Missions & Complexes

So, you are telling me that you constatly losing faction BS to rats?
There is no reason they should cost that much to manufacture them.

Salvaging and tractor beam are most of the time useless.
Bastion has 1min cd.
They are made for range dps - MJD bonus and range bonuses in bastion.
Because above they are very overtanked.
DPS are not the toppest - they are T2 hulls.
Price

and btw, if you read patch notes for next patch

• The Bastion module now gives full immunity to Weapon Disruptors (both player and NPC).

Price: Who cares? If you aren't losing your ships, price isn't a big deal either way. It's a one time price. Presumably you'll make far more than the price of the ship in the long run. ISK/hr matters more than a one-time price.

Overtanked: If you feel overtanked, use fewer tank mods. Bastion module is a fantastic high slot tank mod that frees up other slots for damage and utility.

After switching from faction BS to Marauder, my life is a lot easier. The only thing that sucks is the 1 min timer on bastion. You gotta make sure you don't forget to turn it off as you're getting ready to move again or else you lose a minute. But that's trivial.

If you prefer to full clear and loot (I do, as I find that blitzing makes me want to claw my eyes out) then a Marauder is fantastic. I love my tachyon paladin, and I'll never get rid of it. But I'm not sticking my head in the sand and claiming that a Machariel isn't in the Top 2 for Blitzing, either.

Recon 1: Interceptor.
Dread Pirate Scarlet: Tachyon Paladin one shots Scarlet every pocket. MWD to next gate.
Pirate Invation: MJD to carrier wreck, keep flying away from it. Kill group 5 when it spawns.
The Assault: MWD to gate, MJD to Group 3 and blap them.
Stop the Thief: Align out. Blap Overlord (no need to MWD). Blap Shadow. Tractor wreck & container.
Cargo Delivery: Interceptor
Right Hand of Zazzmatazz: Kill Zor and the ships by him. Tractor Zor's wreck.
Recon 2: Interceptor.
Rogue Slave Trader 1: Kill Slave Pen, use 48k tractor on container.
Rogue Slave Trader 2: Blap Sansha Slavers.

I agree that the Machariel warps faster than a Paladin. I disagree that a Marauder is pointless.

Depending on region where you do missions,

i will say that for most missions i LOVE PALADIN

P A L A D i N <3

Endlsess (endless? or CCP did broke somethign again?) T1 ammo (perfect emergency backup)
Lovely Optimal range (69km in bastion with Multi lenses on Tach T2 yeey+2xTC)

Tho for few missions Kronos would do better job (Damsel in Distress)

A Marauder pays for itself in two months of relaxed mission running, and I'm being conservative here. Past that time the investment cost is irrelevant.

• Decide whether you want to talk about using MJD for range or about having good performance, you cannot have both.
• Tractor IS useful. If it isn't to you, that does not prove anything yet.
• Yes I use mobile tractor, it has its uses and they are not cases I have a module fit on my Marauder for.
• Tank is perfectly fine when I'm being actually shot at, which is almost always because I prefer good performance.
• The price is the price of T2 battleship and it's the same as it always has been since I started playing this game. If you have problem with T2 economy go whine about T2 economy.
• I'm not commenting on Golem because it's the only Marauder I cannot use.
• Paladin and Vargur are fine.
• Kronos is godly.

Mobile Tractor Units are useful in a Marauder (particularly the 'Packrat' or 'Magpie'). I actually wouldn't bother with anything less than a Packrat as it will slow down salvaging as you go. T2 tractor beams (only) and T2 salvagers are also useful, but a flight of salvage drones set to auto-salvage (or individual targets) is almost as useful as the salvager module (and it frees up a high slot).

In terms of the Marauder being expensive by comparison (I've already expressed my thoughts on this), while I know prices fluctuate Pirate Faction hulls have been dropping in price for well over a year and I don't think anything is going to abruptly reverse this trend. If they gave Marauders full T2 resists and toned down Bastion (or replaced it with something else entirely that didn't pigeon-hole it to remaining stationary) I think Marauder hull price would be a moot point.

Yes, if you already own a Marauder the hull cost is moot. I'm not saying they're worthless - just outclassed, overpriced and not as effective as their Pirate brethren (especially considering the massive skill training required). And maybe that's by design, but I can't help but be a little disappointed. Or maybe it's that missiles still suck, heavy drones still suck and the most exciting and riveting form of gameplay in a Marauder is sitting there while in Bastion. Or perhaps it's also because they could each use another mid and low slot, full T2 resists (we're nerfing T3Cs right away anyway) and toning down Bastion. Or maybe (just maybe) PvE has become really stale and Marauders aren't well-suited for roaming, exploration and PvP (they tend to scream "loot pinata" when appearing on Dscan).

See, you finally got it. There is no reason IMHO to choose marauder over BS faction hull with current state of marauders if you want to buy a hull and fly them in L4 missions. Frankly for that price I would expect them to be way better than current form.


Bolded sentence mean in terms of price/performance marauders are worthless to me. I can do L4 better and cheaper in faction BS. Not enough chill hmskrecik. Have a beer or six.

If you made the decision to train into a Marauder...
And the cost of the hull or training was moot...
And you didn't care whether or not a Pirate Faction battleship would outperform it...
And you were interested in full clear/salvaging and not blitzing...

Then your choice of Marauders is down to three:
• Paladin (best in Amarr space and against Blood, Sansha and Drones)
• Vargur (best all-around Marauder, weakest against Guristas)
• Kronos (best in Caldari-Gallente space, best against Mercs, Serpentis, Guristas)

All three can be armor-tanked (the Vargur less so); the Vargur can also be shield-tanked. In terms of armament:
• Paladin can be run effectively with either Mega Pulse Lasers (Scorch) or Tachyons (Faction MF)
• Kronos can be run effectively with either Neutron Blaster Cannons (Null/Void) or 425mm Railguns (Faction AM)
• Vargur can only really be run with 800mm Autocannons (Faction EMP/Phased Plasma/Fusion, Hail, Barrage)

Insofar as the fit is concerned:
• Bastion Module I, 2x Small Tractor Beam II and an Auto Targeting System II or Salvager II
• Faction or Deadspace 500MN MWD, 2x Range-scripted Tracking Computer II
• Resolution-scripted Sensor Booster II or Large Micro Jump Drive
• 3x T2 or Faction damage modules, Damage Control II

Rigs are very much personal preference at this point (more tracking, range, cap stability, tank or warp speed).

The Golem has been intentionally left out of this list. It is bar none the worst Marauder for PvE as cruise missiles and torpedoes have horrible damage application, lengthy delay to impact, the least amount of EHP/tank and requires substantial additional training into electronic warfare for Target Painters. It is not effective at shooting anything smaller than battlecruisers and you will lose a lot of time micromanaging target painters, lost DPS against cruisers, massive lost DPS against frigates and volleys in transit. It is almost extremely difficult to volley smaller ships from a room with missiles once they start moving.

Every other Marauder will far-outperform the Golem at full mission clears - in no small part because they can apply instant damage across large distances - but also because guns receive penetrating, smashing and wrecking bonuses. The Kronos and Vargur also have 50mbit of drone bandwidth and can field a flight of medium drones in addition to light drones.