Hints and Tips for playing TF2

A place to discuss strategies and methods of playing
Thorn
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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Thorn » Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:04 pm

Thorny Scout Pointers

Thorny Point # 1)
Scouts rely on the element of surprise and keeping your opponent bewildered


Scouts are a very team oriented class, despite popular opinion of, “scouts are a waste of a slot“. To play a team scout, I like to use what I call “mosquito” tactics. That is, get behind the enemy lines and constantly pester people with the scattergun or pick off stragglers. One of two things will happen if mosquito tactics work:
1 – Players will be distracted and turn around to try and stop you, thereby leaving them open to your teammates coming from the front, in addition if there are 4 people chasing you, they are wasting their time trying to stop you, while your teammates are either making progress on the front lines or you are buying time on your teammates’ spawn timer.
2 – Players will ignore you which will ultimately slow down their momentum because you will be able to take out teleporter entrances, soften them up for the rest of your team, or pick off vulnerable stragglers like Medics, Engineers and Demos. All of which contributes to hindering the opposing team’s momentum.

Thorny Point # 2)
-Knowing where ALL the med packs on the map are is crucial


Scouts are very fragile and as such, even the small med packs help, and since you are so fast you can snatch em up quick and get full health fast. Not only that, scouts take a lot of stray bullets from people shooting at you and never getting a solid hit since, mostly due to the fact that you will be jumping around and running constantly. Knowing med pack locations pretty much goes for all classes, but it is important for scouts especially since in order for scouts to be the most effective, you have to get out in the middle of the battle zone where you will undoubtedly take some damage, and in order for mosquito tactics to work, you have to be alive and FORCE people to deal with you, just the threat of 1 scout behind the enemy lines can completely disrupt an entire enemy strategy.

Thorny Point #3)
-Maps with a lot of elevation are your friends, flat maps make scouts cry


As mentioned before, getting the element of surprise is very important, players take a lot of things for granted when they get used to a map, and that is there are a lot of “safe” areas or angles that you don’t have to check. Being a scout you can abuse this, because with your double jump it gives you quick access to places most people don’t expect you to come from. Maps that have a good amount of vertical elements to them are really nice because that means you can come down from above with a double jump. Not only will this confuse the heck out of your opponents, they will panic and start flailing their mouse about trying to get a shot on you, especially if you are in close quarters. This also forces Soldiers and Demomen to start aiming up at you, instead of at the ground, which we all know they love to do with their rockets and stickies
Last edited by Thorn on Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by l3eeron » Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:10 pm

Good stuff Thorn!


I mostly play demo and medic, I hate scouts more than anything. I study their tactics so I can defend against them better. Looks like you covered all the main areas.

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Post by kookoo275 » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:47 pm

[quote="l3eeron";p="87527"]Good stuff Thorn!


I mostly play demo and medic, I hate scouts more than anything. I study their tactics so I can defend against them better. Looks like you covered all the main areas.[/quote]

Same here. Scouts disrupt the WHOLE team, and you described their play style very well.
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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Nick Mame » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:39 am

The Medic

1) A good medic is not one who jumps around like a lunatic avoiding rocket fire and somehow manages to survive, that's a lucky medic. A good medic is someone who knows where to position themselves so that no enemy fire reaches them, and who sits there concentrating on selecting heal targets and evaluating the situation. The most basic example of this is to stand behind a corner while your target advances. You can peak around the corner without exposing yourself to sniper fire, and due to the extreme range on healing, can reach your target from a fairly far and safe distance away.

2) Likewise, a good medic does not encourage greedy soldiers to fire critical rockets into a group of individuals, blowing them all into tiny little bits. Always be near the maximum distance possible from your heal target, to let them soak up incoming fire and force enemies to choose which of you to target, instead of hitting both. A good medic should be far from their target, hiding from their enemy, but still effective at healing.

