Guide Version: 1.0 - First draft

---

There are two ways to categorise the infantry, by cost or by function* (kind of). For the sake of comparison and consideration I have listed the infantry in this guide using the latter method. When playing the game the characters are listed by cost in the Purchase Terminals, so their financial differences will soon become second nature.

This guide uses HD versions of the Purchase Terminal pictures.



Keyboard Shortcut
The number in the top-left of the character picture represents the keyboard shortcut to change to them. When you are in the Purchase Terminal, pressing the 6 key quickly takes you to the Characters page. In this example, pressing the 5 key will then purchase the Black Hand Laser Chain Gunner.

Cost
The number in the bottom-left is the default cost of the character. If your base has a Power Plant that is subsequently destroyed, this figure will double.



Things to note

• If the enemy team destroys your Infantry Barrack/Hand of Nod, you won't be able to access the Character menu and can only change to any of the four free characters
  
• All classes are equipped with an Automatic Pistol and one Timed C4, in addition to their main loadout mentioned in the guide below.
  
• Any class can purchase a beacon, but you will often take into consideration which class to play as when purchasing a beacon since you'll need to get to your target building as well as defend the beacon once planted. If you've already purchased the beacon you can still change class and not loose it from your loadout.
  
• All classes run at 6 m/s.

The soldier is the character you spawn as. Provided you can aim well enough, he's relatively effective against infantry. The main thing to note is that the GDI automatic rifle does 40% more damage than the Nod automatic rifle.



Expect to get close to enemies in the tunnels? The Shotgunner is a worthy choice. If you're close enough can land an accurate headshot he can kill anyone in one go, but in general he's excellent for spraying shotgun blasts into a close-combat situations. Unlike the soldiers, shotgunners have no damage difference between the teams, so Nod players often pick this class in early game infantry scrambles.



Grenadiers are often underestimated. People typically see them as a close-combat splash/damage kind of playstyle, but if you can land the shots they will clear most characters in very few shots. They're also surprisingly effective against vehicles, but their shots are easier to dodge from afar. The grenadier's best-kept secret however is his effectiveness against buildings, he is the only free character that can destroy a building by himself. Of course, this would require a lot of time with the enemy not repairing, but perhaps even more surprising is that the grenades actually do more damage to a building from the outside rather than directly at the MCT. This is down to the MCT not being affected by the grenade's splash damage.

Comparatively, Nod Flamethrowers don't do as much damage to vehicles nor buildings, and much like the Flame Tank their range is limited. But they are effective against infantry in close range, the flames having the added bonus of getting in the way visually as well as dealing afterburn damage. The Flamethrower character also has distinctive armour which takes 50% less damage from C4, meaning they're great for sacrificing to proximity C4 mines and letting your team mates through- you may survive!



At a glance the Officer seems like you're just paying 175 credits for a Soldier with an extra 50 HP. Indeed, he's not commonly seen in public servers- players probably save the cash towards bigger purchases.

The main difference is actually his weapon, which uses Steel bullets instead of the standard Shrapnel. Effectively his shots against Infantry do more damage. What's a little puzzling is how his shots against vehicles compare: standard soldiers do more damage to Light Armor vehicles whereas Officers do more damage to Heavy Armor vehicles.

A very common character to play as, the engineer has the ability to repair/heal friendly buildings/vehicles/infantry, disarm beacons as well as plant/disarm C4. In addition to a pistol and a single timed C4 that all characters get, the engineer has a repair gun and two Remote C4. Vehicle drivers will often pick one of the engineer classes to play as, allowing them to hop out their vehicle and repair it when required.

Engineer support really helps tanks out in the field, and can make the vital difference between a successful push or a failed one.

When not repairing, engineers target enemy MCTs, where their C4 do the single-most damage to a building in one go. Three engineers planting all their remote C4 on an MCT together will instantly destroy the building, hence they're an integral part of APC rushes into the enemy base.



Double the health, double the Timed C4, double the healing/repair rate and 6 Proximity C4, the upgraded engineer class has lots of tools at their disposal.

If you can sneak into an enemy building undetected, plant both your Timed C4 on the MCT as well as your Remote C4. Wait for the Timed C4 to go off then immediately detonate your Remote C4- hey presto, you've single-handedly destroyed a building in an instant. Whilst you're waiting for the Timed C4 to go off, you could also plant your Proximity C4 in the building to defend yourself.

