HANDS ON GUIDE

Assault #2 - The Soldier

Soldier: 200 HP

The soldier is the best class for a twitch-style FPS gamers. To be successful with his weapons you will require accuracy, split second decision-making, and a will to take the fight to the enemy. With 200 health points, the Solider can take a battering, and his rocket jump ability allows you to get to high areas other classes can only dream of.

Primary Weapon: Rocket Launcher

One of the most powerful and versatile weapons in the game, the Rocket Launcher’s main downside is its slow speed, which makes it useless on most long-range targets. The exceptions are the Engineer’s structures, and scoped Snipers. Four well-placed rockets will generally kill either.

The Rocket Launcher is most effective against moving targets at short or medium range. Aim it at an enemy’s feet and the splash damage of the rocket will cause them serious harm, but since the enemy will probably be dodging for their life, you need to predict where they’re running to and fire the rocket into their path. It’s easy to overshoot your target, but you’ll find aiming becomes easier if you get a height advantage – something the rocket jump can easily provide.

Rocket Jump

The soldier can use his rockets to propel itself high into the air. Since the rocket launcher is most effective when shooting down at a target, and the roof provides cover from enemy fire, this is an advantageous position to be in.

The rocket jump is tricky to perform, but when the skill is mastered a jump can be performed in a split second. Run forwards, and point the rocket launcher just in front of your feet. Fire the rocket, and hit jump a split-second after. To jump even higher, hit jump and crouch at the same time. A well-executed jump can get the soldier up onto almost any roof in the game. The downside to this is that it will cost you health, and there aren’t any Health packs or dispensers at the top of the maps. The only way you can get healed is to call a medic. Imploring your team over voicecomms will provide a more favourable result that repeatedly hitting E.

Secondary Weapon: Shotgun

The shotgun is best used for tapping at enemies over a long range, or to finish off anyone who’s survived the four-rocket clip of the launcher. To effectively get kills you have to quick switch to shotgun the instant you fire your last rocket. The enemy will probably be expecting you to hop around, trying to live long enough to reload your launcher, but instead they’ll get a hail of fire from your shotgun.

Melee Weapon: Entrenching Tool

If you’ve emptied both of your primary weapons, and you still haven’t killed your prey then you’ll have to batter them with your Entrenching Tool. Shoveling people over the head does a lot of damage, but don’t expect to take out more than one opponent with it.

Best Allies: Medic

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