Super Soldier

**Supersoldaten**(**Übersoldaten**), or **Super Soldiers** (And **Maschinensoldaten** (**Machine Soldiers**) in the German version) as they are commonly known, are heavily-armored biomechanical enemies encountered in *Wolfenstein: The New Order*, prequel expansion, *Wolfenstein: The Old Blood,* its sequel, *Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus* and second sequel, *Wolfenstein: Youngblood*.

## Overview

### 1946

Main Article: *Supersoldaten 46*

The Supersoldat 46 is a newer breed of 2m to 2.4m tall super soldiers engineered by General Deathshead himself.

The results of Deathshead's inhuman experiments are tied to his desire to combine man and machine. The Supersoldat 46 is an early attempt by Deathshead to create a supersoldier using degenerated soldiers and cybernetics technology.

They are created from human subjects. After going through a chemical therapy, their bodies are surgically enhanced with steel and cybernetics and encased in bullet-proof armor. To purify the human subject's killer instinct, the brain is degenerated into a more primitive state, making them erratic and extremely violent. Regardless, these troops are shown to take orders without question from Deathshead and other Nazi officials and fight together with other soldiers.

The armor of the 1946 version of the Supersoldat is not as advanced as that of the 1960 version, with the 3 1946 supersoldaten fought in *New Order*  having an overall durability only slightly higher than that of a Fire Trooper. The 1946 supersoldaten encountered in *Old Blood* are somewhat more heavily armored, but suffer from multiple weaknesses including exposed energy sources and vulnerability to having their armor plating pried off at close range.

It is fought 3 times in the entire *New Order* campaign, first as a boss in a containment chamber in Deathshead's Compound, where it lacks a weapon and can't instantly kill you with a punch. Two more are encountered in Chapter 9 when B.J. has to find his way back to the resistance HQ after retrieving a welding torch. The models encountered here wield an MG-46. The 1946 variant is potent at close range and it has much higher mobility than its predecessor. Staying out of their attack range is the most important thing to remember should B.J. run into one of these.

The first supersoldaten required a constant feed from a power generator. Consequently these iterations had to be connected to an overhead power rail, making them considerably less mobile than the next iteration. The problem of energy supply was solved when a backpack mounted generator was added to the armor, which let them move without restrictions. However, the generator was exposed and any agile opponent could disable it for a few seconds and finish him. Months later, around July, Deathshead redesigned the generator, making the supersoldat a totally armored giant and creating the last design of Supersoldat 46 seen in universe.

### 1960

The Supersoldaten 60 are a refined version of the original model. A new and improved armored enforcer who wield an MG60 and wears a face mask resembling a Greek statue. This enemy shouldn't be taken lightly.

Like most things that exist in both time periods, the 1960 version of the Supersoldaten is essentially a technologically advanced version of the earlier 1946 type, with the majority of the updates being related to their equipment. Despite their upgraded equipment, their behavior and general characteristics seem to have changed little over the 14 years between the two versions.

Notably, the 1960 Supersoldat is also created on the Moon - they can be seen suspended unarmored and unconscious in tubes of yellow liquid throughout the lunar base. The creation of the 1946 variant is never seen so it is unknown whether this process differs from the one used to create its predecessors, although judging from the heavy facial scarring of the 1946 model, the process is more reliant on surgery rather than growth cultivation, as appears to be the case with the 1960 variant. Despite this, the face is as heavily scarred as its predecessor, suggesting a combination of surgical alteration and cultivation.

Their armor is generally more refined than that of their predecessors; instead of the mixture of flat, crudely machined plates of varying sizes assembled in an almost piecemeal fashion, the 1960 Supersoldaten armor is somewhat more rounded and curved, the components sized and shaped to provide a much greater level of coverage and visibly matching the underlying body parts while also sloped to effectively deflect projectiles, much like tanks and other armored fighting vehicles in both function and appearance. Additionally, the face protection plate of the 1946 version is replaced with a steel mask in the shape of a boldly styled art-deco human face while the head protection is changed to aesthetically resemble the Stahlhelm worn by other Nazi troops.

