The Big Manual for the Beginner Soldier

Hello, today I wanted to reveal all the secrets and mysteries of the soldier class in TF2.

Part One: Basics, and a bit of style.

The soldier is a very mobile class, equipped with high-damage area-of-effect weapons. Blah blah blah, everyone knows that.

Now, let's discuss something more specific. The first thing a soldier must know (besides being a good shooter) is rocket jumps (hereafter referred to as RJ). There are three types of RJs.

The first – low jump, mostly used for quickly building up an uber. The mechanics: jump -> shoot under your feet. It costs a lot of HP, propelling you to a relatively low height.

The second – medium jump, the most popular, used for various tasks, from jumping onto a balcony to chasing an enemy medic. The mechanics: jump -> crouch -> shoot under your feet. It costs comparatively less HP than the first RJ, raising you to a higher distance above the ground.

The third – high RJ, used by all elite soldiers, is much more complex to execute than the first two. The mechanics: crouch -> jump -> shoot under your feet. It costs as much HP as the second RJ but propels you much higher, and you will likely take fall damage. The third RJ exploits a bug in TF2's engine (of which there aren't many), during a quick jump after crouching, you will receive a strong push (this jump is called duck jump, not to be confused with the duck jumps from CSS, they are completely different), and the rocket will enhance and keep the speed after this push.

The difference in the height of rocket jumps can be seen in the picture below.

Each type of jump also has several subtypes.

Subtype one: main type of RJ - vertical jump, can only be effective for ascending to high surfaces. Executed by shooting directly under your feet.

Subtype two: unsupported long jump, performed while moving backward, the shot is made in front of you, accelerating parallel to the ground.

Subtype three: long jump with support, the farthest jump. Can only be executed off a wall or another object like tires. At the moment of the shot, you should be moving along the object, when you are against the wall, you need to do a DJ, after which you will be strongly pushed away from the object and will fly almost parallel to the ground.

To practice RJ skills, many maps exist; they often have the tag jump_\***. I present to your attention several maps of varying difficulty levels.

To use such maps, you need either to find a server with that map or create one on your computer. To create a server on your computer, you need to place the map (the file with a *.bsp extension) in the directory C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\"your account name"\team fortress 2\tf\maps, start the game, press the "create server" button, and choose the map from the dropdown list that you want to play. If you want your friends to join, you need to enter the following commands into the console: sv_lan 0, changelevel tr_airshot_v0 (or the name of any other map you want to play).

rj\_rocketeer map for novice soldiers, difficulty level low+

rj\_rocketeer\_advanced map for cool guys, this map has a high- difficulty level

Here’s a video walkthrough of this map:

There’s also another type of jump for soldiers: vertical double jumps, but their practical application is only on cp_badlands (video attached below); such jumps are more for show than for professionalism.

And there’s a dedicated map for practicing such jumps.

jump\_skip difficulty level mid-

Part Two: How to learn to shoot, Or, in our times, aim works wonders.

In this part, I will touch on pressing issues related to poor aim.

If you have no experience in other esports disciplines, or, to put it simply, if you are not a hardcore gamer but want to improve, then you need to practice!

Now seriously, there are many ways to train as a soldier. Besides RJ maps, there are also maps with the tag tr_***, these maps contain bots to kill. Quite often, before a matchup, I warm up on these maps. And it’s about them that I will talk below.

tr\_airshot\_v0 probably the most famous and popular training map. And what can you practice there? Airshots! This map is very useful for newcomers who want to make impressive airshots.

tr\_flinger\_b2 this map is the younger sibling of airshots. On it, you will choose the terrain, either the spire of Badlands or the last control point of Gravel Pit.

tr\_midair\_v1 created for Demoman but can also be used for soldier. The name of the map (midair) comes from a type of airshot that occurs at close range.

tr\_rocket\_shooting2 the name speaks for itself. This map is well-suited for practicing rocket shooting at long and medium distances.

tr\_aim a map for aim training. One of the best training maps. It has bot strafe speed adjustments and allows you to disable crits without using the console.

That's all great, but this is just for newcomers or warm-up before a match. Suppose you shoot excellently but have one problem, and that problem is high ping. I'm not talking about a ping of 80; I'm talking about a ping of 250 on European servers. What to do? Here, only a config can help you.

Part Three: Configs, Pings.

Well, first of all, I want to say why configs are even needed; a config is a file containing your own settings, your scripts, anything you want.

