So guys i want to make a mara/sent but i dont know which spec to go and my guild mates have given me conflicting advice

What i was told was that carnage while it has the better dps, apparently gets boring fast and that fury has better dcds and that i should use carnage to level past 50 then switch to fury

Others have told me that furys dcds are not great and that you should play carnage because the damage is just way better

I additionally asked why i should pick fury mara over rage jugg since they are basically mirror's but no one ever answered that question of mine

all of this ofc is in the context of pvp

If you guys could help me out i would really appreciate it

All the specs have their pros and cons in pvp.

Annihilation

Pros

- Highest theoretical sustained dps

- DoT spread

- Some small self healing from DoTs

Cons

- Theory means jack when you can't stay on a target for long, or if targets are dying quickly

Carnage

Pros

- Good sustained dps

- Best burst damage of the three Mara specs

Cons

- Vulnerable to CC with Frenzy window

Fury

Pros

- Good burst damage

- CC immunity for 6 seconds every 30 sec (Gravity Vortex from Force Crush)

- Strong AOE with auto-crit smash

Cons

- Poor sustained dps

My advice: if you are somewhat new to Mara, you'll probably play better as Fury. Once you get pretty good with Fury, move on to Carnage.

What i was told was that carnage while it has the better dps, apparently gets boring fast and that fury has better dcds and that i should use carnage to level past 50 then switch to fury

Fury has no Defensive Cooldowns different from Carnage. They may be referring to the difference in stance however. Ataru Form (Carnage) grants increased Alacrity while Shii Cho Form (Fury) grants increased damage dealt and reduces all damage received (3%). Additionally, the passive Furious Defense gained at level 60 increases your defense chance by 10% for 6 seconds after using Furious Strike. Other than this there is zero difference between the two specs in available defensive capabilities.

Others have told me that furys dcds are not great and that you should play carnage because the damage is just way better

Since 5.0 removed PvP gear from the fold both PvE players and PvP players are currently using the same gear, though gearing strategies differ greatly. For PvE DPS numbers (no numbers exists that I know of for PvP) Carnage outperforms Fury by roughly 300 DPS. Carnage gains a lot of it's reputation in PvP from it's Burst capability. However that burst has a small window of opportunity (3 seconds). Fury has a longer window of opportunity for burst (6 seconds) but has substantially less damage output when compared to the Carnage 3 second window. Regardless of what rumors may round the forums BOTH specs can be locked up by skilled players, essentially cutting you off from completing these burst windows.

The main difference between the two specs in PvP engagements are Obliterate and Force Crush. Obliterate is the only leap in the game that can be used against Sniper/Gunslinger's in cover. This gives you a huge mobility and offensive capability. Force Crush, through the Gravity Vortex Passive gained at level 48, grants immunity to interrupts and all controlling effects for 6 seconds, usable once every 30 seconds. The benefit of this should be quite obvious but more or less allows you to attack players without being CC'd immediately.

I additionally asked why i should pick fury mara over rage jugg since they are basically mirror's but no one ever answered that question of mine

Really wish I had detailed information for this question but I'm not the most knowledgeable on Juggernauts. As the abilities do not differ too much between the two class my guess is that the main key differences are wrapped up in utilities, passives, and Defensive Cooldowns. Juggernauts have amazing defensives for PvP but that's not to say that Marauders have horrible ones, Juggernaut defensives are just a bit more user friendly than Marauders and do not take a whole lot of strategy in my opinion to use properly. I'm sure someone else in this community will be much more suited to offer you specific information on this question.

If you guys could help me out i would really appreciate it

Honestly mate I would suggest trying both and seeing which you like better. I'm the current guide writer for the Carnage spec on the PvE side of things (for the last 3 years) and when I PvP (which is rarely) I dabble in both Carnage and Fury. Both are really fun and play very differently, especially in Ranked vs. Unranked. Hopefully, some of this information was insightful or at the least helpful. Good luck with your decision.