3) Since no good medic stands in one spot hiding for the entire match, good medics reposition themselves behind new cover as their healing target advances. A medic should never advance before the person they are healing (unless ubered), because of ambushes that might be behind the next corner. Unless you are on fire and surely going to die in the next five seconds with a health pack right around the corner, do not turn that corner first. It's suicide. Instead, remain at your near-max distance, reposition yourself to new cover as your healing target advances, and let them enter first.

4) Because a good medic's heal target is always advancing, a good medic should always be concerned with what's behind them. The person you are healing will handle anything that comes through the front door, so ignore everything in front of you. They won't hit you hiding behind your corner, anyway. Pay attention to your flanks, your back, to areas where ambushes frequently come from. Make sure you are a good distance away from all nearby openings, so a pyro cannot get to you before you have time to react. Alert your heal target of any enemies. However, paying attention to your back is no excuse to let a soldier die on you, or to loose track of your heal target. Sneak a peak up front once in a while to make sure no one else needs your healing, and that your heal beam is still engaged.

5) A good medic runs when an ambush appears. You should alert your heal target of the ambush and run towards the safest exit. This often means you run away from your heal target and break the heal beam - that's okay, you've alerted your target and they should be smart enough move from the frontline and assist you. Note that running does not mean heading all the way back to respawn, it means moving outside of the enemy's range and observing the situation. If the ambusher follows you, lead them to your team's front line where respawning teammates can take care of them - then latch your heal beam on a respawner. If the ambusher goes for your previous heal target, return to them and continue healing - you are not in danger.

6) A good medic is not afraid to let someone die. If you are in danger or the situation looks really bad, it's okay to flee and let your heal target die. Your life is more important as a medic since you are what keeps the team running. It's also okay to refuse to follow your heal target into an ungodly undesirable situation, let them suicide charge on their own. It is not okay to let a player die when you are in no danger and they are quite reachable.

7) A good medic plans his escape during an uber. You should use the last two seconds of the uber to locate a save exit and run as far as possible from the danger zone. If the uber completely wiped out all opposition, obviously there is no need for this and you can stay with your heal target. However, there is no excuse to die after an uber - the point of an uber is to press the enemy, relent, and survive so you can help the remaining team with the second attack. Ubers are not meant to win the game, they are meant to open a path for the remaining team to win. Be alive to help the remaining team.

8) A good medic does not flee because of a small near-mortal flesh wound. If your health is not below 50, you should stay with the group and heal. If they are a good bunch, they'll lead you to health without having the medic leave the battlefield. Otherwise, you'll heal slowly overtime. A medic is not a combat class: if they are targeted, they are dead. Therefore, how much health you have is not important - what's important is that you are alive and healing.


General Tips:
Follow the best soldier or heavy on your team. This does not mean you heal them exclusively - it means you follow where they go (unless it's suicide) and heal teammates around them. It's crucial that the best team members have priority medic treatment, since they are who will win the game. Be at their side prepared to assist, but do not assist them exclusively.

If you are in an open area with no cover, and the other team does not have a sniper, the best cover is elevation: stand above your heal target and heal downward. The reason for this is that it's harder for soldiers to aim rockets upwards, and pipebombs tend to gravitate towards the ground. You'll be safer up high.

When playing, you should consciously be aware of who you are healing and evaluate how good they are at playing their class. You want to be familiar with everyone's playing style on your team, so you know without being told when they want you to advance, when they want you to flee, when they are going out on their own, and what they are going to do next. This evaluation is also important for prioritizing heals and selecting uber targets - the best come first. It's hard to describe this in general tips, but this is the key to a great medic - understanding your heal target, working well with your heal target, and being able to know without being told what is best for your heal target.


Selecting Heal Targets:
1) Flamers - people on fire and about to die should always receive first treatment. If a group of people are on fire, do not heal just one. Start healing the first flaming teammate you see, and then quickly scan your cursor around looking for a flaming person who is more hurt. Latch onto them. Look again. You should always be healing the flaming person with the least amount of health to keep the whole group alive.

