A quick guide to Soldier's various rocket launchers

This guide will help beginner Soldiers understand their primary weapons better.

Introduction

Soldier - a rocket-spewing rocket-jumping rocket-everything staple of a living frontline. Good at both offense and defense, able to deal splash damage through his rocket launcher, fight at close range with his shotgun, or support his team with various deployable banners. Able to dish it and tough it out. This guide will explain the different strengths and weaknesses of each rocket launcher, to help you choose something that fits your playstyle.

Legend

Overview:

A quick list of the rocket launcher's attributes.

Pros:

The aspects this rocket launcher excels at.

Cons:

The aspects this rocket launcher fails at.

Notes:

Any additional data and advices for using this rocket launcher.

MvM usability:

How useful it is in the Mann VS Machine mode.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Weapons that pair up well with this rocket launcher.

Rocket Launcher

The stock rocket launcher, available to everyone, and the most balanced of all.

Overview:

• holds 4 rockets in its clip
  
• 20 reserve rockets
  
• each rocket flies in a straight line and explodes upon hitting anything, dealing around 70 splash damage (at medium range)

Pros:

• balanced
  
• reliable

Cons:

• doesn't shine in any particular situation

Notes:

This is the simplest launcher to use: has a decent clip size, damage, and other properties. You can rely on it in any possible situation.

MvM usability:

Works like it should. Shoots rockets, which destroy stuff. It can't get more simple than that.

Suggested secondary/melee:

any

Original

Something made especially for retro gamers and precision rocket jumping.

Overview:

• identical to stock, except fires from the middle rather than side

Pros:

• balanced and reliable, just like stock
  
• great for precision rocket jumping

Cons:

• doesn't shine in any particular situation, like stock
  
• harder to shoot around corners
  
• getting used to a weapon located in the bottom of the screen, rather than the side, can be difficult for non-retro gamers

Notes:

It performs identical to stock, but has one difference: fires from the middle of the screen rather than the side, as a shout-out to old FPS games (original Team Fortress mod for Quake in particular). This makes it easier to do rocket jumps, but harder to shoot around corners. Other than that, it performs identical to stock.

MvM usability:

Like stock.

Suggested secondary/melee:

any

Direct Hit

A hard to use, but very effective weapon, at least in certain circumstances.

Overview:

• +25% damage bonus
  
• +80% projectile speed
  
• Mini-crits targets launched airborne by explosions
  
• -70% explosion radius

Pros:

• powerful single-target damage
  
• high projectile speed
  
• mini-crits on airshots on juggled targets
  
• great for taking out sentries

Cons:

• lack of splash damage nerfs your crowd control abilities
  
• difficult to score direct hits on fast targets
  
• probably the hardest launcher to use effectively

Notes:

I would never recommend this weapon to anyone who's just starting out. This launcher requires a different mentality from other launchers - pin-point precision and movement prediction are crucial to scoring the hits. However, slow or immobile targets are especially vulnerable to this weapon.

MvM usability:

This weapon trades AoE for single-target damage. Guess how well it does in a gamemode where you fight swarms of targets. Slightly stronger against giants and tanks, but it will never make up for inability to hit more than one thing at a time.

Suggested secondary/melee:

A banner item, or Gunboats / B.A.S.E. Jumper if you like to rocket jump a lot.

Black Box

This is the weapon made for survivalists and roamers.

Overview:

On Hit: Gain up to +20 health per attack (1 HP per 4.5 damage dealed)
• -25% clip size

Pros:

• heals you when you hit an enemy
  
• ability to sustain yourself without help of medkits or the Medic

Cons:

• the lack of the fourth rocket is often the difference between victory and failure
  
• lack of general firepower due to having only three rockets
  
• doesn't pair up well with a Medic
  
• the healing is insignificant if you don't do a lot of damage

Notes:

This weapon is great for roamers if you know you're not going to have a Medic due to the ability to heal yourself. However, it lacks general firepower - I suggest taking flanking routes and ambushing targets at close range to maximize the healing. Also, never take this weapon if you know you're going to have a Medic pocketing you.