So guys i want to make a mara/sent but i dont know which spec to go and my guild mates have given me conflicting advice

 

What i was told was that carnage while it has the better dps, apparently gets boring fast and that fury has better dcds and that i should use carnage to level past 50 then switch to fury

 

Others have told me that furys dcds are not great and that you should play carnage because the damage is just way better

 

I additionally asked why i should pick fury mara over rage jugg since they are basically mirror's but no one ever answered that question of mine

 

all of this ofc is in the context of pvp

 

If you guys could help me out i would really appreciate it

My suggestion is to try out all the specs, and create your own play style- carnage is awesome burst, and if you spec your utilities properly you will have the ability to have some really good map mobility (speaking from a pvp standpoint) and from the standpoint of pve, it will get the job done

i've tried the other specs, but they did not suit the way i wanted to play my class

All the specs have their pros and cons in pvp.

 

Annihilation

Pros

- Highest theoretical sustained dps

- DoT spread

- Some small self healing from DoTs

Cons

- Theory means jack when you can't stay on a target for long, or if targets are dying quickly

 

Carnage

Pros

- Good sustained dps

- Best burst damage of the three Mara specs

Cons

- Vulnerable to CC with Frenzy window

 

Fury

Pros

- Good burst damage

- CC immunity for 6 seconds every 30 sec (Gravity Vortex from Force Crush)

- Strong AOE with auto-crit smash

Cons

- Poor sustained dps

 

My advice: if you are somewhat new to Mara, you'll probably play better as Fury. Once you get pretty good with Fury, move on to Carnage.

This is mostly right, hopefully insight from someone who mains carnage and used to main annihilation this will help.

Annihilation

- Yes could be highest damage if people group and you have little resistance.

- The healing you can pull is kind of funny if you're good at popping berserk on cooldown, this also means more free medals.

- The dot spread is good in groups, but if you can't survive going to a group and or there are none it's not the best option.

Cons

- I personally feel way more peel-able as annihilation than any of the other spec's.

- If you're single target pressuring it's not going to be as good as the other two.

Carnage

- Sustained damage is through the roof, the burst is better than fury's, also way more reliable since Ferocity window, also has a sunder.

- Less peel-able imo because of the APM and the fact it'll shred mostly anything besides shieldtech, but even then in ferocity window you can do respectable damage.

- This one is definitely a opinion but everything about carnage feels more refined than all the other specs. Ever since annihilation lost it's 0m leap I moved to carnage.

Cons

- The playstyle is fast and spammy, people seem to get upset by it and end up focusing you the rest of the game if you get on them, so pick your targets wisely if you can't handle it.

- This might be a opinion, but i'm going to mention it anyway. Get alacrity, there's no reason to only use the alacrity from tree, the spec plays so much more smoother with some. So yes theoretically this could lower your damage, but at the gain of APM, which would increase your damage if perfect uptime.

- It fails harder than every other spec for AoE, the sweeping slash is alright because it procs ataru with each sweeping but it's still lackluster, with the 25% bonus it's somewhat good. But even then I nearly never run it as I prefer to take other things.

Fury

- It's way more durable in what utilities you can get away with.

- Has CC immunity.

- Comparable AoE to Annihilation minus the DoT Spread.

- Has upfront damage so staying on target isn't always needed. (Though if you're focusing down someone, it's going to lack in comparison but still able to provide a decent amount of burst when window is back up.)

- Force crush is incredibly annoying and hard to peel if you don't have something to get rid of it.

Cons

- I feel that it suffers way more than the other specs if a tank is peeling you. (You basically become 6 second cc immunity dependent. What i'm saying yes you'll still be able to burst but not efficiently as the others or be able to keep sustained)

- A lot of ability's and no real direction for them all besides a very few of them, as in there are many filler options for DPS.

- I don't think this spec is the easiest for learning how to make wise use of ALL of your cooldowns, it'll most likely be confusing with so many moves if you're a nooblet to the class.

Overall, if you're new to the class start with fury as I mentioned above, upfront damage. If you're more experienced check into Carnage, make sure you're taking crippling root, it's a basic must have for pretty much every spec, though fury can live without it.

Annihilation just takes practice, it's interesting and kind of plays like hatred without instant cooldown procs, also our spread is yellow and holds a cooldown.

