Marathon Best Builds

Marathon Best Builds TL;DR

• Assassin has the best hit-and-run builds, focused on invisibility, shotgun burst damage, and fast resets. Prioritize Prime Recovery, Tactical Recovery, Agility, and Heat Capacity.

• Triage is the strongest squad support option for duos and trios. Build around Self Repair Speed, Revive Speed, Agility, and Heat Capacity

• Recon is all about information control. Focus on Ping Duration, ability recovery, Agility, and Heat Capacity to scan often and keep enemies tracked longer.

• Vandal is your pure movement pressure build. Stack Agility, Heat Capacity, and Fall Resistance to stay mobile

• Thief is the best loot-run setup when you want fast farming and safe extractions - Agility, Loot Speed, Heat Capacity, and Prime Recovery are best bets

• Destroyer works best as a close-range breacher, using shields to push into fights and finish enemies up close. Prioritize Melee Damage, Tactical Recovery, and Agility

Got low on gear? Instead of spending your time doing Rook runs, you can get Marathon items on Playhub. Get the rarest guns and gear in no time and jump straight back to real PvP!

Assassin Stealth Burst Build

With how popular Assassin is, let’s start with his build first. The idea is to cover space in invis, deal huge damage with a shotgun of your choice (I prefer to opt for WSTR), and reset.
Here’s how your loadout should ideally look:

Of course, you won’t have access to implants with perfect stats at all times, but Heat Capacity, Agility, and Prime and Tactical recoveries should be your priority with this hit-and-run playstyle. As for Core, there are several viable options, so choose depending on what you have on your hands. Flexweave is BiS in my opinion - faster movement speed and handling while invisible is kind of broken compared to alternatives.

Triage Medic Support Build

If you’re a trio crew player, running Triage is always the optimal choice, I’ve covered why in our Marathon best runners tier list. Since you’re a combat medic type runner, your playstyle and loadout choices should be centered around more of a “stay behind and always die last” playstyle:

There are several viable Cores for you to choose from, with the best being the Samaritan, but it’s obviously rare and risky to run. High Voltage and Hypocratic Oath are better if you want to focus on offensiveness in your playstyle, and Fresh Install is best if you want to go for a support fantasy. 

Self-Repair speed is crucial for Triage, since you share your healing effects with your team, and Revive Speed, since that’s what you’re expected to do. After that, your priorities should be Agility and Heat Capacity to get in and out of combat fast and without running out of stamina. Make sure to bring a large capacity shield to survive for as long as possible and support your teammates for the entirety of the fight.

Recon Intel Control Build

Info is what wins fights all the time, and that’s what your build on Recon should be all about. The focus is on prolonging your pings, getting your scan off as often as possible, and improving your core abilities: 

Recon has access to a huge number of strong cores, and Early Warning System and Intuition are the rarest and strongest of the bunch. These two are super broken and add a whole other layer of utility to Recon, but obviously, they are hard to get and risky to run. Hot Pursuit and Predator are almost as useful but much more common, so you can run them on a budget. They both focus on improving your tracker drone, allowing you to either sprint faster after your drone finds the target or to prolong the drone’s lifespan. 

For stats, priorities are pretty simple: longer Ping duration to go with your core abilities, Abilities recovery speed, Heat Capacity/Agility to help you with chasing opps down. For weapons, go for whatever you feel comfortable with, preferably SMGs and ARs for a more flexible range coverage. You can check out which guns are valued higher than others in our Marathon weapons tier list.

Vandal Movement Pressure Build

Well, with Vandal, it’s all about move-move-move playstyle, and this build focuses on enhancing exactly that. While building your vandal out, go for something like this:

All we care about building out Vandal is Agility, Heat Capacity, and maybe Fall Resistance, since you’re bound to fall from time to time. Core choices are vast, with Tag and Cut To The Chase being the best options for the Cannon-oriented playstyles, and High-Octane Propeller and Microjet Efficiency Package being more costly and movement-oriented alternatives. 

For weapons, just go with whatever feels right. ARs, SMGs, and Shotguns are preferred since they’re universally good. Playstyle focus should be on getting into the rooms with valuables as fast as possible and getting out with the Loot.

Thief Loot Economy Build

Speaking of loot, there’s this economy-boosting Thief build. Whenever your stash starts feeling empty-ish, just run Thief and try to get as many valuables as possible running these things:

Agility, Heat Capacity, and Loot Speed are the name of the game. You go in, get as much loot as possible as quickly as possible, and go to the next spot. Your core augments should be complementing this playstyle - cheap options include Greed Is Good, which provides a huge sprinting boost, and The Big Score, which speeds up the looting process. Partner in Crime is an insanely powerful baller option. Make sure to bring a large base backpack to carry out everything you’ll find.

Destroyer Melee Breach Build

Destroyer might seem like a Runner designed for more of a defensive playstyle, but what he actually does best is getting close to his enemies using the protection of his shield. Here are the items that work best with this strategy:

Obviously, up close, there is no weapon type better than a shotty and an SMG. Ankle Breaker is the prime choice for the build, and Myrmidon is close in usefulness. For pricier options, Counter Attack and Impact Siphons are both great, improving your shields significantly. Implants stats should prioritize Melee Damage, Agility, and Tactical Recovery. I’d recommend taking the highest capacity shield available to you, since you’ll be on the very edge of the attack at all times.