Flanker's Loadout

Primary Slot - Stock Rocket Launcher; Again - It has great damage, great projectile speed & mainly great clip size.
Secondary Slot - Stock Shotgun; Flanker's Secondary Weapon can be different, but you can use basically everything.
Melee Slot - Escape Plan. Melee Weapon is basically the same as a Secondary. You can use almost everything.

General Tips

Soldier's big advantage is Splash Damage. I highly recommend using it when defending a point or a cart because you can just spam your rockets on point / cart and kill many people.
Play Around and find which loadout fits your playstyle.
Learn how to Airshot - Airshots are really usefull in Competitive mode or duels when playing VS skilled players. Airshots can help you shot them down easily.
Always keep an eye on your ammo. Also always have at least one rocket in a clip.
Reserve Shooter is very good weapon, but not for soldier. Use it on Pyro, but please... Not on Soldier.
Rocket Management is really important, so keep that in mind you don't have to waste all of your rockets on one scout. Wait for a good moment, then shoot!

Source: https://gameplay.tips/guides/2843-team-fortress-2.html

Team Fortress 2 - Soldier Guide