The Soldier is the generalist of the mercenaries and the most flexible of the bunch. As such, they tend to act as the “firemen” of the team moving around to where they are needed on the battlefield. If the Soldier needs to move a long distance quickly, they can Rocket Jump, even if they will take some damage doing it. In my time of playing Mann vs Machine I have very rarely (if ever) seen a team that didn’t have at least one Soldier and it is a class where having several of them on a team is not a detriment.

The major difference between playing Soldier in multiplayer and Mann vs Machine is where the Soldier shoots. In multiplayer the Soldier will try to aim at the enemies feet, but with the Rocket Specialist upgrade it is more beneficial to hit enemies directly. The rocket will do maximum damage as well as stun the target for a few moments. This can be helpful in dealing with the Giant Robots, especially the Giant Scouts.

Using his rockets, the Soldier can damage or even destroy multiple robots in a single shot making him able to quickly deal with the large groups of robots common in Mann vs Machine. In cases where a Giant Robot or Tank had broken through the front lines the Soldier is a good choice to go follow. Soldiers do good long range damage, are fast enough to keep up and have enough Health to survive. While other classes are faster they may not be able to do enough damage or survive long enough.

In general upgrades should go to the Rocket Launcher, Reload Speed, Firing Speed, Damage, Health on Kill and of course Rocket Specialist. Doing so will allow the Soldier to do damage and survive. The only other area to concentrate upgrades on would be any Banner that the Soldier should be carrying. When it's appropriate, upgrades can be done for the different Damage Resistances. If the next wave had a Crit Rocket Spewing Giant Soldier, Crit Resistance and Blast Resistance are very good things to buy. You can always refund them at the end of the wave.

Unlike many other classes where there are only a few good weapons, the Soldier has a relatively large number that can be effective depending on the style of play and situation.

Stock Rocket Launcher/Original: The Rocket Launcher against all others are measured. It does good damage, rocket flight time and firing rate are good. This a solid all-around weapon and often seen in Mann vs Machine.

Air Strike: While this weapon needs to be paired with the B.A.S.E. Jumper to be effective, this Rocket Launcher can unleash a massive stream of rockets and does so at an increased speed while air-born. There are some drawbacks though. The blast radius is smaller than normal and each rocket does a little less damage.

Beggar’s Bazooka: The master of “burst damage” and the top contender for most popular Rocket Launcher. When fully upgraded this weapon can unleash a huge wave of rockets capable of destroying a large number of robots at once. The rockets fired do have a 3-degree spread which makes it a little inaccurate after the first shot. Best used at medium and shorter ranges.

Black Box: Part of a “survivor” load-out when sources of health are few and money for upgrades is low. A Soldier can heal up to 20 health for every hit on an enemy at the cost of a smaller clip, but otherwise it has the same basic mechanics as the Stock Rocket Launcher. Tends to be most useful in the early waves.

Cow Mangler 5000: This is going to be a controversial choice for some people. The lack of ammunition for this weapon enables a slightly different style of play that focuses on doing continual damage as opposed to burst damage as with other Rocket Launchers. At the end of the guide will be a rant, er, I mean explanation, of why the Cow Manger is effective.

Direct Hit: While this weapon does more damage than other Rocket Launchers and the rockets travel at a high speed, the weapon has a major problem. Namely, there is very little spread to the damage it does. This makes it of very limited use against the large waves of robots that are commonly seen in Mann vs Machine.

Liberty Launcher: While it carries five rockets in a clip rather than four without upgrades, the 25% damage reduction is a massive downside that really reduces the effectiveness of this weapon. I can honestly say I don’t recall have seen one used in Mann vs Machine.

Rocket Jumper: This “weapon” does no damage to the enemy and is only useful in MarketGardening enemies. If a Soldier is using this, they are either clueless, joking or somehow you have the Youtuber Soundsmith in your match.

In general the Secondaries are used to enhance the abilities of the Primary Weapon or add some other useful ability. This is more effective than carrying another weapon in almost all cases.

B.A.S.E. Jumper: Almost always used with the Air Strike allowing the Soldier to hang in the air for a fairly long period of time and make the most out of the Air Strike’s advantages. It does have a problem as the Soldier has reduced mobility while in the air making them easier to hit. Also some robots have weapons can knock back the airborne Soldier very easily, sometimes even forcing them to another part of the map.

Battalion's Backup: While not highly popular this is still very useful. The Soldier using it gets a 20 point boost to their health which can be a lifesaver. More importantly when active this gives damage resistance and total protection from critical damage. If there are a lot of robots that can deal out critical damage, the Battalion Backup is something that should be considered. This can be useful as part of a “survivor” load-out.

Buff Banner: By far the Buff Banner is the most popular Secondary. The ability to give the user and nearby team members mini-crit damage is hard to overestimate. With upgrades, the buff can be extended for a long period of time. The Buff Banner works very well with a Phlogistinator Pyro in Tank killing as the added damage fills their Mmmph Meter that more quickly.

