M2E Marcus

[dgraz]

 

when turning an enemy into a beast, giving them domesticate to help turn them into a beast still effects them when you activate them, so they have a minus flip on their duels even when you control them

 

It's true. And if you Howl beforehand to decrease their WP......once you turn them into a beast they get the +2 Wp instead.

 

I'm not a big fan of using Alpha on enemies...though I certainly will if I think I can reap a big benefit out of it. With Domesticate up, Alpha an enemy that's standing next to your RSR or Myranda (or both) and just have them attempt to walk away.....enjoy the damage they take from Wicked.

[Suzakuni]

Yea, I alpha'd  Ryle in a Leveticus list and was hoping to kill 2 waifs, but with the negative flip I couldn't do anything with it

[dgraz]

With Marcus' big Ca of 7 you can push it through without Domesticate....but then it usually requires two good cards (one for Feral and one for Alpha)....that's why I don't often use it on enemies.

[Breng77]

Isn't howl a pulse? If so they would not get the willpower buff if you howl first.

[Bengt]

Isn't howl a pulse? If so they would not get the willpower buff if you howl first.

Howl gives you a Condition that carries with it the "if beast" clause, it doesn't give you different conditions depending on what you are when the pulse hits. So every time you use your Wp you'll have to check if you are a beast and modify your Wp accordingly.

[dgraz]

Howl gives you a Condition that carries with it the "if beast" clause, it doesn't give you different conditions depending on what you are when the pulse hits. So every time you use your Wp you'll have to check if you are a beast and modify your Wp accordingly.

Word.

[decker_cky]

It's true. And if you Howl beforehand to decrease their WP......once you turn them into a beast they get the +2 Wp instead.

 

I'm not a big fan of using Alpha on enemies...though I certainly will if I think I can reap a big benefit out of it. With Domesticate up, Alpha an enemy that's standing next to your RSR or Myranda (or both) and just have them attempt to walk away.....enjoy the damage they take from Wicked.

 

I'd say it's something to keep in mind. When you take over an enemy model, you can often cause some unexpected damage and ruin your opponent's positioning at the same time. But that's tougher to plan for than just using your own models.

[Phototoxin]

I'm coming back to 'faux and my GF wants to play Marcus. Aside from claw&fang what other thing/unit/dudes should she get (eg with guild the riflemen tend to be a no brainer, with pandora teddy is good)

 

And can marcus use ANY beast?

[decker_cky]

Marcus can use ANY beast (that's not somebody else's totem). 

 

Marcus box set is a great starter, and eventually, Marcus is basically a faction unto himself. 

 

But to start out, I'd get Waldgeists and either molemen or silurids. That gives you enough to put down a good variety of playstyles until you expand further into Faction Marcus.

[dgraz]

I'm a big fan of Canine Remains to start with. Cheap and pretty quick.

[Patzer]

Marcus is basically a faction unto himself. 

That is really why I want to get a Marcus crew going one day. Between all the Beasts, Mercs, and the overall power of the Arcanists Marcus can bring together some really cool crews.

[dgraz]

That is really why I want to get a Marcus crew going one day. 

What are you waiting for? Embrace your primal side!!!

[Shadowfane]

So, I joined the Marcus fan club last night....

 

We started a new campaign with our gaming group, and since the last time I used my Neverborn, I thought I'd go with a change and picked Arcanists for the campaign.

 

We're playing Story Encounters for all the strats, which means you can pick you schemes freely.

I ended up the attacker on the Heist strat, and picked Deliver the Message and Power Ritual as my schemes.

I ended up taking:

Marcus (Trail of the Gods, Arcane Reservoir, and the upgrade that gives him Instinctive)

Myranda (Imbued Energies and Pack Hunter)

Jackalope

Cerberus (Imbued Energies)

December Acolyte

Silurid

Silurid

 

against a Leveticus crew.

 

So..... Much.... Leap...

 

I'm really impressed by just how fast and evasive a Marcus Beast crew can be - ended up winning 9-6 (because I didn't annouce Deliver a Message)

 

One of the rules of our campaign is that we can't used a Master twice in a row, so next game will have to be someone else, but I suspect Marcus will be making a return  

[Whut]

Couple of questions about Marcus and his list.

1) He seems very suit intensive. Is this restrictive? He needs:

A tome for Trail of the Gods (if he wants to go melee mode)

A tome for his Attack trigger (which sets him up for Defend Me!)

A tome for Defend Me!

High tomes for Cerberus' maul trigger

A high mask for Law of Meat

A high mask for Alpha

A mask for every leap his crew wants to do (Gupps, Cerberus, Jackalope) (which many turns will be between 1-3 leaps)

 

2) He doesn't actually seem to support beasts at all. The closest he has to supporting beasts is Pack Leader, Darzee's, and Alpha. But the former one is difficult to set up (I never know who is tanky enough to put it on except the Rogue Necromancy, but I'd rather have Energies on him), and the the latter two can be used on any model turned into a beast (multiple ways to do this). Is Marcus better off running a few beasts to make most of his few support abilities and then just generally good models for the rest? Is this correct? What is the best non-beasts to take with Marcus?

