With 1.2 coming, many players have started to check the impact of the announced changes on their classes. However, these modifications are not always very explicit. I offer here a little focus on the Marauder and his future after the update.
The Marauder is often seen as a “newbie” class, in the sense that a lot of newbie players are going to pounce on them because two lightsabers, admittedly, is class.
But they quickly become disillusioned when it comes to really mastering its operation. This class is really complicated to optimize: the management of rage, cooldown, fury, procs ... There is a lot of information to assimilate during the fight and manage all these beautiful people effectively, c t is far from fun. We don't have time to be bored! But once this step is over, the Marauder becomes really useful and brings the group a lot of DPS potential.
I offer here a little return on what will change in its operation, then for each of the three specialties of the Marauder: Annihilation, Carnage and Rage.
General changes
Sith warrior
Disruption no longer costs Rage to activate.
The main interruption of the Marauder class. Knowing its usefulness in Litigation Area / Operation, it is a real breath of fresh air. By way of comparison, the Inquisitor's interruption does not cost a Force to activate but takes longer to return: 12 seconds of cooldown, 10 with the Assassin's Avoidance talent (Deception tree), compared to 8 seconds. for the warrior, 6 with the Subjugation talent taken from Annihilation. On a boss or in PvP you may need to use it often, especially as the cooldown allows. Each point of rage consumed by this spell is the risk of running out of rage to throw greedy comps such as Annihilation or Force Shout and breaking your DPS cycle by forcing yourself to launch an Assault type attack. If there is no more cost, there is no longer any need to predict this point in advance. Which greatly simplifies life.
Intimidating Growl no longer costs Focus to activate.
Very useful in PvP, much less in PvE. Same remark as for above: you break your cycle less.
Rampage can no longer be interrupted.
A talent from the Rage tree could do the same. Except it never really worked. Here, we lack precision: can a kickstop it? A bump? A stun? The power continues even if the opponent goes stealth? Or, is it a simple bug fix related to untimely shutdowns?
If we were to remain logical, this improvement would be confined to the kick. And suddenly, is not very useful in the end. It's always good to take, of course, but it's quite rare to have your Rampage interrupted, in PvP as in PvE for that matter.
Vicious Throw can now be used on targets at 30% or less health (was previously 20%).
Upgrade of the Execute compared to other classes. Very handy and will increase our end-of-fight DPS cycle accordingly.
Sith Marauder
Force Camouflage now also reduces all damage taken by 50% when activated.
So, it is rather a good thing since all the specialists can benefit from it. On the other hand, Annihilation spes can complain: this modification removes the possibility of making oneself invulnerable with the Ghost talent, specific to their tree. It was quite useful in PvP to counter a burst, survive DoTs and easily pass Huttball traps (acid, flames). But in the end I'm not sure it's essential. And 50% is already not bad, especially since it is free.
Evasions no longer costs rage and is no longer limited by the global cooldown.
Now False Leaks can be placed right in the middle of a cycle / burst without disturbing anything. In PvE, a regular cast of this spell (1m CD, 45s with Subjugation) will relieve your tank and your Heal during some difficult phases (like the foreman for Karagga) without breaking your cycle. And in PvP, it will come in handy in 1v1. For everything else. Really, a big advantage for the class.
Ravage (used with the Ataru form) now also reduces the cost of Rage and the overall cooldown of Punch Volley.
It requires study. The Ataru form is the form of the Carnage tree (it can only be unlocked by this means). The Carnage tree is rather single-target oriented since it is positioned on Force Cry, Scorch (specific to the Carnage tree) and Massacre, which advantageously replaces Vicious Slash. There, we have a bonus on a multi-target oriented power. So which, a priori, has little to do with the industry. Perhaps this would allow an opening on a hybrid template with the Rage tree which is clearly multi-target oriented. Otherwise, apart from this possibility, the usefulness is in my opinion quite limited.
Talent tree changes
The big change here is in the position of certain talents. There was a kind of spinning chair game in which certain talents changed trees or even merged with each other.
The second change is certain talents that have been added / modified / removed, most often to match general class changes.
The small diagram below will describe to you what these modifications are (be forgiving, it is done in Paint):
With here, the comments associated directly with the patch notes. Each number corresponds to a talent that has changed places on the diagram.
Impatience is now located at level 1 of the skill tree.
Very good thing. For two reasons: already, this means that all the templates other than Annihilation will have access to this talent, which is just huge to generate Fury (2 points of additional fury per power drawing on Rage, or 3 points per attack) , in addition to reducing the CD of Frenzy (we go from 3m to 2m). For the Carnage tree for example, powers like Massacre have a fairly low GCD and we chain attacks very quickly. It would only take about ten Massacres to build up the fury, instead of about thirty normally. It quickly becomes very profitable.