2) Damage Soakers - people in the line of enemy fire have second priority. It does not matter if this person is an engineer, a sniper, or a heavy. If they are taking damage and no one is on fire, heal them. You want everyone on your team to stay alive, and therefore you should heal the person taking damage - those critically wounded people aren't about to fall over dead standing by you screaming medic.

3) Critical Wounds - if the person taking damage is above full health, you can divert your attention away from them to heal your wounded teammates. You should always be prepared to go back to healing the person taking damage, however, as one rocket can greatly change their situation. The bonus to waiting to heal wounded teammates is it makes healing them a lot faster - if they stay out of combat, they'll be faster to heal.

Special Case:
Heal engineers during enemy ubers. Their sentry is keeping the team defense alive, so help them keep that sentry up.


Class Priorities:
1) Medic - he'll take care of the other guys, so heal him first.
2) Soldier - soldiers can turn corners and deal a lot of damage from afar.
3) Heavy - heavies can walk around corners and absorb a lot of incoming fire, but they have a lot of health to start with and can't do much damage from that distance. Thus, they are below soldiers.
4) Sniper - snipers are the second long-ranged damage dealers. With a small boost of health, they can take out a lot of the enemy resistance and let your heavies advance.

5) demomen, pyros, and scouts - these classes see combat, but don't have much use in advancing without an uber.

6) engineer - he'll see some front line action getting teleports up.
7) spy - a good person to heal before he heads into action, but rarely around.


Who NOT to follow:
1) pyro - depend on ambushes which the medic should not be involved in and cannot keep the medic alive due to extremely limited range.

2) demoman - never follow a demoman and risk being isolated from the rest of the team. demoman have no close range weapons and often will not be able to kill the person trying to melee you to death unless they are highly skilled at their class.


Who TO follow:
1) heavy - excellent at advancing forwards and very good at keeping a medic alive.
2) soldier - able to kill most enemies but tend to be more independent and aggressive than heavies, therefore leaving the medic more exposed
3) scouts - exceedingly good at killing things, able to get back to the medic and respond to situations very quickly. be careful not to break the heal beam, and be prepared to run when heavy explosives are involved.

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Stevo » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:55 am

Wow you sure know your Medic! Good tips. :D

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by HeatStryke » Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:52 am

Yeah, following pyros is usually suicidal, except when you have an uber.

At least personally I tend to get a nasty case of target fixation, so I tend to forget to try to keep the medic behind me alive while I'm running into the nearest pack of guys.

I think aside from learning that you can heal more then one guy, the hardest thing that you have to learn as a medic is how to utilize Ubers properly.

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Post by mr_s » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:11 pm

Ur wrong about Demo men not advancing.....


you did play with me today right?

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Nick Mame » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:41 pm

@ HeatStryke
I wouldn't underestimate the difficulty in healing multiple targets. When you're the single medic on a team of 12 players, it's quite a task to keep the team alive. One seconds worth of error in switching targets could have your main player dead from a heavy critting.

When it comes to ubers, I'm hesitant. From my experience as a medic, ubers are highly overrated on maps where there is not a distinct fortress you are assaulting (such as the flag room in CTF or Dustbowl offense). Much to the dismay of people I heal, I often hold my ubers for several minutes simple because there is no need to use it - with my healing and their aim, there should be no problem taking out a few players at a time. Thus, I tend to use uber as a safety net when one of us is on the verge of death or as a counter to ubers from the other team. In any other situation, I feel as if the two of us could do just as well without wasting an uber.

That'd be a good thing to add as a tip, though: don't be afraid to hold ubers. The ideal situation to use an uber is if you have the element of surprise on your side, have about the entire enemy team right next to you completely unaware, and want to decimate them OR when you're charging a room with two or more sentries OR someone (who still has ammo) is about to die in the middle of enemy territory. If you aren't in one of those situations, I find it's best just to hold it. Although you can recharge uber relatively quickly, a bunch of pointless ubers aren't going to get you anywhere - one perfect uber will decimate the enemy and lead you to victory - and it's nice to have uber ready for when that perfect moment comes about.


