Marathon is now available on consoles and PC. This is Bungie’s next big game and Sony’s latest attempt at creating a live-action blockbuster. So you could go into this extraction shooter without any experience playing games like Escape from Tarkov Or Arc Raiders. Maybe you’re a big Fate Or Halo fan and want to discover the next big thing from Bungie?
Whatever brought you to Tau Ceti IV, it no longer matters. What matters NOW learns that Marathon is a different beast than most online shooters. And you’re going to want to change the way you play, avoid old habits and retrain your gaming brain a little if you want to benefit from it. Marathon, survive, and extract with good loot.
Here’s a list of things not to do in Bungie’s new sci-fi shooter. Good luck, friends. You will need it.
Stop running so much I understand! You want to find more loot. You want to escape with stuff. You want to find action. So you sprint everywhere you go. Stop it. All this does is alert other players, like me, to where you are. To slow down. Squat. Walk carefully. Listen to your surroundings. There will be times when running is necessary or smart. But relax and let the others run towards you, loudly betraying themselves and giving you a perfect opportunity to ambush and blow them up.
Avoid fighting anything that moves I know that in every other shooter game Bungie has developed, the goal is to shoot everything that moves until it stops. Not here. Stop it. You’ll quickly run out of ammo, alert enemies and players to your location, and find yourself in fights you can’t win. Do you know what all this will get you? Death. Avoid bots if you can. Sneak among a team of runners if you’re low on ammo or alone. Believe me there will be a lot of fights Marathon. Fight smart and you’ll have a better chance of making it out of Tau Ceti VI alive.
Stop reloading weapons that use Volt ammo all the time Hey! Stop it! I saw you reload that Volt SMG after only firing a few shots. Stop him. It just wastes battery. Volt guns function more like energy weapons than bullet-powered firearms. The batteries that power them recharge even when you move. Cool stuff. But if you reload right after firing a few bursts at a random robot or whatever, you’re throwing away that battery and you’ll soon run out of ammo. And do you remember where this leads? (Spoiler: Death.)
Don’t go into a match without a goal It can be easy, after extracting loot or dying quickly, to want to go back and return. Take your revenge. Or try your new toys. Don’t do that. Instead, take a moment and figure out what you want to do in this next race.
Maybe you need to choose a new contract to work on. Maybe you can try to scavenge specific materials for your next upgrade. Or you simply have a bloodlust and want to try out your new rifle, get a few kills and leave. Your plan doesn’t really matter, but have one so you have something to focus on and don’t wander around aimlessly and become someone’s next target.
Stop grabbing everything you see I love loot. I love collecting loot. I love looking at a big screen covered in booty. But there’s a lot of random bullshit Marathon it won’t always be useful or something you need right now. Of course, grabbing anything early on can quickly build up a stockpile of things you can draw from later. After a few runs, try to be better at what you pick up so you’re not filling your backpack 40 seconds straight, over and over again.
Don’t extract yet Marathon it’s scary. So when you get some cool loot, your first instinct will be to find the nearest mining area and head out. Wait, cowboy, maybe you should stick around. Maybe you are about to finish this contract. Or maybe you’ll find even better loot in the next building. If you go in, collect everything you see in the first 30 seconds, then mine the first time you can, you’ll quickly fill your vault with random trash. This may be what you want, but it won’t be very satisfying and you’ll have a hard time building combat gear if you continue this pattern.
Stop doing Rook shopping and only use sponsored kits Trick races are a great and fun way to get extra loot. I love starting my evening with a Rook run. But it can become a bad habit and difficult to break. The towers have nothing to lose. It’s liberating, but it can also train your brain to be reckless. And when you do a real errand, it will cause you to lose your stuff. So don’t count on Rook too much. Go ahead, kid. I believe in you.
Also, stop building a sponsor kit every time you go to Tau Ceti IV. I’ll be the first to admit that the comfort of riding with gear I’m not interested in is nice. The fact is that by avoiding risks you also put yourself at a very disadvantageous position when racing. Sponsored kits lack good shields, ammo, and medical supplies. This is a recipe for being wiped over and over again. Of course, you don’t lose anything, but you don’t gain much either. I’m not saying you can’t use sponsored kits at all, but don’t rely on them alone. Instead, take out that blue gun and shield you found and go kick some ass. You’ll quickly discover that shields and a reliable firearm can make all the difference in Marathon.