[dgraz]

It can seem suit intensive sometimes. I try to take a minimum of 5-6 SS...all 7 if I can just so at least Marcus can always do his thing. 

 

 

Couple of questions about Marcus and his list.

1) He seems very suit intensive. Is this restrictive? He needs:

A tome for Trail of the Gods (if he wants to go melee mode)

This and Defend Me can sometimes make you feel like you're playing down cards because you're holding on to crappy Tomes. 

 

A tome for his Attack trigger (which sets him up for Defend Me!) 

Remember that he can also use Feral....which doesn't need a suit.

 

A tome for Defend Me!

High tomes for Cerberus' maul trigger

With plus flips on attack, I often top deck it, but yes....this is where every high Tome should go. Why wouldn't you?

 

A high mask for Law of Meat

A high mask for Alpha

As I said, SS are key here...and you really only need a "high" Mask if you're going after an enemy (and if you Domesticate them first they're on Negative flips)....but generally Alpha is better on your own heavies like the Cerberus and the Rogue.......then you only need a mid-Mask.

 

A mask for every leap his crew wants to do (Gupps, Cerberus, Jackalope) (which many turns will be between 1-3 leaps)

mmmmmm.....honestly it's only the Cerberus. The Jackalope isn't important enough generally to warrant a cheat and the Gupps are similar...those things I'll make the attempt but if I fail I fail. It's only the Cerberus that I want to guarantee...and that's only a 5+, so there are plenty of cards that will do it. Remember that you don't need to Leap every turn....only when it'll really benefit you.

Silurids nor the Blessed of December require a Mask to Leap.

 

 

2) He doesn't actually seem to support beasts at all. The closest he has to supporting beasts is Pack Leader, Darzee's, and Alpha.

You forget Howl. Which is positively huge when facing crews that attack WP. It's also a great de-buff to the enemy for your models that have Manipulative or Terrifying.

 

But the former one is difficult to set up (I never know who is tanky enough to put it on except the Rogue Necromancy, but I'd rather have Energies on him), 

Blessed of December all day. If you haven't read over my write ups on all of the beasts in this thread I encourage you to....the Blessed is post #353.

 

and the the latter two can be used on any model turned into a beast (multiple ways to do this). Is Marcus better off running a few beasts to make most of his few support abilities and then just generally good models for the rest? Is this correct? What is the best non-beasts to take with Marcus?

As someone who has hardly ever run any non-beasts with Marcus I would strongly disagree with anyone that said he was better without them. He can be played that way, and you can do well.....but I think "better" is not the case.

 

I think of it more as Marcus isn't really there to support the Beasts, they are there to support him. Yes there are ways to make model's beast, but I'd rather save those AP for de-buffing or killing an enemy than wasting it on a friend when I could have just taken a beast in the first place. I'm also not a big fan of attacking and doing damage to my own models....again, wasting AP and only helping the enemy out. 

 

Certain things Marcus does can support non-beasts....like shutting enemies down with Law of Meat. And of course, Marcus is just a good all around master that doesn't really need a 'key word' to get things done. 

 

December Acolytes are a good choice for him. Howard of course is good anywhere and can be a helluva Alpha missile....but then he's probably going to die. Arcane Effigy for Condition Removal. That's all I can think of....non-beasts with him isn't my strength.

[Adran]

Couple of questions about Marcus and his list.

1) He seems very suit intensive. Is this restrictive? He needs:

A tome for Trail of the Gods (if he wants to go melee mode)

A tome for his Attack trigger (which sets him up for Defend Me!)

A tome for Defend Me!

High tomes for Cerberus' maul trigger

A high mask for Law of Meat

A high mask for Alpha

A mask for every leap his crew wants to do (Gupps, Cerberus, Jackalope) (which many turns will be between 1-3 leaps)

 

2) He doesn't actually seem to support beasts at all. The closest he has to supporting beasts is Pack Leader, Darzee's, and Alpha. But the former one is difficult to set up (I never know who is tanky enough to put it on except the Rogue Necromancy, but I'd rather have Energies on him), and the the latter two can be used on any model turned into a beast (multiple ways to do this). Is Marcus better off running a few beasts to make most of his few support abilities and then just generally good models for the rest? Is this correct? What is the best non-beasts to take with Marcus?

 

1)I personally almost always buy Arcane resevoir on Marcus. and I will spend stones for cards if my hand doesn't support what I want to do that turn.

I also recomend a decent number of ss for Marcus' suits. It does require you to know what you plan to do with Marcus each turn. I'm not going to go melee crazy and cast Alpha and Law of meat on the same turn. The option I do do that turn may be dictated by my hand for that turn.

 

I don't use Defend me all that often, its more of a happy bonus, rather than a plan.