As they wield the laser firing, electrically operated MG-60, the 1960 Supersoldaten can be a challenging enemy due to the combination of their very high damage potential, durability and excellent resilience against interruptions and stuns compared to other enemies. They have a high rate of fire so evading shots is difficult and there aren't many ways to deal damage to them without also being directly in their line of fire. The main issue is surviving their very high damage for long enough to kill them because their resistance to interruptions and stuns makes it very difficult to unload into them without taking fatal damage, as they simply won't stop firing even while taking extremely heavy hits.

The 1960 Supersoldat has extremely high damage resistance against bullet weaponry, requiring almost 300 rounds of assault rifle fire to bring one down. Energy weapons or explosives such as the Laserkraftwerk, the plasma rifle variant of the AR Marksman, the rocket launcher, or their own MG 60s are much more effective against them, though they still require many hits to kill due to their very high health.

### 1961

The super soldiers deployed in occupied North America have been stripped of most of the human parts in favor of further cybernetic enhancements, replacing approximately 70 percent of their organic bodies. They also feature significant modifications to the design, including a new face mask, the addition of a frontal armor plate to protect the throat, and an enlarged backpack.

Unlike their slow, lumbering predecessors they are equipped with a rocket engine mounted on their backs which allow them to rapidly close the distance to an enemy. They also pack greater firepower and tactical versatility, carrying a pair of weapons rather than just one and using a more varied arsenal of Lasergewehren, Dieselgewehren, or Hammergewehren rather than the same weapon being issued to all of them.

Before the death of Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse, he sacrificed some of the armor on his latest generation of super soldier to accommodate the increased weapon payload and the rocket pack. As a result, 1961 variants of the Supersoldaten are significantly less durable when compared to the 1960 variant, particularly lacking the 1960s variants heavy damage resistance against bullet weaponry (going down after only a few dozen assault rifle rounds, compared to a few hundred for the 1960 variant). Additionally the fuel tanks on their backs may explode, creating an additional weakness that Blazkowicz can exploit.

Some time in the past, another generation of super soldiers was also being developed by Deathshead and Nazi scientists. They were to use bio-engineered super soldier bodies to remove the feral and mentally impaired drawbacks of the conventional super soldier. However, the demise of Deathshead and the heist of the prototype body by Caroline Becker stopped any chance of these bio-engineered super soldiers seeing the light of day.

### 1980

The super soldiers of this age are scarcely different from their 1960s predecessors, and have been deployed in large numbers in occupied France, due to its proximity to Germany. Their continued presence is a major burden to the resistance since the end of World War II, as insurgents were always crushed by the cybernetic creatures during attempted uprisings. Unlike their 1960s counterparts, they use only the Lasergewehr and Dieselgewehr, as the Hammergewehr is used by the Hammersoldat. The addition of improved armor plating makes them somewhat more durable than the 1961 variants, even against armor-piercing ammunition, though not nearly as durable as the 1960 variants. 1980 super soldiers have some minor cosmetic improvements compared to 1961, such as a metal plate used as a "nose" to cover their exposed nasal cavity.

