Obtaining soldier achievements

Kill 3 players with the Equalizer in a single life without being healed.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: The Equalizer will do more damage the lower health you have, so when you are surrounded by enemies pull out your Equalizer and run for the nearest target. You will move faster as you endure more damage, so once you are injured you can easily close the gap between the offending player and attack them. After this, simply turn your attention to the next nearest enemy and try your best to kill them too. If the enemy team is distracted, try to move like a Spy and catch your enemies off-guard by attacking them from behind or above.

Also, keep the Equalizer out to prevent a Medic from healing you until you finish the achievement, as the Equalizer prevents healing.

Kill a Pyro who has airblasted one of your rockets in the last 10 seconds.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: To unlock this achievement, you do not need to kill the Pyro with a rocket, they just need to have deflected a rocket that you fired. Once a Pyro does reflect one of your rockets, use whatever method you deem fit to dispatch them. Using the Shotgun can make this a bit easier for you, because if you choose to use rockets, the Pyro may just continue to reflect them away.

Buff 5 steam friends at once with the Buff Banner.

Difficulty: Easy/Hard

How to: This is dependent on finding people on your Steam friend list that are willing to aid you. You can also do this by adding as many people on a server as you can and hoping that some players will take you up on the invite. This course of action, however, may earn you a few bereavements from other players. Note that using the Buff Banner during Humiliation will spill over a bit into the next round, allowing you to buff everyone on your team.

Destroy 10 sticky bombs with the shotgun in a single life.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

How to: This can be tedious to earn as Demomen will destroy their stickies if they realise you are shooting them. Since the first bullet of your shotgun always travels right down the crosshair, you can destroy stickies at a distance while staying out of range, ensuring that you survive long enough to complete this achievement. One way to accomplish this relatively safely is to stand near a friendly Sentry nest with your Shotgun equipped, and help the Engineer protect his buildings.

Kill 10 enemies while assisting or being assisted by another Soldier.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Play as the Soldier and aim for the same targets as friendly Soldiers are. To make this easier for you, you could ask a teammate if they'd mind you sticking with them, or you can simply ask a friend to lend you a hand. If at least one of you is using the Buff Banner, then this achievement can be quite easy.

Shoot two non-boosted crit rockets in a row.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Your critical hit chance percentage will increase the more damage you do within a set period of time in a single life (to a maximum of 12% chance per shot), so dealing high amounts of damage will increase the chance of firing two critical rockets in succession. A 12% critical chance means you have a 1.44% chance for two critical rockets in a row. It may not happen immediately, but if you fire enough rockets, it will happen statistically.

Rocket jump and kill 2 enemies before you land.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

How to: If you have a Medic with a Kritzkreig ready, rocket jump when he uses it and quickly fire a rocket at the nearest group of enemy players before you fly out of the Medic's range. Control points and chokepoints usually have more than one player closely clumped together which makes them good places to try for this achievement. You can also earn this achievement if you manage to kill 2 enemies while performing the Equalizer's taunt.

Kill 10 opponents who are airborne with the Direct Hit.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: You do not have to know how to juggle enemies for this achievement. As long as an enemy is in the air when you kill them, you will get credit. You can pop them into the air yourself with a rocket, but this will be a little difficult with the small explosion radius of Direct Hit rockets; you will have better odds if there are fellow Soldiers, Demomen or Pyros on your team to send enemies skyward. Also keep an eye out for jumping or falling opponents. Other Soldiers are good targets because they are slow and will often jump as a reflex while firing at you. All you need to do is hope that a rocket you fire hits them and kills them before they touch the ground.

Get 3 dominations in a single life.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: Dominations require three kills on the same target without them killing, or assisting in killing you. Having a Medic use a Kritzkrieg on you will greatly assist you in dispatching foes quickly and helping you earn a dominations. Once you get your first domination, play conservatively, sticking near your base so that if you are injured, a dispenser or Medic might be nearby to aid you. Staying close to other teammates will help you to score dominations via kill assists, and also make it harder for enemies you are already dominating to single you out.

While rocket jumping kill an enemy with the Equalizer before you land.

Difficulty: Hard

How to: Much like any airborne melee kill, this is mainly down to timing, practice and luck. The damage boost that the Equalizer receives will help you get this, so try rocket jumping when your health is between 80 and 100 to reduce your health to around 40, giving you the potential to deal more damage if you hit an enemy. You can also try landing on top of an enemy and attacking towards the ground. If your timing is right, you will hit them before you land and possibly kill them, unlocking this acheivement.

Kill an Engineer as he repairs his sentry gun while it's under enemy fire.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: Being on BLU on Attack/Defend maps will help you get this achievement, as Sentries are much more common on the defending team. When your team makes a push at a Sentry that is being fiercely guarded, circle around it if possible and use the Rocket Launcher's large splash radius to dispatch the Engineer as he repairs his Sentry. Alternatively, if you have the Direct Hit, and you can get a good angle, you can shoot directly at the Engineer, who will require two rockets at most if your aim is accurate.

