The entry into Marathon is not easy. We will show you how to make the start easier with these tips.
Marathon has many confusing submenus, a ton of items and systems. You can quickly lose track and it takes some time to really understand how everything works. To make your start as easy as possible, we have put together a number of tips.
We start with some general tips that everyone should know before their first round in Marathon, followed by tips on loot, and we will conclude the list with some more advanced help.
Bring enough ammunition
Don’t underestimate how much ammunition you’ll consume within a run. It is quite possible that even without intense PvP battles, you will waste 160 rounds in a raid – especially when completing missions that require you to fight UESC bots.
Crouching reduces your shell’s heat
Whenever you perform certain movement abilities, your runner shell accumulates heat. Once the heat capacity is depleted due to sprinting, sliding, or dashing, you have to wait briefly for your shell to cool down – similar to an endurance system in other games.
To dive back into action quickly in Marathon, it helps to crouch briefly. While crouching, you cool down accumulated heat faster.
The oldest trick in the shooter genre
If you need to rush for cover or have little time left before the targeted extraction point closes, you can sprint faster by taking out your knife.
Loot that is worth it in your first round
When you play your first rounds, you have no idea which loot is worth it, what materials you might need later, and what you should leave behind. However, there’s loot that you can practically never have enough of and should start collecting in your first rounds.
This includes:
- Credits
- Unstable biomass
- Unstable diodes
- Unstable gel
- Unstable lead
It is also worth picking up valuables. For these, you will receive a set amount of credits after the raid. However, you should definitely pay attention to the value of the items. Rarer objects yield more credits. An individual valuable item that only gives 60 credits should preferably end up in the trash.
That’s why this loot is worth it: You will need credits and the various unstable materials for numerous upgrades and trades. So if you still have space in your backpack and don’t know which loot to keep, you can’t go wrong with these items.
Used shield charges and repair kits are not useless
In the server slam of Marathon, the scarcity of health items was a problem that many players criticized. Too often, you find yourself without shield charges or repair kits. If the scarcity of health items is not increased by the full release, it is advisable to pick up used shield and repair kits during your raids when possible.
The used health items are not empty and useless. You can use them to restore a small amount of health or shield charge. Instead of depleting your proper medical items, save them and use the used packs you find all over the maps in quiet situations first.
You can “craft” health items
If your reserves of health items are depleted, you can buy or “craft” new ones in the armory – although crafting isn’t quite the right term, as you are essentially trading them in.
This brings the unstable materials from the previous tip back into the spotlight: In the armory, you can trade repair kits for unstable biomass instead of buying them for credits.
Consider early on which upgrades you want
With the factions, you can unlock various upgrades. Each faction essentially has its own skill tree allowing you to receive different improvements. For instance, there are expansions for your vault, faster looting, higher heat capacity (basically more stamina), or new weapons and equipment that you can then buy daily or even pick up for free.
As mentioned in tip 1, you will need certain resources for some of these upgrades, such as unstable diodes, credits, or unstable biomass. If you know which upgrades you want next, you can prioritize the needed items during your raids.
Additionally, for many upgrades, you must reach a certain level with the respective faction. To do this, it’s best to take on missions from that faction to increase your faction level.
Use item tracking
You can mark items and then track them in a raid, which will highlight them separately during a round when you find them while looting. This way, you ensure that you don’t forget which items you may need for the upgrade that you definitely want.
Avoid fall damage
If you enjoy playing the “assassin,” you can completely avoid fall damage by using the “shadow dive” trait. You use the shadow dive on PC with the default key binding by pressing the “V” key while in the air. Your character will then create a cloud of smoke upon landing and survive falls from great heights without injury.
Volt weapons should only be reloaded in emergencies
Volt weapons – those are the weapons with the oddly looking purple ammunition (volt batteries) – recharge while you run through the map with your runner shell. You should only reload these weapons when you don’t have time to wait for the weapon’s independent recharge. Each time you reload, you throw away a rechargeable battery and use up ammunition.
Defibrillators can hurt
The triage is the medic among the runner shells and not only can heal, but with his “ulti” can also revive downed teammates – it’s basically a heavy defibrillator. However, the support properties of the triage do not mean that it is useless for solo players: When he uses his “ulti” against enemies, he delivers an electric shock that deals decent damage.
Weapons have durability
Who hasn’t experienced this? You just took out an opposing player, loot their inventory, and see a powerful weapon that you want to pick up immediately. Often, you are willing to leave your own firearm behind if the trade seems reasonable.
In Marathon, this can become your downfall.
In Bungie’s extraction shooter, all weapons have a kind of durability that decreases when you steal another player’s weapon. If the durability of a weapon reaches 0, you will lose it when you extract from a raid. Instead of the weapon, you will only get credits.
Thus, each weapon has a fixed number of transfers and cannot be passed endlessly from player to player. Be mindful of this when looting your opponents.
Weapon tier depends on mods
In extraction shooters, you usually find weapons with different tiers. A rare purple weapon is usually better than one with a green or even gray tier.
In Marathon, however, the weapon tier depends on the installed mods. The mods consist of attachments like scopes or magazines.
This means that with the right attachments, you can upgrade a gray rifle to a green, blue, or even better weapon in Marathon. Every gun thus has the potential to significantly improve with good attachments.
You get skins when you extract with a sponsored loadout
A tip for all fashion runners: The factions reward you with skins when you finish a raid with a free loadout sponsored by them and successfully extract. These skins are usually in the colors of the faction and are awarded for the runner shell you used when you extracted.
Corpses remain visible if the murderer is still nearby
Dead players leave loot containers in Marathon that look like travel bags. When you see such a bag, you know that a player has died. The game also reveals more:
- If there is only the travel bag with the loot, the murderer has already left
- If the destroyed runner shell is still lying next to the travel bag on the ground, the murderer is still nearby.
Depending on how you find the destroyed runner shell, you can prepare for what awaits you and how you should proceed. This way, you can better assess whether you can calmly take a look in the bag or should be ready for a fight.
In general, keep an eye on the travel bags when fighting other teams. In Marathon, players can even be revived by their teammates after they have been completely taken out. This mechanic piqued the interest of MeinMMO editor Dariusz over a year ago. More about this here: Many extraction shooters bore me, but an innovative idea from Marathon even makes me curious
