Marathon is out now on consoles and PC. This is Bungie’s next big game and Sony’s latest attempt at a live-service blockbuster. So you might be hopping into this extraction shooter without any experience playing games like Escape From Tarkov or Arc Raiders. Maybe you are a big Destiny or Halo fan and want to check out Bungie’s next big thing?
Whatever brought you to Tau Ceti IV, that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters now is learning that Marathon is a different beast from most online shooters out there. And you are going to want to change up how you play, avoid old habits, and retrain your gamer brain a bit if you want to enjoy Marathon, survive, and extract with good loot.
Here’s a list of things to not do in Bungie’s new sci-fi shooter. Good luck out there, folks. You’re going to need it.
Stop running around so much
I get it! You want to find more loot. You want to escape with stuff. You want to find some action. So you sprint everywhere you go. Stop that. All that’s doing is alerting other players, like me, to where you are. Slow down. Crouch. Walk carefully. Listen to your surroundings. There will be moments when running is necessary or smart. But chill and let others run to you, loudly giving themselves away and providing you a perfect chance to ambush them and blast them away.
Avoid fighting everything that moves
I know in every other Bungie-developed shooter, the goal is to shoot everything that moves until it stops moving. Not here. Stop that. You are going to run out of ammo very quickly, alert enemies and players to where you are, and end up in fights you can’t win. You know what all of that will get you? Death. Avoid robots if you can. Sneak around a team of runners if you are low on ammo or you’re all alone. Trust me, there will be plenty of fighting in Marathon. Just fight smart, and you’ll have a better chance of getting off Tau Ceti VI alive.
Quit reloading guns that use Volt ammo all the time
Hey! Stop it! I saw you reload that Volt SMG after firing just a few rounds. Knock it off. That just wastes the battery. Volt guns operate more like energy weapons than bullet-fed firearms. The batteries that power them even recharge as you move around. Neat stuff. But if you reload the moment after you fire a few bursts at a random bot or whatever, you are tossing away that battery, and soon you’ll be out of ammo. And remember where that leads? (Spoiler: Death.)
Don’t hop into a match without a goal
It can be easy, after extracting with loot or dying quickly, to want to hop back in and get back in there. Get some revenge. Or try out your new toys. Don’t do that. Instead, take a moment and figure out what you want to do in this next run.
Perhaps you need to pick a new contract to work on. Maybe you can try to grab some specific materials for your next upgrade. Or you just simply have some bloodlust and want to try out your cool new rifle, get a few kills, and leave. Doesn’t really matter what your plan is, but have one so you have something to focus on and don’t aimlessly walk about and become someone’s next target.
Stop grabbing everything you see
I love loot. I love grabbing loot. I love looking at a big screen covered in loot. But, there’s a lot of random crap in Marathon that won’t always be useful or something you need right now. Sure, early on, grabbing anything can quickly build up a stock of stuff to pull from later. After a few runs, though, try to be better about what you pick up so you don’t fill up your backpack 40 seconds in a run over and over again.
Don’t extract right away
Marathon is scary. So when you get some cool loot, your first instinct will be to find the nearest extraction zone and get out. Hold on, cowboy, you might want to hang around. Perhaps you are close to finishing that contract. Or maybe you find even better loot in the next building. If you run in, grab everything you see in the first 30 seconds, and then extract the first moment you can, you’ll quickly fill up your vault with random junk. Maybe that’s what you want, but it won’t be very satisfying, and you’ll struggle to build up a badass loadout if you continue this pattern.
Quit doing Rook runs and only using sponsored kits
Rook runs are a great and fun way to get some extra loot. I love starting my night off with a Rook run. But these can become a bad habit and hard to kick. Rooks have nothing to lose. That is freeing, but it can also train your brain to be reckless. And when you do a real run, that will lead to you losing your stuff. So don’t rely on Rook so much. Go out there, kid. I believe in you.
Similarly, stop running a sponsor kit every single time you leave for Tau Ceti IV. I’ll be the first to admit that the comfort of going in with gear I don’t care about is nice. The thing is, by avoiding risk, you are also putting yourself at a big disadvantage in runs. Sponsored kits lack good shields, ammo, and medical supplies. That’s a recipe for getting wiped over and over again. Sure, you aren’t losing anything, but you’re not gaining much, either. I’m not saying you can’t use sponsored kits at all, just don’t rely on them solely. Instead, take out that blue gun and that shield you found and go kick some ass. You’ll quickly discover that shields and a trusty firearm can make a world of difference in Marathon.