Yeah well it's getting revived because I have nothing better to do at the moment!

Okay granted about Engineer, I look forward to seeing how they manage to make that class worth playing in the sequel.

Similarly I will grant that Soldier is great if you take the Revenant, turn up the Inferno Ammo, and waste people primarily from point blank, but if you're going to do that then you might as well go whole hog and bust out a Vanguard with the Claymore because that class is meant to be used that way. If you use the Soldier as efficiently as possible - with  Heightened  Adrenaline Rush, lots of sniping and mid-range assault rifling - then the mechanics of the game revert to those of a standard shooter, which is where I think ME2 falls a bit short in comparison to many other games.

The game feels at its best when you're in the opponent's face and absolutely ruining them, the sounds of battle drowned out by the pulsing of Shepard's blood as you're on the edge of death at every moment. Soldier's hard to get that with, because not only is Soldier the most efficient killing class, it's also probably the second-hardest to actually kill. Add in a complete lack of powers and, Hell, it's no wonder.

I will grant that my perspective on the game comes from playing exclusively on Insanity for the past seven or eight run-throughs, Soldier playthrough included, so that might affect my take a tad.

But if you really want to tear ass without managing your squad? Gotta go Vanguard. Set up Squad Cryo Ammo, turn on Inferno Ammo, and start Charging your way to the glory land.

I only play on Insanity nowadays, and I still don't believe you because that mission demands that you be fast in a lot of places, and your teammates are not that fast.

With proper upgrades, your squad is going to tear through Collectors with Assault Rifles faster than with any Sniper Rifle that isn't the Inscisor. Part of this is because the Assault Rifles have a bigger bonus against barriers, and another part of it is that your teammates fire their ARs more often, and the burst-fire of the Vindicator is the best DPS you'll get out of them.

Oh don't mistake me, I like Vanguard, Sentinel, and even Adept (minus the stupid global cooldown...ugh!) just fine. But what I like best about the soldier is that I can switch up my playstyle on the fly. I can turn one fight into a close-in pounding match, then make the next one a snipefest, do something in between, or even do all three. I enjoy that flexibility, not because it's necessary, but because I can play whimsically and still do fine. Unlike all the other classes, I really have no preferred tactic for the Soldier, because I never do the same thing long enough to get attached. Shoot, I had an Insanity run without once using Adrenaline Rush or the squad ammos; that made me get creative!

i didnt even know it made much of a difference? yesterday i walked over to joker and asked re: the people we have picked up he said imo zaeed is best.......i may have to arrange my choices if true i usually pick randomly

How in the world

Also one thing about new players using SOldier is that they sometimes play the game without using powers at all! I helped out someone who got through the whole game, up to the final battle in Overlord, without ever using Adrenaline Rush! He thought this was the hardest game ever up to that point.

Lots of trial and error were involved, and I needed to call on all my online-FPS experiences, but it's doable. Fun too! ^_^

And I'm not surprised that Adrenaline Rush gets overlooked, since the class really can play like a typical TPS, to the point you forget you have powers. I barely used them my first playthrough (on normal), because I kept forgetting I had them. >_>

Garrus and Grunt for me. Also a vanguard Sheppard with Throw, Barrier for their short cooldown and that black hole weapon, except when I have to fight bosses. 

Mordin is always dying in battle, poor guy.

He really never was much of a "hold the line" type of guy...

*foreshadowing!*

Haha yeah, epic line. I wish Bioware gave some healing powers to him, so he could be a bit more useful...

Also, of course, nothing on ME2 beats soloing a high dragon with Varric and Bianca on DA2.

god I still havnt tried this game yet...