Ships & Modules

I don't get it. Marauders DPS is not that impressive especially for a 1B isk ship. Take the Kronos as an example. A hyperion with rails and warden IIs, a domi with garde IIs or a navy megathron with rails and warden IIs can dish out almost the same dps, with almost the same range. A vindicator totally outclass a Kronos, period. So what's the point? Why train for a marauder, when its T1 counterparts can match its performance?

That monstrous tank is almost non-existent because of MJD range-tanking...

Salvaging is better suited for Noctis...

The only application for maruaders that i can think of are for null anomalies, where you jump in at 0 and blast everything within 30km...

Please enlighten me...

It seems that laserfags like me may have reasons to move to Paladin from NM in some cases. That's besides the point of this thread though. Other than that, I would like to address some points...


For Kronos and Vargur you either range tank, or you do your max DPS. Pick one.
Remember that bastion module (where it is useable) allows you to use less tank mods and dedicate more slots for damage projection mods (while also serving as high slot range scripted TC on its own).


If it's about anoms an such, it's true (if you have nothing better to do, that's it). If it's about missions, salvaging is not advised at all, especially if you waste time bringing another ship for that, especially with those warp speed changes (unless you can multibox and salvage previous mission while you run next one). But with marauders you actually can pick up some stuff without spending any additional time for that (well, at least they are better suited for that, what's with 48 km tractor bems, 10 max targets and larger cargohold). Basically, it's bonus ISK/hr with the only thing you pay for that being your attention. Not bad really, but maybe not too good.


I kinda agree that Marauders require more investment than even pirate BSs, and sometimes it isn't justified. CCP try to fit marauders into niches other ships can't occupy. We'll see if they will succeed.

What's the point of Marauders? To dunk gatecamps.

I guess it's time to invest on marauder hulls. Im speculating an exponential price increase come Winter expansion. Bastion Mode may just be the buff they need...

if only you could pre-produce marauder hulls to prepare for demand jumps... oh, wait!

the point of marauders is to run l4 missions.
the coming changes are not likely to change that.

Pirate battleships can do a bit more dps but cant loot/salvage nearly as effectively due to the lack of tractor bonus, lack of utility highs and lack of cargohold.
Noctis can salvage and loot faster but requires you to come back, wasting precious time.

The marauder is a looting/salvaging platform with the ability to turn npc's into wrecks to feed the machine. A proper marauder elegantly drifts from one acceleration gate to another in a straight line, using aggro and timing to kill, loot and salvage all enemy ships by the time he reaches the next gate without sacrificing dps.

Also, wasting time MJDing in a lvl4 means your dps and overall efficiency is so low, none of it matters anyway.

Marauders were introduced way before the Noctis, as a Tech 2 BS primarily for L4 mission running. The combination of low ammo-usage and tractor beam buff made them very attractive ships at the time.

When Apocrypha arrived, and W-space with it, we were using blinged Kronos to solo farm C3 sites. The Kronos (maybe the others too, I didn't use them) is fantastic for w-space because salvaging blue loot on the fly saves huge amounts of time. Of course, once W-space started filling up and blinged Kronos started appearing on killboards, it was time to move on. Besides, T3 ships had by then come down in price.

The Bastion module is set to revitalise these four boats somewhat, but all the EFT warrioring won't substitute for in-game experience so my money's still in my pocket. Besides I've got at least one of each lying about.. Somewhere..

the optimal bonus the paladin is getting is super-duper sexy. pretty similar to the nightmare. for most pve I'd rather take the 5% optimal to the 5% tracking.

the other marauders the changes are pretty meh. my varg and kronos already have 3-4 damage mods and a rof rig. my paladin probably could now but was limited by power grid in the past. will probably also put a rof rig on the golem.

the falloff bonus on the kronos might be interesting, I haven't tested with it yet though. The vindi is better for most mission running I think, But the kronos is easier to fit, and way easier to tank.

vargur gets next to nothing with the changes. ability to fit arty helps it for some missions, but imo you are better off using a different ship in that case. For nearly any mission I'd rather have a mach though.

golem, 5s target painter change is the best buff. with the cruise change last patch I'll probably try it with a rof rig and missile velocity rig. throw in the 25% velocity buff from bastion and the missiles should stay mostly defender immune. I just can't bring myself to rip out the t2 velocity rigs right now.

oh yes and the ability to loot/salvage as you go is still important. I usually only pick a few battleship wrecks with stuff in them, but imo that is way better than going back to station and switching ships then coming back. plus for missions where I need to loot something it usually lets me get that way faster than with a 24km tractor beam.

im tempted to train a golem for pvp. that TP bonus is so sweeeeet