FFXIV Marauder (MRD) Leveling Guide & Rotation | ShB UPDATED

How to level up your Marauder (MRD) fast! Learn all about your skills, role actions, and how to level up HERE!

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So you’ve taken up the Axe? Well, more tanks in the world is a good thing! If you’re here, you’re in need of advice leveling up your MRD, no? Well, this is our Marauder Leveling Guide so you’ve found the right place!

This page is strictly for Marauder – focusing more on MRD specific info like skills, traits, and playstyle notes. The GENERAL PROCESS that you should be following is outlined in our GENERAL LEVELING GUIDE: Which you should be using ALONGSIDE THIS GUIDE.

Marauder: Unlocking, and other basics

How to unlock the MRD Class?
Location: Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks, Marauders’ Guild (x:11.2, y:6.1)
NPCs: E-Sumi-Yan, Madelle
Related Quests: (all in the same place)
> So you want to be a Marauder
> Way of the Marauder
> My First Axe
Others: You may also begin the game as Marauder

Marauders are Tank classes, falling under the Disciple of War category. Tanks have two “main stats”. STR increases damage dealt, which equates to speed while leveling up. VIT increases HP.

You should be using a Healer or DPS chocobo companion (maybe a hybrid of the two).

You may also want to check out our Marauder General Guide & FAQ for other basic info.

Leveling Methods, References and Reminders

In these boxes, I’ll put info that you’ll likely be referring to (or discovering) while leveling up your Marauder.

EXP Grinding Methods

Here’s a generic outline of what you should be doing at any given time. The higher it is, the more value it is for EXP.

Leveling ActivityUnlocks & Notes
Main Scenario QuestIf this is your first character. Only stop and go down the list if you’re locked out.
Duty Roulette: LevelingComplete Sastasha and Tam-tara Deepcroft in the main scenario.
Palace of the DeadUnlocks at L17 for your first character, and you can zone in at L1 thereafter.
FATESThe baseline activity for gaining incidental EXP.
GuildhestComplete each one ONCE for each class. Roulette version optional.
Hunting LogGives some decent EXP if you’re bored or in queue. Terrible if you skip a tier.
Challenge LogUnlocks at L17 for your first character. Best done “passively” until nearing week end.
Dungeon GrindGrinding dungeons via Duty Roulette: Leveling or straight queue.
LevequestsHonestly, Battlecraft leves are only so-so… Where? See: Levequests Guide

I give you many options because sanity, boredom, and changing it up are important to many people. Again, more detailed info can be found in the General Leveling guide.

Bonus EXP and other EXP effects

There are a few bonus EXP items you can equip for some minimal gains.

Heat of Battle (Free Company Action) 10/20/30%
Eating ANY FOOD BUFF +3% (You can buy from NPC IE Boiled Egg)

Moogle Hat until L10
Friendship Circlet until L25
Brand-new Ring until L30
Ala Mhigan Earrings until L50

These mainly work for monster kills, so don’t sweat it if you don’t have ‘em. Your journey is long, and killing monsters isn’t that large of a source of EXP.

Last but not least of these reminders, always logout at a sanctuary. It’s noted by the moon icon on the right side of your EXP bar. You gain rested EXP in these areas!

Marauder Leveling – 01 to 30

If this is your first character:
MAIN SCENARIO QUEST IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY.

If you’re fresh Marauder – go start up with your hunting log. A level one character doing hunting logs + participating in level appropriate FATES isn’t bad this early on. For MRD’s, all Tier 1 log entries are in Lower and Middle La Noscea. (You can do this while queued up for POTD).

After this early burst, refer to the table above for “what to do”.

L1 Skill UnlockedHeavy Swing: For all intents and purposes – your basic attack.

L4 Skill Unlocked – Skull Sunder: Combos from Heavy Swing, this is the very cute beginnings of your future rotation. It has a secondary effect of generating more enmity.

L5 MRD Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks – Marauders’ Guild. These spawn every 5 levels up until 50, and can give you notable rewards (besides, you NEED to do them to become a Warrior).

L6 Skill Unlocked – Berserk: Is a substantial DPS increase cooldown. Use it on fat enemies and groups. Well, I guess if you’re soloing use it as often as practically possible…

L8 Role Actions unlocked!

So you’ve unlocked your first role action as Marauder. If you’re new, you access this by pressing (default) P > Role. Slots for role actions are unlocked at 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 for base classes Technically you unlock more at 32 onward, but you should advance to Warrior by then.

For a glimpse into the future, see: Tank Role Actions Guide.

L8 Role Action slot I unlockedRampart: Is a generic toughness boosting cooldown. It’s basic, but its one of the best role actions for us. Use it often in dungeons, at the beginning of new pulls and during bosses.

L10 Skill Unlocked – Overpower: Your very first AoE skill (and a great one at that). Best used in packs of 3 or more, but in the early levels it’s justified using it on two guys. It consumes quite a bit of TP so be wary of that.

L10 MRD Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Upper Decks – Marauders’ Guild.

L10 Hmm... Guildhests?

Are guildhests worth it while leveling? Note that you get a large bonus EXP for the first time you complete a guildhest with that class. This is pretty worth it!