Bounce an opponent into the air with a rocket and then kill them with the shotgun before they land.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Firing a rocket at an enemy's feet will bounce them into the air, at which point you need to shoot them down with the Shotgun. Low health classes such as Scouts, Medics and Spies will be prime targets for this tactic as a direct rocket hit will reduce their health to around 40, making them easily killable with a shotgun shell or two.

Gib 1000 people.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Enemies will usually explode into gibs when killed with your Rocket Launcher, making this achievement straightforward enough, but requiring quite a bit of Soldier play time. Critical rockets will always gib an enemy no matter how far they are from the center of the explosion when they are killed. Note that the enemy must gib; ragdoll deaths will not count for this achievement.

Kill 5 defenseless players after a single match has ended.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

How to: The difficulty of this achievement really depends on how cooperative or bloodthirsty your teammates are. Try asking your team not to kill anyone during Humiliation so that you can get all five kills more easily. Otherwise, make your way towards the enemy spawn right before your team is about to win.

Provide the enemy with a freezecam of you taunting over 3 of their body parts.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Taunt every time you gib an enemy at close range and eventually they will get a freezecam shot of you with three of your enemy's body parts. This may be easier to accomplish if you gib an enemy in an enclosed room, as their body parts will not be able to travel far.

Kill 5 Engineer sentries while you are standing outside of their range.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: To unlock this achievement, simply fire rockets at sentry guns from a distance. If there is an Engineer behind the gun, you will not be able to take it out yourself, as the Engineer will be able to repair faster than you can deal damage. Using the rocket launcher, try aiming at a solid surface near the Engineer so that you can dispatch him using splash damage. Once the engineer has been killed, it will take at most three rockets to destroy the Sentry.

Defend a cap point 30 times.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Playing defensively and staying near points on control point maps will make completing this achievement a little faster, but it will still take some time. Defending any control point, payload cart or killing an enemy who is holding your intelligence will contribute one defence towards this achievement

Finish a round as an MVP on a team of 6 or more players 10 times.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: MVPs are the top three point scorers for the winning team of each round, so if you are at the top of your team's scoreboard, yet do not earn within the top three point scores for that round, you will not be an MVP. This achievement can be made easier by playing as a class that you are familiar with and then switching to Soldier just before the map's objective is complete or the time runs out.

Kill an enemy sniper with a rocket after he kills you.

Difficulty: Hard

How to: Snipers will typically aim for Soldiers due to their slower run speed and their bulky size, though this achievement does require quite a bit of luck. If you strafe back and forth on the battlements of 2Fort and fire rockets at enemy snipers, eventually you may become lucky enough to meet the criteria of this achievement. And easier way to obtain this achievement is to blow up a Sniper and yourself while he is attacking you The kill message will say that the Sniper "finished you off", and you will unlock the achievement.

Kill 20 enemies with your Equalizer while you have less than 25 health.

Difficulty: Easy-Medium

How to: General play with the Equalizer equipped will result in this achievement being unlocked quite slowly, however, this is certainly a viable option. A more effective way to get the kills necessary is to damage yourself with your rocket launcher, then hide and ambush players while brandishing the Equalizer. Some examples of places to hide are in dark corners, above doorways, or in rooms and corridors that are not accessed frequently.

Kill 500 enemy Demomen.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Simply target any Demomen that you see, and kill them by any means you can. Remember that Demomen using the Chargin' Targe will be more difficult to kill with your rocket launcher, so you should considering taking out your shotgun, especially if they charge. Having the Equalizer equipped may also help as it will improve your chances of killing an enemy Demoman in close quarters.

Ride the cart for 30 seconds.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: On a Payload map, do a crouch jump to get onto the cart and stay there for 30 seconds. You will have better luck with this achievement on larger payload maps such as Badwater Basin, where it takes longer for the enemy team to regroup and make their way back to defend the cart. If you have trouble with this, just find an empty server running a payload map and ride the cart there.

Kill 20 enemies from above.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: You do not need to be airborne or rocket jumping to earn kills for this achievement. You just have to kill an enemy from a higher elevation. This can be done more easily when defending high control points such as the middle point on Well, point C on Gravel Pit, or the second and fourth points on Badlands.

Kill 20 enemies while you are on fire.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Once you are ignited by a Pyro, rather than pick up health or call for a Medic, simply continue playing as usual; killing any nearby enemies. Pyros that are unskilled with the compression blast or are using the Backburner are easy prey for your rockets so you may want to target them first. The Equalizer may also help out, as you will do more damage the longer you burn.

Assist a Medic in exploding 5 enemies with a single ÜberCharge.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

How to: The Kritzkrieg works far better for this achievement than the regular ÜberCharge, so be sure to ask for a Kritzkrieg charge whenever possible. There is also a corresponding Medic achievement; if possible, find a Medic who needs that achievement and ask them to help you. Using the default Rocket Launcher rather than the Direct Hit will help with this, since the Direct Hit has a smaller blast radius which makes it much harder to kill multiple targets with a single rocket. It is also possible to get this achievement during the critboost time after an intelligence capture.

