@ All the lvl 40+ Marauders

[Bamfpanda]

Didn't expect this much response! Thanks guys! Probably will be stopping my Jugg and just switching to Mara for the time being. Then deciding from there which I like more.

 

Who knows, maybe BW might buff SW classes soon? XD From what I hear the only downside to SW classes is the survivability and lack of "open choice" of companions. Playing my Jugg I can use other companions but I have to heal a lot more, with Quinn I can keep going and going. Maybe BW will buff our survivability?

[UpsetLobster]

Not 40 yet, but nearly there. I specced anni with a few points in carnage, will switch when I go back to the fleet after Taris in order to get the upper tier anni talents.

 

So far, I have had a few close shaves and deaths while I figured out what is what in our abilities, but things just rock so hard once you figure it out! It is so much fun to make a mob bleed to death while force chocking him.

 

Personally I hate Quinn because it takes so much longer to kill mobs without another dps companion. Vette rocks, but Jaesa is so much cooler. It feels so epic to both charge into battle lighsabers blazing with your apprentice by your side.

 

The story is EPIC, our abilities are great fun, so far I have no complaint:)

[Centarion]

I'm doing red quest pretty easy, quinn and anni spec is great for lvling imo. I usally do class quest so fast on planets i need to pvp to get 1 or 2 lvls to make the other class quest on the next planet becuase i have to high miss chance on on the new quests cuz they are just to high lvl.

[Aethyriel]

With Quinn it's quite relaxed, with any other companion it can be pretty hectic. You basically either kill stuff fast enough or they kill you. Lack of Ae CC abilities always makes you take many hits when confronting a grp (or have your comp take a lot of dmg). I personally almost never use Quinn because I simply don't like him and he freakin disagress with every goddamn thing I do, so I take a lot of dmg with Jaesa or Vette out, have to watch out a bit who and what I pull and use cooldowns constantly (choke for the stun, interrupts, keep bleeds up etc) to not get burned down...

you just get hit so hard, I still remember being hit for 1,2k dmg by some strong mob on my classquest at lv 41 oder 42 and the mob was on the same lv and it was just a damn autoattack. You survive with cloak/Obfuscate and all those things, but you really have to watch out and don't make mistakes in order to get by.

 

In PVP with a healer or in grpplay the marauder really shines though, dishing out very nice dmg, interrupting stuff, being mobile... it's fun, but you are a glasscanon like no other.

[Kodokai]

I have one question for you guys: Is it worth it? I hear different opinions non-stop and never seem to find a definite answer. Is lvling a marauder fun/easy? Or is it difficult/tedious?

 

All in all, I have a juggernaut and I really want to make a marauder but idk if it's worth it to lvl another SW if the class is "broken" like lots of people state.

 

Maras are slow starting off, id push towards leveling as annhilation its far the best as Carnage is seriously lacking prior to 40.

[JamzP]

I just hate feeling so squishy. I know the class, I know how to use the cooldowns, but I can't kill the people the ship we go to after Taris. I skipped the last part of Taris to get Pierce early and finish the class part because I hate the sodding planet. But, I get my butt handed to me by mobs the SAME level.

 

I respec'd to Annihilation many times to get past bumps like these, but I don't like the spec. Marauder just needs to have better survivability. I really, REALLY want to play it, but it feels like shaman in WoW. I have to play to a higher skill level just to be on par with other classes. Even then, I still die because I didn't have enough crits.

 

I want to play a pure melee dps (not a stealthy one), but it looks like I'll have to wait for a patch to see how Marauders change before I even attempt at finishing mine.

 

In short: it's worth it if you can pop all your CDs, spec right, know your rotations, and have a lot of luck. Otherwise, I would say to wait. And I HATE saying that. I love the class and the story, but I am getting a headache from the frustration of dying all the time and having to respec only to die again.

[Eldren]

LvL 50 Marauder....I'd say no. I love the class...love dual sabers...love the dps...but survivability just isnt there.

