How useful are Marauders?

Hi, i've noticed that the Terran Marauder's usefulness diminishes as the game progresses. For instance, once zealots obtain the charge ability, Marauder's concussion launchers become near obsolete due to the fact that charge offsets most of the slowing effect. I have also noticed in some videos that the marauder is almost cripplingly slow. I can only imagine that Marauders are easy targets near mid-late game. So even with the formidable damage (12+6 against armored) and a sizable HP; 125, it's only useful in the early portion of each match? Oh i'm not sure if Marauders have access to stim packs so i'll need some input in that too.

 

In the battle report the marauder can keep up with marines, it's not crippingly slow last instance i know of. Charge is just one situation, although zerglings and zealots get speed upgrades concussion missiles still make them take longer to reach their targets than they otherwise would.

 

*sigh*

The Marauder is an early tier unit. It's SUPPOSED to get its ass kicked by upgraded Zealots. Those are higher tier. However, Marauders are still effective later on, you just need more of them. Mixing them with Medivac Dropships might give them a longer life span as well. Also, Marauders give the Terran a pretty good advantage early to mid game. That is where a Terran player should win a match: mid game.

Zerg has early game advantage, and Protoss has late game advantage. This was already the case in the original game -and expansion-. This is just good balance. If a Terran player lets the game come to the highest tiers, then that person simply deserves to loose against a Protoss opponent.

 

Well, prehaps my question wasn't phrased appropriately. I should be asking this. I've noticed that developers introduced upgrades toalmost every unit that allows it to have an edge against other units as the game progresses. Eg. Marauder vs Zerglings/Zealots in early tiers. Once upgraded Zealots/Zerglings > Marauders. Is blizzard going to introduce a new mechanic/ability (Eg STIMPACKS or Longer lasting concussion Grenades) that allows Marauder to ascend beyond that relationship? Let's not deviate from the question like answering; more units, or mixing them with other units. I am talking about a purely singular/individualistic basis. Sorry for the misleading title.

 

It's true that upgraded Zealots are easily able to counter Marauders, but there's no reason to say that's a problem. Almost all units in the game have easily recognisable counters, such as how smaller, massed units are a counter to the Void Ray, when the Void Ray is, in turn, a counter to smaller groups of powerful units. To apply this to the Marauder, it's a counter to Armoured Ground units, such as the Stalker and Roach, but is, again in turn, countered by Light Ground units, such as the Zealots and Zerglings.

On top of this, although it may seem that they're useless in late game when compared to Zealots, they're extremely useful against later tiered Protoss as well, such as the Colossus and even Immortals and buildings, as always. As far as an upgrade goes, does it really need to have one? At the end of the day, the Marauder isn't supposed to be a unit that can counter any and all Ground threats. It's designed to have counters just as all other units are.

Lastly, I'll just add that if every unit had an upgrade that offset all other units' advantageous upgrades, there'd be no point in having them to begin with.

 

Itza hit it on the nose, but just to drop my 2 cents in plain form, Marauders were never a counter to Zealots/Zerglings. There slowing ability gave them edge against those units when combined with Marines, but when its just Marauders versus Zealots/Zerglings, the Marauders were designed to lose battle. Even without the upgrades Zealots/Zerglings are suppose to counter Marauders, their upgrades just complete the edge that they started with.

 

Medivacs are high tier solution for making the low tier marauders more valuable, and I don't think they need any upgrades that are actually strong enough to change what counters what.

 

Mauraders do alot of damage versus heavy units like siege tanks, stalkers ultras ect. zealots and zerglings are made to counter them that's why marauders dosen"t do damage versus light armored stuff because once again there designed to take different kinds of threats.

 

Have you watched either battle report? The friggin marauders pwn all the way to the end in both matches!

 

And to add to that, both Zealots and Zerglings were upgraded with Charge and speed, and the Marauders were still extremely useful. Obviously there were still instances were Charge gave Zealots the advantage, such as when they got through the Marauders into the SCV line, and it's also obvious that if the Protoss player had focused a lot more on Zealots, as opposed to Stalkers and Colossi, then he would have been one up on the Terran player's Marauders, but the fact remains that they're still extremely useful.

 

personal from what i gathered Marauder were protoss counter and reapers are zerg counters

Protoss=armored
zerg=light

i'm just saying the job that Marauder hurting armored reapers could do that same job if you just up charges and use those

 

I think you should watch the battle report 2 again...the reapers kinda got owned by the zerg, but the marauders did quite well (esp. against roaches)
as it stands marauders kinda counter everything except air.

 

Zerglings simply did not face up to Reapers in the second Battle Report and were forced to continually flee when the Reapers turned up, and the Marauders are supposed to be good against Roaches, whereas Reapers are not. To simplify it all, Marauders counter Roaches, Roaches counter Reapers, Reapers counter Zerglings and Zerglings counter Marauders. The reason why it seemed that the Marauders owned everything is probably because due to the fact that the Zerg player had stopped producing as many Zerglings at that stage, and focused more on Roaches and Hydralisks, along with the fact that the Marauders were usually coupled with Marines and Reapers when fending off Zerglings, and Nighthawks with everything else.

 

Yes they do. And with their high HP, they can beat most of Zerg smaller units that were supposed to beat them (zerglings for example). In other words, if they have a minor weakness against zerlings or roaches, they have so much HP (yes 125 is a lot for a Ran infantry) that they can still hold their own. And of course, all of that with a low cost (lower than stalkers) :laugh:

 

I don't think 125hp is too high compared to the other tier 1.5 units.

Marauder: 125hp, 100 minerals, 25 gas

Stalker: 100hp + 40 shields + blink, 125 minerals, 50 gas

Roach: 100hp + massive regen, 100 minerals, 0 gas

Eventually medivacs can give the marauders more survivability but compared to blink and the roaches regeneration (15hp/s base, 25hp/s upgraded) it's not going to tip the scales. Being infantry also has disadvantages, unlike factory units or the other barracks units they are vulnerable to both anti-biological and anti-armored counters.

 

Well, I just realized the good ol' days when the protoss had the HP advantage in SC1 are long gone...

 

The protoss also have units that don't have the brute force advantage but instead have very powerful abilties, and blink definitely seems pretty powerful. And they still technically have more total health than the other tier 1.5 units if you count shields even though the health to cost ratio is less.

 

You should probably go look at attack damage, not just HP.

 

I love the marauder i think its a great unit with a great role in the Terran army

but i can't help but think it got a little too much HP, i mean 125? he almost got the same helth as a bloody siege tank. So i dont know maybe drop it to an even 100hp or something, he just seems a litle invincible to me in BR2.

 

marauders own!! i saw the 2nd battle report, twas pure ownage!!!!!