Hardcore looter shooters like Marauders and Escape from Tarkov are typically difficult to learn for new players. Fortunately, Marauders doesn’t quite throw you in with no knowledge like Escape from Tarkov does. However, it’s still easy to have no idea where to start or how to succeed so you can make progress. That’s why I’ve put together this guide on some of the best tips and tricks to know.
It’s one thing knowing how to start a raid and another knowing how to extract while making some money. These tips and tricks are great for new players and experienced ones looking to learn a little bit more. There’s nothing wrong with going in prepared so you can have the best chance at surviving.
Tip 1 – Keep Track of Your Surroundings
Try to look for unique locations so you can remember your environment more easily.
What makes any hardcore looter shooter tough is knowing where you are. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t know the map or what landmarks to look for. This is why my first tip is to try to learn the area around your airlock when you first dock. Since you never know which base/map you’re going to get each raid, you’re stuck trying to learn multiple areas while new.
This makes it much more difficult unlike Escape from Tarkov where you can at least choose the map you’re going to. With that said, I recommend looting the area around your airlock when you’re still learning. You’ll have a better chance of extracting with some loot, while still running into a couple of enemies. Or you can just run everywhere without the guarantee you’ll escape.
Tip 2 – How to Extract
Did you know you can find station Drop Pods to escape as well?
On the topic of escaping as mentioned in the first tip, you’ll need to know how to extract in Marauders. While our main guide on extracting covers the topic thoroughly, here’s a quick idea of how it works. There are two situations that can impact how you get out successfully with your loot. First, if you dock at a base with your ship, you’ll need to return to your ship to leave. This is why it’s important to remember where your airlock is.
Once you return to your ship, you can pilot it out to one of two propulsion gates in space to leave. If you’re in an escape pod instead of a full ship while in space, you can also leave using that escape pod. But, you won’t be able to dock using that escape pod. Otherwise, if you lose track of where your ship is docked, you can sometimes find escape pods available in the station.
Tip 3 – Free Gear to Start With
This counter here on the RustBucket will almost always have these three items available. However, they can sometimes spawn on the floor instead.
For those of you wondering what happens if you completely run out of gear and money, there is still a backup plan. You can always take the free RustBucket ship into a raid which also has a few free items. There are three solid starting items near your starting spot as shown in the picture above. You can get a free Luger P08, a pack of ammo, and a Pouch Rig offering extra storage.
With this relatively simple kit, you can loot your way up as long as you dock successfully. Sometimes it’s fun to see how much you can get while starting with such a small amount of loot. Plus, you can explore a little more aggressively without worrying about your expensive gear. But, you are at a disadvantage with low-tier armor and less equipment. Especially without having any healing items.
Tip 4 – How to Heal in Marauders
If you took some damage in a fight or need to restore your stamina, open your inventory and eat some food or use healing items.
Learning how to heal is important in case you take some damage regardless of the source. I’ve made the mistake of jumping over the stairs in my RustBucket and taken some damage. The last thing you want is to be in a situation where you need that tiny bit of health and not have it. Fortunately, there are a few ways to recover health depending on what you have available.
You can use dedicated healing items like Bandages and First Aid Kits or eat food instead. While you will heal more health via medical items, eating a bunch of biscuits and crackers can work too. Or if you’re fancy and have more valuable food like Military Rations. With that said, the benefit of food is that it restores your stamina too.
Tip 5 – How to Get More Stash Storage
Craftable containers are a great solution for getting more storage space especially since they’re attainable early on.
When you first start playing Marauders it can feel like you have absolutely no space in your stash for items. This can quickly make it tough if you like to hoard your loot like me. Or perhaps if you just need storage space for components and other useful crafting materials. This is why it’s important to know how you can expand your stash space using two different methods.
The first method for most of us is getting to level 8 first. This is so you can unlock the Small Container crafting recipe. Even though a Small Container takes up 9 slots in your stash, it provides 36 total inside it. You can craft several of these until you can make a Large Container. Otherwise, you’ll need to use backpacks or prestige your account to actually expand your stash.