 

Post 40 the only viable companion is Quinn...you get ate up trying to use anyone else unless their gear is EQUAL to or better than your own...and honestly...if Quinn's gear is equal to or better than your own he's still a better companion choice over the other 4.

 

It seems every other class can use whichever companion they like in solo PvE but not the case with us. Its not that its situational either....he's clearly the best choice regardless of situation.

 

Just my opinion of course based off what I've seen in all 3 specs but I beleive this to be a Marauder survivability issue. We just get hit too hard. I imagine you could get away with using Pierce or Broonmark if they have great gear but again...with great gear Quinn is still the best choice and I cant imagine why they wouldnt want you using Vette or Jeasa almost ever. Especially when Chapter 1 is pretty much revolves around Jeasa

 

 

**EDIT** I forgot to add the fact that Quinn is soo broken that even he becomes amazingly frustrating as well. The fact that he'll prioritize dpsing over healing you drives me insane. And yes I uncheck those skills on his toolbar...but i'm sure i'm not the only one having the issue where whenever he is stored (dialogue, death, dismissed, selling trash items, loading screens, when you're on a speeder...etc) that the toolbar resets and those abilities are active again when he is called.

 

If you can do so without using spoilers, since I haven't gotten Jaesa yet, you're going to have to tell me how Chapter 1 revolves around her. I've been using Vette up until I got Quinn, and I now largely use him just for having less down time (less use of Channel Hatred between every fight). I'm currently finishing up Tatooine, and haven't even gotten Jaesa yet, so how does Chapter 1 revolve around her?

[Eldren]

I could have said any number of things, but I chose to say what I did because guess what? I can.

 

I have no problems with new or inexperienced players. I don't mind explaining something to someone or helping them figure something out. It's the people who play for 2 hours and then come on here ranting in all caps about how the marauder is such a terrible class and that it needs to be buffed that yes, I'm going to be a complete dick to.

 

You sound like a halfway intelligent person. There's no need to try and coddle the people who won't change their opinion no matter what you tell them. Hopefully you can see that.

 

This is the most telling post you've made. You've literally just said that you're being a dick because you can. I'm going to go one step further and say you're being a dick because you can hide behind a forum avatar and not have to deal with the consequences of your actions. You're trying to paint yourself as a "pro" and you're just coming off as an asinine, attention-starved child.

 

It's ironic that you say there's no need to coddle the people who won't change their opinions regardless of what you say, because it's exactly how you're coming off.

 

Here's hoping you display a smidge more decorum in the actual game. If not, unless you happen to be in a group filled with similarly malcontentious sociopaths who all lack fundamentally basic social graces, you'll quickly find yourself blacklisted on your server and without groups at all.

 

People like you make me sick to my stomach.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Eldren

[nuwn]

Hi, ive been 50 afew days now. and if im honest i think dps we deal out more, however we lack cc and stuns. im playing carnage atm, with 30stacks of fury, popping beserk and going wild spamming rage dump with a 5sec 100% armor pen, i melt people and with garenteed force scream crits for 2k+. The tactic ive been using in pvp is that of a rogue on wow, i charge in and open up, nuke hard on 1 target, then i need to reset with vanish or 99% dmg reduction as i seem to get focused extremely quickly. this is not theory craft but its how i feel i do the most with marauder.

as for leveling i was seriously thinking of rerolling to sniper about level 25ish, but i kept with it as i didnt know any marauders and they seem not highly populated. but once i hit 40 the game opened up for me. i wasnt having to rest after every group of mobs, taking on 2 strong units easy. i only struggled on the last 50% of level 49 and that was in illum.

im glad i sticked with it, i dont think we are underpowered, i just think that other classes have too much cc my dps seems fine, was doing illum dailies with a 50 assassin and was killing strongs faster. not very scientific but all this qq seems to be just from the low levels.

