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"I got something new for ya, Cowboy! Marauders - the latest word in big badda boom hardware."
Marauder SC2-WoL Story1

The marauder

The marauder is a terran infantry unit in StarCraft II. It replaced the firebat in multiplayer during development.[1]

Overview[]

Marauder SC2 Cncpt1

A marauder

Primarily a support unit[2] for marines[3] against heavy ground targets,[4] the marauder arose from post-Brood War studies by the Dominion Armed Forces, showing a greater need of combat units better able to defeat zerg carapaces. To meet this requirement, the 5-4 Armored Infantry Suit[5] was developed from the firebat's CMC-660 and equipped with two Quad K12 "Punisher" grenade launchers on each arm.[2] The suit's grenade auto-loader is stocked with components that allow it to manufacture and load hundreds of standard Punisher grenades.[5] By 2503,[6][7][8] marauders were being fielded.[9]

The troops manning the suits are quite different to their firebat counterparts. As of 2504, 47% have never been to jail, and only 23% have ever been accused of murder.[5] Marauder fatalities were commonplace prior to the implementation of kinetic foam into their suits, which allowed them to survive impacts that had previously killed operators, even while leaving the suit unharmed.[10]

A more powerful version of the CMC-660s used by marauders was approved for field testing, and any marauder who volunteered were compensated with credits.[11]

2

A Dominion Special Forces marauder

The Dominion Special Forces surveyed marauders on how to improve their hardware, and the resounding answer was to increase the size of their guns. This feedback was taken into account when creating a Special Forces variant of the marauder's armor. Marauders of the Knights of Tyrador meanwhile have suits that weigh twice as much as the standard suit, and extra hydraulics and exhaust were added to their suits to compensate.

Marauders make up some of the original crew of Mira's Marauders. It has been speculated that these marauders are either extremely loyal compared to other mercenaries, or Mira just has exceptionally compelling blackmail on them.

The Umojan Protectorate also has access to marauders, which are equipped with more advanced suits than their counterparts.[11]

Game Unit[]

StarCraft II[]

The marauder can only attack ground targets. Its attack is more powerful against armored units; it may slow units, except for massive units. Voiced by Fred Tatasciore.

The marauder is an early-game support unit, useful for supporting marines by slowing fast melee units. It is effective against armored units, like the roach.[12] They are also powerful against stalkers, and, to a lesser extent, siege tanks, immortals, ultralisks, colossus and thors.[13] Marauders can destroy buildings very quickly. The marauder is vulnerable to zealots,[14] marines, and zerglings. As a general rule, a player battling zerg should build fewer marauders than usual, while against the protoss, marauders are effective, though work well with medivac dropships as a "commando force" when battling the former.[15]

Marauders without medivac support are not ideal for attacking photon cannons.

Versus[]

Upgrades and Abilities
SC2ConcussiveShells
Concussive Shells

Marauder attacks slow the movement speed of non-massive enemy units by 50%. Only affects one target at a time.

Usage
Duration 1.07 seconds
Acquisition
Purchased from Tech lab attached to barracks
Hotkey G
Cost 50 Minerals 50 Vespene gas 43seconds
ve

Enables affected infantry to attack and move 50% more quickly.

Usage
Hotkey T
Cost 10 (marines) / 20 (marauders) HP
Duration 11 seconds
Acquisition
Purchased from Tech lab attached to barracks
Hotkey T
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 100seconds
ve
  • +1 damage for marines
  • +1 base damage and +1 bonus damage for marauders and ghosts
  • +1 pistol damage for reapers
Acquisition
Purchased from Engineering bay
Hotkey E
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 114seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 136seconds
Required Armory
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 157seconds
Required Armory
ve
Acquisition
Purchased from Engineering bay
Hotkey A
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 114seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 136seconds
Required Armory
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 157seconds
Required Armory
ve

Wings of Liberty[]

Marauders are unlocked by playing the mission "Smash and Grab," available after Rory Swann was able to procure them for Raynor's Raiders.[16]

In the Wings of Liberty campaign, marauders cannot use stimpacks.

