How do you build Marcus?

[Lampros]

What advanced class paths and gear? I am having trouble as to what to do with him, because he sucks the most among the core characters. 40 percent Skill growth on a DPS character is such a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ handicap. Last game I grinded XP on the last archer in the training mission, and he ended up getting 5-6 consecutive non-advancement anyways. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[sunliang817]

wear skill ring as soon as you get it, use the dice item on him. I build him as raider and warlord, put a warhammer on him , he is the best tin opener in the game.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by sunliang817:

wear skill ring as soon as you get it, use the dice item on him. I build him as raider and warlord, put a warhammer on him , he is the best tin opener in the game.

So you want him to hit first? Don't you need to flank or backstab with him, even with the Skill growth item?

[CaoLex]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by sunliang817:

wear skill ring as soon as you get it, use the dice item on him. I build him as raider and warlord, put a warhammer on him , he is the best tin opener in the game.

So you want him to hit first? Don't you need to flank or backstab with him, even with the Skill growth item?

It's always better to backstab or flank, but if he can kill with one hit then frontal attack is fine too.

[Noules]

Best "opener" is probably a commando archer with the feather token. By targeting and killing something in the middle of a group, the archer can give themselves a bonus turn while spreading the marked debuff to everyone around the target, setting up for easy commando follow up.

As for Marcus...I used him to open chests and tag objectives since I had to bring him anyway. So 'porter' is his build. I tried for a while to make him work, but he's overshadowed by pretty much everyone else. Once Finn leveled up a bit there was no point to using Marcus except to try to keep him leveled up enough so he wasn't literally a liability.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Noules:

As for Marcus...I used him to open chests and tag objectives since I had to bring him anyway. So 'porter' is his build. I tried for a while to make him work, but he's overshadowed by pretty much everyone else. Once Finn leveled up a bit there was no point to using Marcus except to try to keep him leveled up enough so he wasn't literally a liability.

:(

It's such an oversight that one of the three core characters is such a gimp...

But what is the least bad option for him in terms of advanced classes and weapons loadout? ;)

[Tuidjy]

He will never be a star, but he does not have to be a liability. In my 13 person team, he may be the second worst, and that's only because I refuse to dump Arland, but that does not mean he is useless.

First of all, he is a warm body. He can collect stuff, talk to people, extend a zone of control, and take a warhammer to the face without blinking out of existence like a so called defender.

Second, he has high strength and can punch. Give him a set of spiked gloves, and he gets to deliver a bit of damage, and make the enemy face his way, which very often sets up a devastating flank.

Third, his mediocre skill does not matter when he is attacking someone's back. He is not the best at creating such situation, but it happens.

Now, the above makes him somewhat useful. But you can squeeze a bit more out of him.

By making him a raider, he gets a leaping attack that can be useful to disrupt an enemy formation, even if he does not land the blow. Just by displacing an enemy, he may open the path for someone deadlier *cough*Reyson*cough* to get behind enemy lines and do his thing.

If you make him a hero, he gets an even better mobility ability, but but that has charges. On the other hand, when there are injured allies nearby, he gets better at hitting.

Finally, if you are warrior, you get no mobility skills, but he can carry a ton of weapons. He can have his trusty punch, a sword for a better chance to hit, a warhammer to erase defenders, who usually are not very good at dodging, and a raiding axe to allow him some mobility, as long as he has someone to inflict effects.

As for tier III classes, well, he does not really shine at any of them. I made him a warlord, and gave him the billhook. He is now even better at helping setup up enemies to be killed by others.

[Dieuw]

I made Marcus a Hero > Lionheart and he did just fine. At times, the hero's ability to charge through and break apart an enemy formation is very useful (mostly on chapter 15). The hero charge cannot miss and also fortifies Marcus, so his low skill/hit rate isn't an issue there, and also fortifies him. It can also grant him bonus movement if injured allies are nearby so he can walk into flanks, which cannot miss. But charging in front alongside a shield, he is very hard to kill afterwards. The rest of your units can then just isolate/backstab kill units. And he can carry a warjammer just fine to kill high def, low evade units.

It's definitely not a high tier killer, but he brings good utility this way with little resource cost. If I build him again, I would probably go the warrior > warlord route with loaded dice on him. He has very high str and should be able to use shot and turn refresh using that combo. That does take loaded dice away from someone else, though.

I *did* level him the first few levels with the skill ring but only until I got Sven, who then took it.

[HangarPilot]

I really like the "Raider" class for Marcus ... the ability to jump 3 tiles and pounce on someone seems quite handy. I also gave him the skirmisher shoes. I tend to use him as a "finisher" ... front line softens them up (or at least gets through their armor) ... Marcus jumps over everyone for the kill ... and the extra movement points afterwards let him fall back behind the line (or run over to the next poor slob).