@MR_S
The problem with demomen is they have no weapons which immediately hit the enemy. When you're a medic and an enemy has just snuck up behind you, you want something which kills them immediately. With a demoman, you either have to wait for two stickies (unless the enemy stands directly on them or its a crit) or pray that the demoman has been training for a loooong time to have flawless aim with grenades. As a result, going with a demoman is a lot more slow than going with another class - they'll have to be more alert, since it takes more skill for them to protect their medic, and it's usually better to take a class which can kill enemies quickly and without much effort.

Also, my tips don't apply to offense-defense maps like Dustbowl. Those maps have an entirely different play style. I'm mostly referring to maps where each team shares an objective and each have a distinct front line they are trying to advance.

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Post by So Uncivilized » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:07 pm

Since we are discussing medics, and I am too lazy to work my way back through the thread (and new people will be more likely to read these new posts, anyway),

KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR UBER

I like the info above about holding an uber. On some maps, on defense, I will hold an uber for a long time as well. One great way to counter uber, of you can manage it (this works very well on avanti as well as on portions of dustbowl), is to block the medics movement. I have done this with a variety of classes and even without an uber.

When an uber comes through a chokepoint (like a doorway- the one just next to the one way gate on the third map of dustbowl is perfect), let the uber'ed class go through, then stand in the doorway facing that shiny medic. He can't advance, and he's stuck with that medi gun. the guy in front will keep moving, either breaking the heal beam or at least wasting a chunk of the uber before he realizes his meddis is frozen in place. Result: the uber never reaches the area of the cap.

Secondly, ask around about what's 'over there' before you uber. Do they have a lot of equipment? Is the enemy team just milling around with no sentries (a lot of 'soft' targets)? Take a teammate for that uber that makes sense. A pyro is good for people, esp if your team can back you up and clean up the flaming remains. For the hardware, a demo is often the best choice.

As an ancillary but extremely important point, if taking out sentries, the medic almost always HAS TO get closer to the sentry so it will lock onto him. This allows your uber target some movement to work the sentry. If you let him go first, he may get pinned by the sentry and never take it out, especially if the engie is tanking (hiding behind the sentry, with a dispenser, and repairing the sentry as you hit it). This is why I prefer demos over heavies. I think the heavy/medic combo is over rated and only sometimes appropriate when a lot of equipment is involved.

Lastly, kill the enemy medics every chance you get! And, has been said, keep yours as safe as possible.

Lastly lastly, give your medics a break. Sometimes someone misses the button or triggers the uber at a weird time. Sometimes you scream your head off that you are on fire and still they somehow miss you. Remember that the players on the other end ARE human, and shrug it off, please.

SU

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Nick Mame » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:28 pm

Concerning the Medic...
(just so you know this insanely long post has a short section that is relevant)

When it comes to using an Uber on the defense, such as Dustbowl, the invulnerability Uber is often more of a hindrance to the team than a help after the first cap. It can be effective on Stage 3, since the attacking team never uses the tunnels and thus is concentrated in the area you are sending an Uber through. However, it is often more important that a medic be around healing as many teammates as possible than using ~15 seconds to decimate the enemy offense. Remember that while you are in the middle of an Uber, you've drastically hurt your own defense, especially when you are the only medic. I find it's better to indefinitely hold a defensive Uber and keep the defense strong - using it only as a counter-Uber, a last-ditch defense, or when I'm on the verge of death.

