Leveling mara (makes me want to punch my display and ragequit)

[Cleavy]

As title say I have trouble leveling this maradeur, any advise considering spec and companions would be helpful

Running as fury with quin, but too squishy.. I thought deception sin was squishy, but mara brings it all to a new level.

[alejanic]

Where to begin... Your post is a little vague, I have to ask the basic questions-- what level are you, how is your gear, etc.

 

Beyond that I've never had any issue leveling a Sentinel/Marauder. My main is a NiM Sentinel so that may have an affect, but I leveled a Marauder to level 40 during 12xp with the worst possible gear-- just random drops from quests, or things I found etc. No augments, none of the gear was up to date. I've never had issues with him.

 

Fury or Carnage would be my recommendation for leveling. In my humble opinion, Annihilation is pretty useless for leveling unless you're doing Heroics or fighting bosses, etc. When you level you just fight too many adds and things die too fast for the DoTs really to take hold, so sticking with Fury is a good call.

 

Let's see if we can get more information-- what level are you? How is your gear? Many people may disagree, but I actually like leveling with Kara (for Sentinel) & Jaesa. It's a different approach then running with a healer-- kill things so fast you don't need to heal during combat versus kill things slower, but receive heals. I found that I could clear out several mobs before I needed to stop and heal. I felt like things were quite a bit slower with a healer as while I didn't have to stop as frequently, things took too long to kill. (However at 55 & 60 I switched to a geared healer Treek for dalies -- basically can go through all dallies without stopping and I was powerful enough that a companion wouldn't add much dmg; things die so incredibly fast for dailies in the first place) But really, your companion won't make that much of a difference, I know some will run with tanks, or healers etc. Pick what works for you.

 

The one thing I'll say about Marauders/Sentinels is that they honestly aren't 'newbie' friendly classes. They are so easy to play poorly, hence why they are the brunt of a lot of jokes. There are a lot of players that have no idea how to utilize their defensive cooldowns or do their rotations properly and they get face rolled then whine that the class is under-powered. Use your DC, your interrupts/stuns, (and don't forget your legacy abilities!) and you'll be fine. They are one of the more difficult classes to master, you actually have to understand how to play them. If you're coming from a more easy mode DPS class like Sorcerer, they will definitely feel underpowered.

Edited January 8, 2015 by alejanic

[CurtisKilljoy]

Were to begin. Your post is a little vague, I have to ask the basic questions-- what level are you, how is your gear, etc.

 

Beyond that I've never had any issue leveling a Sentinel/Marauder. My main is a NiM Sentinel so that may have an affect, but I leveled a Marauder to level 40 during 12xp with the worse possible gear-- just random drops from quests, or things I found etc. No augments, none of the gear was up to date. I've never had issues with him.

 

Fury or Carnage would be my recommendation for leveling. In my humble opinion, Annihilation is pretty useless for leveling unless you're doing Heroics or fighting bosses, etc. When you level you just fight too many adds and things die too fast for the DoTs really to take hold, so sticking with Fury is a good call.

 

Let's see if we can get more information-- what level are you? How is your gear? Many people may disagree, but I actually like leveling with Kara (for Sentinel) & Jaesa. It's a different approach then running with a healer-- kill things so fast you don't need to heal during combat versus kill things slower, but receive heals.

 

I agree with all of the above. I have had no problems leveling a marauder and loved every minute of it. I did feel a sudden bit more squishy as soon as 3.0 launched, enemies were bringing down my hit points at twice the speed all of a sudden. This only encouraged me to play my character better. Try to mitigate as much damage taken as you can. Force choke the Strongs, Smash the weaks, etc. The longer the enemies are stunned and cant fight, the less damage you take. I used Vette until I got Jaesa and used her till end of game. Although, I go out of my way to make sure my odds of dying are highly reduced and make sure I can grind through enemies fast. I use Might Stim at all times, my character was almost always at least 1 level above the enemies I was fighting and I kept myself and Jaesa at some of the best modifications for our level at all times. Unless there was some real huge divine intervention, my character never died. Once you master your class, you can focus on having fun. Nothing feels more exciting than you and your apprentice destroying republic scum left and right.

