Marauder

A marauder appears against the backdrop of Argent Breach.

"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."

― The marauder of the ARC Complex, to the Doom Slayer

The marauders are a group of monsters which occur in Doom Eternal. They are a group of Night Sentinels who joined the Khan Maykr in the civil war that followed the exposure of the Maykrs' betrayal, died in the war, and were later resurrected through combined Hell magic and Maykr technology with the purpose of destroying the Doom Slayer. The marauder first appears in the ARC Complex level as a boss, before appearing as a regular enemy in later levels.

Referred to by game director Hugo Martin as a "black belt" demon, simple run-and-gun tactics that work against other demons will not suffice. As one of the most difficult enemies in the game, the marauder has attack patterns that need to be studied and dealt with carefully.

Appearance

Each marauder is a humanoid demon with a skull-like head bearing large, prominent horns. They have bluish-gray skin and wear green suits of armor which closely resemble the Praetor suit, presumably corrupted versions of the armor they once wore as Night Sentinels. They keep a garland of skulls around their left thighs, indicating that they may act as headhunters. Every marauder wields a super shotgun and an Argent double-bladed battle axe.

Tactical analysis

The marauder has three ranges of attack. When the player is at close range, the marauder uses its super shotgun; the weapon is drawn and fired almost instantly, making it unlikely that the player will be able to dash out of the way. It is possible, but unlikely, to hit them during this, but only if the player is sure they can. At mid-range, the marauder performs a lunging swing (which can be either vertical or horizontal) with its axe, telegraphed by its eyes flashing green. At long range, the marauder throws its axe, sending out a wave of Argent energy.

The marauder is extremely agile. Its running speed is close to the Slayer's, and it makes frequent use of a similar dash ability as the run-up to an attack, both to evade the player's attacks and to flank behind the player. It leaves a brief trail of Argent energy when it dashes, making its new location immediately obvious.

The marauder is protected from all damage by a shield of Argent energy, which glows red-orange and bears their Sentinel logo, the same one emblazoned on their belts. It acts similarly to the shield wielded by some soldiers; however, it is unaffected by the plasma rifle and thus cannot be overloaded. The marauder will automatically raise the shield to counter incoming fire, but will not respond to indirect attacks; grenades or rockets detonated near him can cause a falter that lowers his shield and leaves him briefly open to another shot. The marauder is resistant, though not invulnerable, to the BFG-9000 and the Unmaykr, is immune to the chainsaw due to being a Super Heavy, and cannot be instantly killed with the Crucible unless stunned.

To supplement its offensive power, the marauder will frequently summon a spirit wolf if its shield is hit by either the player or stray shots from a fellow demon. The wolf glows red-orange like the marauder's shield and pursues the player in order to bite them; apart from being a distraction, the wolf leaves a translucent bite mark on the screen when its attack connects which will hinder the player's vision. Spirit wolves should be dealt with as soon as they appear; they can only take a small amount of damage before disappearing.

The Codex advises the player to stay at mid-range as this is where the marauder is most vulnerable; the super shotgun will punish the player at close range, and the marauder will throw energy waves at long range. To properly damage the marauder, it is necessary to wait for him to use his mid-range melee attack with the axe; when he winds up for a melee attack, his eyes flash green and he will be momentarily vulnerable. A successful attack at this point will falter the marauder for a couple of seconds, which is best followed with high damage-per-shot weapons such as the super shotgun, rocket launcher, or the ballista. The same three weapons are also good choices for interrupting the marauder, but the super shotgun is best because of its wide spread. By utilizing the hot-swapping feature, it is possible to hit the Marauder twice or even three times every time he is stunned in this manner.

The marauder will direct his shield toward any BFG shot that is active and will leave his back open for damage in the meantime. Another shot of the BFG or a sustained barrage from the Unmaykr can finish him off during this time.

Strategy

The marauder can be a complex enemy to fight as it is hard to determine the proper distance at which to remain and the enemy is capable of blocking nearly all attacks. There is, however, a relatively easy way to simplify the marauder's attack patterns: simply stay away from the marauder while evading his axe shockwaves, and be attentive to his movement—especially his dashing—and try to maintain distance. When the marauder starts running rather than dashing, this signals that it will approach the player for a melee attack. Exploit this to land shots to stun and damage the marauder.

If the marauder is accompanied by other demons, prioritize the other demons first, as the marauder warrants full attention. Space is of the utmost importance to employ this strategy, as some marauder encounters occur in enclosed rooms, in which case players will need to be quick on their feet. Although overall the principle applies, keep your distance from the Marauder while paying attention to him; once he runs, wait for his eyes to glow and hit him. Run away and kill any fodder for whatever supplies might be needed.

This strategy also works against the double marauder encounter in the UAC Atlantica Facility and the possessed marauder in the Slayer Gate in The Holt. In both instances, there is ample space to maneuver. Simply run in circles, and wait for the marauders to come to a specific part of the map where the player is comfortable with facing them. Hit them, then run again and refill supplies by killing fodder.

It is possible to cheap-shot them with the BFG-9000 by shooting while they are spawning, as the tendrils will hit them before they get the chance to raise their shields. A lucky shot as such is capable of killing a marauder, although generally speaking this is difficult to pull off as it needs both a precise angle and timing to perform.