As for Medic-Heavies, I will agree they make poor Uber choices in many situations. However, the medic-heavy combo is terrific for getting rid of sentries when Uber is not ready. If the sentry is near a corner and unattended, a heavy can take it out (without medic support) and live with half-health. If the sentry is attended around the corner, the heavy can take it out (without medic support) and live with critical health. If you add a medic to the mix, a heavy can actually destroy 3+ sentries without an Uber. The classic example of this is on Dustbowl Stage-1 CP-1 offense where the heavy can clear everything in that little hut without an uber (not using the front door - coming in from the side) and Dustbowl Stage-2 CP-1 where the heavy can destroy everything in the building on the left as well as the opening on the right. It's a shame most players consider Uber required for sentry removal - it's only directly after setup or when it comes to sentry nests that an Uber is necessary.


That aside! If you aren't interested in improving your soldier or curious about what the heck that guy who keeps blowing himself up in front of my face considers as a good soldier, I suggest you skip to the next post. I love long posts:

The Soldier
You Maggots!

Aiming Rockets
If you want to graduate from maggotry, the first step is to learn how to aim rockets. A soldier can be successful if they know nothing more than how to aim a rocket; rocket jumping and the rest of their arsenal simply makes them even more deadly.

1) Do not aim at your target. This tip might sound slightly odd at first, but it's what separates the weaker soldiers from the more skilled soldiers. Rockets have a travel time and skillful opponents will be able to dodge your shots. One way to resolve this is to shoot a whole bunch of rockets, but that leaves you highly vulnerable to a surprise attack by the pyro behind you - you always want a rocket to deal with him. The most successful solution is to lead your target by anticipating their movements. As you play more with rockets, you'll understand where to shoot without even thinking about it - but I suppose a few starter tips couldn't hurt.

a) Consider whether your opponent is advancing or retreating. An advancing opponent is slightly more dangerous, since they still have their wits about them. If the opponent is retreating, however, they are often oblivious to everything but staying alive and are rather easy to deal with. Just shoot a single rocket at the exit they're running towards several seconds before they reach it themselves. They'll explode quite splendidly.

b) If your opponent is advancing, consider whether or not they have seen you. If you have the element of surprise, it's also relatively easy to deal with them. Shoot one rocket at where they will be in a couple of seconds, wait a bit, and fire a second one a ways behind the first. They'll get hit by the first shot, fly in the air a bit (which is why you delay the second shot), and by aiming behind them - you'll hit them after the natural instinct of "I'm under fire! Back up, back up!" comes into play. This method is the easiest way for a soldier to kill medics.

c) If your opponent is aware of you, make them dance. You want to coerce them to step into your shots or the shots of your teammates. If you know a teammate (or a friendly sentry) is nearby, shoot at the side of the enemy further away from your teammate to lure them into a trap. Mission accomplished. If you're braving their offense alone, it gets a bit tricky. The best method is to fire one rocket to the side closer to the enemy's front lines (to prevent them from escaping), then another immediately to their other side. They'll likely try to dodge the first rocket and run into the second. Then you just aim at the place where they'll fall after they land from the first hit. Regardless, at this stage hitting the enemy relies a bit on luck and a bit on your experience with rockets - practice a) and b) and you'll get comfortable with c) unconsciously.


2) Aim at the ground. A bit of this is likely obvious in the wording of the previous point, but you want to aim at the ground rather than straight on. When you aim at that ground, splash damage will ensure you always hit your opponent and the explosion will bounce your opponent into the air, disrupting their aim and allowing you to set up a second shot they cannot avoid.


3) Take the high ground. As a soldier, your best friend is elevation. If you're above your enemy, you are more likely to hit them with your rockets because of splash damage. You're also more likely to have the element of surprise from above, where the enemy might not even see your rockets before they are dead. Even if it's just a small crate, try to find an opportunity to stand on it; the benefits of even a few feet are immense.


