Soldier is one of the easiest classes to play. He's got really powerful burst damage, crazy mobility, and high health that will allow him to just barely talk a critical melee hit from almost any weapon (except for the Scotsman's Skullcutter, but whatever). However, Soldier can still be tricky. This guide is made to help you get better at Soldier, so you can explode people better. Something like that. Let's start with the most important part of your play style. WEAPONS/LOADOUTS The different weapons for Soldier have a lot of different uses. Depending on which one you use can greatly affect your ability. I used to use the Direct Hit, because of its insane damage, but after I switched to the Original, I did a ton better. That's because of the splash damage that the Direct Hit forgoes. The Original is also really easy to aim, because of its centered location on the screen. I typically use a loadout of Original or Black Box, Shotgun or Concheror, and Half-Zatoichi. If you don't understand what that means, I suggest you go look at the other guide to the basics of Soldier really quick. The splash damage that the normal rockets have is incredibly good for cheesing people around corners, since it does 30-40 damage with each rocket. The Black Box also heals when you damage enemies with it, up to 20 health, which isn't as good as the Concheror, since you'll have to be more aggressive to even get any regeneration, especially with the Half Zatoichi, whereas the Concheror will let you fall back and get your health to regenerate passively. The Half Zatoichi, the melee weapon that damages you when you unequip it, has a nifty stat; it's a sword-type weapon, meaning it holsters and puts away slower, and also has longer melee range. You can (in theory) Trolldier with a Half Zatoichi, meaning you basically just dove bomb enemies with it, and it will also restore a ton of health when you do. If you kill someone with it, you can put it away without being damaged, but if you continue to swap weapons before the sword is fully deployed, you won't be harmed, unlike the Gloves of Running Urgently or Eviction Notice, both weapons for the Heavy that slowly trade maximum health for a speed boost. When deployed, they instantly drain 20 max health and start lowering it, too. The Shotgun instead of Concheror is really good, but has the set back of not being able to passively heal yourself. It's good for following up damage, or being funny, and does 90 damage at point blank; the same on all classes that use it. This is just my personal loadout, but you can really do whatever you want to. If you like rocket jumping, try the Concheror or Gunboats as a secondary, and maybe the Liberty Launcher as a primary. If you like being hyper-aggressive, try the Concheror with the Black Box and Half Zatoichi, or Shotgun with the Direct Hit and Disciplinary Action, the former being the ultimate regen build and the latter being a "rush in and probably get dunked on but take some fools with you" type of build. Again, these are just suggestions. You can do whatever you want to, but for beginners, I highly recommend using the Original, since it's really easy to aim and does beautiful damage. Basically, use the splash damage to your advantage as much as possible. It's really good, so don't waste it. Try to bounce your enemies into the air by shooting rockets at their feet, it'll make them easy targets for a follow-up, too.
