I'm fairly new to playing a Marauder, is there a specific combat proficiencies I should be putting my points into?

People are pretty opinionated on what the "best in slot" abilities are, so Im not making a case for that but my personal take on what i like for pvp is:

 

At tier 1, I mostly consider Brazen non-optional. If you struggle with keeping rage up, then Inexorable or Cloak of Rage help with that. I generally have enough rage to get by, so for pvp I take Overwhelm to let Ravage double as rage-free root.

 

on tier 2, I like Relentless and post-5.6 it feels pretty non optional since you need to use your focus elsewhere. Defensive Roll is also hard to pass up. ( Honorable mention goes to Subjugation if you have room in the point budget and use Ruthless Agressor, but I seldom have points to spare for it.)

 

at tier 3, theres a lot of good stuff. sometimes i take 3 at this level depending on my mood. Unbound is great for breaking snare/roots, especially if took Relentless. I also like Expunging Camoflauge because it gives you a second snare/root breaker on Camo or a way to clear DoT effects if you need. For pvp I usually make an effort to get Maiming Reach in the build, Crippling Slash as an instant cool down, ranged root for 1 rage with a heal debuff is very flexible and helpful, coupled with Overwhem you can lock up opponents mobility for your burst windows pretty well without spending a lot of focus. A lot of people recommend Undying, but I personally don't run it. Its not a bad ability, but theres a lot of utility at this tier and Undying isnt enough of a modification or cooldown reduction for it to feel like a must-have to me. Its fine if you can afford it, but I usually dont run that route.

 

on tier 4, Ruthless Aggressor is great. Once you get a feel for when to us it, it turns Obfuscate into one of the best pound for pound defensive abilities out there. I also really like Blood Ward, the cooldown on Saber Ward is long but a 6 second Immunity to several types of CC is handy in PVP once you get a good sense for anticipating them. Also good for helping with objectives and making sure you cross the finish line in huttball games. It also turns Saber Ward into a sorta-kinda heal, if you combine it with undying rage or obfuscate to help ensure misses during its duration youll milk some health out of it, though usually its just going to more of a damage cushion than it is a heal. If I had the points to afford it, Id consider the one that makes Mad Dash break snares/roots, but its not really a practical investment at this teir especially when Expunging Camo and Unbound already are more versatile breakers.

 

I tend to shuffle points around now and then, but thats generally where I gravitate for pvp. Mostly just look for the areas you struggle with and lean the template to help you cover that. If you have trouble keeping on your targets, favor increased roots/snares and mobility increases, if you find that you spend too much rage or cant build enough, then lean on abilities that supplement building it. If youre taking too much damage, look for improvements to the defensive options.

 

So, thats my take anyway.

I take Inexorable, Brazen/Overwhelm, Subjugation, Relentless, Maiming Reach, Unbound, Ruthless Aggressor, and Bloodward/Through Victory.

 

Inexorable is almost non-optional, it's a good defensive ability and lets you use your stunbreak more often with the lessened CD. Brazen is nice to have for the 2% base reduction and the Fury building if you get focused, which means you'll just get more 3 stack Ferocities because of Berserk uptime. Overwhelm is good if you have trouble staying on target, you can swap the last two whenever really because you don't wanna be getting focused.

 

Subjugation is an Obfuscate buff, which is a very solid ability all-around (especially with Ruthless Aggressor, more later), and it also lets you use Cloak of Pain while stunned. I consider Relentless non-optional because it gives you a CD for Predation (movement + buff) instead of making it cost Fury stacks (which you want to use for Berserk).

 

Maiming Reach is nice because it gives Crippling Slash more range and makes it immobilize the target instead of just slowing at a lower rage cost, allowing it to be used more. It's nice to stick on target, + the healing debuff gets more range as well. Unbound gives you a movement-impairment break, plus adds even more speed to the buff.

 

Obfuscate is currently one of the best defensive CDs in the game because it applies Ruthless Aggressor, which gives Force + Tech resistance when Obfuscate is used. Through Victory is a good root break if you find yourself getting slowed/rooted a lot, plus the damage increase. Blood Ward lets you heal while getting attacked during Saber Ward, which is nice if you're getting attacked by multiple enemies (again, this shouldn't happen often), and it also gives you stun immunity for the duration. Again, also a very nice touch.

 

Pick your poison, there are plenty of good marauders out there who are willing to give advice: usually asking around helps me if I'm struggling. Happy hunting!