If you're more experienced check into Carnage, make sure you're taking crippling root, it's a basic must have for pretty much every spec, though fury can live without it.

Are you talking about Maiming Reach in the heroic tier?

All the specs have their pros and cons in pvp.

 

Annihilation

Pros

- Highest theoretical sustained dps

- DoT spread

- Some small self healing from DoTs

Cons

- Theory means jack when you can't stay on a target for long, or if targets are dying quickly

 

Carnage

Pros

- Good sustained dps

- Best burst damage of the three Mara specs

Cons

- Vulnerable to CC with Frenzy window

 

Fury

Pros

- Good burst damage

- CC immunity for 6 seconds every 30 sec (Gravity Vortex from Force Crush)

- Strong AOE with auto-crit smash

Cons

- Poor sustained dps

 

My advice: if you are somewhat new to Mara, you'll probably play better as Fury. Once you get pretty good with Fury, move on to Carnage.

id say with 5.0 we can delete this from the list. since we dont have that giant cast bar anymore that yells interrupt me, i rarely see myself cced while precision is up. In addition carnage makes the most out of the free energy you get when cced (with utility). Plus you can dodge many ccs with the new utility on pacify/obfuscate. If not going for snipers, i barely have uptime problems with this specc anymore

I would t say the above stantement is quite true. I still get shutdown plenty of times tho I'd admit it's probably mostly coincidence.

Anyway, I'd like to way in here. Mara is still my have class and I have leveled many for fun. While leveling go fury till level 50 (48 if the skills haven't changed levels with 5.0). Fury is the best spec to leave in for the simple fact you won't be rage starved the whole time. After that play what you want. Now for PvP I play carnage and the reason is simple. I love that spec. It's so fun for me to play. Trust me all specs are good but you will do the best when you have the most fun playing it and when it just clicks for you. Fury is good but I don't like to play it. PvE however and I find carnage soooo boring to play. It was like 4 abilities and a lot of the time boss fights have triggers that you have to avoid so there goes your window anyways. I don't do a lot of PvE but some.

Now for fury Mara vs rage Jugg here are the differences. Juggs hit harder but Maras can hit more often. Also, Juggs have more utility to imo maximize the spec. Maras is more of a straight dps. I am a die hard Mara but I do believe the rage jugg is better (imo).

There are alot of assassins and mercs out there that make me believe carnage the worst of the three. I'm not convinced that good healers will let you kill them in a single precision window. You're still going to get constantly CCed against good players. I dare say Fury is a better healer killer right now due to the fact you're not stuck on precision windows. I just see way too many "cool dude" marauders that think they are God's gift to carnage gameplay laying major eggs in warzones. I know dmg isn't everything but if you're constantly doing 1.8k dps in warzones...you are not and were never a threat to ANY healer. You were a burden to your team and wasted space. Unfortunately all the **** dmg mara's i'm seeing are rolling carnage and the ones dropping the 4k+ bombs are Fury/Anni

Annihilation is going to be the top spec if you're looking to top the dmg charts in 8v8 for fun by a long shot,

Very short cooldowns, rapid play style constant spread with low CD smash and still some 20+k hard hitters.

Fury to me is a good mix of AoE with some great single target burst. I feel I can make a healers life more of a living hell with fury than carnage. I feel like carnage is great for beating down *******s and solo queue types but it's not great against teams to are aware of your burst potential. The CC right now seems really crazy due to the class mix in warzones these days. I'm not sold fury is a full on AoE smash spec either, the single target capabilities and heavy hitters make fury do just as well as a single target monster than an AoE one.

Annihilation is the worst of the 4 in 4x4 with carnage probably being the best. I don't play ranked because queue times are for losers so I can't comment much there.