[Ehrgeix]

Hi,

 

I thought I'd post since my experiences are somewhat different re: Quinn. I'm a level 50 marauder now (ehrgeix at basilisk droid eu), and I leveled as annhiliation only - my thoughtprocess was that selfheals + high singletarget damage would trivialize gold/silver mobs and they were the only ones likely to be a problem. I used Vette exclusively as my companion (and selected gear for her from questrewards whenever it was available), and managed to beat everything i/g while leveling. The deal with Vette is like, you kill things faster than with Quinn -- I've watched a buddy play using Quinn and it seems like they have a much easier time generally and die very rarely, but they level noticeably slower. Using Vette you *will* make mistakes and die, but if you play well it'll be faster to level overall, I think (also, Vette far prettier than Quinn!).

 

Despite this, I died more than I care to admit - some fights like gold + 2 normals and 2 silver pulls were very tough (note: some gold + 2 normal fights are trivial - it really depends on the mobs. The ones that destroyed me were those that had bleeds, and those that had like a bouncing slash attack that jumped from you to your companion -- I could forcechoke one but not deal with the second). With that said, it is 100% doable - basically you have to play well, be prepared to use medipacks, and interrupt things with force charge, force choke, and your interrupt.

 

(Misc. note: If I had to do it again I'd try switching to Rage at l40. It seems quite exceptional. Also, most people I have heard that seem to think the class is not viable have been playing Carnage. I have not tried Carnage myself so no objective judgement, but if you're having horrible issues as Carnage it might be worth trying a respec (the first is free, after all.))

 

TLDR: Leveling a marauder is fun but is not easy (with Vette). If you're using Quinn I think it would be pretty easy but less fun (idk for sure though, I have not used him personally, just watched a buddy playing with him).

 

Also for what it's worth, in terms of endgame experiences I think there are two negative thought-traps that will make you less happy with your character choice/the game (in PvP -- in PvE marauders and ranged classes are clearly very valuable):

 

a) I'm melee and ranged just stun and destroy me all the time, this sucks!

b) I'm ranged and if a melee gets on me 1v1 I die and there's nothing I can do, this sucks!

 

I think that both are basically true - nothing can really 1v1 me thusfar on a marauder (a level 50 sage with (much) better gear than I has, but I *think* that that was just explicable by gear). But yeah, if I charge into a bad position and get stunned/don't have charge up it's very possible for a couple of ranged characters to explode me very quickly (especially if I am stunned without cloak of pain up). At least when you start playing warzones the latter happens a lot more than the former -- you rapidly learn to pick fights better as you play more and things feel better. I do think it's more possible to consistently score well on say, a sorcerer (selfheals, range, high damage, godly knockback) than a marauder though. I guess I would say marauder is an average class and sorcerer/sage is probably the best class in the game.

 

TLDR 2: If you're interested in playing a melee dps, marauder is viable/average. If you're looking for the best class i/g, you should probably check out sage/sorcerer.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Ehrgeix

[myslead]

I am currently level 44

and I thought the leveling was okay, but I really needed to check my pulls and aggro and have to use Quinn for most of the encounter, that guy heals so much.

 

BUT

 

I rolled a BH and an Agent Sniper, and they are having a much much easier time.

[Areaz]

This is the most telling post you've made. You've literally just said that you're being a dick because you can. I'm going to go one step further and say you're being a dick because you can hide behind a forum avatar and not have to deal with the consequences of your actions. You're trying to paint yourself as a "pro" and you're just coming off as an asinine, attention-starved child.

 

It's ironic that you say there's no need to coddle the people who won't change their opinions regardless of what you say, because it's exactly how you're coming off.

 

Here's hoping you display a smidge more decorum in the actual game. If not, unless you happen to be in a group filled with similarly malcontentious sociopaths who all lack fundamentally basic social graces, you'll quickly find yourself blacklisted on your server and without groups at all.

 

People like you make me sick to my stomach.

 

Hiding behind a forum avatar? mmkay. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm afraid of facing the consequences of telling someone to quit being a retard. All righty then. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's examine what else you said.

 

I'm not trying to paint myself as a pro. Nope, nowhere did I say I was pro at anything. I said stuff was easy if you utilize all of your skills. Do I consider myself a good player? Yes.

