When it comes to Marathon’s Shells, plenty of opinions have started to emerge. Some are determined meta choices, with Triage feeling like a must in groups due to his drones and revives, Assassin being a monster in solo play, and Vandal’s movement giving her a lot of playmaking potential. Then, there’s Recon, a Shell in need of a buff that will thankfully come in Marathon’s midseason update, and Thief, whose pesky drone has stolen some great loot from exfiling Runners. And, of course, there’s the Destroyer, a Titan equivalent for every crayon-eating Destiny 2 player. However, there’s one Shell that has divided the community more than any other: the Rook.
For those unfamiliar with Marathon‘s Rooks, they’re a special shell that can only be utilized by solo Runners, allowing them to sneak into maps mid-match to reap the rewards from half-looted bags. Sneaky rooks can get in and get out with plenty of loot, and with the Rook’s starting setup able to be upgraded via skill tree capstones, dedicated players can make the character quite strong. A skilled Rook can even take out an entire trio if they’re clever, getting a ton of loot despite risking nothing but their time by loading into a game that’s halfway finished. Because Rooks are often outnumbered, they need to be sneaky and clever to succeed, something that has resulted in players either loving or hating the cross-faced robots. As for me, I wasn’t quite sure where I fell… until one incident permanently transformed me into a Rook hunter in constant search for revenge.
I Don’t Care About Marathon’s Sales or Player Count, and You Shouldn’t Either
At virtually every turn, the player count for Marathon Steam or its estimated sales numbers are harped on, but I’m doing my best to block it out.
A Serious Case of Whiplash Had Me Willing to Be a Rook Sympathizer…
Prior to an epic failure that I’ll be revisiting in a second, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Rooks. On one hand, I’d raged about them here and there when they third-partied my team after a hard-fought win and reaped all the rewards. On the other hand, I’ve laughed out loud at clips of “Rooks together strong” moments, like one on Outpost where all the Rooks got together and laid siege to Pinwheel. One of my friends has always hated them, regularly wiping them out the second they appear and arguing “the only good Rook is a dead rook.” On the flip side, my fiancee finds Rooks cute, feeling bad when eliminating them and regularly trying to befriend them. I guess if I had taken a stance, it would have been one of neutrality, but I recently managed to swing to both sides of the spectrum in the same exact night.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
EasyMediumHard
My group had been stuck on the final Traxus contract for some time — specifically, step 4/5, which tasks players with getting into the Command Wing of the Pinwheel Base, killing a special bot within it to snag its credentials, and exfiling after. This is easier said than done, so to prepare for another night of uphill battles, we played a few matches of Perimeter to get some better gear. It’s one of these matches where I had a hilarious Rook interaction that softened my stance on the Shell type, a brief change of opinion that would later cost me and my teammates everything.
Said moment was remarkably simple. After looting and exiting Station, and heading toward one of Marathon’s exfil sites, I spotted a Rook lurking outside the POI. I filled them with bullets, to the point where they were surely a single shot away from death, before realizing that they weren’t firing back. So, I stopped, walking over to the Rook to see if they were friendly. I’ll never know whether they would have been, because before I could do anything, the Rook dropped every single piece of loot they had from their backpack before running away. Staring at the Rook briefly and then instantly watching piles of different-colored loot fly toward me as if I’d just killed a Borderlands raid boss was a sight I won’t forget. And the way in which the Rook slightly delayed before dropping their rare backpack, then ran around the corner and disappeared completely, made for 30 seconds of comedy that had me eager for more Rook interactions. I wish I could go back and warn myself why that was such a bad idea, though.
The loot-dropping Rook on Perimeter may have survived, as when we exfil’d, we saw him hiding in a nearby building.
Why Marathon’s Thermal Optics Are So OP (And How They Should Be Nerfed)
Marathon’s most oppressive optic is one of the most exciting finds that a Runner can make, and there are some clear reasons why.
…And Then, The Pinwheel Incident Happened
With my team properly geared up (and a tad bit stronger thanks to the terrified Rook we had just run into), we headed into Outpost optimistic about our chances. And then, we were humbled, being killed over… and over… and over, until we were considering taking a break from completing the Traxus contract and doing something else entirely. But, fortunately for us (or unfortunately, given how things ended up), we started having an incredible run on our last try. Few things are more satisfying than a Marathon match where everything goes right, as it can make multiple games of failure feel worth it. Whether it’s gathering piles of loot, completing a tough contract, or racking up tons of kills to please Arachne, a good run is a huge confidence booster, especially when you were struggling prior to that point. The smooth run in question was progressing as follows:
- We were able to get into Pinwheel without a fight, as we’d spawned near the Destroyed Wing and eventually found the five switches.
- We ran into a pair of Rooks and killed one, with the other forced to run away. (In hindsight, leaving that Rook alive would be our undoing)
- We ran into a big team fight, taking out two teams in an intense back and forth and getting tons of loot for our efforts.
- We reached the room we’d been trying to get into for ages with purple shields and weaponry.