Let’s talk about how to make configs, as the best config is the one made by yourself and for yourself. Configs are located here: C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\"your account name"\team fortress 2\tf\cfg, files with a *.cfg extension can be opened with a regular text editor.

Let’s start – open Notepad and paste this script in:

(script taken from the official game developers' Wikipedia)

alias +swap1 "slot3; +attack; alias +m1bind +swap2; alias -m1bind -swap2; alias +m2bind +attack; alias -m2bind -attack"

alias -swap1 "-attack"

alias "+m2bind" "+swap1"

alias "-m2bind" "-swap1"

bind "MOUSE2" "+m2bind"

alias +swap2 "slot1; +attack; alias +sht1 +swap3; alias -sht1 -swap3; alias +m1bind +normaatkkreload; alias -m1bind -normaatkkreload; alias +m2bind +swap1; alias -m2bind -swap1"

alias -swap2 "-attack"

alias +normaatkkreload "+attack"

alias -normaatkkreload "-attack"

alias "+m1bind" "+swap2"

alias "-m1bind" "-swap2"

bind "MOUSE1" "+m1bind"

alias +swap3 "slot2; +attack; alias +m1bind +attack; alias -m1bind -attack; alias +sht1 +swap2; alias -sht1 -swap2; alias +m2bind +swap1; alias -m2bind -swap1"

alias -swap3 "-attack"

alias "+sht1" "+swap3"

alias "-sht1" "-swap3"

bind "q" "+sht1;"

Press "Save As...", find the folder I mentioned earlier, and name the file "Lopata.cfg"

Now, to run the script, you need to join any server (or create your own), choose the soldier class, and type "exec lopata.cfg" in the console. And now when you press the right mouse button, you will take out a shovel, upon pressing it again you'll swing it, and when you press mouse1 (left button), you'll take out the rocket launcher, and so on.

This is an example of scripting. Now let’s talk about configs; actually, I don't have a high regard for scripts, as they can sometimes do half the work for you, but I really love configs.

I've already mentioned high ping. I don't know about you, but I play in three leagues and almost all of them are played with people not from Russia, and therefore matches take place on European servers. And the ping on my team's server (located in Holland) never drops below 200. But for myself, I wrote a wonderful ping config:

cl_cmdrate 10

cl_updaterate 40

cl_interp 0.015

net_compresspackets 0

rate 20000

To load the config or script you use constantly, you can place it in a file named after the class that uses this config or in a file named "autoexec.cfg", which will load after every death and whenever you join a server.

You can modify the ping config as you see fit; this config is set for extreme packet reduction sent to the server. For those living closer to the European part of Russia, I recommend changing the value of cl_cmdrate to 40.

If you want to see the difference in ping with the config and without, you can do the following: join a European server, press TAB, and look at the ping displayed. If you type "ping" in the console, you will see a completely different number; many will say the console shows the truth while the scoreboard shows fake. But that is a huge misconception because when activating the "ping" command, the client communicates with the server under standard settings and thus displays a ping much higher than what is shown on the scoreboard.

Part Four: Teamwork. Or, come on boys, or we're not unloading bricks until morning.

I think after we’ve racked up 1000 hours as a soldier, learned to shoot well, and are ready to showcase all we’ve learned, it’s time to play in a team.

The main task of the soldier is to protect the medic from scouts and other threats. In a team, often both soldiers (during quiet moments) accompany the medic, and when the fight starts, one soldier (the more experienced or the one with less HP) uses (with the Kritzkreg, it's different; it's used by the most experienced and with the most HP), while the second soldier moves out of the line of fire until the enemy's uber fades, after which he returns, and then depending on the situation, either helps the medic escape (if the uber is lost) or helps the first soldier finish off everyone.

The soldier is the class that carries the most responsibility. He must never leave the medic alone, he must not leave the last control point unguarded, he must not arcade, and he must not die in the center. This is just a small part of what a soldier must not do; oh, how much he has to...

Part Five: So what are we waiting for? Let's go swimming!

To sharpen gameplay in 6v6 (this format has been recognized as the standard for all official games in all leagues, championships, cups, etc.), pickups are the best fit, but every direction in the game requires different skills and for each skill, there is a specific map, mode, etc. For instance, if you’re a medic and constantly getting spammed, go to a meat pub 16-16 and try not to die in the meat, or you’re a scout who keeps dying – go play arena there and see if you can die at all.

What am I rambling on about? Well, that you can learn anywhere. But what you will learn - that's your personal business.

This post contains my personal experience gathered over 2 years of playing TF2.

Thank you for your attention.