Carnage Marauders: My New Cool

[WarpedAcorn]

The Sentinel was my very first character class in SWTOR, and the Marauder was my 2nd. Since then, I've had these characters sitting on the sidelines. About a month ago I decided to dust off my Marauder and PvP in the 31-54 bracket (mainly because I didn't have a Juggernaut and I had previously PvP'd a ridiculous amount with my Guardian). Come to find out, I fell in love with the Marauder again.

This past week I PvP'd one too many games and hit 55 with my Marauder. The main reason I was PvPing on the Marauder was because I was getting extremely frustrated at 55 with my Assassin and the ridiculous healing that was going on. My Assassin can dish out A LOT of damage, but she also lacks the ability to take down well-geared healers solo (nevermind when cross healing, taunts, or guarding is involved). So I was less than excited at the notion of PvPing at 55 with any class. Still, I gave it a whirl this weekend.

In the 31-54 bracket, I played my Marauder as Rage spec. It was a spec I was familiar with from my Guardian play, and its also an extremely easy and fun spec to play. However, I knew that right out of the gate at 55 it was not going to be the best thing. Also, I had done some reading about Carnage and it looked like it might have potential. After this weekend, I can honestly say that Carnage is scratching right where I itch.

While my numbers at the end of the match were not as high as they would be if I were Rage spec, Carnage brings some really good tools to the table. Probably the biggest advantage I've noticed is the snare effect on Deadly Throw and Ravage. It doesn't sound like much, but some healers like Scoundrels rely on mobility and mitigating damage by outmanuevering it. The snares make them sitting ducks. I also found that Berserk is an extremely underrated ability (or at least I didn't give it much credit). The alacrity boost with a full rage bar lets you dump a crazy amount of damage (especially when timed with a Gore).

All in all, I am very surprised at the Carnage Marauder's abilities and look forward to playing more games to see what I can do as I get more gear and start to optimize it for this build.

[mstieler]

Carnage is ridiculous fun, even as PVE. Probably my favorite to play, outside of a stealth class, due to the sheer amount of damage you can put out while still staying alive (with your pocket healer, that is ). Carnage spec is the first class I've had to actually keybind more than the basic 12 buttons because you just get so much use out of nearly all of your attacks, and even the ones with a 15+ second cooldown get used frequently enough.

[Window]

Yeah i love carnage when you get your execution proc with the viscous throw , force scream combo can really melt people with burst damage
the only problem atm is the mass number of gunslingers /troopers around atm can be a little annoying

[WarpedAcorn]

Gunslingers/Snipers have been slightly easier to manage on my end. Thanks to Force Camo breaking snares, their knockback and legshots aren't quite as terrifying. Obfuscate neuters them for a short period as well. However, I did have more problems with really good Gunslingers (only a couple on my server I've seen) as Rage spec. They always seemed able to get a safe distance away and survive by a hair inbetween Smashes. Since Carnage has much more concentrated burst, it hasn't been quite the issue.

Not sure about Troopers though. Are you talking Commandos or Vanguards? I haven't experienced either one as being too big of a threat yet. I had one epic duel in Hypergates with a really good Commando who combo'd Hydrolic Overides with Electronet, got some distance, and laid out some heavy damage on me, but Force Camo got me close enough to hit an Obfuscate and wait out the end of Overrides. It was a close fight, but I still had CD's by the time it was over.

[Window]

I was talking more the stanpoint of engaged with somebody else and getting suprise butt sexxed by them