Marauder

Marauder
Our beloved crack-hack-jumper.


Cost	4 morph points
Health	150
Unlock	-
Cost (Advanced)	6 morph points
Health (Advanced)	175
Unlock (Advanced)	1
Abilities	Wall jump, strafe-jumping
Primary Attack
Type	Bite / Slash
Damage	40
Repeat Delay	0.5 seconds
Repeat Delay (Advanced)	0.4 seconds
Secondary Attack (Advanced)
Type	Lightning
Damage	60
Repeat Delay	1.5 seconds

The first true alien assault form, marauders are agile and can easily leap over human defenses to strike at critical structures. They possess the ability to wall-jump, allowing both an easy way to dodge humans and a way to reach places that only wall-walking forms can get to. It also allows the marauder to build up speed. The advanced form provides increased health and a chain lightning attack, which is very effective against groups of humans and tightly packed human structures.

Tips

Marauders move faster while jumping than while walking. Jump constantly and lop their heads off!

You can easily accelerate down the corridors using the wall jump.

Advanced Movement

Contrary to the common sense, the Marauder can accelerate in air while doing slow turns. This technique is called strafe-jumping. All aliens and humans are capable of strafe-jumping, but the marauder gains the most from it. Simply hold the forward key together with a left or right key, and slowly turn in that direction while jumping continuously. If you turn at the right speed, you will accelerate quickly. You might want to alternate turning directions to stay on a straight path. Using this technique you can close the distance or run away much faster than it's possible with just the normal jumping.

Background

Originally an arboreal species, the alien that was to become the marauder evolved on a world with abundant tree cover and rocky protrusions. With its ability to quickly jump off vertical surfaces, the marauder could rapidly accelerate itself upwards, to catch new prey or escape a potential predator. In addition, despite its small size, it is anything but fragile: a life in the trees and cliffs has provided the diminutive marauder with exceptional stamina and vigor.

Seizing its potential as a rapid assault unit, the hivemind has modified the marauder’s talons, turning them from mere climbing implements to lengthy chitinous blades ending in a single molecule at the edge. With these, the marauder is capable of slicing through the thickest human armor with ease, digging through to the vulnerable humans within after a few quick strikes. The advanced form of the marauder, produced by the hivemind for more dug-in defenders, is capable of generating massive amounts of static electricity, stored within specialized glands around the forelimbs. As the marauder leaps about, electricity is generated, which may then be released in powerful bursts.

With its capabilities, the marauder is often used as a lone wolf, able to both fend for itself and rapidly escape before it can be slain. It can quickly tear apart lone humans, who often find it difficult to target the rapidly jumping marauder. In addition, the advanced form is of great use when besieging a well-defended human base, with the electroshock rapidly destroying large swathes of human equipment.