Skill Tree Forms

[NicoleMay]

So, as I see it, marauder's skill tree defines just which form you specialize in. Annihilation is Juyo, Carnage is Ataru, and rage is Shii-Cho. My main is a Sith Marauder specializing in Carnage/Ataru and I can personally say it is a pain unless you have a good healer or tank as a companion. It specializes in hitting your opponent fast and hard making long battles almost unsurvivable unless you are prepared. While it is possible with another DPS (Vette, Jaesa) it requires to have many medpacks on hand and constant use of the Cloak of Pain and Beserk, as well as the Heroic Moment. I personaly use Malavai in his healing form now that I have Jaesa at almost max affection. I think Pierce would also be a good choice since he can tank well.

Does anyone have opinions on the skill trees and how you use them?

Edited May 1, 2014 by ShadzMGamez

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

I have played all 3 specs as a Marauder all with Jaesa in PvE, it got boring to me after the change to Carnage where Ataru Form doesnt always proc the Crit Scream, it's annoying and a DPS loss if anything, because sometimes ill hit a major dryspell in my procs and when Gore and Scream come off CD at the same time, i cant use Gore > Crit Scream and i have to keep fishing for procs, which may lead to a proc for VT and Gore, leading to a wasted 2nd Gore, it's stupidly high and annoying skillcap, Carnage needs a complete tree revamp to become decent again.

 

Anni was the most fun, but the slowest paced, it needs some sort of extra filler to add flavour, i dont want to spam Vicious Slash into infinity till my Annihilate comes off CD or Force Charge > Overload Saber comes off CD, it's just boring... Which leads me into my idea for a new Level ~30 talent (tier 5 talent)

 

Furious Strike

 

Focus Cost: 1

Cooldown: 10s

Damage at 55: ~1100 - ~1300

 

Description: Strike the target using your Fury state, per 10 stacks of Fury this ability's damage goes up by 10%. Does not grant Fury. Also infilicts Bleeding damage on the target for 18 seconds. also when Berserk, Predation, or Bloodthirst are active the damage of this ability goes up by 25%

 

Rage, is just plain stupidity in a can. It cant do AOE damage, it cant do Sustained damage, it cant single target burst, so, it's pretty much a useless tree. Dont play Rage. Just dont.

 

And ONLY EVER use Jaesa, if you feel your squishy, then you are not looking at it right, you should never have the notion you are squishy if you have Jaesa out, Mara + Jaesa = KILL EVERYTHING WITHOUT HP LOSS!

[NicoleMay]

Rage, is just plain stupidity in a can. It cant do AOE damage, it cant do Sustained damage, it cant single target burst, so, it's pretty much a useless tree. Dont play Rage. Just dont.

 

I don't think Marauders are good for AOE damage or any serious DOTs. Sure you have gore and furious smash, but they aren't really good for AOE or DOTs. Its more about just hitting your enemy.

[Ryuku-sama]

I don't think Marauders are good for AOE damage or any serious DOTs. Sure you have gore and furious smash, but they aren't really good for AOE or DOTs. Its more about just hitting your enemy.

 

[CORRECTION] Carnage Marau/Combat Sent aren't good for DoT... Watchman Sent/ Anni Marau IS a DoT spec.... And DoTsmash spec is stronger than ever on PTS atm... Though this will hopefully be corrected in the next PTS update. [/CORRECTION]

 

[PrincessNuri]

I see the term dot smash lately and wondered what it was. Is it a rage and annihilation hybrid? I am confused

[thatPERSON]

I see the term dot smash lately and wondered what it was. Is it a rage and annihilation hybrid? I am confused

 

This spec is a rage/anni hybrid, it focuses around extending deadly saber out as longer as possible but still getting all 3 stacks on said target. the bleeds are then buffed by the rage skill "cascading power." right now if you are an endgame raiding mara for just about all fights this spec is the way to go. but in the end its just a personal preference for most people.

[fire-breath]

It might be a good thing to realize that Dotsmash will be nerfed in patch 2.8. Overload saber will be tight into juyo stance. So enjoy it while you still can.

 

Anyways ...... Rage is very viable to level in. Saying it doesn't deal AoE or sustained damage is crazy.

- lv10-15 - access to shorter CD on smash and a free force scream

- lv15-20 - Your cd on smash gets even more shorter. Choice between shorter cd on choke or a better cloak of pain

- lv20-25 - extra damage on your spamability (vicious slash) and a 0-10 meter jump

- lv25-30 - GZ you have been promoted to master of AoE. your smash now has a 100% crit change and will deal 99,99% more damage once per use. FYI, smash is now used about once per 11 seconds or so.

- lv30-35 - Your rotation is now 99% of what it will be in endgame content. Feel free to start taking points from the other trees if you like so. You can safely take the entire 1st tiers of anni and carnage

 

Opinions might be personal but it goes way to far to discard rage so easily with wrong assumptions like 'almost no AoE'.

Anni and carnage will do the leveling job too but imo any AoE heavy spec will be superior in flashpoints, leveling content and AoE heavy opsbosses. This regardless which class you play.

[Chembox]

So, as I see it, marauder's skill tree defines just which form you specialize in. Annihilation is Juyo, Carnage is Ataru, and rage is Shii-Cho. My main is a Sith Marauder specializing in Carnage/Ataru and I can personally say it is a pain unless you have a good healer or tank as a companion. It specializes in hitting your opponent fast and hard making long battles almost unsurvivable unless you are prepared. While it is possible with another DPS (Vette, Jaesa) it requires to have many medpacks on hand and constant use of the Cloak of Pain and Beserk, as well as the Heroic Moment. I personaly use Malavai in his healing form now that I have Jaesa at almost max affection. I think Pierce would also be a good choice since he can tank well.

Does anyone have opinions on the skill trees and how you use them?

 

I'm sorry your having a tough time playing a Carnage Marauder. I currently just got mine to 45 and have been using Carnage since my first skill point. I haven't had a better time playing to be honest, I like the feeling of being a F-22 Raptor in combat.

 

I think the problem is your play-style more then anything. As a Marauder, our only role is DPS, all we hope to achieve is more and more damage. I took the attitude that although I am made of paper, If I out DPS my fights, I'll be successful. I took Vette and took care of her. I got new gear around every 5-10 levels for us (flashpoints, heroics, bonus quests for good gear for us), did as much questing as I could so most of my quests were green, only around level 40 did I start doing things my level and over and it has paid off.

 

As a Marauder your going to have a tough time soloing no matter what and you can over-come it many different ways, leveling Carnage is the toughest but with it I have my companions fully spec'd with me, my biochem is fully up because I need the stims and medpacks, I know my rotation perfectly, I learned to watch cooldowns (yes you'll be using a lot of rage and cloak of pain and the game teaches you to do this out of survival), and feel I have really gotten 100% comfortable with the class.

 

I know your frustrated but it can be done and it is rewarding once you really get past 39. Whenever I had doubts about my class, I did flashpoints and bathed in the blood I was letting flow out of my enemies. There is no swifter bringer of pain then a Marauder, don't give up buddy

[Alucardess]

This game is less about skill points and more about rotation.

 

Carnage is probably the most annoying besides Deception because all of your abilities run around your top tier (ie. Level 45) skill to run properly without running out of energy.

 

If you're having trouble leveling in Carnage I would switch to most likely Rage, simply because AoEing things is much easier than target swapping.

[NicoleMay]

Use the TAB key to target enemies.