[DomiSotto]

I am not a fantastic Mara player, but after learning a few tricks, things get easy. In fact I now prefer her for Dailies.

 

I actually do play Annihilation, because of the leap and because well, I like it.

 

My main problem, aside for a what I saw on most of my characters - a challenging interval between mid-30ies and low forties was a lack of understanding of the defenses. The good folks on this board did a fantastic job explaining it to me:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=774398

 

I do prefer to play with a tank in a DPS stance, Pierce for most of the game, and now Broonmark, because of free gear I got in the Forged Alliances. I set the companion off to attack first with a keybind, approach and start hacking away, and use everything I've got

[Imasithbanana]

So I leveled mine way back in the day here is what helped me. I went Fury because of all the add's and you can use your smash ability to help take them down. I used Quinn for almost everything. The healing helps if you feel squishy. When I started a fight I would always target one of the lesser mobs and start beating them down while in the air pop your cloak of pain(1st DC) this should help with the damage. Also it builds your rage/fury. I had Quinn in his heal stance and disabled all his DPS ability's so he would not waste a cool down on them.

 

Some of the add's might peel off and start attacking Quinn once your done you can either run to them or do another force jump/Obliterate. Keep your cloak up at all times and as needed use FC to keep a enemy from hitting you. Also it can be used as a interrupt if your other one is on cool down. Also you can use Force cloak to get away and then reengage. Saber ward is also your friend if you are fighting a bigger boss type.

 

If your taking huge numbers in damage then check your gear. Also Anni has a self heal on crit off the bleeds. I found this to be helpful if I had really tough fights. If you are legacy lvl 7 and have 200K creds you can get that field respec. That would be highly depend on the situation. I did respec halfway through and went Anni for the heals off bleeds but in 3.0 I found it to be underwhelming however.. level dependent you can DoT and smash to spread it out.

 

You can look at some of the other posts to get your rotation and get the idea as to what it should be with more filler until you get all the abilities. just my 2cc worth.

[johanlofdahl]

Hello,

 

I also leveled another mara/sent for the 12x experience boost. A few tips that helped me along the way.

 

Use abilities that stuns weaker mobs, like smash, force scream and ravage. I dont know I returned to the game for the 12x exp and now im stuck again. It did feel like they increased the damage of the weaker mobs so taking care of these first or using abilities that reduces their damage was key to me.

For weaker mobs in clusters I'd just leap in, smash them, do sweeping strike (with increased dmg from utility) and then most were dead or halfdead.

 

Dont forget to activate Cloak of Pain, it actually makes a difference if you are grinding out a kill quest.

 

For tougher opponents if you are having a issue I recommend using the legacy perk Unity. If you dont have it well.. I think you can unlock it for a small amount of credits. It reduces the damage for you and your companion by 50% for 15s. That with Cloak of Pain should take care of most mobs.

 

Regarding companions the healer ones never really appealed to me. Personly I use the Melee-DPS companion, easier to have all mobs in one place for smash, sweeping slash etc. Also dont forget that if you have a companion and use a mount or rocket boost their HP is instantly set to full so you could use a tank companion who barely survives a fight, mount up on the way to some more mobs and he is full again.

 

I leveled up as annihilation, only reason is that I already leveled up with Fury (old rage) and Carnage before. This allowed me to basicly halt any casting spells stronger mobs did, first you leap, then the interrupt (is it called pummel? not sure), then you can force choke and after that you can leap again - with anni you can leap in close range so it is good to use as a interrupt.

Edited January 8, 2015 by johanlofdahl

[Kzorsh]

Soooo, everyone leveled Mara with x12 exp boost (12 times the normal) and it was pretty easy? Well, ok.

