Some extra tips to playing the soldier in ME2

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Wanna skip the lengthy process of mapping the battle field, making sure every hit counts? The soldier class is a sure-fire way to blast your way through the game guns blazing while still being engaged in the story. With the right person behind the controller, the Soldier can rip through foes like a hot knife through butter.

Though you won't be using any tech or biotic powers (at least as Shepard) you make up for it in sheer strength and cunning. Soldiers are the only class to gain all ammo powers and also starts with more health than any other classes. In addition, they are the only class that can choose from all three unique guns from the Collector Ship and can use any style of weapon right from the start. Assault and Sniper Rifles are the most useful, but don't get too exciting without prior knowledge of the Soldier's talents.

Adrenaline Rush is looked at as one of the weaker of the special powers, but if it's utilized correctly Shepard can become a force to be reckoned with. As the tank of all the classes, it's best to know when to be offensive and when to pull back. Adrenaline Rush jumps to the challenge as a major factor in surviving and when making those key decisions.

Charging into battle, it gives you the chance to calculate your shots, slowing down the battlefield and raising the damage you inflict with weapons and melee attacks. During Adrenaline Rush, every hit that connects gets a damage modifier that adds on additional damage, factoring in extra damage from armor upgrades and ammo powers as well. When sniping hard to reach targets, this power become invaluable.

Defensively, Adrenaline Rush gives Shepard a chance to retreat when things get a little too close. After upgrading the power to its full function you can decide whether to do more damage and manipulate time to slow even more or you can choose to harden your skills, effectively taking half the normal damage while the power is activated.

Something the Soldier should never overlook are the vital ammo powers. After fully upgrading each, you can figure out if you want to strengthen Shepard's ammo to the maximum or if you want to share with your crew, giving them access to whatever ammo Shepard equips.

With Cryo Ammo, the enemies freeze for three to seven seconds (depending on the upgrade) allowing Shepard and his crew to focus on more threatening foes or to dispose of the frozen enemies quickly with biotic powers or gunfire. Watching a foe shatter into tiny frozen pieces feels great after a long battle.

Incendiary rounds pierce through armor and wears it down extremely fast, especially with the assault rifle and the sniper rifle. At it's higher levels the rounds explode on impact, causing fire damage to nearby enemies as well as more weapon damage than previous levels. Fairly useful in almost any situation that doesn't call for another ammo power.

Finally, Disruptor Ammo is most useful against synthetics like mechs and Geth and also against any enemy shields. After leveling up, the ammo gains overload properties that disrupt synthetics, and at later levels even disrupts enemy weapons for a short time, giving the soldier even more of a chance to own the battlefield.

The Concussive Shot is the only real offensive power the Soldier can wield. When enemies get too close for comfort, blast em away and find good cover. The collectors swarmed in one big group? Pluck one off from a distance, "weakening their integrity." Not much needs to be said about this power because it basically speaks for itself. Fire gun, if enemy doesn't die enemy flies like a biotic throw was used, back to cover.

Though the soldier doesn't use any biotic or tech skills on their own, there is always a bonus power to use and one could never forget the two crew mates that will follow Shepard to even their own deaths. Normally, the bonus power and squad choice would depend on the class your Shepard uses as opposed to the mission ahead. The soldier has probably the most flexible options for either depending on your play style because he doesn't need a tech or biotic to add balance -- just two squad mates willing to stomp through the galaxy.

Using combat orientated crew mates you can simply plow through the galaxy with force. You could use tech geniuses to turn the tide on synthetics while you shred their mechanical insides or bring the beefed up biotics to set up the field in your favor. Either way, the Soldier is truly one of the only classes where you get to decide how your crew will help you, and how you're going to do it. Unlike many classes, you don't necessarily have to fight as a team. Support classes sometimes rely on their crew to get through a battle. As a Soldier, the crew relies on the Commander.

While many classes have other out-of-this-world powers that out shine the Soldier's lacking set of abilities, it doesn't really matter. Because if you picked the soldier class, you probably don't really care about lifting aliens in the air with your mind or disabling enemy mechs; killing everything you see with precision and beating them down relentlessly is reward enough.

Soldier Up Derrek Jensen

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