Stuck with 1H Axe so he could keep his shield ... but did upgrade the axe some to improve both damage and hit chance. Starting to use "punch" more and becoming much more attune to facing and exposing enemy flanks (and protecting my own). My goodness this is fun.

I think he works well ... as for Arland ... turned him into a Crusader and am using him meat shield and healer.

[sunliang817]

guys，i dunno how everyone played this game, Marcus is definitely one of the strongest during mid-game chapters, as I gave the dice item to finn later stage of the game, marcus some times misses hits. But come on, he has higher growth rate (over 300 combined）than most of other characters（mostly 295）, so I guess that makes him strong. Btw I played Veteran + fixed growth + permanent .

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

By making him a raider, he gets a leaping attack that can be useful to disrupt an enemy formation, even if he does not land the blow. Just by displacing an enemy, he may open the path for someone deadlier *cough*Reyson*cough* to get behind enemy lines and do his thing.

If you make him a hero, he gets an even better mobility ability, but but that has charges. On the other hand, when there are injured allies nearby, he gets better at hitting.

Finally, if you are warrior, you get no mobility skills, but he can carry a ton of weapons. He can have his trusty punch, a sword for a better chance to hit, a warhammer to erase defenders, who usually are not very good at dodging, and a raiding axe to allow him some mobility, as long as he has someone to inflict effects.

As for tier III classes, well, he does not really shine at any of them. I made him a warlord, and gave him the billhook. He is now even better at helping setup up enemies to be killed by others.

I ended up making him a Warrior, and he did okay. As you say, he's never going to be a "star," and I feel someone who is among the original 3 should be a superstar. He certainly is far worse than either Slyker or Illyana.

Originally posted by Dieuw:

I made Marcus a Hero > Lionheart and he did just fine. At times, the hero's ability to charge through and break apart an enemy formation is very useful (mostly on chapter 15). The hero charge cannot miss and also fortifies Marcus, so his low skill/hit rate isn't an issue there, and also fortifies him. It can also grant him bonus movement if injured allies are nearby so he can walk into flanks, which cannot miss. But charging in front alongside a shield, he is very hard to kill afterwards. The rest of your units can then just isolate/backstab kill units. And he can carry a warjammer just fine to kill high def, low evade units.

It's definitely not a high tier killer, but he brings good utility this way with little resource cost. If I build him again, I would probably go the warrior > warlord route with loaded dice on him. He has very high str and should be able to use shot and turn refresh using that combo. That does take loaded dice away from someone else, though.

I *did* level him the first few levels with the skill ring but only until I got Sven, who then took it.

Hmm, I have been using him as a Warrior before I accidentally deleted that save. So you think Warrior is better than Hero?

As for Sven, I didn't realize he was even recruitable. So does he have better stat growth than Marcus then?

Originally posted by sunliang817:

guys，i dunno how everyone played this game, Marcus is definitely one of the strongest during mid-game chapters, as I gave the dice item to finn later stage of the game, marcus some times misses hits. But come on, he has higher growth rate (over 300 combined）than most of other characters（mostly 295）, so I guess that makes him strong. Btw I played Veteran + fixed growth + permanent .

The fundamental problem is that he's a DPS character who has bad Skill growth rate. I know he has better total growth rate, but what matters is not the overall number but the numbers in the important places.

[Bastilean]

A few thoughts here, because my first play through was similarly cursed. I went and read all of the above and there is plenty of overlap with my experience.

1. Your boi Slyker has got you. He has the bashing shield for reducing enemy AVD. If you haven't learned how to use it, replay the first mission. He also has a passive to increase your hit chance. Finally, he can kick enemies out of bushes. He is your friend.
2. Punching people is way easier than swinging a sword. Try it when you are having trouble hitting. Keep an eye on the to-hit preview screen.
3. Arland should be upgraded to a tower shield right away. Kite shields are for strength users, and our boi Marcus is the strong man. Shield Bash is much easier than swinging an axe.
4. Honed Passive weapon refinement are excellent on Marcus. 2 dmg is well worth the 7 SKL. Later on you can pick up the Expert weapon refinement too. Don't waste gold on the weapon upgrades directly. There isn't enough gold in this game for those purchases even on the cheap weapons.
5. I promoted Marcus to a Hero, and Heroic Charge auto hits.
6. Having another ally marking your enemies helps.
7. Rear attacks always connect. Take advantage.
8. Dice aren't bad, although I didn't need them.
9. Raider's Axe has 80% HIT which matches the Rapier, Steel Spear, and Traitor Prince's Sword.
10. Long Axe with 70% HIT plus +20% when initiating combat.
11. Turtle Effigy with +15% HIT when shield equipped and block full.


TLDR 1. Slyker 2. Punch 3. Shield Bash 4. Honed 5. Hero 6. Mark Target 7. Rear attacks 8. Dice 9. Raider's Axe 10. Long Axe

PS. Armored bois tend to be easy to hit, so you can count on 'old trusty' the Warhammer.

