memoriesofprey Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) Wall of Text: A Marauder's Journey I recently hit 50 through PvP, and finally feel able to sum up my thoughts on the class. I was 49 when 50 brackets came out, and decided to concentrate on my Operative alt a little more, since the only grinding left for me is for gear. As a note, I don't use stims often, or grenades, since I'm neither Biochem nor Cybertech. During the leveling process, I often found myself in situations where I would tell someone my class, and they would reply with some mocking rejoinder or other. The marauders in my pre-made cycle eventually switched mains. Of course, I told myself all I needed was perfect timing, situational awareness, and some gear. Level 50. I'll start performing, then. My frame rates were pretty bad, then, too, so I figured that had a lot to do with it. I dropped some dollars on a new graphics card and some sweet RAM, and pumped them up to a steady, acceptable rate. Fast forward to 50. Annihilation is a lot of fun. It's everything I want in a play-style, but I'm averaging 2-4 medals with it. The only people I can reliably take 1 on 1 are other Marauders. I don't really feel like I'm contributing to the group, except when I'm concentrating on pumping out Predations at just the right moments. I feel more useful in Rage, and can net 5-7 medals regularly, but I really don't enjoy it. This kind of coordination works well in my pre-made, but I still can't help but feel I'm not being all I can be. I mean, when it comes to helping out with team effort, Predation is about the only thing I've got going. Well, and my 18% heals- which lets me crack jokes about being a healer. The Assassins (one of whom used to be a marauder main) I run with can match my single-target dps, and they've got a sweet CC. Stealth is always awesome, too. The Sniper out-damages me, probably because he doesn't have to stick to a target. The Immortal Juggernaut matches my dps, but then, he's a truly exceptional player, so I'm not going to compare. The Operative has a few neat stuns, and manages to heal us all while he's at it. I'm not a bad player. Hell, in other games, I'm generally top-tier. Sure, I'm fairly new to MMOs, but this can't be harder than DotA or Mount & Blade: Warband, can it? Denial? Probably. I cycle through all my defensive cooldowns, make use of every situational advantage I possibly can, and stack Deadly Sabers, Rupture, and Annihilate like a bawss. Is there some esoteric knowledge that's hidden to me? Some combination of timing, reaction, and luck that I'm failing to take advantage of? So I started playing my Operative more, and the guilt hits me. At level 12, I'm doing as well as I am as I was as blue+purple geared Level 49 Marauder. It feels cheap. I can hit people from afar from time to time, and when I do catch up with the ones in light armor, I can pretty much wreck them 1 on 1. Not to mention, I can heal my team mates in a pinch, too. This last part (healing- my guild needs healers) is why I'm sticking with this alt, since playing a Marauder has taken all the fun out of it. I can do just as well, if not better, with this class while watching South Park and baking a pie than I can with the Marauder when I'm putting 100% into it. Near the end of my journey in a quest for competence as a Marauder, I'm wondering why I'm here. For all my failures with the class, Annihilation and Carnage Marauder is fun (to me) in a way none of the other classes can be. To that effect, I'm sticking it out till I get geared, at which point I can come to a final decision. If it still suffers, then it may be time for me to accept my fail and suck it up. Like a marauder. tl;dr Marauder is a fun class to play, but it's the only reason to play the class. I'm not sure if I suck or if it does, but it's definitely one of the two. Update: I have enough gear to add up to 200 Expertise. It seems to have made a huge difference. I'm glad I stuck with the class. I'm pretty ecstatic. This is awesome. Wooooo. To get here, I used: more RAM, a better graphics card, bought a Naga, spent countless hours analyzing game mechanics and finally got some Champion equipment after hitting Level 50. Good god. I'm not sure what I would've done if it wasn't worth it. Edited January 22, 2012 by memoriesofprey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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