There are alot of assassins and mercs out there that make me believe carnage the worst of the three. I'm not convinced that good healers will let you kill them in a single precision window. You're still going to get constantly CCed against good players. I dare say Fury is a better healer killer right now due to the fact you're not stuck on precision windows. I just see way too many "cool dude" marauders that think they are God's gift to carnage gameplay laying major eggs in warzones. I know dmg isn't everything but if you're constantly doing 1.8k dps in warzones...you are not and were never a threat to ANY healer. You were a burden to your team and wasted space. Unfortunately all the **** dmg mara's i'm seeing are rolling carnage and the ones dropping the 4k+ bombs are Fury/Anni

 

Annihilation is going to be the top spec if you're looking to top the dmg charts in 8v8 for fun by a long shot,

Very short cooldowns, rapid play style constant spread with low CD smash and still some 20+k hard hitters.

 

Fury to me is a good mix of AoE with some great single target burst. I feel I can make a healers life more of a living hell with fury than carnage. I feel like carnage is great for beating down *******s and solo queue types but it's not great against teams to are aware of your burst potential. The CC right now seems really crazy due to the class mix in warzones these days. I'm not sold fury is a full on AoE smash spec either, the single target capabilities and heavy hitters make fury do just as well as a single target monster than an AoE one.

 

Annihilation is the worst of the 4 in 4x4 with carnage probably being the best. I don't play ranked because queue times are for losers so I can't comment much there.

I have to say the quality of mara in que is terrible. I rarely see a mara break 3K dps.

I think Fury is better fighting healers, cuz its harder to kite, but Carnage has much more to offer. Dropping a 60K in a 3-4 second window, even against high armored targets, is invaluable. I think it comes down to preference more than effectiveness.

So iv'e been running some personal tests playing all three specs:

I ran 20 warzones on each, recording my dps, hits, deaths, KB's and solo kills to average them out. Numbers are a bit skewed of course due to my inability to play all three specs at the same level. Also PLEASE NOTE, this isn't about whether or not DPS matters or objectives matter. I personally feel that as a marauder your #1 job is to kill and make the healers work allowing other classes the ability to handle objectives. The goal here was just to show the damage potential I experienced.

Fury:

I feel the strongest and most natural playing Fury and have been playing it the most.

Annihilation:

This was my first time ever running this spec but I felt I was pretty strong with it, very spammy with 8+% alacrity.

Carnage:

Second most experienced spec, also my least favorite. Abilities don't have cool animations, gameplay feels glitchy at times (animation cancel on massacre if I press it too fast, not sure if this is client related or what).

Note: Everything is bound to keys, and mouse buttons using Razor naga.

Gear: 240 mods, Hilts, Enhancements / 204 relics / 240 ear/implants / 2 230 armorings, the rest 204 (full set bonus)

Warzone stats: 3330 force power / 41% crit / 9% alacrity

Summary:

Fury:

Middle ground spec for me but by far the most fun to play, mainly because of those massive hits. 30K+ several times. It feels MUCH stronger focusing as a single target spec rather than trying to get buffed/proc smashes all the time. As an AoE spec, I don't feel it's very strong at all compared to annihilation. My best DPS game was 6001, my worst was 2200. Averages 3200; most killing blows of all specs and quite a few solo kills. Top dmg around 75% of the time, Top 2 about 85% as there is always some merc that beats me here and there. I often find myself making healers lives hell by sticking them and following them which lowers avg dps.

Annihilation:

By far and away the most powerful spec for me dmg wise in 8v8 but the worst in 4v4. Large hits (22-25k) LOTS of killing blows (probably dots finishing off) worst vs healers 1v1 but best at disrupting them by spread bleeds everywhere. Very fun to play, very fluid and quick use of abilities...I always seem to have available rage. AoE is sick with this spec, I had a voidstar where I did 7800 dps for the match and was 4 million higher than second place. I almost always come in first or second dps wise but I feel I just can't burn down healers which is a huge knock to this spec. Most solo kills I had in a match was 2 but didn't focus on it (I think it was from stealthers vanishing out then getting hit by dot for last hit giving me credit for solo kill). DPS was always consistent, I felt shocked if I wasn't at the top. Very strong 8v8 spec, probably the best in terms of dps (if that's what you're after).