MvM usability:

This weapon trades one rocket for an ability to heal yourself even more. Heal on hit might actually save your life sometimes. And since you fight swarms of targets, it's maximized here. Overall, a good weapon for this mode.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Shotgun / Reserve Shooter, as a backup, since you have only three rockets to work with.

Rocket Jumper

Trolldier weapon of choice, practice weapon, and the general source of free flight tickets.

Overview:

• +200% max primary ammo on wearer
  
• No self inflicted blast damage taken
  
• -100% damage penalty
  
• No random critical hits
  
• Wearer cannot carry the intelligence briefcase

Pros:

• great for rocket jumping
  
• almost never runs out of ammo

Cons:

• inability to deal damage
  
• inability to carry the intel in CTF

Notes:

This weapon was designed for rocket jumping practice in mind, but can also be used in actual combat, if you like to rocket jump more than shoot enemies. However, it deals no damage, so you'll have to rely on your secondary and melee to fight. Also, you can't carry the intel in CTF, so be sure to bring a QuickFix Pocket Medic with yourself so he can grab it.

MvM usability:

It deals no damage. At all. I don't think I need to say anything else.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Shotgun / Reserve Shooter, to actually be able to fight, or B.A.S.E. Jumper to prolong the time you stay in the air. Also, Market Gardener is great.

Liberty Launcher

A more reliable but less effective version of the stock rocket launcher.

Overview:

• +25% clip size
  
• +40% projectile speed
  
• -25% blast damage from rocket jumps
  
• -25% damage penalty

Pros:

• very reliable
  
• easy to use
  
• great for beginners
  
• great for rocket jumping

Cons:

• lacks general firepower
  
• crutch weapon

Notes:

Liberty Launcher's rockets are faster, but weaker. This makes it easier to land hits, but they deal less damage. This is a great weapon for those who have problems landing normal rockets, especially since it packs an extra one. It also is great for rocket jumping.

MvM usability:

Rocket Specialist gives increased rocket speed, and this launcher is pretty weak. It just can't deal much damage.

Suggested secondary/melee:

A banner item, since you can more reliably gain damage for it, and you'll have easier time landing hits on enemies that would be too fast for the stock rocket launcher.

Cow Mangler

A device from a sci-fi movie that surprisingly works quite similar to stock rocket launcher.

Overview:

• Does not require ammo
  
• Alt-Fire: A charged shot that mini-crits players, sets them on fire and disables buildings for 4 sec
  
• No random critical hits
  
• Deals only 20% damage to buildings
  
• Cannot be crit boosted

Pros:

• quite reliable
  
• infinite ammo
  
• charge shot, which mini-crits, sets enemies on fire and disables enemy buildings

Cons:

• inability to be crit-boosted at all
  
• inability to destroy enemy buldings on your own
  
• charge shot makes you a sitting duck for a short while and burns up the whole clip

Notes:

This weapon, instead of firing rockets, fires energy bullets. They behave pretty much like normal rockets, except they deal horrendously low damage to enemy buildings and vaporize targets instead of gibbing them. When you encounter enemy Engineer with his buildings set up, call your teammates in, unleash your charge shot and let them finish the job. Also, the charge shot mini-crits and sets enemies to fire, but it's risky to use due to you being slow-moving for the duration of the charge. Also, it never runs out of ammo, but cannot be crit-boosted (BUT it can be MINI-crit boosted), so you're essentially useless to a Kritzkrieg Medic.

MvM usability:

Inability to be crit-boosted with Crit Canteens and destroy Engineer buildings from afar makes it bad for this gamemode. Also, you should always have an Engineer present with a dispenser, so ammo isn't an issue, and clip size upgrades actually make the charge shot burn EVEN MORE ammo.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Anything except the Righteous Bison.

Beggar's Bazooka

A gimmicky weapon, that can nevertheless be powerful when used correctly.

