Soldiers suck. Plain and simple. They have nothing but their gun and some reflect shield. Heck, they have trouble beating an unarmed doctor, if they can do that at all. The same goes for the other combat classes - they are outgunned by the non-combat classes who can also wear any gun the soldier can, on top of their healing/debuffing/rooting/etc skills.
So, maybe a good suggestion : profession level-based attack/defense bonuses. For example give soldiers +1 attack rating per level. So a level 100 soldier would have +100 attack rating.
Enforcers a defense bonus. Adv/MA maybe small offense and defense.
Docs, MPs, NTs, Traders and other non-weapon-based professions nothing.
Good idea, or should I stop posting early in the morning ?