Pocket: As stated, the pocket Soldier's main job is to defend the medic in any and all ways possible. This means regular rocket launcher, shotgun, and Equalizer or Shovel. I'm not going to say which you should use for melee as I honestly can't decide, you likely won't pull out your melee that often in competitive so the Equalizer could be better due to your ability to run away then. Use your splash damage to push away scouts and other enemies trying to close on your medic to keep him safe. Use your Shotgun against low health enemies to avoid depleting Rocket ammo though. A typical strategy for soldiers against lone enemies is one rocket to bounce them in the air, then pull out the shotgun and slice them up. Although, its also very common to use two rockets against enemy soldiers due to their increased health.
Roaming: Roaming Soldier typical loadout is, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun (rarely Gunboats), and Equalizer. The roaming Soldier is also a very heavy Rocket Jumper. One of the best examples of the difference between the Roaming and Pocket is early game Granary. When both teams reach the center the pocket sollies stay on the ground near their medic looking for a week spot to push the enemy or just hanging back if it seems too dangerous, while the roaming sollies rocket jump up on to the crates and rain rockets down on the enemy combo to try to soften them up. One of the main jobs of the Roaming Soldier is to flank the enemy and give support to the Scoots, who are also flanking most of the time. For more on the Roaming Soldier I have chosen to take off a segment from the Ubercharged.net competitive guide. Normally I would've referred you to that much earlier, but it is a bit outdated due to the numerous patches that have happened since it being posted in Summer of 09.
Clubtheseals said:
The roaming soldier in competitive play does essentially what the name suggests: he roams. Roaming soldiers flank the enemy and use the environment against them. This can range from ambushing the other team’s Medic to raining death on the other team from high points such as the crates at Granary mid, the spires in Badlands, or the roof of Gravelpit’s cap point B. Of course, it’s not always easy to get to these positions, so in order to play roaming soldier, one must have a solid grip on rocket jumping. Rocket jumping is what separates decent soldiers from good soldiers. The ability to ascend and cross terrain rapidly is often the determining factor in fights.Good roaming soldiers, and indeed, good soldiers, all possess a mastery of map verticality.