4) Anticipate the enemy's movements. You want to try to predict where an enemy will be and have a rocket waiting for them upon arrival. This point is all about timing and intuition. A few examples will serve well, all from badlands:

a) When guarding the spire (points 2 and 4), scouts often try to come up and bat you from a ramp the circles upwards. Almost every player who comes up that ramp takes the ramp in its entirety. Even if scouts can double-jump onto the point, far more often they follow the ramp all the way up. So when you see the scout's bat circling up towards you, you fire in the completely opposite direction at the part of the ramp where it connects to the point. He'll be there in about two seconds and take a fair amount of damage. This also works wonders with pyros.

b) On that same spire, enemies often try to hurt you from the base's battlements some few feet away. They hide behind the metal grating, sneak out, shoot, and hurt you a lot. When you see an enemy run behind that metal grating, it's obvious what they are about to do. Fire a rocket at the ground outside of the protection of the metal grating, where they'll be shooting from, and they'll explode before they even fire a shot.

The trend here is that players tend to develop habits on routes they take or actions they perform. You can count on soldiers always rocket jumping from the same place, shoot there. You can count on players retreating in the same direction they came from, shoot there. Watch yourself as you play, think of what you would do, and shoot there. Ignore the player's position, shoot the player's target position.


5) Close range combat. The problem with everything mentioned so far is that it only applies to long-range combat where the enemy has time to move before a rocket hits. When it comes to close range combat, never try to lead a target; you want to aim at their feet. After your first hit, revert to using the above tips since your target will be flying through the air and their motions easy to predict. But for that first shot, you have to aim at them. Note, however, that the map geometry can be used to your advantage in close quarters combats. If the enemy is jumping from up high to reach you, aim where they will land. If the enemy is around a corner, shoot at the threshold. So some situations exist where you can still try to predict the enemy's movements.



Rocket Jumping
So, you claim you've mastered the basics of rocket aiming? Hah! I could spade you to death, you maggot! You haven't even considered rocket jumping yet!

1) Rocket jumps create artificial elevation. This is a good point to know after mastering how to aim rockets: you can rocket jump into the air, get off two well-aimed rockets from above before you reach the ground, and be confident that they'll be more devastating than three rockets fired on the ground - since you now know elevation is key to aiming. You shouldn't run around on the ground trying to take out those pyros or medic-leeches. Rocket jump, get above their heavy shield, and kill the medic with two simple shots. It would be advised that you not rocket jump towards the group - heavies can deal a lot of damage - and distance does not matter when you know how to aim.


2) Rocket jumps grant soldiers more mobility than scouts. There are several different variations of this:

a) A single rocket jump can move you forward a lot faster than mere running. If your flag or point is in danger and you're a good distance away, you can rocket jump yourself towards the point faster and give your team a chance to recover it. When defeat seems near, rocket jump quickly back into the fray.

b) Another effective method (which is highly underused) is rocket jumping away from threats. When you're face to face with a pyro or a heavy in the open, you don't stand and die. Rocket jump backwards, fire rockets mid-air and land a safe distance away.

c) The final use of rocket jumps is flanking. You can use rocket jumps to approach an enemy from odd, unexpected angles - and start the fight with the element of surprise. Rocket jump over obstacles and land behind them, or fire down from above. Don't walk through that door - shoot yourself out that window.


3) Rocket jumps on average take ~50 health. It's a good practice to never rocket jump if you have under 60 health and to never perform a jump that involves fall damage without ~100. You shouldn't be afraid to rocket jump when you have low health, though. The element of surprise wins more battles than brute force - you are more likely to win with 6 health after a rocket jump than with 60 health charging head-on.



Secondary Weapons
Alright, I'll give you some credit - you can hurt me now. But you keep killing yourself with those point-blank rockets, maggot!

1) Shotgun, Shotgun, Shotgun. The shotgun is not some random weapon given to the soldier for when he runs out of ammo - it's almost as effective as the rocket launcher in combat.

a) Deceive the enemy with your shotgun if you can't hit them with rockets. Switch to the shotgun, they presume you are out of rockets and begin their charge, switch to the rocket launcher, their movements are now simple and easy to predict, blow them up.

b) Use the shotgun instead of reloading your rocket launcher in close combat. Reloading rockets takes a long time, and that pyro is going to have you dead before you finish preparing your next shot. So switch to the shotgun and kill him immediately.

c) Use the shotgun against retreating enemies. A couple of shotgun blasts to the back might save you a few rockets for your next encounter.

d) Use the shotgun when low on health. Don't blow yourself up with rockets, switch to a sane weapon and deal damage without involving suicide.


