Team Fortress 2 Strategy

A good soldier is as good or better a medic buddy than an average heavy, or in some cases even a good heavy. Competent soldiers should have the right to have their own medic if the heavies aren’t getting the job done. A good soldier and a good medic together can wreak havoc in and around the enemy’s base, restrict their movement, and resultantly leave less competition for their teammates, who can push forward and control the map.

Soldiers are especially good at pressing on after destroying buildings

Like with the demoman, one of the more difficult aspects of playing a soldier is hitting moving targets. Look for opportunities such as when as scout has just double jumped and you can safely predict where he will land, or when a heavy starts spinning his minigun and you know his position won’t change a lot in the next couple of seconds. Shoot smarter, not harder.

Although the last page may have appeared to be an essay on avoiding direct hits, there is something to be said for them (so long as your confident you can). There are 3 situations I can think of where direct hits may be an option (this of course doesn’t mean splash damage isn’t): when the combat is at fairly close range so your target has less time to react to a rocket, against a slow/unaware target (spinning heavy, for example) that is physically unable to take evasive action, or when you’re presented with a mass of enemies that it would be hard to miss. On average, shooting for the feet will serve you better, but sometimes the body shot can pay off.

Stationary targets are where the soldier excels. His fire-and-forget, long range, zero deviation rocket launcher is ideal for destroying an engineer’s creations from a safe distance. If the enemy has any defensive structures that are an obstacle for a team, soldiers and demomen should always make them a priority rather than yelling at their spies.

Even with a wall in the way, the splash damage can keep engineers busy

When on low health and retreating, instead of simply turning around and running away, try to pre-empt and prevent any opportunities your opponent(s) may have to pursue you and finish you off. Run backwards and fire your rockets at the floor of doorways and corners that the enemy may run through as your rocket hits in an attempt to chase you down. If they do happen to run around that corner at the right time, you could either kill them or dissuade them from continuing their pursuit, and if they don’t you can simply reload, no harm done.

Since the Soldier/Demo “nerf” update, the Soldier has fewer rockets (4 + 16 reserve). So whereas before it was important for the soldier to keep moving and wreak as much havoc as possible (and to avoid getting hit yourself), it is doubly important for the soldier to stay light on his feet to keep his ammunition up. Know where the ammo spawns are on each map and keep an eye out for dropped weapons so you can keep the rockets flying without having to retreat to a dispenser or resupply locker.

The soldier’s rocket jump ability is a powerful advantage - look for places to use it. It is especially useful just after being buffed by a medic, allowing you to rocket jump and still have more than full health. There are some obvious places to use it (Gravel Pit’s B roof and C platform), but look for original and unexpected places from which to ambush your enemies. Check out the rocket jump sections in the map guides for some pointers, and don’t forget the Rocket Jump guide for more on the intricacies of it.

Speaking of alternative uses for the soldier’s rockets, they can be a great help at getting past one of the most deadly obstacles in TF2 - a choke point full of sticky bombs. Simply shoot a rocket at the middle (or edge) of the minefield, and the explosion will send them tumbling away. Even if you don’t proceed through the chokepoint, at least you’ll be cleaning up for anyone who wants to, and ruining the demoman’s plans.

No, really!