Pros/Cons of each Marauder build

Ok... A lot of discussion on what to max and what not to max during 3rd job. I thought I had come up with the perfect build but, then I get 4th job and my opinion changes.


2 out of these 3 skills a marauder can choose to max; energy drain, energy blast, and shockwave. Each one is useful in its own way, but which one should be left out?

My own opinion is that energy drain should take priority over both. Not because it heals you or that it takes 0 mp to use, but because its ranged. Other than demolition, bucs have no ranged attacks. Well, dragon strike is ranged but who's gonna use that on zaks top arms or horntails hands/wings? The thing is it doesn't have as good dps as demo or max barrage, but I think the range factor makes up for it.

About the other two (blast/shockwave). Both are great mobbing skills, but deciding which one to max is tough.

Shockwave isn't so great in 3rd job, but improves a lot in 4th with windbooster. Also, we get a second transformation which lets us use it 2 mins longer than before. The catch is, for the time you're not transformed you can't use it at all and you can't use your normal attacks when you are transformed.

Blast is awesome during 3rd job. Its hard to argue against that. It can also be used whenever you have energy (including when you're transformed). The thing is, it has a delay, and wind booster doesn't decrease delays, it speeds up attack animations. Shockwave has no delay but it does have a slow animation. Blast is the opposite, it has a fast animation with a slow delay.

As you transition from 3rd job to 4th job, shockwave starts to become better than before, but saying its better than blast is still unsure. There 9 points you can use if you have both at lvl 21. Perhaps splitting them between the two would be the best option.

The build is still up to the player. This is just my 2 and a half cents. I prefer energy mode to transform mode for now. I don't know how that will change as I get 11 wind booster, points in barrage/dragon strike, and points in Stransform/demo.

Drain sucks. It's single target and most likely bugged. While transformed it's a lot slower.

With that said, I maxed Shockwave and Blast over Drain.

Why not take a bit out of Drain for both skills? It's damage doesn't increase that much, only 100% from 1 to 20. :/

Drain sucks. It's single target and most likely bugged. While transformed it's a lot slower.

With that said, I maxed Shockwave and Blast over Drain.

Bucs have a ridiculous amount of mobbing skills. The only good single target atks we have are barrage/double upper combo, demolition, and drain. Drain can be used a lot more than demo and is ranged unlike barrage. I don't think we need to keep maxing more mobbing skills -_-

Drain won't save you when you're at a boss that does over 8k damage per hit. Even so, Barrage/Double Upper will outdamage it

Drain won't save you when you're at a boss that does over 8k damage per hit. Even so, Barrage/Double Upper will outdamage it

Don't most boss runs with that kind of damage have Priest? :f6:

Drain won't save you when you're at a boss that does over 8k damage per hit. Even so, Barrage/Double Upper will outdamage it

You don't rely on drain to heal you at bosses, its for damage. I learned that the hard way trying to use it as heal at pianus. Barrage/double upper doesn't have range and doesn't outdmg drain for a while. Barrage does have that nice invincibility though.

Irrelevant to me since I've never gone on a Zakum/HT run in my life.

You don't rely on drain to heal you at bosses, its for damage. I learned that the hard way trying to use it as heal at pianus. Barrage/double upper doesn't have range and doesn't outdmg drain for a while. Barrage does have that nice invincibility though.

I just don't see myself spamming Drain to do damage when I can go up close and use my more fun skills. Drain just seems like a total "Nightlord" type skill.

Well if you don't zak/ht then not maxing drain was perfect for you. A lot of us like bossing though. Having 2 godly party skills will make it easier to get into bosses to.


There is another option. You could add 6 points into each and have 16 drain and 26 blast/shockwave

In my opinion, 21 Blast is the best way to go. I don't see any use for it past 3rd job because Dragon Strike is so much better. Shockwave is the only mob attack in Super Transform so I don't see why it shouldn't be maxed, especially since S-Tranform's cooldown is technically only 2 minutes.

Besides, Shockwave gains more damage per hit with those 9 SP than Blast. Shockwave at level 21 is 565% and maxed is 700%, which is a 135% improvement. Meanwhile, Blast at 21 is 366% and Blast 30 is 420%, which is only a 54% improvement.

In my opinion, 21 Blast is the best way to go. I don't see any use for it past 3rd job because Dragon Strike is so much better. Shockwave is the only mob attack in Super Transform so I don't see why it shouldn't be maxed, especially since S-Tranform's cooldown is technically only 2 minutes.

Besides, Shockwave gains more damage per hit with those 9 SP than Blast. Shockwave at level 21 is 565% and maxed is 700%, which is a 135% improvement. Meanwhile, Blast at 21 is 366% and Blast 30 is 420%, which is only a 54% improvement.

I'd agree with that if dragon strikes delay wasn't so long. Blast is a good 2nd mob attack to use between dragon strikes. There's no other mob atk you can use between dragon strikes except sommersault kick.