Im lvl 39, but hell, its a pain in the #@! to level maradeur as a first character (without x 100500 boosts)

 

Inq and BH are freakin pve leveling GODS in comparison.

[Imasithbanana]

Soooo, everyone leveled Mara with x12 exp boost (12 times the normal) and it was pretty easy? Well, ok.

Im lvl 39, but hell, its a pain in the #@! to level maradeur as a first character (without x 100500 boosts)

 

Inq and BH are freakin pve leveling GODS in comparison.

 

 

Yes other classes are far better. Inq have lots of range and AOE's/plus bubbles. BH Heavy armor, AOE etc.... ect..

 

However, Mara's have always been really squishy. If your having issues post what you are having problems with and for the 1-2 negative you will get more that help. I leveled back when the game 1st came out as my main.

As I've said before. Use a healer companion. Make sure they have semi decent gear. If Quinn remove his damage abilities so he only does basic attack and all healing. Treek has 2 abilities based on her stance. Make sure you have semi decent gear and I've found that Alacrity seems to make combat flow better. For most fights charge to a weaker mob to start the fight this will help build rage/fury and take that enemy out of the fight. While in the air use your 1st DC cloak of pain. If things are going south use your 2nd saber ward, then if really bad use Undying Rage.

Attack the next weakest mob. If things go further south use Camouflage and move out of range/area. Make sure you use obfuscate reducing melee and ranged accuracy by 90%. Interrupter 's you have two Disruption and force choke.

 

Depending on what discipline you took Anni make sure you have DoT's up all the time and they dot tick as often and healing from them is a little less. I think I used this in later leveling area's. Fury is what I used for a long while due to smash and dealing with add's/weak mobs. You wont get the full effect until 44 though.

 

 

For skillful

Defensive forms, cloak of rage and carnage

 

Masterful

Cloak of Annihilation or defensive roll

 

I hope it helps it's a fun and rewarding class just have to know you can't face roll the KB and expect to win.

just my 2cc worth of help.

[DomiSotto]

Marauder was my second/third solo character (I rotated her with a Gunslinger). I have leveled her to L45 before the 12xXP, and to 55 with the 12xXP, and then continued w/o any boosts to 60. It was easy on some planets, and harder on the others (Taris, that I was running with the 'as is' Jaesa was harder). I even tried to PvP her a little in 40+ and at 55, then at 60. I was actually hopeful at 55 and thought I might be Okay on her with a bit of practice, but when the 3.0 drop, it was a no-go for me. I, however, love running Yavin and Oricon dailies/weeklies on her, it is a very lively and pretty playstyle.

[johanlofdahl]

Soooo, everyone leveled Mara with x12 exp boost (12 times the normal) and it was pretty easy? Well, ok.

Im lvl 39, but hell, its a pain in the #@! to level maradeur as a first character (without x 100500 boosts)

 

Inq and BH are freakin pve leveling GODS in comparison.

 

TBH when I leveled with 12x exp I only used items provided by the missions thus iI was severely undergeared, I remember in my 40s having green items with lvl20s on them. So you should probably be better geared and although it will take you longer to level, it should be easier.

 

Perhaps just do a tactical each day that should give you enough commendations to buy 2 moddable items that's on par with your level.

[FerrixWGW]

Another advantage of running with a dps/tank companion is you can send them in first to gab initial agro, them leap and ae them, and force cloak them back on your comp again and repeat.

 

Mara/Sent are really fun to play, still the only 2 60s I have.

 

Once you get an HK, he'll be the only companion you'll ever need.

Edited January 9, 2015 by FerrixWGW

[Kzorsh]

Something not right. Fun to play. Easy to level. Really? Without x12? On 3.0 update?

 

Hating my mara, only playing him for a story. Gameplay wise he is my least favorite char. (but dang, i love sw story)

Level 44 now. And, good lord, you have to use EVERYTHING to kill a freakin 1 strong monster. Otherwise he'll stomp you hard.

