Overwatch Soldier

Overview
Overwatch Soldiers are the basic units of the Combine Transhuman Overwatch branch. They are more advanced enemies that the player first encounters rarely in the Canals, and they become the basic enemies the player fights halfway throughout the game and afterwards.

Behavior
Soldiers are more advanced and improved in comparison to the basic Metrocops. They perform somewhat similar movements and actions, covering each other throughout firefights, backing up to cover when they need to reload, standing motionless to fire, fighting in groups, etc.

There are a few key differences, however; Soldiers are generally armed with much better weapons, such as AK-47's and OICW's. They are also capable of throwing grenades at their enemies to force them out of cover, or to force them to run. They are also capable of throwing AN-M14's to spread around fiery mayhem if the player is especially unlucky.

Similar to Metrocops, they are capable of spawning with Riot Gear and/or as Augmented units. However, rather noticeably, Soldiers suffer a bug where Augmented units don't show any changed colors, effectively camouflaging them, potentially catching the player off guard when a Soldier abruptly survives 15 SMG bullets to the chest and three to the face.

Against Rebels, Soldiers are generally at an advantage for several reasons; they are more durable, aim better, and are able to throw grenades, yet at the same time, they have no method of healing, and tend to have less variety with weapons, which can put them at a disadvantage.

Tactics
-Don't stay in cover for too long when Soldiers are onto you. If you do, they will likely throw a grenade at you in an attempt to flush you out. If said grenade thrown is an AN-M14, immediately run away. AN-M14's are capable of causing massive damage to you if you get caught in the flames.

-Soldiers are able to see you from ludicrous ranges, but have terrible accuracy from far away. Sniper weapons are capable of dealing with them easily.

-As with Metrocops, aim for the head to deal with Soldiers quickly. This is especially important when it comes to Augmented Soldiers.

-Against Augmented Soldiers, hard hitting weapons such as the Karabiner will usually deal with them quickly.

-If you need to get a Soldier to move, throw a grenade at them. They will see it coming once it's close and try to get away, possibly blowing up before they can escape.

-If a Soldier throws a grenade at you, you can actually use this to your advantage; use the Gravity Gun or Physgun to throw the grenade back at them, possibly killing them or their teammates. Be quick, however. You don't want that grenade blowing up in your face.

-An interesting tactic is to try shooting a Soldier's grenade out of the air with whatever weapon you have on hand, either knocking it back or bringing it into a dead stop. This is difficult to do outside of Bullet Time and is only recommended if you can't grab it to throw back.