PoE: Duelist vs. Marauder Comparison

Note: This comparison is accurate as of Patch 1.2.x. According to State of Exile 15, Grinding Gear Games intends to change up both the Marauder and Duelist starts in later patches (specifically making the Duelist more versatile), so we'll see what happens, I guess.

First, an introduction.


Marauder:

http://www.pathofexile.com/classes/marauder

This buff barbarian, the Marauder, is the Pure Strength class of Path of Exile. He uses his powerful muscles to wield mauls that will crush his enemies into submission.


Duelist:

http://www.pathofexile.com/classes/duelist

Tall, dark, and handsome, the Duelist is the Hybrid Strength/Dexterity class in Path of Exile. He is equally comfortable wielding a giant axe as he is thrusting with his rapier.



Analysis:

Honestly, the Duelist and Marauder are fairly similar classes, and are interchangeable in several builds.

That said, there are builds where one is near categorically superior to the other. Let's start with what the Marauder does better, then let's see if the Duelist can offer a rebuttal.

The Marauder's start (the one he typically takes) involves several life nodes that do not require him to commit to any attack or spell early on. Instead, he gets to tank up while retaining full efficiency no matter what he chooses to do.

In contrast, the Duelist's start is numerically stronger, but requires him to immediately commit to melee physical damage (unless he goes for a bow build and thus uses the other side). This means that the Duelist loses efficiency in builds involving projectile or spell damage.

Thus, the Marauder can do several builds that the Duelist has no hope of doing unless the Duelist player is a troll. Here are some examples:

Flame Totem - I don't need to say anything about this, the Duelist's start is very inefficient for this, and on top of that the Marauder is much closer to the good totem nodes.

Righteous Fire - It should be fairly obvious why the Marauder is better here - The Duelist's nodes are just worthless for this build.

Iron Will/Any Spell - Ditto.

Phys Spectral Throw - Unless the Duelist takes the path on the right (the squishier and arguably worse path) out, the Marauder is better at this because the Duelist's Melee Phys Damage does not apply here.

Molten Strike - It has both a Melee Damage and a Projectile Damage component. The Duelist cannot use both.


So what exactly can the Duelist do better, and why?

For melee builds, the Duelist's start is stronger than that of the Marauder. Notables like Master of the Arena, Acceleration, Dervish, Testudo, and Leather and Steel are all great choices, but the Duelist has one supremely underrated advantage over the Marauder: Mana Flows.

A Resolute Technique build will use mana leech to sustain its main attack. But even then, you cannot sustain it perfectly (because unless you get Vaal Pact, the leech is not instant. Also there's desync, enemies running away, etc). I've experimented with using and not using Mana Flows on my Reave Duelist, and it makes a massive difference in maintaining DPS uptime.

On a related note, Crit builds that want to sustain their attack with mana leech will enjoy Revelry in the Duelist's part of the tree, which gives mana on hit.

Speaking of which, the Duelist is in a place that lets him access Crit nodes on both the left side and right side of the tree, while the Marauder struggles to run across to the right side.

And of course, the Duelist is better for Dualwielding builds, and can much more easily get to Acrobatics/Phase Acrobatics/Ondar's Guile.

So the Duelist is better for melee builds and builds that want to employ Crit, Evasion, or Dualwielding.


What About Ground Slam?

2-handed Ground Slam is probably the most iconic Marauder build there is. Now I know that people will flame me for this, but I would argue that it's better as a Duelist. The reason is that until GGG buffs Blood Magic, it will be inferior to using mana leech to sustain attacks and running 2 auras. And because of Mana Flows, the Duelist can do this much more efficiently than the Marauder can. Acceleration is another powerful node that lets the Duelist get Dex more easily, as well as a crapton of Attack Speed.

Sure, the Marauder will be slightly tankier than the Duelist, so it's up to debate which one you prefer. But I would go with the Duelist here.


Conclusion:

While they have their similarities, the Duelist and the Marauder are different men. The Duelist is more of a one-trick pony, but he is an unrivaled master of melee weaponry. In contrast, the Marauder is a resilient, unyielding man who can go down a variety of build paths.