If you’re tired of running around with a frail 900 HP and being victim of one hit kills from a disc to the face, but feel like being a immobile juggernaut is the other extreme, fear not Tribes: Ascend players.  The medium classes of the game are no joke, and exceptional fighters.  They fulfill roles that they somewhat lacked in other games, and pack considerably more firepower than their light cousins—but do you know how to use it?

Soldier

The soldier is a midfield monster, with arguably one of the most annoying dueling kits in the game whether you are fighting one with default gear or unlimited access.  Spinfusor + Eagle Pistol enables them to punish landings and those who hover alike, and those without access to those can attack similarly with the Assault Rifle and Thumper DX.  Proximity grenades are probably the best dueling grenades in the game as well.  The only weakness lies in that the packs of the Soldier aren’t the Shield Pack, but they still provide energy as well as the potential for additional ammo if you decide to go the utility route.

Soldiers actually make for surprisingly good defenders once you get proximity grenades.  If you have your sensors still up, you will be able to spot most cappers on their routes coming at the flag – about one second prior, bombard the flag stand with proximity grenades.  They cannot be cleared out like DMB mines, and the capper will likely be blown to smithereens.  Not a traditional role, but one they can fill in a pinch—and more importantly, they don’t need their generator to be active to do it.  You will likely need the Looter perk though, as you’ll go through grenades very quickly .

Being great duelers also means the Soldier is fantastic at sniping base assets once they get the Spinfusor, since often times the one coming after you will be a Pathfinder or Technician—two classes you have beaten in weaponry hands down.  Of course, this isn’t a gear based game and you can still be bested, but you definitely have the upper hand here.

Soldiers can get to respectable skiing speeds via disc jumps and can serve as flag runners if their firepower isn’t needed to clear out the stand on offense.  They can brawl indoors with the best of them, but they take too long to drop the generator itself so they don’t make good generhaters.

The spinfusor can ruin anyone's day.  If you can't reach a flag in time before it's grabbed again, blast it away from those flying in at high speed... or better yet, predict and midair them!

Technicians

It’s not easy being the guy with the repair gun.  But you can make your life a ton easier on indoors defense if you unlock the Thumper.  The TCN SMG is very powerful, but aiming carefully indoors is a huge pain and often not a real option.  New players often have aiming issues, so the Thumper is a huge upgrade with its great splash radius.  It also doubles as a strong propellant if you need to get around the map.

While your turrets are capable of getting kills, you shouldn’t bank on them to be anything more than detection.  Keep an eye on your HUD icons indicating your two turrets being up (upgrade that pack!)  and if one goes down, immediately hunt for that infiltrator/whoever is on the offensive.  If your turrets begin landing hits, you can see the numbers through walls and know where the attacker is instantly.  Try and stay resupplied with an additional turret on hand.  If you engage an attacker who already dropped the turret in the room, you can ski in and drop one on the fly before you pull out your weapon of choice for the engagement.  A turret that is allowed to focus on someone and not getting shot back will dominate an opponent in seconds.

Don’t just patrol the gen room, either.  If you have your stuff setup and everything is in order, go repair your other base assets!  Many times teams will ignore the radar after their initial base raping, and repaired and upgraded radar will provide tons of help in seeing incoming threats before they kill you or take your flag.  Keeping your front turrets up will also help deal with the occasional raider who goes slow, or the juggernauts that like to circle strafe a base bombarding.

You have strong grenades and inventory stations nearby.  Use ‘em!

Raiders

Controversial due to the plasma gun, since the collision has been nerfed the class is no longer the free win machine it was joked about.  However, the raider still packs a considerable punch via their excellent packs and weapons.

Learning how to use the shield pack is going to make or break you as a fighter.  It is NOT a toggle on, forget about item.   When your target is bombarding you with bullets, crank it on.  When they reload, disable it.  When the incoming disc can’t be dodged, toggle it on and off once the impact subsides.

Do all of that while you fire your SMG.  Yes, I said SMG.  Your primary weapons are good at smashing stationary and immobile targets.  They are NOT dueling weapons.  You raiders have a gift in that your SMG is actually one of the best automatics in the game, and it is actually your primary weapon to good raiders.

The EMP grenade is one of the most devastating in the game, but possibly the hardest to land due to its slow arc, lack of bouncing, and colorful nature.   You can use the lack of a bounce and low distance to your advantage though in duels with some practice though, and landing an EMP grenade on someone wins the fight almost instantly.