The Marauders are the scourge of DOOM Eternal — shielded enemies that you can only attack when their eyes glow green. They’re the leading cause of lost lives, and some players are losing their minds trying to find a better strategy to beat them. There is a way to win fast, you just need the right weaponry, and great timing.
There are a few reasons why you’ll want to kill these guys first. First, they’re incredibly annoying enemies, so getting rid of them fast will save you a lot of heartache (and lives). Second, there’s a Secret Encounter where you need to kill a Marauder in thirty seconds or less. That sounds impossible at first, but it’s very doable with the right strategy. Below, I’ll explain all the best ways to take out a Marauder.
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The Marauder – The Basics
You’ll first encounter the Marauder in the ARC Complex mission. He’s the boss at the end, and he’s an overwhelming foe. Defeating him is all about positioning — if you’re too close, he’ll use his shotgun to knock you back. If you’re too far, he’ll launch killer shockwave attacks and send his incredibly annoying fire-dog summon to attack you.
To actually hurt the Marauder, you’ll need to stay in his mid-range and wait for his eyes to flash green. When they do, you can shoot him and stagger him. In his stunned state, you can attack him.
Any other time, attacks will be shielded. He raises a large shield that sends your attacks back at you. The only attacks that can damage him through his shield are grenades and remote detonation rockets. Ice Grenades, Chainsaw, Crucible Sword, and the BFG don’t work on him.
Well, the BFG does work. But only when he’s stunned.
How To Kill The Marauder Fast
There are a couple ways to kill the Marauder quickly. Remember that you can set two weapons as your quick-swap guns just by selecting them in order. The quick-swap weapon button helps a lot here.
- Wait for the Marauder’s eyes to turn green (only at mid-range) and then shoot him with the Super Shotgun.
- While he’s stunned, quick-swap to the BFG. He’ll die in one hit. Alternatively, use the Unmaykr to save ammo and waste him extremely fast.
If you don’t have BFG ammo, there’s a way to stunlock him with the Super Shotgun and Ballista. Stun with the Ballista, swap to the Ballista, shoot him, then rapidly swap back to the Shotgun, rinse and repeat. If you’re fast enough, he’ll be stunlocked until he’s down.
Even if you don’t stunlock him, using the Ballista is incredibly powerful. On Normal Difficulty, you can take him down in two stuns — shoot him once while his eyes are green, then once while he’s stunned. Repeat and he’s dead. The Super Shotgun is the easiest weapon to stun him thanks to the wide-range of effect, but if you’re a good shot, the Ballista will wreck the Marauder very quickly.
The faster you kill this guy the better. He’s worth wasting a BFG shot on.