While everything was going right for us up to that point, our friend — the same player who kills Rooks on sight and never lets them exfil with us, even if they’ve been downed — had to take care of something before we continued on. The timer was ticking down, though, and with us also needing to exfil with just four minutes left, my fiancee and I triggered lockdown. We cleared the bots, kept our third player safe, and successfully got the item we needed, but as we walked toward the room’s exit, we noticed a Rook on the other end of the laser wall. While another Rook interaction like this nowadays would be more comparable to the build-up to the Darth Maul battle in The Phantom Menace, as I’d be bloodthirsty and eager to inflict pain, this one was different. This Rook, who was named Ronin, was talking in Proximity chat, likely indicating that they’re friendly given the teabag motion and the jumping. Maybe we were pressured by the clock ticking down, maybe we wanted the extra help with the purple bots near the exfil since our friend was AFK, or maybe we looked at Rooks differently because of the Perimeter match earlier. But we, regretfully, bought into what they were selling.
When Ronin the Rook opened the door, we didn’t shoot them. Sure, we were nervous hearing their footsteps behind us that this Rook may betray us, but he didn’t pull the trigger. He seemed trustworthy. And as our Rook-hating friend returned, they also let the Rook live, likely just happy that we were about to complete a contract we’d been throwing ourselves at for hours. To reward Ronin, and make use of all the Master Clearance codes I’d hoarded, we opened the rare root room that just so happened to be right by our exfil. Ronin seemed excited to share in the profits, crouching up and down by the door, and everyone walked in to loot the room — a room that served as a graveyard for my group.
In hindsight, we should have seen it coming. We’d killed the Rook’s friend earlier, the room we were walking into was incredibly cramped, and we committed the cardinal sin of everyone looting at the exact same time. As we gobbled up loot, filling our purple bags with yellow attachments, Cryo keys, and even more purple gear, I heard a terrifying noise I’m used to hearing every match given my fiancee’s adoration for explosives: the sound of claymores being placed. In seconds, Ronin had placed claymores behind all 3 of us, instantly dropping my teammates and leaving me with a fraction of health. Before I could heal or fire back, Ronin downed me, finishing us off one by one just before I could get up from my self revive. And, just like that, our perfect run was over. The Traxus contract we’d been so desperate to complete remained unfinished. Our piles upon piles of loot, as well as the barely looted goodies in the locked room, were all free to be collected by a lone Rook. Said Rook’s exfil was mere feet away, ensuring they’d get away with the crime unscathed. We’d been punished for trusting a random player, and it’s a failure none of us will ever forget.
PSA: Don’t Pay Attention to Marathon’s Review Bombing
Marathon is being review bombed on Metacritic, but there’s clear proof that a majority of its negative reviews can be completely ignored.
The Aftermath of Our Embarrassing Rook Failure
My fiancee felt guilty, especially since this was the only Rook she’d ever felt unsure about, which should have been a red flag for me. My friend was furious, as he’d have never let the Rook survive if he wasn’t AFK when we ran into him (we also might have left before Ronin even appeared at the laser wall). And me? I was just ashamed that I had failed to 1v1 the Rook and save our run. It genuinely feels like we went through the five stages of grief upon returning to the lobby. There was about a minute of deafening silence, several more minutes of rage — I’m fairly certain one of us growled like an animal — a lot of laughter (if we didn’t joke about it, we’d cry), and then, a vow. We all agreed that we’d never, ever let another Rook live. Ronin had ruined it for all the Rooks we’ll meet going forward, and if we ever see his name in proximity chat while playing Marathon, we’re sure to be consumed with bloodlust.
Since the Pinwheel Incident of April 8 (yes, we remember the date and will likely commemorate it every year by hunting extra hard for Rooks on the anniversary of our disastrous mistake), we’ve been truly vicious whenever one of us spots a Rook. As pictured above, I’ve even changed my Bungie name from my usual PSN ID to Rick, The Rook Ravager, because I want it to be clear to every Rook that they’re my enemy. The Pinwheel Base — specifically, that damn loot room — gives me PTSD whenever I go near it, and I’m pretty sure I’m scarred for life because of how that near-perfect run fell apart. My only way of coping has been to try to inflict the same pain on every Rook I see, even if they’re not to blame for what Ronin did to us.
We still make memes about what happened, a handful of which can be seen below.
While we were (and still are) devastated about what happened — we have yet to return to that specific Marathon contract — I can’t stress enough how this failure has only made me adore Marathon even more. It shows how special the game is, as we endured a mix of tough AI and PvP battles to nearly complete a challenging contract, only to have a memorable social interaction and lose everything because of it. Our greatest failure in the game was Ronin’s biggest success, and while I absolutely hope he’s cursed with a few nights of rough matches for what he did, I can’t help but respect his clever strategy to corner us and wipe us out. I love Marathon, even if it infuriates me sometimes, and this story is a big part of why. Make no mistake, though. If you’re a Rook, I’m coming for you, and I’ll never be tricked like that again.
- Released
-
March 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Teen / Animated Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