2) ...spade? The spade has less use due to the soldier's low speed and the fact he has a shotgun. However, it can still be useful if you manage to get close to your enemy. A classic use of the spade is to spade less versed soldiers who are trying to reload their rocket launcher rather than switching to the shotgun. It works. However, it's really just there for when you have to reload both your rocket launcher and shotgun but have a pyro trying to kill your medic. When out of ammo... spade.



How to deal with Uber
1) If a sentry is involved, charge the sentry. Fire your rockets PAST the sentry at the ground near the engineer's dispenser. That will both hurt the engineer and ruin his metal supply. Once the dispenser is destroyed, if you did not kill the engineer, aim slightly past the gun at the ground. That will both hurt the engineer and weaken the gun. Once the engineer is dead, focus entirely on the sentry. If you at any point use your four rockets, do not reload - switch to the shotgun. By the time the uber ends, you should be point blank next to the sentry and the engineer should definately be dead. If the sentry is still around and you have run out of shotgun shells, spade. A soldier probably won't be able to destroy more than one sentry unless he gets a few crit rockets.


2) If a sentry is not involved, rocket jump. You won't take damage, there is no sentry push, so why not. Make sure you do not go behind something that breaks the medic's beam, and make sure you give priority to shooting things in large groups. After firing your four rockets, you can either reload and fire two more, or if a pyro gathering has reached your medic, switch to your shotgun and take them out. Don't try to reload if things are taunting your medic - it takes too long and you're gambling a lot on your aim.



How to deal with Sentries (no Uber):
Wait for the engineer to leave his sentry to set up a teleporter. You don't have to wait more than two seconds after he leaves, that's enough time. Fire three rockets at the sentry, then move on to whatever else you were doing. Three rockets kills a level 3 unattended sentry. If it's level 1, you'll need two (unless you hit it head-on). By the time the engineer realizes his building is taking damage, all three rockets will have hit. Do not spam rockets at it unless other players are involved and dying - it'll keep the engineer nearby and ruin your chance at destroying it.



General Tips:
VS Heavy:
Soldier wins over heavy unless a medic is involved. Three direct rocket hits kills. The key is to be aggressive - heavies think they are kings of close range and will stand to fight you. If there is a corner nearby, hide behind the corner and sneak three rockets around the edge - strafing back into cover between shots. If there is no corner, charge the heavy (but don't get too close) while firing all your rockets. The reason for this is you want to close in some distance in case your rocket attacks fail. After four rockets, both of you are nearly dead - switch to the shotgun and take him out.

VS Scout:
Soldiers rarely win fights with good scouts. If you do not have the element of surprise and cannot predict their movements, do not use the rocket launcher - it will miss. Use the shotgun and pray you have better hitscan aiming them them - the shotgun has better damage at longer ranges, and you have some chance of killing the scout before they get to point-blank and kill you with their one shot.

VS Sniper:
Fire rockets near the sniper to cause them to move. But always offset it to one side by a little, so when they move - they get hit. Make sure you fire the rockets close enough that it will still hit the sniper if they stand still, but might hit them more if they try to avoid it. If you aim this way and get a crit, they are dead regardless of how they react. Then hide - snipers are not good to take head on from a distance.

VS Demoman:

Rocket jump, don't land in their mines, battle over.

VS Soldier:
Try to be the last one with a rocket left. That final rocket decides the winner. Never reload during the fight unless you run completely out of ammo. Have a height advantage. When they rocketjump to level the advantage, shoot them with a rocket mid-air (if you feel confident in your mid-air shots) or rocket jump yourself to negate their advantage (if you have the health) or just switch to the shotgun until they land. Soldiers are your worst opponents, pray you are better than them.