Tip 6 – How to Make Money
The durability of an item heavily impacts the price it will sell for, so keep this in mind. Sometimes it’s better to scrap an item for resources.
Making money is important so you can buy the gear you need while also unlocking new recipes. The reality is you’ll need to gather loot and extract if you want to make money. This is because you’ll need to bring loot back that you can sell to the Traders. With that said, certain items like documents and coins can sell for a lot. Otherwise, you can earn money by completing contracts as well.
This is why I recommend always bringing a backpack unless you plan on going into a raid with no gear. If you’re new to Marauders and anxious, you can still bring a Sack Bag. It doesn’t have much space so you won’t be able to bring back as much, but they’re cheap and easy to craft. Or you can buy it from certain Traders instead. The Light Bag is a solid upgrade that’s also cheap.
Tip 7 – Repair Your Gear
While damaged gear is sometimes better than no gear, you’re definitely playing a risky game.
Don’t forget to repair your gear if you plan on using certain items more than once. The last thing you need is a weapon breaking down mid-raid and no longer being able to use it. This is why it can be risky to use gear you find during raids if it doesn’t have high durability. Especially if you go in with armor that’s almost broken because it won’t work for long.
There’s nothing worse than hearing a click when your weapon is supposed to shoot and instead it jams. That’s why I still bring the free Luger as a backup just in case I run out of ammo or my weapon breaks. Fortunately, a lot of items are cheap to repair but some weapons can be expensive. All you need to do is right-click an item when you’re at the main menu and then click to repair.
Tip 8 – How to Breach Ships in Marauders
It’s important to mention that escape pods move differently than normal ships. Instead of holding a button to move, escape pods have speed increments. You can see it at the bottom right corner.
If you’re feeling feisty and want to attack players in space, there is a fun but dangerous way. First, you’ll need to be in an escape pod so if you’re piloting a ship, get ready to evacuate. You can use an escape pod at any time even if your ship isn’t damaged. Once you’re in space using an escape pod, boost toward another ship and press F once you’re close to it. A button prompt will appear.
This will breach their ship giving you an opportunity to hunt down any players on board and steal their loot. They’ll also get a notification that someone has breached their ship so they can react. So get ready for a fight if you plan on breaching player ships. Otherwise, you breach AI ships like the Merchant Ship or Damaged Capital Ship.
Tip 9 – Don’t Spend Too Long Looting
If you take out another player, you may want to loot every single item they have, but you’ll need to be careful. Chances are likely someone is around the corner and heard you.
Even though you spend a lot of Marauders opening containers for loot, this is probably when you’re most vulnerable. You won’t be able to easily see around you or react to an enemy if they see you first. This is why you need to be careful when you open containers and start deciding what you want to take.
Try to limit the time you spend searching containers unless you’re confident there aren’t any enemies nearby. Another way to offset risk is if you’re playing in a group and someone else watches while you search. Just make sure you don’t accidentally shoot a teammate since friendly fire is on.
Tip 10 – Complete Contracts to Get Faction Standing
Another benefit of completing Contracts for Faction Standing is that traders will give you a discount on their items.
The Zero to Hero questline is part of the Contracts tab at the Marauders main menu. You’ll want to work through these missions to unlock unique items, money, and other useful rewards. But, one of the best rewards you get from completing the Contracts is Faction Standing. You can gain standing from both the Zero to Hero Contracts and daily ones as well.
By gaining standing with a faction and leveling it up, you’ll unlock more gear from Traders associated with them. Depending on your knowledge of each map, some Contracts are easier than others so it’ll definitely vary. For example, I’m a fan of basic missions like eliminating AI targets. Whereas finding specific locations or breaching a Capital Ship can be more of a pain.
Be careful of vertical areas like this in Marauders where you can get shot at from almost anywhere. Or take advantage of these spots up high to ambush others.
That’s all there is to this guide on the 10 Best Marauders Tips and Tricks. If you have some tips of your own to help out new players, be sure to comment below. This game genre often comes with a steep learning curve and that can make it tougher to get new players. But, the hardcore aspect can also make it appealing for others.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.