All 3 skills are useful. Its hard for me to decide which one should take priority over which. I gotta try out Stransform and see how good it is before I say shockwave > blast. I think putting 6 sp in ech is the best way to go. None of them are have to have skills, but all of them are pretty useful.

Drain is useless if you plan on making it to 4th job (Which the majority of current Infighters/Marauders do). It's a single target skill, which automatically falls behind Energy Blast, which regardless of it's small delay, is a very powerful mobbing skill that Marauders MUST HAVE to get to 4th job. (This assumes you're not leeching from levels 65~150).

Once you have a decent level of Barrage, you're never going to touch Drain again. This isn't just speaking to Rusty; it's speaking to all Marauders who are actually taking a Drain build into consideration.

I'd agree with that if dragon strikes delay wasn't so long. Blast is a good 2nd mob attack to use between dragon strikes. There's no other mob atk you can use between dragon strikes except sommersault kick.

All 3 skills are useful. Its hard for me to decide which one should take priority over which. I gotta try out Stransform and see how good it is before I say shockwave > blast. I think putting 6 sp in ech is the best way to go. None of them are have to have skills, but all of them are pretty useful.

Can't you use Corkscrew in between Dragon Strike? That would also give you an additional invincibility frame.

Can't you use Corkscrew in between Dragon Strike? That would also give you an additional invincibility frame.

Blast hits 1 extra monster, has the dame dmg as crkscrew, and doesn't need to be charged like corkscrew. Dragon strike -> corkscrew is worse than dragon strike -> sommersault kick.

@Greg- I plan on sloing zakum one day, and I know I won't be able to do it without drain. Like I said before, I like drain purely for its range. The pot saving is just a bonus. I'm also in an active ht group who will need me for my party skills. Drain is great for bossing and that's why I want it.

Blast hits 1 extra monster, has the dame dmg as crkscrew, and doesn't need to be charged like corkscrew. Dragon strike -> corkscrew is worse than dragon strike -> sommersault kick.

@Greg- I plan on sloing zakum one day, and I know I won't be able to do it without drain. Like I said before, I like drain purely for its range. The pot saving is just a bonus. I'm also in an active ht group who will need me for my party skills. Drain is great for bossing and that's why I want it.

It's not the damage of Corkscrew + Dragon Strike, it's that they both have invincibility frames and Corkscrew forms larger mobs. There will rarely be a mob of 6 in front of you but Corkscrew allows you to form larger mobs while saving pots. This is really useful in a Skele party or at Peak where there is a large amount of monsters but they are quite sparse unless mobbed.

Here are some videos of the point I'm trying to make:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1JLWtwlhg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Kx2Jdelz0

Both of them rarely used Blast, if at all. That's why I think level 21 is enough. It's still very strong and hits 4 targets. Unlike Shockwave, it doesn't lose much damage from those 9 SP.

It's not the damage of Corkscrew + Dragon Strike, it's that they both have invincibility frames and Corkscrew forms larger mobs. There will rarely be a mob of 6 in front of you but Corkscrew allows you to form larger mobs while saving pots. This is really useful in a Skele party or at Peak where there is a large amount of monsters but they are quite sparse unless mobbed.

Here are some videos of the point I'm trying to make:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1JLWtwlhg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Kx2Jdelz0

Both of them rarely used Blast, if at all. That's why I think level 21 is enough. It's still very strong and hits 4 targets. Unlike Shockwave, it doesn't lose much damage from those 9 SP.

ummm lol. Dragon strike doesnt have invincibility frames, and I think you need to watch those videos again, but very closely. In both of them, they use blast after almost every corkscrew. The 2nd one, he uses energy orb a few times though. The first video was kinda laggy so I had to pause it a few times to see it easier. Even slowing it down it's hard to tell since blast's animation is so fast. I could only tell in the 2nd video that he was using blast and not energy orb, because the damage was higher and didn't become "halfed" after each monster.

...Dragon Strike had invincibility frames-? o.O

S. Transform looks more like a 1v1 or a bossing skill,why would you need a mobbing skill for that again?

-and since Shockwave dosen't have invincibility frames,would'nt you be taking more damage?

EDIT:ah forget it I'm just gonna go ahead and leave Shockwave at 21-

How often is Shockwave used in 4th job though?
I can't really imagine Shockwave being used alot as wouldn't you use Demolition more?
Isn't Dragon strike better than shockwave and you wouldn't be using Transform to train?

ummm lol. Dragon strike doesnt have invincibility frames, and I think you need to watch those videos again, but very closely. In both of them, they use blast after almost every corkscrew. The 2nd one, he uses energy orb a few times though. The first video was kinda laggy so I had to pause it a few times to see it easier. Even slowing it down it's hard to tell since blast's animation is so fast. I could only tell in the 2nd video that he was using blast and not energy orb, because the damage was higher and didn't become "halfed" after each monster.

Wow I barely noticed Blast being used there. I think I just changed my mind xD

I'll pass on Shockwave and go with Drain, I'll let you guys know how that turns out.

Though Shockwave might look pretty at Crimson Guardians.