Marauder SC2GreatTrainRobbery Game1

Kill team marauder (R)

A variant of the marauder appears in the mission "The Great Train Robbery," designated as a Dominion kill team. They deal slightly more damage than normal marauders and have a unique color scheme, but are otherwise identical to the normal marauder. There is also a recruitable Merc variant called Hammer Securities available for purchase at the Cantina.

Upgrades and Abilities

The marauder's attack slows non-massive ground units in target area.

Concussive Shells actually form a gravitational warp when they detonate. This warp not only damages the target, but it also slows the movement speed of all nearby units to a crawl for a short period of time.

Concussive Shells make marauders a great support unit against melee units, in addition to their traditional role of destroying armored targets.[17]

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion armory for $70,000
ve
KineticFoam SC2 Icon1
Kinetic Foam

Marauders gain +25 hp.

Marauder armor can survive crushing impacts, but the same cannot always be said for the soldier inside. To help solve the problem, Wolfe Industries offers a Kinetic Foam undersuit that protects the soldier from the violent impacts the armor takes.

Surely the lives of your marauders are worth the small investment required to outfit them with kinetic foam.[17]

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion armory for $90,000
ve

Attack upgrades improve attack cooldown of affected units by 5% per level.

These self-replicating ultra capacitors reduce the reload time of weapons and systems. Now each of the weapon upgrades at the armory and engineering bay increases attack speed by 5% in addition to increasing damage.

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points
ve
SC2 Lab VanPlating Icon
Vanadium Plating

Armor upgrades increase health of affected units by 5% per level.[18]

We have created a new lightweight alloy called vanadium. Vanadium diffuses weapon impacts much more efficiently than traditional armor plating, and it better preserves the life of our units. Now each of the armor upgrades in the armory and engineering bay increases unit life by 5% in addition to increasing armor.

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points
ve

Nova Covert Ops[]

In Nova Covert Ops, marauders can equip one of various provided upgrades and abilities for each mission.

Upgrades and Abilities
LaserTargetSystem SC2-NCO Icon1
Laser Targeting System

Increases unit's vision by 2 and attack range by 1.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Complete "Sudden Strike."
ve
SuperStimpack SC2-NCO Icon1
Super Stimpack

Increases unit's attack and movement speeds by 50% for 15 seconds and heals unit for 60 HP. Can be set to autocast.

Usage
Hotkey T
Duration 15 seconds
Cooldown 18 seconds
Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Save north-western outpost in "Sudden Strike."
ve
InternalTech SC2-NCO Icon1
Internal Tech Module

Unit no longer needs an attached tech lab to be built by production facilities.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Complete "Sudden Strike"
ve
MagrailMunitions Cov Ops Icon
Magrail Munitions

Equips unit with a secondary attack that deals 20 damage every 30 seconds.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Destroy the Eradicators in "Night Terrors."
ve

Marauder attacks slow the movement speed of non-massive enemy units by 50%. Only affects one target at a time.

Usage
Passive
ve

Co-op Missions[]

Marauders appear in Co-op Missions on the Miner Evacuation map as part of the infested. These Marauders are identical to regular Marauders, except with a neural parasite attached to their model.

In Co-op Missions, marauders are able to be constructed by Jim Raynor. Nova Terra gains access to the advanced Marauder commando, with enhanced life, damage and abilities. Tychus Findlay can field an elite hero outlaw marauder named Rattlesnake. Arcturus Mengsk gains access to the elite Aegis Guard with enhanced life and damage.

Upgrades and Abilities
SC2StimPack
Stimpacks

Increases marauder's movement speed by 50% and attack speed by 75% for 15 seconds. Can be set to autocast.

Usage
Hotkey T
Cost 10 HP
Duration 15 seconds
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve
SC2ConcussiveShells
Concussive Shells

Marauder attacks slow the movement speed of non-massive enemy units by 50% within a radius of 1.