 

I'll save a mask for a cerberus leap, if its important for that turn. The Jackolope and gupps are typically leap if they flip it. Silurids and The blessed are more likely to need to leap, but also not suit intensive.

 

so in summery, he can be resource intensive, but some of those resources can be low cards. I have played games where I haven't had a tome in my hand for the first 3 turns, and that can make his limited upogrades much less useful, but they aren't the norm. Have a fluid plan to make the most of your resources, and be prepared to change when you need to. You can't do eevrything everytime, so make the most of what you do do.

 

 

 

2) It depends on how you play him. He can do some nice things with beasts, especially if you build your list to support beasts. You can build crews to not use beasts at all, and its not wrong. (Not the best either  ).

There isn't a best non-beast to take with him. Likewise there isn't a best beast to take with him. I play him by taking the models which do what I need to do to score me points. Sometimes these are beasts, sometimes they aren't.

I look at the mission and pick the models from his hiring pool that I want to use to complete the mission. My big hitter might be a cerberus, or it might be a rail golem, neitehr is always the choice. I might hire a silurid for scheme dropping or a soulstone miner, dependign on what I expect to need.

[dgraz]

1)I personally almost always buy Arcane resevoir on Marcus. and I will spend stones for cards if my hand doesn't support what I want to do that turn.

 

 Have a fluid plan to make the most of your resources, and be prepared to change when you need to. You can't do eevrything everytime, so make the most of what you do do.

 

I look at the mission and pick the models from his hiring pool that I want to use to complete the mission. 

I see several people do the Reservoir but I find Marcus to be more flexible by taking all of his own Upgrades.

 

The second line I quoted is massively Marcus. Fluidity is the name of the game for him.

 

The third line is also very true. Marcus has quite the toolbox....picking the right tool for the job AND using it for that job is the best path to victory with him. My only difference here (purely personal play-style) is that I believe there is a beast that can do every job so I reach for that beast instead of reaching for non-beasts.

[bertmac]

Im considering going for a marcus from the shadows list. 3 wild boars and 2 december acolytes with marcus turning up with his 8"walk pretty quickly to put opponents under pressure then maybe myranda jackalope and something else to look after the backfield.

[dgraz]

Im considering going for a marcus from the shadows list. 3 wild boars and 2 december acolytes with marcus turning up with his 8"walk pretty quickly to put opponents under pressure then maybe myranda jackalope and something else to look after the backfield.

The only thing I don't like about that is the uncertainty of the boars. I find Marcus to be pretty demanding on positioning and striking at the right spot for best effect....you can't make those decisions with the boars.

[Marcanist]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone here, this thread has really helped me start to get the hang of my Marcus tactics and as a beginner it's been absolutely invaluable. I will look forward to more hints and tips from you guys soon!

[dgraz]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone here, this thread has really helped me start to get the hang of my Marcus tactics and as a beginner it's been absolutely invaluable. I will look forward to more hints and tips from you guys soon!

Happy to do it.....welcome, and post any questions you have any time......I could talk Marcus all day

[WalterL]

Marcus has a lot of benefit from the Arcane Emissary.  It makes beasts (and it) within 4" immune to defensive triggers on attack actions, in addition to being the awesome model it always is.  In particular this helps a lot with assassination (lots of masters rely on defensive triggers), and lets us butcher Horsemen, whose defensive trigger normally defends them really well.

[Marcanist]

Happy to do it.....welcome, and post any questions you have any time......I could talk Marcus all day

Thanks!

Not really a "how to" question but which models are people looking forward to using with their Marcus crew that haven't been released in plastic yet? Do we have release dates for them?

So far I've used Beast-only crews for Marcus and I'm concentrating on only trying one or two new models models each time I play, but I would like to get a hold of the Blessed of December, Night Terrors and Guild Hounds when they come out. I haven't been able to find any info on release dates yet though

[nomadicXnightmare]

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who has contributed to this guide. I've run Marcus since ME1 and, after taking a hiatus from the game, this guide has helped me immensely to ease back into the fold.

My local meta, as far as Archanists are concerned, gravitates to Rasputina in spades, so it feels good to run ME2 Marcus and give them a real challenge, if not a solid boot to ass on the tabletop. They have come to fear the Cerberus and nobody ever expects the Slurids running objectives or mauling the random lone minion!

I just recently starting trying out a Dawn Serpent and I'm not sure I'm convinced yet. It's nice actually having some range support, but he seems like such a ss sink to fill a niche that, frankly seems counter-synergetic to the rest of the crew. Any thoughts on if he's really worth it?

[dgraz]

You're welcome.

I don't use the Dawn Serpent much....about the only things I could say I already said when I first spoke about it in this thread. I generally only run a couple of high cost models and those slots are usually reserved for things like the BoD (which is almost an auto include for me) and a Rogue Necro or Cerberus....though I find myself actually hiring the Cerberus less and less lately and just using Myranda for the Shapechange when I need it.