A post from random_pal provided excellent synopsis about the Marauder class:
So based on my observation, Marauder is something like this in 1.4.9Hello, I played both new Rogue and Marauder up to lvl 50. The new rogue is amazing but marauder is a bit weird.
Debuffing and negating damage does nothing for a class with unstoppable. You just waste turns debuffing enemies which is not what you need.
The new DF tree is ok but no momentum is quite big.
If possible, I would just differentiate the two classes by giving marauder the old dual weapons tree and the old total thuggery.
Momentum was a bit out of place for a rogue because they lacked combat veteran and conditioning, but the new duelist is bad on marauder because they lost momentum so, why not giving every class the tree with the best synergy?
I'm just saying this because after playing a lot of the old marauder it felt like one of the best designed classes in tome (I've got 1k hors of total playtime so I've tried many of them).
I don't know if this was intended but the way the class plays is now much different. The old marauder was a glass cannon that had to kill everything before unstoppable was on and if you failed, you were out of stamina and defenseless. The new one has 0 stamina problem, less DPT and more damage mitigation so you're more like a tank with a 7 turns invulnerability skill.
For example, I would take elemental harmony on the old marauder to increase my chances to kill during unstoppable but with the new one I would go for tinkers to increase my durability since I can last a lot even without unstoppable.
It's not that the new marauder is weaker, it's just less unique and the class design is not as clear as it was before.
Just my two cents, cheers!
- Lacking class unique tree. There is only one, thus making it like an adventurer build
- The single class who is equipped with a helmet at birth, and could headbutt its enemies with damage based on the quality of the headgear. This is very underutilized in the game. The confusion chance is low, cool down is long, there is no proc from headgear, and this talent eat up scarce generic point.
- A glass cannon who requires some delicate planning: It requires a lot of buffs (GWF, Momemtum, Blinding Speed, and even Elemental Harmony) to make sure Marauder kills everything quickly. If your unstoppable and stamina runs out, you are defenseless. Nerfing GWF and removing Momentum damages the build design
- Despite you have Tactical as locked trees, nobody unlocks it. Battle Tactics and Blood Thirst are far superior, the talents blend really well, and together they already are the class-defining feature of Marauder. Due to Unstoppable it calls for a more offense-focused tree
Here's my two cents on what could be potentially done to Marauder:
- Take some features from old dual weapons tree (esp. Momentum) and tactical, and merge them into one tree. Of course bringing the old dual weapons tree is a quicker solution, but I think Marauder deserve some class unique tree. The Tactical and Duelist trees and can simply be removed
- Give headgear procs, and Skullcracker a possibility to be triggered on attack, if indeed GWF is to be nerfed. This could potentially reduces Marauder's reliance on Battle Tactics, and opens up other build choices
- Throwing Knives tree could be a locked tree. While Marauder normally should be be engaging in ranged attacks, if the trigger cap for Quickdraw can be removed for Marauders (maybe through some interaction with unique talents) it could be an attractive alternative to Battle Tactics