Usage
Passive
Duration 1.5 seconds
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Tech lab attached to barracks
Hotkey G
Cost 50 Minerals 50 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -1 Minerals -1 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 20 Minerals 20 Vespene gas
60seconds
ve
MercMunitions SC2 Coop Icon
Mercenary Munitions

Increases the attack speed of Raynor's combat units and calldowns by 15%.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Raynor Level 15.
ve
SC2 TerrInfWeap
Terran Infantry Weapons

Increases the attack damage of terran infantry.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Engineering bay
Hotkey E
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -2 Minerals -2 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 40 Minerals 40 Vespene gas
160seconds
Effect Damage: 11 (+11 vs Armored)
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -3.5 Minerals -3.5 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 70 Minerals 70 Vespene gas
190seconds
Effect Damage: 12 (+12 vs Armored)
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -5 Minerals -5 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas
220seconds
Effect Damage: 13 (+13 vs Armored)
ve
SC2 TerrInfArm
Terran Infantry Armor

Increases the armor of terran infantry.

Vanadium Plating: Increases the life of terran infantry by 10% per level.

Backwater Marshall: The increase of life for terran infantry go up, from 10% per level to 20% per level.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Engineering bay
Hotkey A
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -2 Minerals -2 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 40 Minerals 40 Vespene gas
160seconds
Effect Hit points
Basic: 137.5
With Backwater Marshal: 275
Armor: 2
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -3.5 Minerals -3.5 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 70 Minerals 70 Vespene gas
190seconds
Effect Hit points
Basic: 150
With Backwater Marshal: 300
Armor: 3
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 TerranVespene SC2 Game1
Mastery: -5 Minerals -5 TerranVespene SC2 Game1 per Research Resource Cost mastery point. Down to a maximum 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas
220seconds
Effect Hit points
Basic: 162.5
With Backwater Marshal: 325
Armor: 4
ve

Quotations[]

See: StarCraft II Marauder Quotations

Development[]

The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid.
Marauder SC2 DevGame1

Development model

The idea behind the marauder was to act as a sort of middleground between marines and vikings—mechanized infantry, yet not an actual mech.[19] The marauder effectively replaced the firebat by January 2008.[1]

The marauder was originally equipped with dual concussion-grenade launchers which reduced a single biological unit's speed immediately by a set percentage. A charging zealot would still move quickly after being struck by a grenade.[20] In March 2008, the marauder had 80 HP and dealt 6 (+4 vs Armored) damage and immobilized its targets.[21] It cost 75 minerals and had 0 armor.[22] By May, it once again slowed its targets.[23] In September, it dealt 10 (+14 vs Armored) damage, had 150 HP and 1 armor, and cost 150 minerals and 50 gas.[22] In October, this was changed to +6 vs. Armored, 125 HP, and 100 minerals and 25 gas, and its build time increased from 25 seconds to 30.[22] By September 2009, the marauder's attack was changed to 6 (+6 vs. Armored) x2, which was reverted to one attack dealing 10 (+10 vs Armored) damage by the StarCraft II beta.[22]

AblativeScales SC2 DevGame1

Ablative Scales

The Kinetic Foam upgrade in the single player campaign was originally known as "Ablative Scales." The original design for the button was even completed but was never used in the final product.[24]

Prior to StarCraft II beta patch 8, Concussion Grenades was an automatic upgrade. It later became a researched ability.[25] Patch 9 decreased the research cost from 100 minerals/gas and 80 seconds to 50 minerals/gas and 60 seconds. Patch 4.0 modified the marauder's projectiles to gain a blue trail after the Concussive Shells upgrade is finished.

In Patch 2.5 of the Legacy of the Void beta, the marauder's attack was modified; it once again dealt 2 hits per attack instead of 1, but had the same DPS - this made armor more effective against them. This was primarily meant to nerf marauders versus protoss, but also makes the marauder much less effective against fully-upgraded ultralisks than in Heart of the Swarm. The Patch 4.3 Balance Update reverted this change. Marauders eventually received a new death sound as well.

