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The Soldier
Weapons
The soldier's primary weapon is his powerful rocket launcher. Many will be familiar with the weapon from games like Doom and Quake 3. And yes, you can still rocket jump in TFC.
The soldier also carries the single-barrel and the double-barrel super shotgun. The single-barrel fires faster, but does less damage. These weapons should only be used in a pinch, if you're out of rockets for example.
As with all classes use the crowbar as a last resort.
Special Skills
Hitting the special skill key (right mouse button by default) will reload your current weapon. You can also reload by hitting the 'r' key (by default).
Grenades
The soldier carries the standard fragmentation hand grenade used by many classes. In addition, the soldier also carries the nail-grenade. This grenade resembles a flat red disc. When thrown, it pops up around knee level and begins to spin and spit out nails in all directions. After a few seconds it explodes. The nail-grenade usually won't kill any enemies (maybe if they are heavily damaged already), but they do act as a deterrent. Use them to keep enemies at bay.
Strengths
The soldier is a good class to play for aspiring newbies and those already highly skilled. This class makes up the core of any squad. The soldier class is an equally effective attacking and defending unit, capable of taking on all of the other classes with a strong chance of winning. Although it does take some skill to learn how to use effectively, once learnt, the soldier can be one of those units that can make or break a match
The soldier's rocket launcher makes him one of the most powerful classes in TFC. Each rocket can do tremendous amounts of damage, and a barrage of rockets certainly means death. A common mistake with beginning soldier players is to aim their rockets directly at the opponents. The rockets can be side stepped, so a better technique is to go for splash damage. This technique involves shooting your rockets at the feet of or on the walls next to your opponent. The rocket will explode near your opponent, causing damage to splash onto them. Also, keep your launcher fully loaded as much as possible. It holds only four rockets at a time. and it's amazing how fast those can go in the heat of battle.
Another ability the soldier has is rocket jumping. Similar to conc jumping, it allows soldiers to get into high areas in a split second. To rocket jump, make sure you have full health and armour. Then run towards the area you want to jump to. Point your aim all the way down at your feet. When you are almost to your target area, jump into the air and launch a rocket. Do this almost simultaneously. If done right, you should have been launched high into the air and into your intended destination. Note, this does a bit of damage to you and rocket jumping does not move you horizontally very far. However, this technique allows you to surprise an enemy quickly, and also by-pass some of their defenses.
Weaknesses
I mentioned it briefly above, but the soldier's main weakness is his small rocket capacity. The launcher holds only four rockets, and these can go quickly during battle. Even re-loading one rocket takes an excruciating long time, especially when you have an opponent bearing down on you. Remember too that the rockets are unguided, once they leave the launcher, they do so in a straight line. Also, the soldier has a slow foot-speed. This makes it difficult to pursue faster classes and to run away from them when you need health or ammo.
How To Kill A Soldier
You would think with such a long-range weapon, that you would not want to engage a soldier from great distances. In fact, this is the safest way to do so. The soldier's rockets do not travel at super sonic speeds. Given some distance, any class will be able to side step a rocket barrage. Along with distance, try to engage the soldier with yourself in an open area. That is, lots of space between you and the nearest walls or objects. This takes away the soldier's ability to inflict splash damage on you. Count how many rockets he has fired at you. After four, he'll have to re-load, this is your time to go on the offensive. To attack him, use shotguns, auto-rifles, or nail-guns. All these weapons have projectiles that travel much faster than the rockets. The soldier's mortal enemy is the sniper. Snipers can side step the rockets and then take two shots and it's all over. The key for all classes is to keep your distance from the soldier.
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The Demoman
Weapons
The Demoman (or demo for short) starts with 50 armor and can get up to 120. He also has 90% health and moves at medium speed. He moves faster than a soldier, and at closer range he can defeat the big mean soldier.
The demo has two primary weapons: his grenade launcher and his pipebomb launcher. The grenades explode on contact with the enemy. The pipebombs can be remotely set off by the demo.
The demo also carries the single-barrel shotgun, which is a good weapon to use if the enemy is far away.
As with all classes use the crowbar as a last resort.
Special Skills
Hitting the special skill key (right mouse button by default) will detonate any pipebombs that you have laid. The demo also can blast away portions of the map using his detpack.
Grenades
The demo carries the standard fragmentation hand grenade. His trump card, however, are the deadly MIRV grenades. The MIRVs can do tremendous damage. When thrown, there is an initial explosion, after which the MIRV separates into several smaller bomblets. These bomblets in turn explode for more damage. MIRVs can literally clear a room, either by chasing enemies out or blowing them out.
