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 a post-Brood War study 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 may 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, immortals and, to a lesser extent, siege tanks 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]

Known MaraudersEdit

• First Sergeant Isaac White
• Chief Engineer Rory Swann

SpecialistsEdit

• Hammer Securities

TriviaEdit

The name "marauder" is most likely a reference to the novel Starship Troopers, wherein the heavy powered armor suit for soldiers was called a marauder.

In pre-release versions of StarCraft, the marine was known as the "marauder".^[18]

ReferencesEdit