PSS. Knights have taunt and other warriors have punch which can give Marcus the angle he needs for a crippling back strike.

Edited: corrected the refinement nomenclature
Edited: added Raider's Axe
Edited: added Long Axe
Edited: added Turtle Effigy

[Thieme]

Bit of a bump on this thread but ah well. I used Marcus as Raider->Berzerker with the item that gives +4 damage? but disables block regeneration and the guarded mod that completely refills block when you kill. Had him on a 1H Sword (expert mod) + shield so he wouldn't miss that often and he did great. Conversely, Finn or Benjen would do even better with the same setup? But it worked out alright since you have to take Marcus anyways. Refilling the shields while allowing some health damage to make use of the berzerker passive worked pretty well.
Before I got him set up he usually cleaned up anything Slyker or Illyana couldn't kill outright. Did try to keep him leveled and yes he wore the skill ring for a long time.
I think like someone else said before, he would pair very well with a ranged unit that has the feather to soften up the target(s) and apply the debuff.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Thieme:

Bit of a bump on this thread but ah well. I used Marcus as Raider->Berzerker with the item that gives +4 damage? but disables block regeneration and the guarded mod that completely refills block when you kill. Had him on a 1H Sword (expert mod) + shield so he wouldn't miss that often and he did great. Conversely, Finn or Benjen would do even better with the same setup? But it worked out alright since you have to take Marcus anyways. Refilling the shields while allowing some health damage to make use of the berzerker passive worked pretty well.
Before I got him set up he usually cleaned up anything Slyker or Illyana couldn't kill outright. Did try to keep him leveled and yes he wore the skill ring for a long time.
I think like someone else said before, he would pair very well with a ranged unit that has the feather to soften up the target(s) and apply the debuff.

Indeed, this thread is dated. I've found a way to construct him to be the second strongest companion in the party. He can solo the entire map with the right set-up, just as Finn. The summary is that I've found that Warrior-Warlord is always the best upgrade path for a Fighter. No exception.

[Bastilean]

We didn't mention the Raider's Axe. If you do go warrior, I would highly consider adding this axe to Marcus. I put the Raider's Axe on Benjen. He never misses. It's funny because at first read I thought Benjen was just ok.

Raider's Axe has 80% base to hit rate! A steel axe has 65%. That's 5 SKL difference.
Raider's Axe adds needed mobility if you can status an enemy first and adds extra punch. It's basically a built in Honed refinement.

I like Raider's Axe on Benjen because he's going to be more comfortable making a single attack and has better defense both which synergize highly with warrior. Leap attacks allow only a single swing for obvious reasons. Benjen plus weighted refinements so good.

Long Axe honorable mention with 70% HIT plus +20% when initiating combat.

Turtle Effigy honorable mention with +15% HIT when shield equipped and block full.

As mentioned, see Honed refinement in the Forge. Refinements can be traded in and out of equipment for free. This is not obvious until you play with them.


Regarding whether warrior is the best upgrade path... It's definitely going to come down to play style. Warrior is a great class. Not having to worry about endurance/encumbrance is so much better than it sounds on paper. You can see in this thread that players have had success with every upgrade path. Designer(s) great job! Because Marcus has high agility, I would argue that Warrior takes the least advantage of this, and Marcus's low DEF is also impacted by poor mobility. Hero is an odd class which is more likely to support the rest rather than be a reset monster. Raider leap attacks are super fun and kill buffs synergize with multi attack agility.

Warlord is really strong for the reset and healing. Promotion stats on the Warrior and Warlord are both superior to the Hero and Lion Heart.

Two or three attacks on Lion Heart does tend to make hitting easier.

Berzerker synergizes with Marcus's passive for gobs of damage stacking and survivability.


Not every character needs to maximize resets. Resets tend to create selfish Michael Jordan style play actions but can be game winning combinations. Marcus tends to be high level without them since he trades a lot. Have fun trying all the classes.


In my current game I am actually more worried about Marcus's low DEF stat! and don't feel comfortable going full Warhammer most of the time. I have him equipped with the DEF ring (arguably one of the best). This also makes sense because I opted into Hero and Lion Heart which wants to get in thick.

[Thieme]

Originally posted by Lampros:

The summary is that I've found that Warrior-Warlord is always the best upgrade path for a Fighter. No exception.

Definitely, Warlord is a bit overtuned and in my particular case 3 Warlords would have been overkill (I had Benjen and Finn on it already). Lore wise Marcus does seem more of a Berzerker and also has that synergy with his own passive stacking with the Berzerker passive and his innate strength to give a lot of damage. Not stacking classes too much keeps things more interesting as well.
Sure you might need to keep a healer close or give him the Wolf effigy because he isn't exactly solo the map material but that is alright. I still had fun with him.
Downside of wolf effigy is that sometimes it heals too much and your passives won't trigger.