## Strategy

### The New Order and The Old Blood

* Using energy weapons like the Machine Gun 1960/Machine Gun 1946 and LaserKraftWerk is extremely useful against super soldiers as bullets will only bounce off and inflict a small amount of damage on armored parts. Dual wielding the Marksman Rifle (with laser upgrade) is somewhat effective but its energy needs to be recharged quickly after 5-10 seconds. A fully-charged LKW can get the job done if all the lasers connect, or a single focused shot if the player has the scope upgrade (at the cost of an entire battery). On higher difficulties the player needs multiple bursts to kill one, so keep an eye out for charging stations.
* A well-placed Tesla Grenade will briefly stun a Super Soldier, allowing the player a short amount of time to either run to cover or try to deal heavy damage.
* Ballistic weapons can bring them down, though it will take a lot of ammunition (it takes your maximum supply of assault rifle ammo to kill just one of them). Dual-wield assault rifles will put in a large number of hits very rapidly. The rifle's under-slung rocket launchers will also blast their armor plating off, allowing you to follow up with either more rockets or gunfire to the exposed section.
	+ In The New Colossus, where they are a more common enemy, they're much more vulnerable to projectile weapons such as dual-wield ARs and dual-wield shotguns.
* They are highly resistant to being interrupted/stunned even when getting hit by heavy firepower, and their machine guns are very difficult to dodge, meaning it is difficult to avoid damage from them. However, they have a short pause before acquiring a target and firing. Thus, the best way to avoid damage while killing them is to rapidly move in and out of cover. For best results, slip into cover and wait until you hear them stop firing, then emerge from cover at a different position each time, so they have to turn toward you and adjust their aim again before opening fire, therefore allowing you to attack unopposed.
* Do not get close to them. Even though super soldiers tend to hang back and fire at the player with their machineguns, they do have a particularly lethal grab attack followed by a straight punch that instantly kills.
* After they die, you can use heavy weapons (such as the MG1960 they drop) to shoot off pieces of their armor. You can pick up this armor to replenish your own.

### The New Colossus

* When facing multiple supersoldaten, killing one and using its heavy weapon is a great way of dealing with the supersoldaten quickly. Lasergewehr in particular are particularly good thanks to its pinpoint accuracy.
* If heavy weapons are not available, the quickest way to kill supersoldaten is with dual-wielded Sturmgewehrs**.** It takes about 40 or so rounds to the torso to kill one, even less with the armor-piercing and/or marksman scope upgrades.
* Use the ram shackle to stun them when they get close to you, if necessary.
* Using the ram shackle as they rocket charge towards you kills them instantly but only works in lower difficulties.
* Super soldiers have three weak points:
	+ The arms: enough shots will take one of their arms off and disable the weapon that arm was holding. Shooting off both arms will kill them. This strategy also applies to Zitadelles and zerstörers.
	+ The head: even though the head is armored, it is still vulnerable to an upgraded sturmgewehr. A few shots will down them.
	+ The fuel tanks are a particularly vulnerable spot. If shot a few times, they will explode, causing significant damage to the super soldier.
		- In a firefight, they they will turn to face you so that their backs are pointed away from you. You may still be able to shoot their fuel tanks if you aim carefully or if you can run behind them.
		- If you shoot the fuel tanks with suppressed weapons, you can stealth kill super soldiers. Just be aware that the fuel tank explosion usually doesn't kill the super soldier, but just leaves it severely wounded. You will need to fire a couple more silenced shots to finish it off.
		- If you get to melee range, you can slice their fuel tank cables, causing the super soldier to leak a trail of fuel. If you shoot the trail, the trail will catch fire and spread to the super soldier's fuel tank, which will explode.
		- While impractical in higher difficulty as their firepower makes it impractical to close in, on lower difficulties getting in melee range with the supersoldat causes it to melee attack Blazkowicz, giving Blazkowicz a big window of opportunity to flank the supersoldat and blow up the fuel tank.
* When a super soldier's fuel tanks explode, it causes pieces of the super soldier's armor to come off, which you can collect. You can shoot the fuel tanks after the supersoldier is dead, which is a great way to replenish armor between firefights.
* It is possible to kill a Supersoldat using the Ram Shackles, same goes for the hatchet (both by hitting the enemy with the hatchet and throwing the hatchet) in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Unlike Wolfenstein: The New Order where the only way to kill any armored enemy is by utilizing guns and explosives as using melee weapons won't deal any damage to the armors. Moreover, in Wolfenstein: The New Order, getting too close to a Supersoldat will result in the player getting killed instantly, so it is impossible to kill a Supersoldat in this game using melee weapons.

### Youngblood

* Early on, it's best not to start a fight against them, as it takes *a lot* to put them down.
	+ Once getting to higher levels, and getting better/stronger weapons, they become easier to fight.
* Be wary of starting a shootout, as many will be sent to fight you.
* You can no longer tamper with their fuel tanks, however, you can earn an ability that allows you to perform stealth takedowns on them. This ability is extremely useful, allowing you to kill them before going loud.
	+ You can still shoot their fuel tanks, which cause damage when they explode. The amount of damage the fuel tank explosion causes is much lower than in *The New Colossus*.
* Like in *The New Colossus*, you can still shoot off their arms, reducing the damage they do you.
* Though grenades can damage them, they will often walk away from them, but will do so slowly.
* Like in the previous installments, charging the LaserKraftWerk will kill them instantly.
	+ Placing Diesel ammo around with the Dieselkraftwerk can also kill them.
* With the dash ability, the player can dodge their attacks, and when they charge at you.

