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

OverviewEdit

Primarily a support unit^[2] for marines,^[3] 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^[4] 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.^[4] By 2503,^[5][6][7] marauders were being fielded.^[8]

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.^[4]

Game UnitEdit

Marauder
Unit
Race	Terran
Role	Heavy assault infantry
Armament	Quad K12 "Punisher" grenade launchers[2]
Protection	5-4 Armored Infantry Suit[4]
Properties
Transport size	2
Sight range	10
Production
Minerals	100
Gas	25
Supply	2
Build time	30
Produced from	Barracks
Requires	Tech lab/Tech reactor (attached)
Hotkey	D
Movement
Speed	2.25
Acceleration	1000
Lateral acceleration	69.125
Deceleration	0
Collision radius	0.5625
Protection
Hit points	125 (100 hp without Kinetic Foam, WoL Campaign Only)
Armor	1
Type	Biological Ground
Armor type	Armored
Punisher grenades
Damage	10 (+10 vs armored)
Targets	Ground
Cooldown	1.5
Range	6 (+1 range in a bunker)
Upgrade/level	+1/+1 vs armored
Meta
Target priority	20
Kill score	150
Production score	75

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

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.^[9] They are also powerful against stalkers, and, to a lesser extent, siege tanks, immortals and thors.^[10] Marauders can destroy buildings very quickly. The marauder is vulnerable to zealots,^[11] 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.^[12]

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

AbilitiesEdit

Concussive Shells
Acquisition Minerals 50 Gas 50 Research time 60 Researched at Tech lab attached to barracks Hotkey G
Notes
Marauder attacks slow the movement speed of non-massive enemy units by 50%. Only affects one target at a time.
Edit

StimPack
Campaign Wings of Liberty (Zero Hour) Cost $50,000
Acquisition Minerals 100 Gas 100 Research time 170 Researched at Tech lab attached to barracks Hotkey T	Usage Hit points 10 (marines) 20 (marauders) Duration 12 Hotkey T
Notes
Enables affected infantry to attack and move 50% more quickly. Marauders do not have access to stimpacks in the campaign.
Edit

UpgradesEdit

Infantry Weapons
Researched at	Engineering bay
Hotkey	E
Properties
Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 100 175 250 Gas 100 175 250 Research time 160 190 220 Required Armory Armory
Notes
+1 base damage for marines. +1 base damage and +1 bonus damage for marauders, ghosts, and spectres. +1 pistol base damage and +4 D-8 charge base damage for reapers.
Edit

Infantry Armor
Researched at	Engineering bay
Hotkey	A
Properties
Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 100 175 250 Gas 100 175 250 Research time 160 190 220 Required Armory Armory
Notes
+1 to armor for SCVs, marines, firebats. marauders, medics, reapers, spectres, and ghosts.
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Wings of LibertyEdit

Marauders are unlocked by playing the mission "Smash and Grab", available after Rory Swann was able to procure them for Raynor's Raiders.^[13]

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

Jackhammer Concussive Shells Campaign Wings of Liberty Cost $70,000 Researched at Hyperion armory Notes The marauder's attack slows all 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. It does not slow down massive units.[14] Edit

Kinetic Foam Campaign Wings of Liberty Cost $90,000 Researched at Hyperion armory Notes Marauders gain +25 hp. (This increases the hit points of Wings of Liberty marauders to those of standard multiplayer marauders.) Wolfe Industries offers a Kinetic Foam undersuit that protects the soldier from the violent impacts the armor takes.[14] Edit

Ultra Capacitors Campaign Wings of Liberty Cost 5 protoss research points Researched at Hyperion laboratory Notes Attack upgrades at the armory and engineering bay improved cooldown by 5% per level. Self-replicating ultra capacitors reduce the reload time of weapons and systems.[15] Edit

Vanadium Plating Campaign Wings of Liberty Cost 5 protoss research points Researched at Hyperion laboratory Notes Armor upgrades at the armory and engineering bay increase health by 5% per level. Vanadium better disperses weapon impacts than standard armor.[15] Edit

QuotationsEdit

See: StarCraft II Marauder Quotations

DevelopmentEdit

The marauder was originally equipped with dual concussion-grenade launchers which reduce a biological unit's speed immediately by a set percentage. A charging zealot would still move quickly after being struck by a grenade.^[16]

Prior to StarCraft II beta patch #8, Concussion Grenades was an automatic upgrade. It later became a researched ability.^[17]

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.^[18]

Known MaraudersEdit

• First Sergeant Isaac White
• Chief Engineer Rory Swann

SpecialistsEdit

• Hammer Securities
• Aegis Guard

TriviaEdit

The name "marauder" is most likely a reference to the novel Starship Troopers, recalling the name of the Mobile Infantry's general-purpose heavy infantry suit.

In pre-release versions of StarCraft, the marine was known as the "marauder".^[19]

The idea behind the marauder was to act as a sort of middleground between marines and vikings—mechanized infantry, yet not an actual mech.^[20]

ReferencesEdit