Overview:

• Hold Fire to load up to three rockets
  
• Release Fire to unleash the barrage
  
• +3 degrees random projectile deviation
  
• Overloading the chamber will cause a misfire
  
• No ammo from dispensers when active

Pros:

• powerful burst damage
  
• not really difficult to use

Cons:

• inability to grab ammo from dispensers while it's the active weapon
  
• requires good prediction
  
• vulnerability to ambushes
  
• overloading the chamber hurts you
  
• inaccurate

Notes:

This weapon is slightly gimmicky - instead of loading up rockets and firing them manually, you first load up rockets, and then, after letting go, fire all of them in quick succession. You also can't load up rockets for later, you either load or fire. Overloading will cause a rocket to explode in your face, which hurts quite a bit. Also, it's inaccuracy renders it useless at anything past mid range. I suggest being sneaky with it, finding a suitable target, then going into cover, loading up your three rockets, and then firing away.

MvM usability:

Best Soldier primary for this gamemode, period. With max reload speed upgrades, loading one rocket to the chamber and immediately firing it, it has a fire rate of around two rockets per second, and unlike clips for other rocket launchers, you're only limited to your ammo reserve. Because of those qualities, it has very high DPS, which is also less of a burst damage and more of a sustained DPS.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Shotgun, Reserve Shooter or Bison, to make ambushes slightly less painful.

Air Strike

Another gimmicky weapon, this time centered around combat rocket jumping.

Overview:

• -15% blast damage from rocket jumps
  
• Increases attack speed while blast jumping
  
• Clip size increased on kill
  
• -15% damage penalty
  
• -10% explosion radius

Pros:

• powerful burst damage from air
  
• clip size increases on kill
  
• firing speed increased while rocket jumping

Cons:

• individually weaker rockets
  
• not exactly easy to use
  
• huge clips take a lot of time to reload

Notes:

After the Gun Mettle update, the weapon got a ton of buffs, to the point that some think it's a little overpowered in comparison to stock. The rockets are weaker than stock's, but it fires faster on rocket jumping (as well as taking reduced damage from those), as well as increasing clip size on kills.

MvM usability:

Despite having nice DPS, it forces you to rocket jump high into the air, denying the banner bonus to your teammates and making you an easy target for aimbotting hitscan-wielding robots. I still wouldn't use it over the Beggar's Bazooka.

Suggested secondary/melee:

Gunboats or B.A.S.E. Jumper, since you need to rocket jump effectively. Also, Market Gardener, for rocket jump crits.

Final notes

This is a very simple guide, but I still hope it was a good lecture for you.
Good luck in your future battles, soldier!

[Vallinek]

I hope they will fix Uber stealing since that's what breaks my main class for me.

[Klubis]

Oh cool. I always like like using the Black box if there isn't a Medic behind me, and that -25% clip size dosen't bother me. I hope Invasion comes out soon.

[Vallinek]

Well... actually gotta mention that this wasn't updated since Gun Mettle came out, so the stats for Black Box, Liberty Launcher and Air Strike are not correct.
Black Box' healing is dependant on how much damage you do with the rocket, Liberty Launcher got an extra rocket in the clip, and Air Strike has no clip size penalty and smaller blast radius and damage penalties. (Some argue it's a little overpowered in comparison to stock.)

[Klubis]

Thanks! really helped me with soldier. XD

[Vallinek]

Maybe I'll do. Those kinds of guides honestly aren't gaining too much popularity.

[PonyKisser:3]

really bloody good guide lad, i would like to see something like this for maybe melee or secondary's along maybe with some other classes in the future but yeah good work

[Justin Lamarr Cole]

hahahahha! very true

[Vallinek]

Like the AVGN said, "High up or high on drugs, either way, you'll see glitches!".

[Justin Lamarr Cole]

im so sorry to say this but i literatly cracked up when you said "if I want to get high." xD

[Vallinek]

The only thing I really know is shooting at walls if I want to get moving and under myself if I want to get high. And maybe that I can change my flight direction by tilting my mouse and pressing A or D, depending on where I want to go. I don't intend to practice any pogo-jumping.