 

It's ironic that I say there's no need to try and convince others who won't change their minds because I'm the same way? Pray tell, how exactly am I completely unwilling to change my opinion? Back to the original topic of this thread, I leveled up completely as Annihilation. I wrote off Rage because I thought of it as a PvP spec, but after reading what a few others said, I changed my mind and tried it and completely love it. Yes, I'm clearly unwilling to have my opinions or views swayed.

 

Paragraph full of big words that pretty much calls me a dick. That's cool, you're entitled to your opinion, but I like how you roll up on an internet forum and tell me that I lack anything at all. Congrats, you called someone else on the internet something bad. Cookie?

 

People like you make me laugh.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Areaz

[thenerdma]

Hiding behind a forum avatar? mmkay. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm afraid of facing the consequences of telling someone to quit being a retard. All righty then. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's examine what else you said.

 

I'm not trying to paint myself as a pro. Nope, nowhere did I say I was pro at anything. I said stuff was easy if you utilize all of your skills. Do I consider myself a good player? Yes.

 

It's ironic that I say there's no need to try and convince others who won't change their minds because I'm the same way? Pray tell, how exactly am I completely unwilling to change my opinion? Back to the original topic of this thread, I leveled up completely as Annihilation. I wrote off Rage because I thought of it as a PvP spec, but after reading what a few others said, I changed my mind and tried it and completely love it. Yes, I'm clearly unwilling to have my opinions or views swayed.

 

Paragraph full of big words that pretty much calls me a dick. That's cool, you're entitled to your opinion, but I like how you roll up on an internet forum and tell me that I lack anything at all. Congrats, you called someone else on the internet something bad. Cookie?

 

People like you make me laugh.

 

Your ingame nick and facebook link, NOW!

[mastersloup]

I'm lvl 50, in PvE i'm having fun.

 

In PvP i want to uninstall the game because i don't have the patience to reroll and beat up someone from Arenanet forcing them to release Gw2 faster

[Darth-Malice]

Who cares what other people think? Play it yourself and develop your own thoughts. Dont let others sway you because they were geared well and died and decided to say the class sucks.

[krameriffic]

Who cares what other people think? Play it yourself and develop your own thoughts. Dont let others sway you because they were geared well and died and decided to say the class sucks.

 

This is not what people think, this is people posting empirical experience with the functionality of the class in the late levels. We're not talking about a hairstyle or clothing here, what others think does not factor in. People don't want to waste 100+ hours leveling a class when someone can elucidate the nuances of the class in such a way as to warn potential players that they will not like it.

[sjwho]

Leveling a maurauder is ok. They aren't really the easiest nor the hardest to level.

 

 

In any case though, their pvp is severely lacking by comparison to the other classes.

 

I'd say pve wise they are good but pvp they really require a swarm tactic to be successfull.

[Phalynn]

If you can do so without using spoilers, since I haven't gotten Jaesa yet, you're going to have to tell me how Chapter 1 revolves around her. I've been using Vette up until I got Quinn, and I now largely use him just for having less down time (less use of Channel Hatred between every fight). I'm currently finishing up Tatooine, and haven't even gotten Jaesa yet, so how does Chapter 1 revolve around her?

 

 

cant do it w/o spoilers

[jarclovis]

I've played wow since the beta and i've always Played a warrior and an enhancement shaman so i love the dual wielding classes, im currently lvl 35 with my marauder and im loving it. I admit it has been a challenge killing 2+ mobs but now that i've gotten the hang of it it's really amazing.

[kaelthun]

My Personal, Incomplete and Mostly Obvious Observations

By Kaelthun

 

General

 

1. Something with a 1 minute cooldown is not something considered a major CD. It's a skill to be used in tandem with other, less heavy skills. In the case of Cloak of Pain, it's used all the time. You barely exist in between the times you have Cloak up.
   
2. The Marauder class requires some form of mitigation to be up at.all.times during combat. If you're running into an encounter with anything, get ready to pop some kind of defensive skill like Cloak of Pain, Sabre Ward - hell, even Predation is better than nothing.
   