Strengths
The demo is a deadly opponent in close quarters combat. One method of attack is to use the grenade launcher (which launches blue grenades) and send grenades at your enemy. The grenades will explode on contact with opponents, but they will even explode on their own if they do not touch anyone. The blast radius is half of normal fragmentation grenades. These grenades bounce unpredictably, so you want to try to strike your opponent before the grenades bounce on the ground. You can extend the distance of your launch by jumping in the air and launching the grenade at the top of the jump. Re-loading takes a bit of time, so don't get caught without any grenades when you really need them.
Another method of attack is to use your pipebombs (these are yellow in colour). A pipebomb trap is an excellent way of defending an area. Start by switching to your pipes and laying down some pipe bombs. The bounce of the bombs can be unpredictable, so they may not go exactly where you want them to go. Try crouching when you place them, the pipes will not go as far and will bounce less. Don't place too many pipes at one time. You may place as many as 8 pipes down. Any more, and your first pipe will explode. Ok, after setting your trap, go hide where you can get a good view of the trap area. Hiding makes the trap more devious, as enemies will not know if you can see them. Try laying your traps in heavily travelled confined spaces such as doorways and hallways. When the enemy runs over your trap, detonate your pipes. Note your pipes will explode by themselves after a few minutes. You'll have to refresh your pipes at that point. Finally, if you're killed while your trap is still set, your pipes will explode as well.
As good as pipebombs can be for defense, they can be used for offense as well. The problem with the grenade launcher is that if you miss your opponent, the grenades will bounce harmlessly away. By the time they explode, your opponent will be safely away. Wouldn't it be great if you could control when your grenades exploded? Well, that's what your pipebombs are for. Try this: switch to your pipes and launch one towards an enemy. When the pipe gets close your opponent, detonate it with your special skill key. Most classes won't be able to take more than a few of these explosions. This attack is most effective when you are able to rain down your pipes on your enemy from high above. One final note about pipebombs, there are a limited number of them available to each team, and once that limit is met the other pipes will explode. Make sure you communicate with your teammates if you plan on having a couple pipetraps around.
One final thing that can be done with the pipes is pipe jumping. This technique is similar to rocket jumping, as it is used to access high areas. To do this, lay down one (and only one) pipe roughly where you want to jump. Take a few steps back from the pipe and run towards it. Then jump up in the air so that at the top of your jump you'll be right over the pipe. At this very moment, detonate the pipe. You'll be propelled high into the air. Note this does a fair amount of damage to you.
Finally, the demo is capable of using his detpack to blow open new areas of a map. To do this, stand where you want to set the detpack and hold down the set detpack key (the 'm' key by default). When you get a message that says detpack set, get away from the area. By default, the detpack will explode in 5 seconds. You can change that to either 20 or 50 seconds by pulling down the console and typing:
bind m +detx
where x is either 5, 20, or 50. Both teams will be made aware of a set detpack because a "FIRE IN THE HOLE" message will appear once a detpack is placed. Exploding detpacks can damage opponents. So, if you come across a detpack on the ground, get clear of it (unless you're a scout who can disarm them). Some maps will allow demos to re-seal a previously opened area by placing another detpack in the same place. Note that a demo carries one detpack per life and you cannot replenish detpacks like you would with ammo.
The demo is good at offense, but great at defense. At defense, the demo's aresenal of pipebombs, grenades, and detpaks often makes him better than an engineer with a high level sentry gun. If you have one demoman, put him on defense.
Weaknesses
The demo is only effective at close range. Save his single-barrel shotgun, he has no medium or long distance weapons. As well, his grenades can be dodged by some of the more nimble and fast classes.
How To Defeat A Demo
To defeat a demo, make sure you have plenty of distance between him and yourself. He'll try to close the distance quickly so that he can use his grenades, pipes, and MIRVs. Don't let him do that. Run away to keep your separation. Use medium to long range weapons against him, such as: nail guns, auto-rifle, sniper rifle, shotguns, and rockets. Try the run and gun game: fire your weapon from a distance, when he tries to close, run away, repeat a few times and you should have him. Note that with the demo's extensive inventory of explosive devices, he is especially vulnerable to the EMP grenade.
If a demo has laid out a pipebomb trap, it can be quite difficult to get past. If you are an engineer, the problem is simple. The engineer's EMP grenade can detonate any pipebombs within the EMP's blast radius. The key is to prime the EMP a few seconds before throwing it onto the pipes. That way, the demo has no time to re-set his trap. All he sees is something thrown onto his trap, his pipes going off, and an enemy engineer entering the area. If you are not an engineer, you can goad the demo into blowing his pipes early. Run up to the trap (but not too close), and then back away suddenly. He might be nervous enough that he'll blow the trap and you can then waltz right in.
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