Solider opens fight with a max upgraded shot from his UGL. That should put things in his favor. The faster grenade cool down time and the damage/blast size increases make high level soldiers pretty damn dangerous. The Kevlar means that they only need 2 boosts (damage buff and health buff) to be equal to everyone else who will need 3 (and for an Engineer to get Kevlar you'll need a 2nd Engineer to give it to him). Soldier + Engineer + Medic squad has an advantage over any equal sized combination of Engineers/Medics.
Edit: Its a team game people, why in the world are you talking as if its a free-for-all with unbuffed soldiers running into weapon buffed engineers (wouldn't the kevlar bonus mostly cancel the weapon buff bonus?) or health buffed medics?
Edit: Its a team game people, why in the world are you talking as if its a free-for-all with unbuffed soldiers running into weapon buffed engineers (wouldn't the kevlar bonus mostly cancel the weapon buff bonus?) or health buffed medics?
The numbers favor the engineers/ medics, and that's whats bugging me. In a competitive clan scrim there would not be a disadvantage for the soldiers, they would simply be on even, or slightly better then even due to the kevlar/armor piercing rounds situation. But in a public game, where it is quite likely that you will not be buffed, soldiers are at a disadvantage to less combat oriented characters. That is my concern. As well as my feelings the the double buffs are overkill in general.