Carnage:

Makes healers lives a living hell, but I find it's harder to kill them than it is with fury. I don't get the force crush immunity with carnage and I find that even sticking targets like glue I just get so much collateral CC vs teams with tanks that know how to protect their healers. The top DPS I managed with carnage was 4700 but I admittedly am the worst with it because I just feel so negative towards it (some games as low as 1800 due to 8+ deaths having no healer). I found myself the most frustrated playing this as solo queue because once you throw a burst on healers people tend to target you the most. I died by far the MOST as carnage; felt like I was a healer in some games. The CC made me rage and slam my desk a few times in anger I just feel like I get pushed/stunned/slowed EVERY time I hit precision. The spec just isn't fun to me because while I dominated garbage players the good ones know when you're about to burst and react accordingly. I felt the rotation was the easiest of the three but it took discipline to ensure you're not waiting around for abilities to use during precision windows. Rage management was the hardest of the three by far.

Hope this helps! Just trying to use my own data here since there has been VERY little information on Marauders post 5.0. We seem like the least played class right now next to PT/Vanguard.

This was actually very beautifully summarized. ^^

I might wanna add that from my experience, carnage/combat shines the most when running with a group. Alone, it is indeed the most vulnerable spec to be likely controlled by competent opponents.

Fury/Conc. is almost the perfect spec for a lone wolf. That is if you are not playing a stealther alrdy... or a merc...

Watchman/Anni works in both.

I personally like all 3 specs and occasionally change them depending on how I feel or how enemy compositions are atm. If there are lots of tanks running around saving their taunts for me, juyo is my go to spec because of dotspread. If I have a group of my own, I go ataru for some nasty burst-combos. And if I am alone with randoms who are not very reliable, shii-cho looks the most attractive.

For duels it is depends on the enemy class, but here I prefer juyo in almost every scenario. Funnily though, if I duel against other marauder/sentinels, I found shii-cho to be the most effective even though most (including myself not long ago) are convinced otherwise.

Hands down Fury is pvp spec. 6 second cc immunity is just too good to pass up, if you're playing in high-skill cap you won't survive without that.

Mind you i'm talking about ranked pvp here, unranked is trash and any spec will do as long as you are half decent player.

Then you must be talking about solo ranked because juyo and ataru outshine it in group ranked by far. Funny how each has a taste of their own because the majority of pvpers I know consider solo ranked to be the trash one of all pvp modes available. Not saying that I hate it myself, I personally don´t care about it though.

But yeah, for solo ranked fury/conc. is the one that is the most user friendly.

Then you must be talking about solo ranked because juyo and ataru outshine it in group ranked by far. Funny how each has a taste of their own because the majority of pvpers I know consider solo ranked to be the trash one of all pvp modes available. Not saying that I hate it myself, I personally don´t care about it though.

 

But yeah, for solo ranked fury/conc. is the one that is the most user friendly.

Agreed.

I just can't get into ranked anymore, tried it in the past and joined some amazing pvp guilds back in the day on Harb. After years of WoW Arena playing at a very high level it's just too hard for me to take swtor ranked seriously. To me it's just silly and I roll my eyes at it. I'm here to have fun and regs are just that. This is my "have fun" and play when I have an hour or two to kill kinda game.

Then you must be talking about solo ranked because juyo and ataru outshine it in group ranked by far. Funny how each has a taste of their own because the majority of pvpers I know consider solo ranked to be the trash one of all pvp modes available. Not saying that I hate it myself, I personally don´t care about it though.

 

But yeah, for solo ranked fury/conc. is the one that is the most user friendly.

GRWZ is trash because it's tryhard af.

GRWZ is trash because it's tryhard af.

Well for you, clearly.

But that is irrelevant because not many play ranked and take it seriously anyway.