3. Yes, there are a lot of abilities to be used. Yes, they're all necessary if you want to be effective. Stuff like Disable Droid and Call on the Force are not there for nothing. Sap those technological marvels and quickly aid yourself in times of need. No use shying away from these just because they don't deserve hotkeys.
   
4. A lot of abilities will be useless on their own but be immensely powerful when combined with others. Learn to combo up your abilities and realize the potential of every single one. This can only be done through practice and experience. When you find yourself getting a feel for the class you'll start prioritizing things like Battering Assault and using Cloak of Pain routinely naturally.
   
5. If you want more choice in companions during levelling, go elsewhere. Not being rude, just realistic. Obviously Bioware has the Marauder in their current incarnation running with Quinn. Nothing wrong with that, it's just a different design. We're a medium armor "glass cannon" and I don't see that changing any time soon. The marauder shines in groups and PvP premades. Get an unlucky group in Huttball and you'll get ripped apart, have an absent-minded healer in a flashpoint and your toast. But then, that goes for most squishies. We're Rogue / Frost DK / Fury Warrior without the stealth / strangulate / bladestorm
   

 

Beating the Environment

 

• Sometimes you'll have to take a few seconds to wait for a CD to come up on Cloak or Ward. Wait, be patient and realize you're not supposed to charge in like a tank.
  
• Don't forget your role in groups. Take out adds first, then big stuff. Some may disagree but in my experience it's always best to eliminate anything you can as quickly as possible. Getting rid of a complete source of damage beats killing a boss quicker imo.
  
• Get consumables! They work wonders and help in tight situations. Get medpacks, stims and anything else you can get your hands on. On the Jedi Sentinel forums they advocate getting Biochem, I can't blame them. It gets you a reusable medpack and stims that stay through death. Not a bad choice
  
• Holocrons give stat boosts, don't forget about them. They rack up quite the difference if you get all of them before leaving a planet.
  
• Gold mobs are doable, even though we don't have Death from Above (are you kidding, that's what everyone keeps saying). We're not any other class, we're Sith Marauders. However easy or hard others may think something is, we do things differently. Stack your Ward and Cloak, use Predation whenever it's up (another 10%) and use Call on the Force if you can / need to. Med packs speak for themselves. Don't be daunted if at first you don't succeed. Check Quinn's settings, take out all of his DPS abilities if you need to and make sure he's in Med mode. I have yet to see any challenge I can't do myself other than instanced Heroic areas.
  
• As mentioned, Pommel Strike hits freakin' hard. Use it to your advantage when you need to get rid of something quickly.
  
• Remember that 100% armor pen isn't anything to scoff at: Gore (Carnage only).
  
• Frankly, PvE is mostly just a matter of really getting to grips with the medium armor / dual wield thing. If you can get a grip on your tree and abilities you shouldn't run into too much trouble. I'm running Carnage and I find it very enjoyable but then I do quite a bit of PvP so I usually outlevel my PvE enemies by 1-2 levels.
  

 

Destroying Players in Warzones

 

• Don't take on full health tanks / fully buffed inqs / healers. Just don't. All it takes is for one other person to come along and throw a buff / heal on them or a couple of hits on you and you're done. We're just not those guys.
  
• GTHO if you need to. There's no shame in the game if you survive and leave him/her to be destroyed by your team mates. We don't get speed boosts on Predation and Force Camouflage for nothing. Use it.
  
• Charge, slow, bleed, EVERYTHING ELSE. That's what I live by and it lands me on top 3 damage and top 3 kills most of the time. No shortage of solo kill medals either.
  
• If someone decides they're gonna get out remember that a) once their speed buff runs out they're usually perfectly in Force Charge Range b) you can immobilize them very easily with your Deadly Throw if you've got the Displacement talent c) any Assassin/Shadow will probably come back and try to finish you off anyway. Preparation will take care of that.
  
