Ships & Modules

you do not want to fly lvl4s with a 300ish tank. you also do not want to use pith a-type medium shield booster, as it is ~1.2bil on contracts.

you probably do not want to use MWDs because in most missions, you can just sit still and shoot.

i would advise you to look into a XL booster + cap booster build on both ships.

Pithum A-type med is a perfect booster for lv4 missions, if cost is not an issue.

Both vargur and mach put out allot of DPS so you don't need much tank if you prioritize the right targets, besides the vargur gets about 500 DPS tank with pithum A-type med, T2 boost amp and T2 hardeners, which is almost over-tanked for most missions, the mach gets about 450 but can speed/sig tank.

Have you ever flow a mach?

This is why i hesitate on marauders. Good with tractors to make a lootball, but in actual practice it dosent hold up well.

I have flown them both extensively. It's a toss-up between them. DPS is comparable if you use faction ammo in the Vargur but not in the Mach. The Mach can get a lot of extra DPS from the Bouncers, but then it cannot move. Both these ships have ample tank and DPS. Honestly, apart from skills, it comes down to which you think looks better

My Vargur has an Energy Transfer because I tend to dual-box missions. Paired up with another Marauder, I can cut down the number of cap mods needed on each ship. With only one cap mod, the tank is still cap stable even without the energy transfer. I tend to just have one ship follow the other around and lay waste to everything with 2200 DPS. Don't need that much tank when you play that way. I have the tractor beam and the salvager on there, but I don't tend to waste much time looting. If I have some reason to loot/salvage (e.g. for an anti-Empire faction mission where I need the tags), I'll come back with a Noctis. I only use the tractor beam/salvager for ones or twos here and there most of the time. I don't worry about jamming - that's what the other ship is for - the odds of both ships being jammed is very small if you grab aggro properly. If I have to fight a lot of Guristas, I'm inclined to break out an Ishtar or Navy Dominix and laugh at the jamming

A pair of Machariels is also an awesome combination. I've also used them on the Minmatar epic arc several times with good results. Doesn't have as much tank as the Vargur, but it does a very lovely job. I tend to speed from warp-in to the first gate, drop sentries, kill everything, next room, repeat. I prefer T1 ammo because I feel like I can just start blasting at 60km and not worry about the expense

If I was forced to pick, I'd go with the Vargur, but that's because I already have Marauders V.