There are alot of assassins and mercs out there that make me believe carnage the worst of the three. I'm not convinced that good healers will let you kill them in a single precision window. You're still going to get constantly CCed against good players. I dare say Fury is a better healer killer right now due to the fact you're not stuck on precision windows. I just see way too many "cool dude" marauders that think they are God's gift to carnage gameplay laying major eggs in warzones. I know dmg isn't everything but if you're constantly doing 1.8k dps in warzones...you are not and were never a threat to ANY healer. You were a burden to your team and wasted space. Unfortunately all the **** dmg mara's i'm seeing are rolling carnage and the ones dropping the 4k+ bombs are Fury/Anni

 

Annihilation is going to be the top spec if you're looking to top the dmg charts in 8v8 for fun by a long shot,

Very short cooldowns, rapid play style constant spread with low CD smash and still some 20+k hard hitters.

 

Fury to me is a good mix of AoE with some great single target burst. I feel I can make a healers life more of a living hell with fury than carnage. I feel like carnage is great for beating down *******s and solo queue types but it's not great against teams to are aware of your burst potential. The CC right now seems really crazy due to the class mix in warzones these days. I'm not sold fury is a full on AoE smash spec either, the single target capabilities and heavy hitters make fury do just as well as a single target monster than an AoE one.

 

Annihilation is the worst of the 4 in 4x4 with carnage probably being the best. I don't play ranked because queue times are for losers so I can't comment much there.

I am still not convinced which spec I go... yeah I definitely feel anni less bursty, but the damage is there. some people say it is "fake" damage. but i disagree after some tests.

tried one v one some friends playing merc and annihilation was the one that performed the best dmg. it has a little burst on annihilation dual saberthrow, and the dots do annoying damage too. just need to control the dots debuffs so you can spam vicious strike until you need to put dots again.

in arenas 4x4, i found annihilation to outperform too when there are healers/tank teams. the dot spread works amazing.

carnage seems the second best spec for me in ranked. it does good dmg, but sometimes the enemy team is just so tanky (guards, sorc healers) that feels like carnage doesn't even exist especially if they try to focus me.

fury worked the best for burst in warzones 8 v 8s, but it seemed harder in ranked for me. seems the carnage outperformed fury in ranked. so i am still deciding, but rocking annihilation for now. im not super geared. so i dont know how it scales. but right now im rocking almost full tier 2, a relic tier 3, a few 240 enhancements, and both 240 hilts.

I am still not convinced which spec I go... yeah I definitely feel anni less bursty, but the damage is there. some people say it is "fake" damage. but i disagree after some tests.

tried one v one some friends playing merc and annihilation was the one that performed the best dmg. it has a little burst on annihilation dual saberthrow, and the dots do annoying damage too. just need to control the dots debuffs so you can spam vicious strike until you need to put dots again.

 

in arenas 4x4, i found annihilation to outperform too when there are healers/tank teams. the dot spread works amazing.

 

carnage seems the second best spec for me in ranked. it does good dmg, but sometimes the enemy team is just so tanky (guards, sorc healers) that feels like carnage doesn't even exist especially if they try to focus me.

 

fury worked the best for burst in warzones 8 v 8s, but it seemed harder in ranked for me. seems the carnage outperformed fury in ranked. so i am still deciding, but rocking annihilation for now. im not super geared. so i dont know how it scales. but right now im rocking almost full tier 2, a relic tier 3, a few 240 enhancements, and both 240 hilts.

Iv'e been running the three specs enough lately to be convinced that carnage is simply too easy for good players to counter. It's a strong, bursty and amazing single target spec but when you need to burst people down it just get's countered too often. It shines when you have other ******es on your team to take the focus away from you but if you're expecting to carry with it when the other team knows your potential damage then you're going to get shut down. Burst windows just plain suck in this meta, too many dominant classes with long defensive windows to counter.

I feel like single target healing is very strong in 5.0 +; dot dmg is very very strong at the moment. People who say it's fluff are living in the past. The best way to overwhelm healers isn't to mongoloid someone down anymore, it's to force them into making decisions on who to heal and how to anticipate damage. You get a good dot spreader and pair them with a bursty dps and the healer has a much harder job IMO and is more likely to make a mistake.

I still think Fury is the better burst spec; it's very hard hitting without silly burst window mechanics. Yeah you have more CD's to deal with but it's worth it.