Aside from the free characters, Sydney is the cheapest character you can purchase on GDI. However even for 150 credits the upgrade doesn't seem worth it, as for another 25 credits you can purchase the Officer or for save your credits entirely and get a Grenadier. The Tiberium Autorifle's rounds does ok damage against vehicles, and the Tiberium will give a little extra poisoning damage to infantry you hit, but the rate of fire is slow and easier to dodge at a distance. In a fight against a Chem Warrior, your Tiberium weapon will do a little damage but the key is to keep your distance and use your pistol.

The Chem Warrior on the other hand is an excellent upgrade for 150 credits. He's often underestimated as a novelty class that's only good for being able to run over Tiberium fields unharmed, but his weapon is deadly to all but heavy-armour type vehicles. Compared with the Flamethrower, the Chemical Sprayer does slightly more damage to infantry and almost double the damage to vehicles. He's often used to go out, right up to the GDI Harvester and destroy it.

The Chem Warrior's best kept secret is the amount of damage he does to enemy buildings at their MCT. Because of this, early game infantry scrambles with Chems are particularly deadly in maps which don't have the AGT/Obelisk, such a Volcano.

The downside is probably why people are hesitant to discover all of the above; the Chem Warrior's suit has a big dome of a head, making him easier to headshot. In situations where he's of most use though, this is usually not a problem. Furthermore his suit has distinctive armour which takes 50% less damage from C4, meaning Chems have a greater chance of getting by proxy mines when rushing a building's MCT.



Statistically, Patch is like an upgrade to the Officer; he's ok against vehicles but his primary use is against infantry- and compared to the Officer he does double the damage and has more health. Like Sydney though, he's rare to see on servers, simply because for the amount he costs you're probably better getting something else. In a fight against a Chem Warrior, your Tiberium weapon will do a little damage but the key is to keep your distance and use your pistol.

Rocket launchers are fairly self-explanatory, and these characters are a great choice for dealing with vehicles if you have minimal credits. Rocker officer rushes are also a viable option: get enough team mates firing their rockets alongside you at an enemy building and you can have it destroyed in no time.



Gunner is the upgraded Rocket Officer, and for 400 credits he's almost like a modest tank on legs. Although it looks the same, his rocket launcher fires quicker and does more damage per shot than the Rocket Officer's, he also has almost double the health. A Gunner rush is a force to be reckoned with.

Nod doesn't have an upgraded Rocket Officer, but comparatively I'd say the Black Hand Laser Chaingun Officer fills the gap. Whereas rockets can potentially be dodged, the LCG's weapon fires lasers rapidly and he's excellent at cutting-down all vehicles equally.



The iconic Nod "feature over brunt" class, the Stealth Black Hand goes invisible when he isn't firing. This usually makes him the character of choice for sneaking into the GDI base with a beacon. Like the Stealth Tank, his cloak won't fool the AGT and if you get too close to enemies they will see a shimmer effect that gives you away. However if you fancy sneaking about, stealing vehicles, surprising snipers or, most commonly, finding that perfect beacon spot- the SBH is your man.

Able to kill any infantry in a single headshot, the standard snipers can be pest. Unlike the snipers below, the standard snipers don't leave tracers: when a Havoc or Sakura fires, you can very briefly see the line of fire the shot took. On standard snipers it's invisible, making you harder to detect.



Although Havoc and Sakura cost double, have a slower rate of fire and leave tracers, their Ramjet Rifle does double the damage per shot, meaning a single bodyshot will kill basic infantry in one. It also doubles the threat they are to lightly armoured vehicles, in most shooters you wouldn't even consider using a sniper class against vehicles, but the Ramjet in particular can take chunks of health away from Artillery vehicles and Aircraft in Renegade. This makes these characters excellent anti-aircraft defences.

Sydney's Personal Ion Cannon (PIC) weapon is primarily an anti-vehicle weapon, but will also kill any infantry in a single headshot or two bodyshots. Her reload time is slightly longer than Nod's equivelant class/weapon Raveshaw, but to the hitbox on the PIC's blast is slightly larger.



Mobius and Mendoza's Volt Auto Rifle is a serious threat to... everything. Infantry, vehicles, buildings- they are an all-round assault character. They can only do short to mid range though, as the lightning-like blast that comes out the weapon only reaches so far.