VS Pyro:
Get a good hit on their feet to send them flying or rocket jump above / away from them.


with Medic:
If you have a medic following you, your playing style doesn't change that much. Feel free to rocket jump as much as you like, and even fight on an entirely different platform than the medic. That beam has a long range, so there isn't much chance you are going to unintentionally break it. Just make sure you look around the medic from time to time to make sure nothing is sneaking up on him.


Health-Wise:
Soldiers are the least health dependent class. You can stay in the fight even with 1 health left since rockets are devastatingly powerful and have the bonus of ruining your opponent's aim when they go flying. As a soldier, never leave battle looking for health unless you have <60 health (enough for one rocket jump). When you do pick up health, head back out once you have 120. You don't need 200 health as a soldier - that health is just there to let you perform more rocket jumps - and getting out into the battle is more important than having two extra jumps.


It's over now. You're sad, I know.

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Post by mr_s » Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:07 pm

Boy, do i know that feeling...

I have been screwed over by medics on the ubers countless times..

i get blown to bits and then he says "Shnell! go git it!"

i usually end up with a chuckle

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Thorn » Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:38 am

VS Scout:
Soldiers rarely win fights with good scouts. If you do not have the element of surprise and cannot predict their movements, do not use the rocket launcher - it will miss. Use the shotgun and pray you have better hitscan aiming them them - the shotgun has better damage at longer ranges, and you have some chance of killing the scout before they get to point-blank and kill you with their one shot.
I play a ton of scout, and I consider myself at least competent in skill level, and I must say I am not sure I agree with you. As a scout, I am sure I have more deaths from point blank rockets than anything (other than sentries, run around the corner, oops!). The best way for me to deal with soldiers is to stay mid ranged, so that I can get scattergun shots off while being far enough back so that I can see rockets coming and have time to avoid them, as soon as I see them take out their shotty to counter the mid range tactic, I just charge straight up and get as close as possible for high damage. at times I may even switch to pistol, the longer the range against the soldier, the easier it is to avoid their rockets.

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Nick Mame » Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:42 am

The problem with scouts for soldiers is that they move fast enough to throw off your aim and have the potential to kill you with one scattergun shot. If your tracking is not fast enough to keep up with their movements, and they are in the air with one of their jumps at point-blank range, precision aiming will kill faster than randomly blowing yourself up with the hopes of hurting another. If I run into a scout in an area with a lot of cover, I resign myself to a difficult fight: I'm going to have no idea where they are coming from, they can kill me with two hits, and even if I see them - they will likely get away before I can hurt them.

You should test out cp_granary as a scout against a soldier on the ground. If they are on a box, you won't have much of a chance - but if you hit them once on the ground, with a good shot that hurts them too much to allow for a rocket jump, they'll be dead or fleeing fast. If a soldier and a scout meet on level elevation, and the map isn't a big orange room devoid of objects, that scout can be a real nuisance.


That aside! A good tip for the soldiers you are fighting: don't feel a need to stick around in a losing fight unless it's a critical fight for victory. If those soldiers rocket jumped away instead of staying to fight you, they'd live and likely make you very sad.

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Post by mr_s » Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:49 am

rofl...

this isnt really C&C3 tactics discussion

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Re: Hints and Tips for playing TF2

Post by Nick Mame » Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:44 am

Pssh! It should be!

I'm used to hearing people talk about how soldiers just spam rockets or shoot at their feet and everything in a ten mile radius implodes. Well, I have a chance to talk about how soldiers can require even the smallest amount of skill - I'm not about to let that chance go!

You learn to appreciate the amount of skill that could be behind a soldier after you've had a soldier war against some really good ones - and it becomes so addicting that you keep playing soldier in hopes of finding someone who will completely decimate you. Oooooh, the joys of it all!

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