• I usually don't pop Cloak until I am getting targeted. A lot of players get confused, target whatever is in front of them, don't change targets based on threat, don't understand PvP or just plain don't consider you dangerous. This is great because it allows you to solo those Inquisitors that stand on the overlooks in Huttball spamming Force Lightning at some random guy in the distance. It also means that if you pop Cloak before they do anything and they leave you alone for 6 seconds you've just wasted your most powerful 30 second mitigation.
  
• If you get targeted by more than 1 person with stuff on CD and none of your team around - just leave it. Inflict whatever damage you can but don't pop anything that'll take more than 30 seconds to come off because you'll die, rez and run back in with the same CD problem again. Do a Smash or two and just leave it. PvP means you'll die every now and again, especially if you get more than 1 person on you.
  
• Force Charge can bring you into an encounter but it can also take you out of it. Creative use of it can help you cope with difficult enemies and even win matches. Think of yourself as a pinball that's trying to hit all the right buttons to make the lights come on. If you bounce between enemies at 60%-30% health and help finish them off you'll live a lot longer and be more useful than taking that one sentinel out solo.
  
• As Baron Deathmark says: Grab the ball, throw the ball. Don't try to get it across the opposing team's line because you're not built for it. Unless you're willing to pop every single ability you have and see some nab standing ON THE LINE you can Force Charge to, just pass to a healer or tank. Your team will thank you.
  
• Put Force Scream on an easy hotkey because it'll be your goto skill for finishing off enemies that pop some speed buff while you've got stuff on CD. It's probably my most spammed hotkey (bound it to F).
  
• PvP consumables are very powerful, do not underestimate them and stock up every time you go in. I keep a stack of 6 of each and bound them to Shift+3/4. The heal brings you up about 35% (feel free to correct, I'm just ballparking here, on the feel if you will) and the expertise buff helps considerably when you've got your mitigation buffs up.
  
• Get those damage buff items that are strewn about. In Alderaan they're the easiest to get, I find that the Huttball ones are the most out of the way. They're great help in taking down specific enemies that you're looking to solo.
  

Edited December 27, 2011 by kaelthun

[Toffle]

TLDR?

 

You can be an exceptional player and have an average character with a marauder.

[JonnyFreedom]

I have one question for you guys: Is it worth it? I hear different opinions non-stop and never seem to find a definite answer. Is lvling a marauder fun/easy? Or is it difficult/tedious?

 

All in all, I have a juggernaut and I really want to make a marauder but idk if it's worth it to lvl another SW if the class is "broken" like lots of people state.

 

I am ditching my level 50 marauder. We are entirely to cc'able and we have zero CC. 2 of our 3 hardest hitters do not work in pvp. Our stuns do not work in pvp except for our level 40 aoe fear which is on a 5min timer.

 

Going to roll a BH or SI.

[Kavinski]

is it only the jugg that can use force push? do marauders have any abilites of the "knocback" spell?

best regards

[fusrodahz]

Just hit 50 2 days ago, leveled all the way as carnage. Honestly, it can get rough around voss/Corellia, you actually need to understand how to use Obfuscate, Saber ward, Force Choke, when to Smash for an AoE stun, etc. It's not hard if you're a good player, you may find yourself dying at times without using Quinn as a healer. I've only had to use Medpacks a few times, Call on the Force can usually save me in any situation if it's up.

 

*Edit* Playing Carnage is extremely good in PvP, especially when you get massacre. Watch for Blood Frenzy procs, spec into the 100% immobilize for Ravage, Defensive Roll, etc. I can usually kill anyone without any trouble, Gore's burst damage is insane.

Edited December 27, 2011 by fusrodahz

[MWidowmaker]

I have one question for you guys: Is it worth it? I hear different opinions non-stop and never seem to find a definite answer. Is lvling a marauder fun/easy? Or is it difficult/tedious?

 

All in all, I have a juggernaut and I really want to make a marauder but idk if it's worth it to lvl another SW if the class is "broken" like lots of people state.

 

yes, it is, class is not broken, people crying on the boards just dont really understand the mechanics of the class and just expect to faceroll everything