Sentinel Hammer

In The Ancient Gods, Part Two, the marauder is especially vulnerable to the Sentinel Hammer. Stunning the marauder and immediately following with a hammer slam will keep it stunned for several seconds, allowing enough time to kill the marauder either with fast-firing weapons or by quick-switching between the super shotgun and ballista.

Glory kills

The following glory kills against the marauder exist:

• From the front, the Slayer stabs the marauder twice in the chest with the Doomblade before landing a fatal stab in its right eye.
• From behind, the Slayer stabs the marauder in the back, through the chest, and punches him in the face after he turns around.
• From its left side, the Slayer punches the marauder to the left and goes for a second punch, only for him to block it. The Slayer then extends the Doomblade, piercing him through its right eye.
• From its right side, the Slayer kicks the marauder's leg to the side, snatches the axe out of its grasp and swings it down, decapitating him.
• The Slayer lands on the marauder's chest or back, before crushing its head with one stomp.
• The berserk Slayer lands two blows, separating the marauder's arms from its body, before the third separates its head from its torso and legs, and sends the torso flying upwards and the legs backwards.
• The berserk Slayer lands on the marauder's chest and crushes its head with his foot.
• The Slayer (from either in front or behind) cuts off the marauder's head and torso with the Crucible.

Battlemode

The marauder is one of six playable demons in Battlemode. Intended to pressure the Slayer at close range, the marauder is highly mobile thanks to his double-jump and dash abilities. He can use his super shotgun up-close and throw his axe to deal explosive damage wherever it lands; the marauder can also summon a spirit wolf which will chase down the Slayer before exploding.

Lore

In a page from the Ligra Sultagenta, still-human marauders can be seen forming ranks (at left) against the Sentinel loyalists during the Argenta civil war. A demonic marauder can be seen fighting the Slayer in the center.

Following the revelation of the Maykrs' betrayal of the Argenta, some of the Night Sentinels abandoned their oaths to King Novik and declared their loyalty to the Khan Maykr. The traitors who were slain in the Argenta civil war were later resurrected by the Divinity Machine that had been used to empower the Doom Slayer and transformed by Hell's power, becoming demonic themselves. They now serve as an infernal knightly order, acting as a twisted mockery of the noble warriors they used to be.

Development

Emerson Tung, a senior concept artist for Doom Eternal, shared information about the development of the marauder in "The Art of Doom Eternal Panel" on the Gallery Nucleus YouTube channel:

The marauder was conceived early on in development, during preproduction of the game, with Tung originally envisioning the marauder as a demonic counterpart to the Doom Slayer, a type of gunslinger enemy based on the design of the Doom Slayer from Doom (2016). Game director Hugo Martin then pitched the idea that the marauders are Night Sentinels, Doom Slayer's fallen comrades, that were corrupted by Hell, and design moved on in this direction. According to Tung, the wolf companion was also Martin's idea, which he requested after seeing an illustration by Tung that placed the final design of the marauder into an environment from the game.

According to Tung, the final design of the marauder's armor later also influenced the look of the armor worn by Argenta.

Pre-release

Hugo Martin promised at the 2018 QuakeCon convention that there is a story reason behind the appearance of the marauder and its resemblance to the Slayer which would be revealed in the game.

E3 2019

The marauder appears at the end of the story trailer of Doom Eternal, as the Slayer pulls out a chainsaw in response while it is swinging its battle-axe. Note that in the final game, it would be impossible to perform such an attack, as the Marauder is an invalid target for the chainsaw (as it is a Super Heavy demon).

At E3 2019 the marauder was revealed to be one of the five established playable demons in the new multiplayer Battlemode.

2020 trailer

The marauder appears in the second official trailer for Doom Eternal, walking out of a red portal facing the Slayer. This would be included in the final version of the game, in the ARC Complex level where the marauder is first introduced.

Gallery

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  The marauder as it appears in the Codex, before and after its demonic transformation.

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  As seen in the collectible viewer.

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  The Doom Slayer faces off with the marauder in the ARC Complex.

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  The ARC Complex marauder's face close-up.

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  The marauder toy.

Concept art

All concept art by Emerson Tung.

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  Ideation sketches of marauder, with armor similar to praetor suit.

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  Ideation sketches with long range weapons.

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  Another ideation sketch with handgun, with and without a helmet.

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  Close to final design, with variants of Crucible type weapons.

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  Final design from front and back.

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  Marauder's wolf concept art.

Trivia

• The marauder is voiced by Edward Bosco, who also voices the Icon of Sin.
• In early versions of the game, if the marauder was faltered with a grenade, he could be attacked with the Crucible and killed, causing a glitched animation to play, with his removed head stretching, leaving a tail of deformed textures. This glitched animation has been fixed in recent patches.
• When the Marauder steps out of a slipgate, it spawns behind the slipgate, and then walks through it. This can be abused by dashing into it, especially with the marauder near the buff totem in The Blood Swamps, which can be forced into a wall for an easy kill.
• The marauder has some unused voice lines.