Heroes of the Storm[]

Heroes DevLog2
The following section contains information from Heroes of the Storm and is not canon to StarCraft continuity
Marauder Heroes Game1

A marauder in Heroes of the Storm

Marauders appear as melee minion units on the maps Braxis Holdout and Warhead Junction in Heroes of the Storm.

A marauder skin for Muradin also appears in game, and references the Hammer Securities marauder mercenaries.[26]

Known Marauders[]

Marauder SC2 Head3

A marauder

Specialists[]

Trivia[]

Marauder SC2 Art1

A marauder

  • The name "marauder" is a possible reference to the novel Starship Troopers, recalling the name of the Mobile Infantry's general-purpose heavy infantry suit.
  • Most in-universe sources regard the marauder as a support unit.[2][3] However, Radio Liberty referred to the marauder as a "foundational unit."[28]

Images[]

Skins
Portraits

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Karune. 2008-01-25. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 27: Gameplay Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-25.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Blizzard Entertainment Staff. 2010-07-24. Marauder. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-25.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Race: Terran, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2010-12-05
  4. Barba, Rick. StarCraft Field Manual (hardcover). Insight Editions, November 17, 2015.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Armory units (in English). 2010.
  6. April 6, 2010. "Timeline". StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). pp. 311 - 323. ISBN 978-1416-55084-6.
  7. April 12, 2011. "Timeline." StarCraft II: Devils' Due. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). pp. 248-262. ISBN 978-1416-55085-3.
  8. September 27, 2011. "Timeline." StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). pp. 393-416. ISBN 978-1439-10938-0.
  9. Kenyon, Nate. (September 27, 2011). StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-1439-10938-0.
  10. 2014-08-28, Marauder Science. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2014-09-09
  11. 11.0 11.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Collections Tab: Skins. October 17, 2016
  12. Reapers are actually one of the best units against any light units in the game. They kill Zerglings, workers, and even Zealots pretty well with a little maneuvering. Their mines also decimate stationary defenses, as well as tech buildings. They are no doubt one of the best raiders in the game right now.

    Marauders on the other hand are probably better mixed, unless you are going up against an all armored ground force. Marauders work well against both Protoss and Zerg. Early game, as mentioned above, they are great for slowing Zealots while Marines do the damage. Against Zerg, they are better suited against those pesky armored Roaches with the fast regen.
    Karune. 2008-10-21. Reapers and Marauders. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-10-21.
  13. Karune, Dustin Browder and Samwise Didier. 2008-11-18. BlizzCast Episode 6. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-11-18.
  14. Dustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Matt Cooper, David Kim. 2008-12-19. Battle Report (1). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-12-19.
  15. 2009-06-29, Jonathan Ross, Destructoid interview: StarCraft II's Dustin Browder. Destructoid. Accessed on 2009-07-29
  16. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Smash and Grab (in English). 2010-07-27.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Armory upgrades (in English). 2010.
  18. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Protoss research (in English). 2010.
  19. 2012-06-09, Interview with Allen Dilling, Lead Artist, StarCraft 2 Heart of the Swarm. YouTube, accessed on 2012-06-21
  20. Karune. 2008-05-07. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 37. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-07.
  21. Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-03-16. StarCraft 2 Korean and Chinese Build Summary. SC2 Blog.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Marauder. StarCraft II Armory.
  23. Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-05-09. Q&A 37: Nomad Mines, Reaper Explosives, Flying Banelings. SC2 Blog.
  24. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010
  25. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II beta. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 25, 2010
  26. Blizzard Entertainment. Heroes of the Storm (Blizzard Entertainment) (in English). June 2, 2015
  27. Lord of Ascension. 2010-06-24. StarCraft Evolution. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-10.
  28. 2014-09-25, The Science Corner –The Threat Continues. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2014-09-27
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