- "You were never one of us. You were nothing but a usurper, a false idol. My eyes have been opened. Let me help you to see, Slayer."
- ― A Marauder addressing the Doom Slayer
The Marauders are a group of resurrected and corrupted Night Sentinels who sided with the Khan Maykr and the Hell Priests against the realm of Argent D'Nur by becoming demonic sentinels, which appear in Doom Eternal, as well as both of its subsequent dlc releases. As former members of the Doom Slayer's personal band of warriors, they have access to a wide range of very powerful techniques that make them one of the most challenging and deadly foes the player will face over the course of the campaign.
In-Game Description
Codex
As civil war consumed Argent D'Nur, the Night Sentinels Guard was quartered by their faith. Torn between serving the Khan Maykr or revolting against that which they swore to protect. Those most disillusioned forswore their oath to the Sentinel royalty, abandoning their pact of allegiance made to the throne. These hardened warriors joined the separatist group led by the exalted Priest class, allying themselves with the Maykrs and their devout acolytes in an attempted coup against the Sentinel royal house. Those Sentinel warriors who fell in battle, having sided with the Maykrs, were ultimately denied finality in death. Resurrected by the Divinity Machine of Maykr design, these fallen Sentinels were returned from the dead, transformed by Hell's power, and recreated with a singular purpose: to hunt the Slayer, now reborn as Knights in Hell's army.
Appearance
The Marauder resembles a humanoid wearing Sentinel armor. He notably wields a large battleaxe, using Argent Energy, which makes it look similar to the Slayer's Crucible. He also wields his own double-barreled shotgun. Because he was resurrected, his skin is pale-white and the facial features we see behind his mask resembles a humanoid skull, with a set of horns on top. The Marauder's eyes also glow a deep red, not dissimilar to the Hellified Soldiers. The Marauder's armor has an earthy green on his left chest, with a red glow where his heart should have been. On both shoulders he has heavy metal plates covering them, again in an earthy green hue.
Combat Analysis
To effectively duel with a Marauder, the player must understand the spacing gimmick that revolves around him. At longer distances, the Marauder will hurl a beam of energy at the Slayer. At close range, he will fire upon them with its Double-barreled Shotgun. And at medium distances, the Marauder will lunge at the player with his axe. The Marauder will also summon a wolf to chase the Slayer after he blocks the Slayer's, or another demon's attacks.
The player must keep combat with the Marauder at medium distances, for the Marauder is only vulnerable to attack when he is in mid-lunge. The player can tell a Marauder is about to lunge at the Slayer when his eyes flash green and a sound cue plays. During the window in which the Marauder is lunging at the Slayer, hit him with a powerful weapon such as the Super Shotgun or Ballista to falter him for roughly a second. This gives the player just enough time to follow up with a second shot before the Marauder recovers. Repeat this cycle several times and the Marauder will fall.
The Marauder is incredibly durable and notably is unaffected by the Ice Bomb and Chainsaw. It will also use his shield to block the BFG's tendrils, negating damage from it, though as he is occupied with the projectile, a window of opportunity to attack the Marauder from behind is open to the player for as long as the projectile is in range. However, it is possible to kill him with a point blank BFG shot after a falter, but won't be possible until beating his mini-boss fight at least once. He can also block the Crucible's swing, though it is not impossible to kill him this way, as shown in this video.
Despite this, the Marauder will not block splash damage from explosive projectiles such as rockets or shotgun grenades unless the projectiles hit the marauder directly. This means that an alternate strategy to defeat the Marauder is to keep at relatively long range and shoot explosives at the ground in the Marauder's proximity, or ideally - directly in his path towards the Slayer. This is because of how indirect damage will not trigger the Marauder's block ability. This strategy is particularly appropriate for scenarios where large amounts of other enemies makes it hard to focus solely on the Marauder.
The Marauder is one of the most dangerous and challenging enemies in Doom Eternal, requiring the player's attention at all times. However, keeping your surroundings in your peripheral vision is just as important; focusing too much on the Marauder can allow for an opening for another demon to kill the Slayer.
Battlemode
The Marauder also serves as one of the several playable demons in Doom Eternal's Battlemode. With a base health of 2000, he serves as a flexible, if fragile, demon that has access to several attacks. Similar to his depiction in the campaign, the Marauder wields both his Argent Axe and Super Shotgun and is capable of summoning his trusty Wolf to harass the Slayer. However, he no longer has access to its impenetrable shield to block the Slayer's attacks.
Abilities
Marauder Specific End of Round Upgrades
Trivia
- The Marauder bears some resemblance to Death Knight from Quake.
- The appearance and backstory of the Marauders, as demon corrupted elite warriors, is much like the Chaos Space Marines from Warhammer 40k. They also bear a similar appearance to Chaos Marauders from Warhammer Fantasy.
- If one were to peer at his chest in the ARC Laboratory cutscene, a series of dark purplish veins seem to emanate from where the red light on his chest piece rests. It may imply that some parts of the armor - or at least, that particular piece - is fused to his very body.
- During combat, if the player listens carefully, the Marauder's grunts are actually Ranger's grunts from Quake III: Arena.
- The Marauder's voice actor is Edward Bosco, who also voices the game's final boss the Icon of Sin. Outside this, he has also voiced Gargos and Kan-Ra from Killer Instinct, as well as Alastor from Hazbin Hotel.
- The Marauder is one of the few demons in the Doom series to speak English.
Gallery
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