Concheror: This Secondary gives passive healing (up to 4 health per second) when equipped making it very useful for a “survivor” loadout. When active, anyone near the Soldier receives a speed boost and heal 35% of any damage they do to the robots.

Gun Boats: If you are doing a lot of MarketGardening, these are somewhat useful. With these equipped there is reduced damage from rocket jumping. But since you shouldn’t be a lot of rocket jumping there should be something a lot more useful to equip.

Mantreads: Another Secondary useful in MarketGardening. The Mantreads reduce the amount of knockback the Soldier’s takes and triples the fall damage done if the Soldier lands on an enemy. The Soldier also has greatly increased control while in the air making them maneuverable. Of course there are a lot of Secondaries that are better than this.

Righteous Bison: While the lack of ammunition can be good and the ability to damage multiple enemies with a single shot can be of use, it falls short of being all that useful or effective compared to the Banners or even the shotguns in most situations. This weapon can be effective against Tanks though because of the way it deals damage.

Shotgun, Reserve Shooter, Panic Attack: Shotguns in general are not a good idea for Mann vs Machine. All the Banners are a better choice. If you are having to use a fallback weapon then you need to keep better track of your ammunition.

Disciplinary Action: Not the most effective weapon, but the ability to boost a teammate’s speed as well as the Soldier’s makes it very popular. This speed boost can be very important if there isn’t a teleporter available to use.

Equalizer: This is a bit of a borderline case. Since it does extra damage when the Soldier’s Health is low it can be effective. The problem is that in order to get that damage boost, the Soldier would be in a situation where they could be killed easily.

Escape Plan: Something that gives the Soldier a speed boost is a good thing, right? The problem is that in order for the Soldier to get that speed boost their Health has to be low. What’s more, if they take any damage, it will be Mini-Crit damage. This weapon is only safe to use when out of the line of sight of the enemy and given the large number of robots, that is going to be rather hard to do at times.

Half-Zatoichi: Anyone using this either is joking around, clueless or is working it into a “survivor” loadout. If you see a Soldier using it as their *main* weapon (yes, I have seen it), then the team is in effect going to be down a player. But when used properly, it can keep the Soldier alive and in the fight.

Market Gardener: Considering how negative I have been about MarketGardening in Mann vs Machine, I do not actually consider the weapon itself to be ineffective. I consider the style of play ineffective. While not an overly common occurrence, there are times that it can be a good idea to use the Market Garden. One shotting an Uber Medic is a good example of how the Market Gardener can be useful in a niche situation.

Pain Train: There is no useful bonus with this weapon as there are no Capture Points or Carts to push. And then there is the 10% added damage from bullets. There is no reason to use this.

Stock Shovel and Reskins: It’s not that the Stock Shovel is bad, it’s that there are better choices out there.

Now there are a lot of people that don’t like the Cow Mangler for Mann vs Machine. A large part of this dislike is the lack of burst damage or the inability of the weapon to be fully crit boosted. These are valid criticisms. But the other Rocket Launchers need ammunition and unless the Soldier is staying near a Dispenser or an ammo pack, they are going to run out of ammunition before too long. (Having to disengage to get ammo reduces the mobility that the Soldier is known for and needs to be most effective.) But a Soldier with a Cow Mangler can keep firing nonstop, which does a lot to balance out the amount of damage that can be done.

There is also the issue of there not being an ammo pack immediately available. There will be times when the Soldier goes to get an ammo pack and a teammate will have picked it up first meaning the Soldier will have to wait or find a different one. This isn’t an overly common occurrence, but it does happen. There are of course ways to reduce ammunition dependence such as ammo cantinees or upgrading the amount that can be carried, but that costs money. So while the Rocket Launcher Soldier is upgrading to carry more ammunition, the Cow Mangler Soldier can upgrade Damage or something else, so it’s a wash. In addition, the Cow Mangler leaves ammo packs for other members of the team to use, so it helps other players stay in the fight. One last thing that Cow Manglers can help with is killing Tanks. Since Tanks are so tough and take so long to kill, burst damage does not mean much and the consistent damage output allows the Buff Banner to be charged almost constantly (when the banner is fully upgraded). This is a great help for a Phlogistinator Pyro who fills the Mmmph Meter more quickly. A Soldier with a Cow Mangler does not have to break off to go look for ammunition and can more consistently help the Pyro kill the Tank.

The above rant is framed on situations where the team has a competent Engineer. In public drops this is in no way a guaranteed occurrence. If your Engi has trouble keeping their Dispenser up and running, has built it in some out of the way or hard to access location or worse, there is no Engi, the advantage of not needing ammunition becomes a lot more important.

Now as I said the Cow Mangler isn’t better than the Rocket Launchers, but it is as good as the others. It just has a little different set of strengths that are more subtle and may need a bit of a different style of play to make the most of.

The Soldier holds a unique roll in the Mann vs Machine Team. While not support like a Medic or Engineer, members of this class can do many things to help their teammates. Be it doing extra damage, healing or just moving faster after being whipped with the Disciplinary Action. Able to do large amounts of damage and having good mobility, the Soldier is a an important member of the Team who should not be overlooked nor taken for granted.