Marauders is an extraction shooter developed by Small Impact Games that offers players a tense and challenging experience. It has punishing gameplay, intense combat, and tight resource management mechanics.
While Marauders is mainly a first-person shooter, it also offers aerial combat at close range between spacecraft–in other words, dogfights in space! These space battles happen before a match starts, when players have to fly and dock into a space station which serves as the setting for a match. While doing this, the player can get attacked by AI enemies, other players’ ships, or even people trying to breach the ship with a boarding party. The game provides an excellent experience for those seeking a game like Escape From Tarkov.
A Marauders Space Pirate must know all the basics of dogfighting to survive in this game.
This guide will teach you everything you need to know about dogfighting other spaceships. We will detail when to attack, when to retreat, and how to approach various problems.
Overview of Dogfights in Marauders
To begin a raid, a major objective in the Marauders game, players must pilot their ships to a space station. Marauders enables players to explore small areas of space around each space station. In this zero-G setting, players can engage in dogfight battles with AI enemies and other players. These aerial battles make the gameplay more varied, tense, and chaotic! You never know when you might be attacked.
The purpose is not only the fun of battling in space, but also to complete tasks that can only be completed with a spacecraft. For example, players can destroy targets with their spaceship’s mounted weaponry and even breach enemy AI ships to raid them.
The players, or “Space Pirates” as they are styled in-game, start with a default spaceship called the Rustbucket. Despite the name, faithful Rustbucket can be considered the best ship in the game because it is free, and you can get a new one whenever a player dies.
Players can also customize their default ship by crafting deadly additions. Crafting in Marauders can raise the firepower of your ship.
Players can also jump into an escape pod from their ship or the space station, which allows them to breach other ships to engage in ground combat with their enemies.
What Is Breaching in Marauders
Any Marauders player who decides to engage in dogfights must understand the importance of the breaching mechanic, because it is very likely that the player who loses a dogfight will try to breach the victor’s spaceship.
Breaching in Marauders allows players to get into enemy ships, a common occurrence when a dogfight is over. At the start of a match, players will likely jump into escape pods immediately to try to breach the first spaceship they see.
How will you know if your ship is about to be boarded? Usually, escape pods have a bright white orb around them. This is the most apparent sign that a player’s craft is about to get breached.
Quick Tips on How to Handle Getting Breached After a Dogfight in Marauders
- Try to shoot the enemy escape pod before it docks.
- Dock your personal craft in the space station.
- Extract.
- If the enemy is close to you, jump into an escape pod before the enemy can get in.
- If an enemy has already breached your craft, go on the offensive. Don’t cower in the pilot cabin.
For more insight about breaches in Marauders, check out our guide about How to Survive When Your Ship Gets Breached in Marauders.
Tips & Tricks for Dogfights in Marauders
These quick tips should help any player excel at dogfights in space.
Attack From Below
Most ships don’t have any weapons on their undersides, so it is tough to hit an enemy right beneath them. Therefore, the best angle of attack is from below. If you strike from this vantage, an enemy ship must maneuver a lot before it can strike you back.
Remember that it is crucial that you, as the attacker, move your ship according to the enemy ship’s movements to maintain that advantageous position.
Use The Environment
Like any first-person shooter, if you start an attack while standing on an open field, your enemy can easily counter your attacks as you are in a vulnerable spot with no cover.
Use the level environment to hide your spaceship from upcoming attacks, take cover when necessary, and maneuver around your surroundings to be a more challenging target.
Related Article: How to Complete all Zero to Hero Missions in Marauders
Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
Before engaging in a dogfight, check your surroundings. Are there any AI or enemy players in the vicinity besides your target? If you attack a fellow player and a third player suddenly ambushes you, you will be vulnerable. There is also the danger of encountering an AI enemy ship, such as the Capital Frigate, which can severely damage any vessel.
Keep your surroundings tidy. Remember to shoot AI turrets on the map near you to prevent getting damaged by them.
Time Your Shots
Don’t just spam shots; place them well and track the enemy’s movement and patterns. Spamming shoots will only make you easy prey against more experienced players, so be smart and shoot with purpose.
If an enemy is moving to the side, try to place your shots where your target will be. This combat tactic takes practice, but once you master it, you can destroy any ship in sight.
Related Article: How Armor and Helmets Work in Marauders
Understand the Crosshairs
The Crosshairs in Marauders are not perfect, and depending on the distance of the enemy ship, you might have to aim slightly above the enemy ship to land your shoots.
Upgrade Your Ship
Upgrading your spaceship can be done through crafting. A player can add impressive turrets and other equipment that deal severe damage.
These upgrades will be visible to other players, which is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, an impressive front may scare off enemies before they attack. On the other hand, you may attract enemies who hope to loot your upgraded ship!
Know When To Retreat from a Marauders Dogfight
If you are about to lose a dogfight, try to land in the space station or exit the match. Once on the space station, you can repair your spaceship safely. If you are not close to an exit or a space station, take an escape pod and bring the fight into your enemy ship by boarding them. Alternatively, if you have valuable loot that you wish to escape with, extract the escape pod from the match.
It’s better to leave a match with a bit of valuable loot than with nothing. When your back is against the wall, surviving is winning!
Be On The Move
Standing still might make it easier to land your shots, but that will make you an easy target to enemy players and AI ships. Always be on the move and be unpredictable. Don’t be a sitting duck–flap those wings and fly!
Play your dogfights as if you were on a ground gunfight; rotate and switch angles to give your Marauders enemies a complex challenge.
Get A Crew Together to Win Dogfights in Marauders
As the saying goes, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
There is no safer way to play this game than with a group of friends. Having a group of friends of at least three allows one player to pilot the ship, the second to control the turret, and the remaining one to monitor damage and complete repairs.
Having three players will make it much easier to counter enemy breachers.
Last Thoughts on How to Win Your Next Dogfights in Marauders
Dogfights can be very fun in Marauders but punishing, even for experienced players. Dominating space battles in this game takes practice and patience, and a player can encounter many unexpected circumstances while fighting in space.
This guide will help you become a lethal dogfighter in Marauders. Do not forget to check out other articles, such as our Marauders beginners guide for new players.
Good Luck, Space Pirate!
