Marathon's 28 Weapons, Ranked — What to Run and What to Skip

Quick answer: The M77 Assault Rifle and BRRT SMG are the most beginner-friendly weapons in Marathon. For a competitive loadout, pair a precision rifle like the Twin Tap HBR or Hardline PR with the WSTR Combat Shotgun to cover both long sightlines and close-quarters fights.

How Marathon's weapon system works

Marathon is a PvPvE extraction shooter where you drop into Tau Ceti as a Runner, fight AI combatants and other players, grab loot, and try to extract alive. Death means losing your equipped gear, so your weapon choice carries real economic weight. The game launches with 28 weapons spread across eight categories, and each weapon uses one of five ammo types. Weapons can also be upgraded with Mods — attachments that slot into dedicated mod slots on each gun — and there are reportedly over 400 weapon mods in the game, some of which can fundamentally change how a weapon performs.

The five ammo types break down into two broad families. Ballistic weapons use Light Bullets, Heavy Rounds, or MIPS Rounds. Volt weapons use Volt Batteries or Volt Cells. Light ammo is the most common and cheapest to buy from the Armory. Heavy ammo hits harder but takes up more inventory space and is less plentiful. MIPS rounds power the hardest-hitting special weapons like shotguns and snipers, but are expensive and rare. Volt weapons recharge their batteries slowly over time, but manually reloading drops the entire magazine, so trigger discipline matters.

All 28 weapons by category

Each weapon clearly displays its required ammo type when you equip it. You can buy ammunition from the Armory before a run or loot it from containers and defeated combatants during a match.

S-tier weapons worth building around

The strongest weapons in the current Server Slam meta share two traits: they deal high damage reliably, and they work across multiple engagement ranges without heavy mod investment. Seven weapons consistently sit at the top.

The BRRT SMG fires five-round bursts using Light ammo and has a 35-round magazine. It was a standout during earlier alpha tests and remains one of the fastest-killing close-to-mid-range options. The WSTR Combat Shotgun is a double-barreled monster using MIPS rounds — it only holds two shots, but at point-blank range, it can delete a Runner in a single trigger pull. Its effective range caps around 8 meters, so positioning is everything.

The Hardline PR is a semi-automatic precision rifle with virtually zero recoil, a 16-round magazine, and an effective range of 69 meters. It fires fast for its class and deals substantial per-shot damage, making it arguably overpowered in its current state. The Stryder M1T plays almost identically to the MIDA Multi-Tool from Destiny 2 — a semi-auto precision rifle with excellent range (84m) and crisp handling.

Both the Overrun AR and M77 Assault Rifle use Light ammo. The Overrun fires at 720 RPM but burns through its 20-round magazine fast, making a Magazine Mod almost mandatory. The M77 is slower but more accurate, with a 26-round mag and a built-in toggle scope for longer engagements. The Ares RG rounds out the top tier — a railgun that charges quickly and hits devastatingly hard, though its Volt Cell ammo is rare.

Best weapons for beginners

If you're just starting out, prioritize weapons that are forgiving and use common ammo. The M77 Assault Rifle is the single best starting point. It's stable, versatile, and effective from close to mid range without requiring precise aim. Light ammo is everywhere, so you won't struggle to keep it fed.

The BRRT SMG is the next best pick. Its burst-fire pattern is easy to control, and it shreds in the chaotic close-range fights that new players stumble into most often. For a sidearm backup, the CE Tactical Sidearm comes equipped with the Rook starter kit and has an 18-round magazine — it won't win many primary duels, but it's a reliable finisher when your main weapon runs dry.

The Hardline PR and Overrun AR are solid next steps once you're comfortable. The Hardline teaches you to hold lanes and punish peeking enemies, while the Overrun rewards aggressive close-to-mid pushes. Avoid the Twin Tap HBR, WSTR Combat Shotgun, and Longshot sniper until you're confident in your aim — they're extremely powerful but punish missed shots harshly.

Best loadout pairings

Marathon's extraction format rewards loadouts that cover two distance brackets. You want one weapon for holding open sightlines and another for winning the inevitable indoor brawl.

The strongest meta pairing right now is the Twin Tap HBR plus WSTR Combat Shotgun. The Twin Tap fires two-round bursts using Light ammo and excels at mid-to-long range with a learnable recoil pattern and 48-meter effective range. The WSTR handles everything within shotgun distance. Together, they cover nearly every engagement scenario you'll encounter.

A more budget-friendly alternative is the M77 Assault Rifle plus Magnum MC. The M77 handles most fights comfortably, and the Magnum's 69 firepower rating lets it drop enemies fast if you can land headshots. This pairing uses Light and Heavy ammo, respectively, spreading your ammo dependency across two pools.