I mean - Cloak of pain - Force charge - deadly saber + obfuscate - battering assault - rupture - annihilate (smash if 2+ mobs) - force choke - ravage - vicious slash - repeat from deadly saber. And thats for every freakin encounter. And god, i hate mobs that have cc.

 

Oh, and by the way ... Ability delay lags. ABILITY F$!%ING DELAY LAGS.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Kzorsh

[Aluvi]

Treek makes everything better. Just get Treek.

[Stanimir]

L2P moment.

 

I have crap gear and leveled to 60 with Jaesa as annihilation. I died like 3 times maybe and you don't even get the self heals until 36 now.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Stanimir

[Transcendent]

Oh, and by the way ... Ability delay lags. ABILITY F$!%ING DELAY LAGS.

 

This is the only thing that's caused me to die so far, and that was doing what should have been a perfectly doable H4 on Nar Shad while solo (I was 4-5 levels higher and had no issues with my Sent doing it).

 

Level 30, playing Carnage and running with Quinn. I'm only updating my gear every 4-5 levels.

 

However the ability delay is causing the only real issues while levelling, nothing else. Make sure you use some form of rotation and prioritise what you kill / interrupt. Force Choke / Smash make a big difference when engaging mobs.

[Kzorsh]

However the ability delay is causing the only real issues while levelling, nothing else. Make sure you use some form of rotation and prioritise what you kill / interrupt. Force Choke / Smash make a big difference when engaging mobs.

 

You can see my rotation in my previous post.

The thing is, i'm leveling mara, pt, sorc and operative at the same time. And the only one that can make me rage is mara. I'll try to level other classes, but at the moment, in comparison to mara all other classes are godlike. Pvp and pve wise.

 

He is not hard, i can press the buttons right (dem skills, maaan), and i can kill elites and stuff, but, hell, i can do it much much better on other classes.

 

p.s. Also, omg who ever thought that trash mob packs with a push back ability was a good idea >_< (voss)

[Moosestick]

If you get frustrated, just level a sage/sorc. Resource free ae that you cast once per trash pack and everything dies before the channel is over.

[CardsfanMLB]

I have a new Sentinel and hes level 14 or so and i haven't died at all yet since I started him. I believe i'm leveling Combat? seems ok although I do look forward to getting Kara to kill things faster or picking up Doc for some heals.

 

If you are squishy level a Juggernaut. Level it tank, you will kill slower but you won't die lol.. you better not anyway O_O I leveled my Guardian tank spec and I really can't even remember what he looks like when hes dead lol

 

have a good one.

Edited January 22, 2015 by CardsfanMLB

[Shatterstar]

My Mara was my first toon (started playing in Beta), started him out in Anni spec. Around late 20's or so (think I was on Tat), I switched to Rage (now Fury), and never looked back. As stated before, things just die too quick (except champs, world bosses) for anni to be as effective. I also dropped whiny Quinn for Jaesa the moment I got her. Keep both of your gear some what updated, and packs of mobs will melt before they can really do much damage to you. (She aoe's also.) Now, I understand that smash has since been "tuned down", but I feel it is still the most deadly spec for leveling, due to it's focus towards aoe, and that mobs are always grouped in PVE.

Remember, of all the classes, the mara/sent have the steepest of learning curves. A lot boils down to effective targetting and rotations. They do not have the easy sorc "I win" button, for example.

[Sphillipe]

Carnage/Fury + Treek and everything is faceroll easy as far as leveling goes. Gear, Keybinds and Rotation also play a large role into the ease or difficulty in leveling. The only thing I can suggest is running the best gear you can, helps if you can afford it to go full custom set(s) and upgrade all the mods, enhancements and armorings after each planet, as custom gear fully true to level is on average about 5-8 levels better stat wise then exchange/quest greens true to level.

 

Learn the ins and outs of your class. See what abilities do what, what skill buff/proc others and work out a rotation that achieves the best single and multiple target bursts. I can tell you no matter the class the best AoE heavy spec, is the ideal for planet leveling ( as most mobs are in groups of 3-5).