I mention this now at level 10 since we have a special guildhest – Under the Armor. It’s the fastest guildhest and people use this as the unofficial hest to queue up for to nail the Challenge Log entries quickly. It also helps for the quick completion of the “Player Commendation” entry.

The roulette is so-so. I like it very early on when the hests are limited to the extremely easy ones.

L12 Role Action slot II unlockedLow Blow: Is amazing. Its primary use is interrupting annoying AoE from mobs. However, one oft forgotten purpose of stun is damage mitigation. A stunned guy won’t hit you! Simple as that! Stunning a guy in a pack of 3 (common in dungeons) reduces damage taken by 33%!

L15 MRD Class Quest unlocks Tomahawk: check in on your guildmaster in Limsa – Marauders’ Guild.

Tomahawk: A ranged attack great for pulling dungeons and raid bosses. Use it to get an extra hit in while approaching your target.

L15 Unlocks - Duty Roulette Leveling

DR Leveling is an insane source of EXP and you shouldn’t let a day pass without doing it!

However, in this day and age there is a problem.

There are people who are the “Pure Palace of the Dead all the way BBY” types (nothing wrong with that), who may shun doing DR Leveling simply because they have no gear to speak of.

Don’t be dismayed due to a lack of gear! Grand Company seal gear is more than enough during this phase of the leveling period. It’s essentially FREE! NQ’s or cheap pieces from the market board can supplement the blanks. You can even buy from NPC’s!

These dungeons aren’t tuned to be very punishing, and being at a lower item level isn’t the end of the world.

Tanking Gear and YOU

So by now, you may have noticed that some left-side pieces are for “Disciple of War”. These generic pieces are often bad for you. Why? The tanking class specific gear (usually “usable by GLD MRD DRK”) have vastly higher armor and magic defense ratings. Get those!

This info is important from here on, since doing dungeons/roulette is a very good source of EXP.

If you’re one of those “pure POTD” types. Well. Back in the hole for you, I suppose!

L16 Role Actions Slot III UnlockedProvoke: is a godlike tank role action, and one you should familiarize yourself with as early as now. It gives you top enmity on a target mob, but only by a single point. Always follow it up right after – the usual is Provoke into Tomahawk. While it’s crap for soloing, it’s a MUST HAVE in any other type of content.

L17 Unlocks - Challenge Log

Keep in mind it unlocks at L17 FOR FIRST TIMERS, but if you do have it unlocked, the Challenge Log can be abused from L1 for other classes.

The Challenge log is a great way to gain EXP on the side. You should seek to complete as many relevant entries as you can before the week resets – at which time try to chase the good ones before it’s too late!

Not all entries are equally good – check the General Leveling Guide for tips.

 

L18 Skill Unlocked – Maim: Combos from Heavy Swing. If you need to purely do damage, Maim beats Skull Sunder for that purpose. Only use Skull Sunder in dungeons WHEN YOU NEED ENMITY. Maim also gives the enemy a debuff of -10% slashing damage resistance which means MORE DAMAGE FOR ALL OF OUR SKILLS! Always keep this buff up on enemies, especially bosses.

L20 Role Actions Slot IV unlockedConvalescence:  increases incoming heals. It’s obviously quite bad as we don’t really have access to healing skills right now (it does affect your healer Chocobo!).

L20 MRD Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks – Marauders’ Guild.

L24 Role Actions Slot V unlockedAnticipation: Increases parry rate. This is an amazing cooldown when facing 3 or more mobs. Against bosses, however, you shouldn’t rely on it.

L25 MRD Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks – Marauders’ Guild.

L26 Skill UnlockedThrill of Battle: A defensive cooldown which beefs up your max life and heals you for the same amount. It’s pretty good, and will be useful for the rest of your Warrior career. It’s one of the few skills that compound very well with other defensive cooldowns – ramping up your effective HP enormously.

Once you hit level 30 FULL STOP! It’s time you evolve into a job class – in your case that’s Warrior (WAR)! The prerequisites to unlocking the quest are simply finishing ALL MRD class quests up to level 30.

L30 Class quest unlocksButcher’s Block, and the prereq for Warrior:

Butcher’s Block: Your first combo finisher! So your single target rotation now goes back to Heavy Swing > Skull Sunder > Butcher’s Block. Don’t ignore Maim though, it’s great for bosses – and if you have other slashing characters in your party (DRK, SAM, NIN etc…).

Completing this quest marks your final class quest as Marauder. You now have the right to become a Warrior!

How to become a Warrior?

The quest to become a Warrior is Pride and Duty (Will Take You from the Mountain), found in Marauders’ Guild. Completing this quest gives you Soul of the Warrior, and Defiance skill. (I know, that quest name seems long, but I promise you that’s not a typo)

Soul of the Warrior is your job soul crystal. To become a Warrior you merely have to equip it (it’s on the lower right most equipment slot). Equipping the soul crystal is a tiny bit of a hassle since you have to rebind your skills, and reconfigure your equipment set. But it’s okay since you’ll likely never be a Marauder again.

And with that YOU’RE DONE WITH LEVELING Marauder! Congrats! Feel free to proceed to the Warrior Leveling Guide. Hopefully our Marauder Leveling Guide helped you out – Patience friend, you’ll be Fell Cleaving soon enough.

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