Marathon is a very good game. Marathon is also a very challenging game that can be very confusing even after playing for multiple hours. If you are hopping into Bungie’s extraction shooter for the first time or are still trying to wrap your head around it, we here at Kotaku have 20 tips to help you extract, get good loot, become more powerful, and hopefully have fun.
It’s hard out there on Tau Ceti IV. Let us help you. Just keep in mind: You are going to die. A lot. It’s to be expected.
You won’t understand everything
Let me just be very clear: I’ve played a lot of Marathon, and I still don’t fully understand everything in the game. So if you’re just hopping in for the first time or have only played a few matches, don’t expect to understand what’s going on anytime soon. It’s going to take time and plenty of failure before you start to understand the map, loot, gear, stats, and other intricacies of Marathon. Reading this guide and others will help, but ultimately, you won’t really comprehend this game for a long time. That’s okay. Part of the process.
Grab unstable materials
Early on, you are likely going to be overwhelmed by all the loot that can be found in Marathon. I’d recommend focusing on grabbing anything labeled as “Unstable.” More specifically, focus on bringing back Unstable Diodes and Unstable Biomass. These will help unlock very useful upgrades, including the ability to increase your vault size significantly. Don’t sell these materials, either. Horde them, you’ll thank me later.
The best starting tip for Marathon! ✅ pic.twitter.com/vqQs87xP8a
— Covent (@ChrisCovent) March 6, 2026
Unlock all the factions right away!
Very early into Marathon, you’ll start getting quests labeled “Introducing.” Complete these ASAP. These will unlock the various factions in the game, letting you level them up as well as providing more in-game missions, aka contracts.
Complete contracts and level up factions
Remember ABC: Always. Be. Completing contracts in Marathon. This will help you quickly level up the various factions in the game, which in turn will let you use all those unstable materials and other gunk to level up your stats, unlock new items to buy in the armory, and more. You can spend some credits to reroll non-story contracts, too. Do that if a contract seems too annoying or tricky to complete.
Check each faction’s agent screen for other ways to boost your rep
Contracts aren’t the only way to increase your faction levels. Each faction will award you bonus XP for doing certain activities during a run or for bringing back faction-related loot. For example, every time you pick a plant in Marathon, you’ll get a bit of NuCaloric faction XP (assuming you’ve unlocked them), which can help you rank that faction up while doing a quest for another. Multi-tasking! To figure out what each faction wants you to do, visit the agent section of each group’s menu.
Water and crouching can help you sprint more efficiently
Runner shells in Marathon can sprint and slide, but doing so builds up heat. Push your shell too far, and you can overheat and be unable to run for a bit. This sucks. Luckily, there are ways to remove heat quickly that don’t require items or skill. First off, crouch. Doing this will cool you down faster. Another tip is to look for water. Running through even shallow water will make your heat build up slower. Rain will do the same. And yes, you can combine these. Crouching in water will cool you down extremely fast.
Use claymores to cover your back
Sure, you can stick a claymore to a drone and do some wild TikTok-trending drone warfare. But claymores are super useful without a drone, too. When playing solo, I’ll place one or two in doorways or near ladders while I loot or get ready to extract. This has stopped random enemy players from sneaking up on me and saved my ass many times while trying to extract. This tactic is also useful in co-op, too.
Smoke grenades can save you from deadly bots
Did you accidentally anger some robot soldiers? Toss a smoke grenade down between you and them and use it to cover your escape. Bots are easily thrown off by smoke grenades and can help you slip away without having to waste bullets in a fight.
Signal Jammers are your friend
While we’re talking about ways to avoid Marathon’s surprisingly deadly bots, here’s another one: Signal Jammer kits. These can be popped like any other consumable and will mask you from enemy robots and turrets. Extremely useful if you’re trying to sneak by a big patrol or want to get the jump on players hiding from bots and looting.
Depleted shield and health items don’t extract
You’ve probably already noticed if you’ve played a few matches, but just to reiterate: Depleted shield kits and health packs do not leave with you when you exfil. So if you have, like, five of them in your inventory, feel free to use them the moment you need to, as they won’t be coming back to your vault with you if you escape.
Red flares signal lockboxes
Got a lockbox key and not sure where to go? Look for red flares! These will pop up on any building in a map that contains lockboxes to unlock.
Check the map screen for more objective info
If a contract says to go to South Relay to hack a terminal but you can’t find it, open your map and check out the right side. Over there, you’ll see what contracts each of your team members has, and if you hover your cursor over a contract, the game will give you more details. Is this a bad UI choice? Yes! But at least you know now and can hopefully use the extra info to finish contracts with less stress.
Upgrade factions to upgrade Rook
Rook, a robotic shell that can’t complete contracts but can bring back loot, is fun. You can make Rook more powerful and useful by leveling up factions and buying up enough upgrades to unlock each group’s “Capstone” node. Each of these boosts up Rook, giving him better gear and making him more of a genuine threat.
Use TADs to spot enemy players
At various locations around each of Marathon’s maps, you might see small antenna-like structures marked as TADs that you can interact with. And you should activate these, as they will ping the area around you and reveal enemy players. Keep in mind that other players will see the TAD’s pulses, so you are letting those players know that they aren’t alone. But at least you’ll have the drop on where they are if the attack.
Mechanic kits will cure poison plant bullshit
Those yellowish-green toxic plants that explode when you get too close are annoying as heck. If you want to remove that obnoxious debuff that is tossed on runners who get too close, simply keep a spare Mechanic Kit on you or find one in the world. Using that will wipe the effects away, letting you heal normally.
Read our list of don’ts
This is a list of useful tips and tricks for new players and people just starting their journey into Marathon. But there’s even more to learn about Bungie’s new extraction shooter, so check out our list of things to NOT do in Marathon to help you survive longer and hopefully get out with good loot.
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