Then, for the Annihilation tree, it doesn't seem to change anything. But in reality, this represents a saving of two points: the Quick Recovery talent (Decimation, in the note to 1.2) has no synergy with the rest of the branch: it influences Shock and Volley of Hits, which are hardly used (Volley of blows with Death Saber, at the limit). But it was necessary to take this talent, or its congener (camouflage of annihilation), to be able to reach the next level. Here it is no longer necessary, because the two missing points will go in Impatience.
Decimation is now located at level 1 of the Rage branch of the skill tree. This ability increases the damage done by Shock and Volley of Blows and reduces the cooldown of Shock.
Decimation corresponds to Rapid Recovery (renaming of the talent). As said above, not essential for Annihilation, and much more practical in the Rage tree. Same remark as above: we save points for the Rage tree by placing at level 1 a skill much more useful to the branch (Rage is based on multi-target and this talent corresponds perfectly, especially for the CD of Choc et la Rage and less).
Eruption of Fury has been replaced with Instability, which increases the paralysis effect of Force Charge.
Here, a little note: Instability replaces and removes Fury Eruption, or replaces and swaps? The patch note lacks precision on this. If it's an exchange, why not. For a Rage template in PvE, Eruption of Fury would allow you to quickly increase your Fury on packs. After, for Instability in the Carnage branch ... To see. It doesn't add anything in particular to PvE, most bosses are immune to immobilizing effects. In PvP, it is useful for CC an opposing player, and in this case it no longer has its place in the Rage branch ... In short. Not sure of the usefulness of moving talent.
Ardor has been replaced with Enraged Charge, which increases the rage generated by Force Charge.
Enraged Charge works great with the Annihilation tree, where the Force Charge ability is king: the tree already has two talents that negate the minimum Charge range and reduce its CD by 3s. This makes it possible to integrate Charge into his cycle in PvE or keep it as a backup kick. An additional point of rage, when we know the cost in rage of the branch, that is not refused, especially on a power so used and so practical.
Unwinding now also increases the speed bonus gained with Predation by 15% per point.
Here we consider that Dénouement and Ardeur have been merged. A buff for Carnage at the expense of Annihilation. The disappearance of Ardor from the Annihilation branch can raise eyebrows. Even if it wasn't essential, it could come in handy, a bit like Phantom. Against Gharj in the Chamber of Eternity (change of platform) or in Huttball to score faster.
On the other hand, for a Carnage spec, Denouement becomes much more attractive. In addition to the reasons given above, it negates movement debuffs (which normally cancel with Release) with Force Camouflage. Be careful though: it is useless against stuns (yes, you have to be able to access Camouflage, CQFD). This talent remains a must-have in PvP, even more so with 1.2.
So much for the changes of position, now the others. It is clear that the Rage tree is in the spotlight:
Rage
Domination is now a 3-point ability that has the same effect as before. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15 before).
1 point more expensive for 5 seconds more. Then, will the points invested influence the duration or the percentage of chance of the proc, as is currently the case? Personally, I don't see the use of an additional 5 seconds: the buff is consumed after using Shock, and in general it is used not long after the Domination proc.
Extermination now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
Extermination can serve as an interruption. Knowing that this one is an integral part of the cycle of the Rage spec (we launch it before launching Shock, to take advantage of the Domination buff), this talent makes the Marauder even more formidable against a wizard or a mercenary. If his CD is well managed of course.
Ravager now increases Rampage damage instead of affecting Force Choke.
Rampage is nowhere near as useful in the Rage spec as it is in the Carnage spec. However, the loss of the 10 second reduction on Force Choke will be felt. Overall, for the Rage spec we are losing. On the other hand, this talent makes an ideal filler for a Carnage or Annihilation spec.
Inexorable Fury has been replaced with Destroyer. It requires 2 Shockwave points and causes Ravage (used with the Shii-Cho form) to immediately grant 2 Shockwave units per point.
Shockwave buff effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15 seconds).
So, let's summarize here because it becomes a bit complex. Initially, Ravage in Shii-Cho reduces the rage cost of Vicious Slit to 0. Each Vicious Slash consumes one point from the stack of 6 given by Ravage. Thanks to the new bonus So, two Lunge brings us to the maximum possible of the Shockwave stack, plus two points of Rage if we took Enraged Lunge. It's a nice combo. Additionally, the effect lasts for 20 seconds, down from 15 now, ensuring their presence whenever Shock is available.
On the other hand, this improvement comes at the expense of a talent that is still very practical. Inexorable Fury allowed you to recover 10 fury points at the end of the Predation effect. Result: where we used Predation, we will now use Ravage. Too bad, because in operation Predation is really useful (especially since it applies to the whole group now).