Use a grenade to gib a player.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

How to: Taunt with the Equalizer near people and it will kill both you and the target; however, the taunt is pretty long. As with other taunt kill achievements, distracted Snipers and Heavies make easy targets, as well as performing the taunt around a corner. This achievement is slightly easier to get than other taunt kill achievements, as the taunt affects everything within a certain radius rather than only in front of you. This allows you to gib players who are next to you or even behind you. Alternatively, you can shoot a Soldier that is performing this taunt and allow him to gib himself, crediting you for the grenade kill and the achievement. Carrying the Gunboats will not save you from the explosion. Killing a Spy carrying the Dead ringer also unlocks this achievement.

Buff 15 teammates with the Buff Banner in a single life.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: Notify your teammates that you are ready to use your buff and they will hopefully gather around you. If you can't organize them together, random buffing will be more effective on maps where your team is already likely to be bunched up, such as Goldrush and Dustbowl stage 3. Your enemies will likely target you once your banner is raised, so play conservatively to avoid getting overwhelmed. Unless you somehow manage to round up all 15 of your teammates on a 32-player server, you will have to use the buff at least twice in one life to get this achievement. Note that using the Buff Banner during Humiliation will spill over a bit into the next round, allowing you to buff everyone on your team.

Kill 5 stunned players.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: Find a Scout buddy with the Sandman equipped and ask him to stun enemies, then kill them at your leisure. This achievement is made a little more difficult thanks to the fact that only long-range balls will stun players. Killing players running around in the "humiliation" pose will not count towards this achievement. Fortunately, stunned players no longer take 50% damage, so feel free to unload once you see the "BONK!"

Kill your nemesis with a shovel.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

How to: Allowing someone to dominate you is easy, but returning the favor with your shovel is another story. If you try to weaken them with rockets or your shotgun, be careful not to kill them prematurely and accidentally get revenge with the wrong weapon. Try to have your teammates keep them busy and weaken them, then rush in with the shovel to dig their grave.

Kill 3 enemies with a single critical rocket.

Difficulty: Hard

How to: It is recommended you have an assisting Medic ÜberCharge you with the Kritzkrieg to guarantee critical rockets. Try to attack in a location where enemies are more likely to be bunched up, such as near their Teleporter Exit. This achievement requires significant luck to complete, and will likely take a longer amount of time before you get the opportunity. Additionally, you may be lucky enough to complete this in humiliation after winning a round.

In a single life, kill 3 enemies who have damaged a Medic that is healing you.

Difficulty: Medium

How to: The criteria of this achievement requires the Medic to have taken damage from an enemy while healing you at the same time. As long as you look out for your Medic teammate, you should unlock this achievment through regular play.

Kill a Spy who just backstabbed a teammate.

Difficulty: Easy-Medium

How to: There is always the likelihood of witnessing a teammate die from a backstab. Kill the escaping Spy in whatever order you deem practical to complete the achievement. Always be on the lookout for Spies around the cart on Payload maps. Listen for the critical death screams and kill notifications in the top corner, and quickly wheel around if you hear a loud scream near you to ensure that you don't meet the same fate your teammate did. If the Spy is using a Dead Ringer, this may be a little harder to obtain, as it allows them to survive even a point-blank critical rocket, so always listen for the telltale uncloaking noise if you suspect a Dead Ringer user.

Get the highest possible rocket jump using jump and crouch.

Difficulty: Easy/Hard

How to: This achievement may be near effortless if you're an experienced rocket jumper, but for someone inexperienced, it is recommended they look at the rocket jump article to learn how to correctly execute a rocket jump. Contrary to the achievement text, the jump does not have to be a max height rocket jump. Using a distance rocket jump, where you flick to the side, will also complete this achievement. Rocket jump maps are also good for this, as the first or second jumps on most rocket jump maps will easily qualify you for this achievement.

Kill an enemy soldier while both you and the target are airborne.

Difficulty: Hard

How to: This achievement requires quite a bit of luck, as you must meet an enemy Soldier and you must both be in midair within a distance close enough to each other. Kill the airborne soldier before he kills you with any weapon practical for the situation. If your aim is good, you might get lucky with a well aimed rocket. The Direct Hit will help a lot since the rockets travel much faster and mini-crit on airborne opponents. Otherwise, use the shotgun or your melee weapon if you're close enough. While on the ground, if you can catch an airborne soldier off-guard with a rocket and you are confident it will hit them and kill them, quickly jump in the air and you may trigger the achievement.

Provide the enemy with a freezecam of your 21 gun salute.

Difficulty: Easy

How to: The 21 gun salute taunt has replaced the juggling act taunt of the Soldier's secondary weapon. Switch to your Shotgun after killing someone and taunt to complete the achievement.