 

Your other option, if low on funds, income or resources and just want to level, is to run Tactical Flashpoints 24/7. Great way to level, esp with legacy unlocks, rested XP and other XP boosts. With tactical flashpoints, good gear is non essential as all of your stats are bolstered anyway.

[Malkosha]

I've been leveling a Jugg using Immortal and so far it wasn't too bad. A few days ago, I decided to try a Fury Marauder just to see the difference ... and it was night and day.

 

Actually, the above may be a bit misleading because so far my Marauder kills much faster and has more health after most battles than my Jugg. It could be that I don't play the Jugg well .. or perhaps I play the Marauder better, but either way I do much better killing things faster than they can damage me. One of the things that seems to make a huge difference is that while I'm in the air I hit Cloak of Pain. This limits the damage taken and increases the damage I dish out. Also, for some reason, my attacks seem to flow better so I always have something to attack with. The Jugg kept me waiting sometimes and my rotation didn't feel as smooth.

 

I'm not max level yet but so far it looks like my Marauder will replace the Jugg as my main. I'm just having far more fun running as Fury and to me, that's what it's all about.

[Cleavy]

Thank you all, who replied. I reached lvl 47 doing KDY.

Leveling a mara is a pain.

[mastervalkar]

I leveled my Sentinel to 55 long ago. I actually did it in a slow manner. Went from 1-32 really quick (3 days off and on), loved it, loved how powerful Combat was back then. Then I started a Guardian, and left the Sentinel for months at 32. Finally after leveling a Guardian, Vanguard, and Commando to 55. I came back to him and I really enjoyed the process. Leveling with Kira is fun with the right amount of challenge to it. Know how to use your defensive abilities and when to stop pulling and heal up are key. Also extensive use of medpacks is ideal. After Balmorra, I used Doc for a while, then switched to Treek after getting her for the account. Healing allow me to just pull everything and push through.

 

Once you hit 51 and get Double Saber Throw is when Maras and Sents get really fun. Hands down my favorite ability in the game. The look of it, the range, the power are all very good.

 

Mars and Sents take practice and patience to play. If you want an easy Knight or Warrior to play, play a Jugg or Guardian. They are basically faceroll to play. Mara and Sents are a serious class, wish everyone and their cousin didnt try to play them. The game would be much better for the lost of 90% of the Mara/Sent community that has zero clue about how they are meant to be played.

[Halinalle]

As title say I have trouble leveling this maradeur, any advise considering spec and companions would be helpful

Running as fury with quin, but too squishy.. I thought deception sin was squishy, but mara brings it all to a new level.

 

Quinn has always been best companion during leveling for Marauders. Now Treek is probably a little better because she can also tank. Don't get me wrong, Quinn is still very good leveling companion.

Annihilation + Quinn = you are almost immortal.

Also, at max level, your damage output is insane if you do your rotation at least decently.

 

Once you hit 51 and get Double Saber Throw is when Maras and Sents get really fun. Hands down my favorite ability in the game. The look of it, the range, the power are all very good.

 

Sadly, damage of it was nerfed and it's only rotational for Annihilation. It used to be good ability to use during Gore window in Carnage in combination with Massacre or Force Scream.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Halinalle

[Exquisitr]

The one thing I'll say about Marauders/Sentinels is that they honestly aren't 'newbie' friendly classes. They are so easy to play poorly, hence why they are the brunt of a lot of jokes. There are a lot of players that have no idea how to utilize their defensive cooldowns or do their rotations properly and they get face rolled then whine that the class is under-powered. Use your DC, your interrupts/stuns, (and don't forget your legacy abilities!) and you'll be fine. They are one of the more difficult classes to master, you actually have to understand how to play them. If you're coming from a more easy mode DPS class like Sorcerer, they will definitely feel underpowered.

^This. I think the ranged classes are much easier to level, particularly Trooper.