Taking Impatience in the Annihilation branch will become essential to easily generate fury, in this configuration.
Force Alacrity has been replaced with Overpowered, which allows Vicious Slash critical hits to have a chance to generate 2 Rage points while the Guardian is in Shii-Cho form.
Acrality of Force, it was 3 seconds less CD on Force Choke, Force Crush, Shock ... in short, all the skills useful to the Rage spec. Having moved Decimation in the Rage tree, however, reduces the Shock CD without having to spend too many points in other trees (and thus invest in more useful skills). But we still go from 9 to 12s in the story, which hurts when we know how central this power is in this spec ...
When it comes to Overpower's two rage points, the Rage spec (rightly so) is not as greedy as its sister Annihilation. Especially since the talent only acts here on critical hits from Vicious Slit. However, correlated with the new Ravage (Destroyer) bonus, it makes the Rift much more interesting thanks to the Shockwave buff. Stacked with Enraged Slash (restores 1 rage point after a Vicious Slash), you have a nice combo to fully recharge your rage bar as well as your Shockwave stacks. See even several times.
Force Crush's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its effect remains unchanged.
You gain 3 seconds on the cooldown. Yes, the famous 3 seconds lost with the disappearance of the Acrality of Force talent. So in the end, no real change for this power.
Annihilation
Phantom no longer grants damage reduction while Force Camouflage is active. It now increases Force Camouflage duration by one second per point and increases Force Camouflage speed bonus by 10% per point.
As said above, Phantom no longer makes you invincible. However, the advantages that the new bonuses bring in PvP are quite interesting: 6 seconds of invisibility, 20% more speed. Enough to put a good distance from his attacker when there is no other solution or, better yet, sneak up to the enemy goal in Huttball.
In PvE the interest remains limited. However, I see a practical case: switch enemy packs to daily and thus save time. But from there to spend 2 points ...
Weeping Injury now reduces speed by 50% (was previously 30%).
Slowdown as important as the Disabling Lunge. The two combined literally prevent the opponent from moving. Why not. To be reserved for PvP however (immune bosses, all that ...).
Carnage
The damage dealt by the Ataru Form is now weapon damage instead of Force damage. The damage generated by these effects has been increased in total by approximately 10%.
The only real contribution to the Carnage spec, this one is still significant: the Ataru form proc happens very frequently thanks to Massacre (automatically triggers an Ataru type attack and 30% more chance to take it out for 6 seconds , or one in 2 chance). We can estimate that Ataru attacks happen almost half the time, thanks to Ravage (reduces the Massacre's rage cost to 1 and its GCD of 0,5). Stacked with Scorch, which increases armor piercing by 100%, you can do some nice damage, perhaps better than the Scorch / Rampage combination. But it remains to be tested.
Conclusion
So, after all these remarks, what ultimately emerges from these changes?
Simplified Marauder gameplay
No more cost for Disruption, Intimidating Growl, and Evasion. Less calculations to do for his cycle and less consumption of rage. The False Escape without global cooldown allows you to place it reflexively, when the opponent launches a burst for example, without this changing your cycle. Given the number of parameters to consider when playing Marauder, having those few that go away makes the pace a bit more livable and more easily accessible to a beginner player. Without revolutionizing the gameplay however.
More logical talent trees
Several talents have been moved to the trees that match them the most: Decimate, Rabid Charge are two talents that have much more their place in the Rage and Annihilation trees respectively. In addition, moving Impatience to level 1 of the Annihilation tree is a huge bonus, as all specs can benefit from a generation of Fury three times faster.
A Rage tree with a slightly different functioning
The Destructive talent, combined with the Impatience talent, is likely to change a lot of the way the Rage cycle works: previously, only Strangulation and Force Crush provided Shockwave bonuses. Here, we have a third means, Ravage, which in addition is available more often. The Shockwave and Domination bonuses are also available for a longer period of time: from 15 to 20 seconds for both.
However, these additions come at a price: we lose 3 seconds of CD reduction on Choc. It will therefore be easier to have the bonuses to prepare Shock but it can be launched less often, therefore potentially less DPS.
And the rest...
In what seems important to add, we can talk about the Rampage and the Vicious Slash which are gaining in importance, by the modification of the talents which are associated with them, the Vicious Throw which is available at 30% now or the Extermination. which allows to make an interruption.
We can also talk about a few minor fixes, such as the Ataru hits which now correctly target massive enemies or the Death Throw whose effect can no longer be removed (by the Assassin's Force Shroud, for example).
Once again of course, there are a number of hypotheses that need to be tested but overall, we see that these changes are really positive: a simpler gameplay, more easily optimized and of which a number of items have been revised upwards. A few tweaks will cringe, but nothing insurmountable. Now the effectiveness has to be proven in the facts. So, wait and see ...
