Marathon Squad Composition Guide: Build the Right Three-Runner Team

Most squads lose before they drop. Not because of bad aim or poor routing — because three Runners picked shells they personally enjoy without asking what the team actually needs. A squad is a system. Every shell covers a gap, and the gaps that go uncovered are the ones that kill you at extraction.

This guide is about building a cohesive trio that works on purpose, not by accident. The shells are all verified in Season 2. The principles hold regardless of what the broader meta is doing.

Three roles have to be covered by some combination of your shells: damage pressure, sustained survivability, and information. You don't need one shell per role — but if all three are absent, you will lose to a coordinated team that has them.

Damage pressure means someone who can force engagements and win them. The Destroyer - Combat is the obvious anchor here. Its high HP pool (sources list it at 175 HP and 50 shield) and slow, relentless playstyle make it the best frame for initiating. Pair its Riot Barricade with the Impact Siphons core and incoming damage literally refuels your shields — that is not a passive bonus, that is a resource loop that rewards aggression. In squad ranked, Destroyer is rated S-tier precisely because it forces Holotag kills rather than hoping for them.

Sustained survivability means someone keeps the squad in the fight after the first exchange. This is Triage - Support's lane, and Triage does it better than any other shell. The Med-Drone attaches to downed crew members and prevents bleed-out while you handle the threat in front of you. Reboot+ revives at range. Shareware.Exe shares consumable benefits across the squad. A squad running Triage extracts more consistently — not because it wins every fight, but because it survives the ones it loses partially.

Information means knowing before you commit. Recon - Intel's Echo Pulse reveals enemy positions through walls and its Stalker Protocol leaves a holographic trail on broken shields. In squad ranked, where the difference between a clean push and a wipe is whether you knew two Runners were holding the corner, Recon is rated A-tier. The Early Warning System core adds a HUD alert when a hostile Runner is nearby — that is free pre-engagement intel no other shell generates passively.

This is not a new pattern. Damage anchor, dedicated heal, dedicated intel — extraction shooters have rewarded this triangle for as long as the genre has existed. Marathon is no different.

The loop works like this: Recon pings positions and calls the push. Destroyer initiates behind Riot Barricade, absorbing the opening burst while Triage holds back and keeps the team topped. After the fight, Triage revives and patches; Recon's Interrogation passive auto-pings the downed Runner's entire crew the moment you execute a finisher. You now know exactly where the revenge push is coming from.

Vandal - Combat is a strong fourth option when someone wants a different flavor. Its double-jump via Micro Jets creates vertical pressure that disrupts standard team positioning, and its Disrupt Cannon can break shields and push Runners out of cover. Vandal is rated A-tier in both solo and squad ranked — it does not specialize the way Destroyer does, but it does not require a dedicated squad slot to function either. If your squad's Destroyer player is absent, Vandal is the most painless substitute.

Squad comp shapes your Cradle investment. A Destroyer anchoring a trio should lean into the Endurance track — the Quick Vent perk at 3 Energy means heat recovery begins faster after Tactical Sprint and Thruster use, keeping you mobile between burst pushes. The Heat Dissipation perk at 9 Energy extends that advantage across longer fights.

Your Triage should look at the Support track. The Factory Reset perk at 10 Energy triggers health regen for you after reviving a crew member — which means the act of keeping your squad alive also keeps you alive. That is the Triage loop at its tightest.

Recon benefits from Recharge. Head Start at 4 Energy means you enter each run with partial Tactical charge, which means Tracker Drone is available faster in the opening seconds when information is most scarce.

Note: all Cradle perk values above are drawn from source data and have not yet been confirmed in-game. Treat the breakpoints as directionally correct, and use the planner at /cradle to map your path before you commit Energy. Respec is free — there is no penalty for adjusting as you learn the comp.

- Every squad needs damage pressure, survivability, and information covered. Destroyer + Triage + Recon is the cleanest way to hit all three simultaneously in Season 2 squad ranked. - The Cradle investment should follow your role in the squad, not your shell in isolation — Endurance for the initiator, Support for the medic, Recharge for the intel runner. - Vandal is your most flexible substitute when the full trio isn't available. It fits any gap without requiring the squad to rebuild around it.