## Trivia

* Occasionally, hitting a supersoldat with heavy weapons, such as a rocket or a fully powered shot from the LaserKraftWerk, will cause the face mask to fall off, revealing a heavily scarred, nose-less, and almost skeletal face underneath.
* Max Hass was heavily implied to be a failed supersoldat candidate due to his monstrous durability and strength as he can endure dozens of shots from a high-caliber rifle without flinching. This was however later proven false.
* They wear an SS doppelte Siegrune device on their armour collars, identifying all of them as being part of the Waffen-SS.
* The 1946 version is inspired from the 1943 version in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The 1946 reboot version is a technical setback, as the super soldiers in Return to Castle Wolfenstein could use two or three weapons at once and didn't need a power source. Overall, the Super Soldiers in the Old Blood and the New Order are more like the Proto-Soldier.
* In Wolfenstein II, Set Roth's notes speak about the yellow substance used for the Supersoldat enhances their growth but severely impairs their mental capacity. He writes about in his youth he experimented with a similar chemical on beetles which also resulted in an increase of size. It also seems to make them immune or at least highly resistant to radioactivity, as they can be seen patrolling in New York without any problems.
* The process of creating Super Soldiers is quite similar to how Big Daddies are created in the *BioShock* video game series, which also involves using a yellow substance to increase the subject's strength while reducing their mental capacity, as well as encasing the subject permanently in a suit of armor.

* In the German version they are called Maschiensoldat (Machine soldier) instead of Übersoldat or Supersoldat, unlike their counterparts from Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
* They're somewhat like the Creature of Frankenstein from the famous novel of Mary Shelley (or the Creature portrayed by Boris Karloff or Robert de Niro seen in their films adaptations) and they could be partially inspired by him (with the Proto-Soldiers seen in Return to Castle Wolfenstein). They're together colossus made of raccomoded skin , with a scarred face , and have a great strength. The difference is that the monster of Frankenstein is extremely smart , while the ones in the games have a limited intelligence , following any orders from other Nazis officials without issue and attacking very blindly the enemies of the Nazi regime
	+ The design of the 1960s variant is very similar to Helghast infantry from Killzone and Protect Gear of the Kerebos saga Special Unit, as seen in "Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade" and "StrayDog: Kerebos Panzer Corps".
	+ The 1960 variant also bear a resemblance to the Adeptus Astartes of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. They are even similar in how they are created, as Astartes undergo horrific surgical procedures of which very few survive.
* There are 1961 variant of Supersoldaten on board Section F of Eva's Hammer in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Unlike Wolfenstein: The New Order where you can encounter 1946 Supersoldaten in 1960, you can't encounter the 1960 Supersoldaten on the Eva's Hammer in 1961, despite the U-boat being captured in 1960 in the first game.
* When a berserk and aggressive Super Soldier is encountered at Strasse's Compound near the end of the Prologue of The New Order, it seems to have big tubes, a part of the cooling system for the beast, sticking out of both shoulders that the player has to shoot in order to cripple the monster. This seems to be a Mk.III power pack version of the Super Soldier, which perhaps is the most latest version of the Super Soldier at that time, even though the Prologue of The New Order take place right after the events in The Old Blood.
* The Super Soldier voices are provided by David Sobolov and Jen Matthies in “Wolfenstein: The New Order”, Jen Matthies in “Wolfenstein: The Old Blood”, Steve Marbs in “Wolfenstein: The New Colossus”, and at least one or more as of yet unknown actors in “Wolfenstein: Youngblood”.
* Their stance bears resemblance to the shooting sprite used by Hans Grösse the original Wolfenstein 3D