For players who prefer aggressive flanking, try the Bully SMG plus Hardline PR. The Bully uses Heavy ammo and has the best range of any SMG at 27 meters, making it effective in hallways and medium-distance fights. The Hardline covers everything beyond that. The downside is that Heavy ammo takes up more backpack space, cutting into your loot capacity.

How weapon mods and rarity work

Every weapon has three or four mod slots. The most universal is the Chip Mod, which directly boosts a weapon's core stats. Other slots vary by weapon — the M77, for example, takes a Chip Mod, a Grip Mod, and a Magazine Mod. You can buy mods from the Armory using Credits, but the shop inventory rotates, so you won't always find what you need. Looting containers and killing combatants during runs is the most reliable way to find mods.

Weapon rarity ranges from Gray (Standard) through Green, Blue, Purple, and up to Gold (Prestige). Higher rarity weapons can roll with more attachment slots and better base stats, but they also increase your backpack value — meaning you have more to lose if you die. For new players, running mid-tier rarity weapons is the smart play until you're consistently extracting.

Gold-tier mods deserve special attention because they can completely transform a weapon's role. The CE Tactical Sidearm, for instance, has a gold mod that grants invisibility after killing an enemy and reloading. The V22 Volt Thrower can be modded to fire homing projectiles with an accumulative explosive effect, essentially turning it into a different weapon entirely.

Weapons to avoid early on

The V11 Punch and CE Tactical Sidearm sit at the bottom of most tier lists for raw combat performance. The V11 Punch can semi-auto fire or charge up a burst shot, but its low firepower (30) and short range make it a desperation option. The CE Tactical is functional as a utility piece thanks to its gold mod, but trying to win fights with it against geared opponents is a losing proposition.

The Repeater HPR hits extremely hard at 96 firepower, but it reloads one round at a time and fires slowly. Unless you're disciplined enough to use it as a secondary peek weapon rather than a primary, it'll get you killed in extended fights. The Conquest LMG has a charge-up mechanic similar to the Devotion from Apex Legends — it starts slow and ramps up, which means you lose most fights where the enemy shoots first.

The V00 Zeus RG railgun deals 180 firepower with a 155-meter range, but it requires a full charge before firing and drains 50 Volt energy per shot. It's a power weapon that rewards patient, disciplined play from fixed positions. In the hands of a new player who's still learning map flow, it's more likely to get you caught mid-charge than to land the kill.

Ammo economy and inventory management

Your ammo choice has downstream effects on your inventory. Light ammo stacks efficiently and is cheap to buy, making Light-ammo weapons the most economical option. Heavy ammo drops in bulkier stacks that eat into backpack space you'd rather fill with loot — the Bully SMG is a strong weapon, but feeding it Heavy rounds means sacrificing carrying capacity. MIPS rounds are the rarest and most expensive, reserved for shotguns and snipers that justify the cost with raw stopping power.

Volt weapons handle ammo differently. Volt Batteries power "primary" Volt weapons like the V22 Volt Thrower and V75 Scar, while Volt Cells fuel heavy hitters like railguns and the V99 Channel sniper. Volt batteries recharge slowly on their own, but manually reloading dumps whatever charge remains in the current magazine. The practical takeaway: don't panic-reload a Volt weapon unless you're committed to the next fight.

Matching weapons to Runner Shells

Your Runner Shell (class) choice should influence your weapon picks. Cores — special items that modify your Shell's abilities — can create synergies that make certain weapon types significantly more effective.

The Triage Shell has a trait called Battery Overcharge that boosts weapon performance at the cost of generating heat. While active, breaking an enemy's shield with a Volt weapon EMPs them. Pairing Triage with a Volt SMG like the V22 Volt Thrower or a Volt precision rifle like the V66 Lookout creates a natural combo where your gunplay feeds directly into your class utility.

The Destroyer Shell's Lock and Load core makes weapons ready and reload faster while reducing incoming flinch. That pairs well with high-commitment weapons like the Repeater HPR or Demolition HMG, where reload speed is normally a liability. The Assassin Shell benefits from fast-handling weapons you can fire immediately after breaking invisibility — the BRRT SMG and Copperhead RF both have the handling speed to capitalize on a surprise opener.

Marathon's weapon balance will almost certainly shift before and after full launch. But the fundamentals — cover your distances, manage your ammo economy, and match your weapons to your Shell — will hold true regardless of what gets buffed or nerfed. Start with the M77 or BRRT, learn the maps, and upgrade into riskier loadouts once you're extracting consistently.