Iv'e been running the three specs enough lately to be convinced that carnage is simply too easy for good players to counter. It's a strong, bursty and amazing single target spec but when you need to burst people down it just get's countered too often. It shines when you have other ******es on your team to take the focus away from you but if you're expecting to carry with it when the other team knows your potential damage then you're going to get shut down. Burst windows just plain suck in this meta, too many dominant classes with long defensive windows to counter.

 

I feel like single target healing is very strong in 5.0 +; dot dmg is very very strong at the moment. People who say it's fluff are living in the past. The best way to overwhelm healers isn't to mongoloid someone down anymore, it's to force them into making decisions on who to heal and how to anticipate damage. You get a good dot spreader and pair them with a bursty dps and the healer has a much harder job IMO and is more likely to make a mistake.

 

I still think Fury is the better burst spec; it's very hard hitting without silly burst window mechanics. Yeah you have more CD's to deal with but it's worth it.

Carnage burst window is super strong nowadays. If you're willing to forgoe most of your accuracy, you can get enough alacrity (around 17%) to fit 4 abilities into ferocity which gives it a lot larger burst than fury. Since ravage is no longer a channel, there isn't as obvious of a "stun me" ability, and nobody will be paying close attention to your buffs in order to see the window since that would take away a lot of their ability to see the rest of the match. It's not as good in solo ranked so I've been told (I don't enjoy that environment) because fury has a cc immunity window and actually allows it to survive easier. In regs though carnage is devastating. Carnage will also have better sustained damage against a single target you're trying to burst down. It does though kind of require a healer to really shine but that applies to all mara specs since they don't have much self healing outside of the very small amount in annihilation.

Carnage will also have better sustained damage against a single target you're trying to burst down. It does though kind of require a healer to really shine but that applies to all mara specs since they don't have much self healing outside of the very small amount in annihilation.

I beg to differ: I had games like long voidstars or novare coasts where I could heal more than 1 million as a melee dps and depending on numbers/skill of actual healers in team the difference is definitely felt by me and other teammates. Of course your own healing is what like 1/4 or 1/5 of a real healer but I wouldn´t call it very small.

Healing is of course a big factor, no question, in real intensive games no class or spec could do without to perform on the highest level. The big issue here for me personally is and has always been the question of getting shut down.

As others have done it, I also did some extensive testing on all 3 specs and that´s including running them through worst case scenarios. For example: If you are queued solo with unreliable randoms and run into full premades who have an eye for you, guess which specs still could deliver the damage reliably. Not saying that you could win such matches but in terms of delivering enough damage to the enemy team that can not be prevented by them, ataru sadly falls behind the other two specs. Yes, master strike is now "instant" even though the damge got lowered a bit. And with enough alacrity you could indeed fit in many abilities like you said during precision windows. All of that helps but in the end the question everytime still is does the player on the receiving end (or his buddies) let you pull it off. If you have games against weak opponents however, ataru does look more effective since it lets you finish them much faster than the other two. But I personally don´t take these games too seriously.

With the merc pandemic and more and more skilled players discovering how to really play a sniper you don´t see that many of our class now. And if you do spot one everybody else does and who is gonna get the special cc treatment, the mara/sent some metres in front of you or the mercs/snipers/sorcs fifty miles behind him. You already have to deal with a high amount of random stuns, roots and mezzes in wzs and if you enter some more coordinated stuff of that followed by guarding and taunts against you the odds are incredibly against you, even more so in ataru.

I think the best advise would be the place the spec you enjoy the most. Personally, I enjoy all three specs, and often trade between them.

With Carnage, I find that this spec is very fast paced and fun, however it can also be the very frustrating. I find myself getting shut down a lot more than the other specs. The amount of stuns and knockbacks and slows found in swtor can really mess with the burst window, which is a big downfall.

However, in a 1 vs 1 situation, this spec can be very good. If you can read your opponent and use your cooldowns right, you will be very deadly.

Fury is fun also. It's not as fast paced, but still fun to play. the CC immunity and 2nd leap make the spec feel very moble. This spec is also great in 1 vs 1s. I think in general, I find myself playing this more in pvp because of those elements.

So overall, play the spec that is the most enjoyable. They all do good. Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses.