MARATHON WEAPON GUIDES
Per-weapon analysis, fire rate breakdowns, ammo efficiency, and matchup notes. Pick the right gun for your build and your range.
93 weapon guides. Refreshed throughout the day.
Cryo Archive Meta: Why Thief Shell Dominates the New High-Stakes Zone
The introduction of Cryo Archive has fundamentally shifted Marathon's meta toward shells that can execute high...
Cryo Archive Thief: The Ultimate High-Stakes Extraction Build
The introduction of Cryo Archive fundamentally changes the meta conversation around Thief builds. With "escape...
Recon Intel Domination: Early Warning System Core Analysis
THE SHELL FOUNDATION Recon emerges as the definitive ranked intelligence shell following the Cryo Archive wee...
Marathon Ordnance Heist: Firestorm Weapon Event Guide
WHAT IS ORDNANCE HEIST? Bungie has launched Ordnance Heist, a two-week Marathon event built around a self-des...
Marathon Ares RG Guide: Master the Volt Railgun
WHAT THE ARES RG ACTUALLY IS The Ares RG is a Volt-damage railgun firing single shots from a 4-round magazine...
Marathon Update 1.1.5.4: Ordnance Heist and the V85 Nerf
WHAT JUST DROPPED Patch 1.1.5.4 landed August 18 alongside the Ordnance Heist limited-time event, and it carr...
Marathon Volt Battery Weapons: The Trickle Charge Meta Shift
THE QUIET BUFF THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING Update 1.1.5 dropped a line that barely made headlines: Volt Battery w...
Marathon Update 1.1.5.3: A Clean Patch and Where the Meta Sits
WHAT 1.1.5.3 ACTUALLY CONTAINS Patch 1.1.5.3 just landed, and I'll be direct: this is a maintenance drop, not...
Marathon Update 1.1.5.2: Twin Tap HBR and the Precision Meta
THE PATCH THAT CHANGES WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE Update 1.1.5.2 dropped today, and the headline changes are the V2...
Marathon Update 1.1.5.2: V22 Volt Thrower and KKV-9SD Meta Shift
WHAT DROPPED IN 1.1.5.2 Bungie's latest patch is a targeted one — two weapon tuning passes, a Vault Breaker e...
Marathon Director Joe Ziegler Out: What It Means for the Meta
THE DEPARTURE Joe Ziegler, Marathon's game director, has left Bungie. Del Chafe III — previously the assistan...
Marathon Mid-Season 2 Patch: The WSTR Is Back — What It Means for Ranked
THE WSTR RETURNS, DIFFERENTLY The WSTR Combat Shotgun is back. Bungie confirmed the damage increase from 85 t...
Marathon Mid-Season 2 Update: WSTR, D54, and Grenade Meta Shifts
PATCH DROPS JULY 21 — HERE'S WHAT MOVES Update 1.1.5 lands next week and it is not a quiet patch. Three syste...
Marathon WSTR Combat Shotgun Build: Mid-Season Buff Guide
THE BUFF AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS The mid-season 2 update landing July 21st brings the WSTR Combat Shotgun ...
Marathon Mid-Season 2 Update: Vault Breaker, WSTR Buff, Grenade Limits
THE PATCH THAT CHANGES THE MATH Bungie dropped the full Mid-Season 2 Update preview on July 16, and Update 1....
Marathon Mid-Season 2 Patch: Ranked Winners and Losers
THE PATCH IN BRIEF Update 1.1.5 lands July 21. Three changes carry direct ranked weight: the WSTR Combat Shot...
Marathon Weapons Meta: What's Worth Running in Season 2
THE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE Thin source week — five shorts and a livestream thumbnail, nothing with meaningful game...
Marathon Gun Skin Removal: Players Shrug, Then Dig In
THE COSMETIC STUMBLE NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT Bungie pulled four Marathon weapon skins last week after they...
Marathon D54 Battle Pistol: The Burst-Fire Upgrade You're Sleeping On
ONE VIDEO, ONE WEAPON, ONE SIGNAL WORTH TRACKING Limited creator coverage this cycle — two of the three YouTu...
Marathon Recon Build: Early Warning System Solo Ranked Guide
THE SIGNAL BEFORE THE FIGHT One YouTube short this cycle — FragFather's 36-second clip noting a fallback when...
Marathon Update 1.1.0.4: Patch Notes and Ranked Impact
WHAT 1.1.0.4 ACTUALLY CHANGES Patch 1.1.0.4 dropped July 7 and it is a maintenance update — no weapon tuning,...
Marathon Cryo Archive Build: Survive and Thrive in the Endgame
ONE VIDEO, ONE MAP — HONEST FRAMING The signal this cycle is thin: one applicable Marathon gameplay video, a ...
Marathon Triage Build: Best Ranked Solo Loadout for Climbing
THE HONEST PROBLEM WITH TRIAGE SOLO The tier data is not ambiguous. Triage sits at D-tier in ranked solo and...
Marathon Sentinel Build: Castle Doctrine Shotgun Dominance Guide
THE SOURCE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE Thin signal this week — the YouTube batch skews toward Cryo Archive exploration ...
Marathon D54 Battle Pistol: The Secondary That Deserves a First Look
THE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE Thin source week — one short clip tagged the D54 Battle Pistol as overlooked, and a sep...
Marathon Recon Build: Echo Pulse Intel Engine for Ranked
SIGNAL HONESTY: THIN SOURCE WEEK The YouTube feed this cycle is light on build content — one short clip from ...
Marathon Vandal Build: Movement, Mods, and Cradle Priorities
WHY VANDAL IS THE RIGHT STARTING SHELL Most new players get told to start with Rook. That is not wrong — but ...
Marathon Vault Breaker Mode: What the Mid-Season Shift Means for Your Build
THE VAULT BREAKER SIGNAL No creator coverage landed this cycle — one video in the source pool was Subway Surf...
Marathon Destroyer Build: The Riot Barricade Squad Carry Guide
THIN SOURCE NOTE One video came in this cycle, and it is not about Marathon the extraction shooter — it is a ...
Marathon Rook Build: The Underrated Solo Survivor Loadout
THE CASE FOR ROOK IN SEASON 2 The Sourheart video on Sentinel this cycle got me thinking about the other shel...
Marathon Destroyer Build: Conquest LMG Ranked Solo Guide
THE CASE FOR DESTROYER SOLO THIS WEEK Destroyer sits B-tier in ranked solo right now. That rating is accurate...
Marathon KKV-9SD and High-RPM Guns: The Bullet-Eating Problem
THE COMPLAINT HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT High rate-of-fire weapons have a problem, and players are starting to nam...
Marathon Knife Build: Shadow Strike Assassin Is the Move
THE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE Coverage is thin this cycle — one short gameplay clip from Distain, tagged "#marathon #...
Marathon Impact HAR Guide: The Reliable Mid-Range AR
WHAT THE IMPACT HAR ACTUALLY IS There is a version of this guide where I tell you the Impact HAR is underrate...
Marathon's Best Guns Debate: What the Lobby Is Actually Running
THE CLIP THAT STARTED THE CONVERSATION The most-watched Marathon clip on Twitch right now is titled "the best...
Marathon Night Marsh Budget Loadout: What Actually Works
THE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE One video this cycle speaks directly to the meta: KyroSPV dropping into Night Marsh wit...
Marathon Vandal Build: Best Ranked Solo Loadout With the Twin Tap HBR
THE BUILD CASE Vandal sits A-tier in ranked solo and has held that position with no movement. The shell is st...
Marathon Update 1.1.0.3: What the MIDA Capstone Fix Actually Changes
THE PATCH NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT CORRECTLY Update 1.1.0.3 landed June 23 and most of the discourse zeroed in...
Marathon Update 1.1.0.3: Ranked Solo Queue Fix and What Changes
THE PATCH THAT CLOSES THE SOLO RANKED DOOR Bungie dropped Update 1.1.0.3 on June 23, and the headline change ...
Marathon Weapon Mods Guide: Build Smarter, Not Harder
WHY MODS MATTER MORE THAN THE WEAPON New Runners make the same mistake: they find a weapon with high damage a...
Marathon Sentinel Build: Castle Doctrine CQB Guide (S2)
THE CASE FOR SENTINEL RIGHT NOW One video this cycle — and it's not a build video. LUCKYY 10P's "Is Bungie Sa...
Marathon Magnum MC Guide: The Pistol Meta Hiding in Plain Sight
WHY THE MAGNUM MC DESERVES A SECOND LOOK Most Runners pick up the Magnum MC once, notice the slow fire rate, ...
Marathon Bully SMG vs M77: Which Gun Wins the Economy Meta
ONE JAPANESE CREATOR, ONE CLEAR SIGNAL Limited creator coverage this cycle — one Japanese-language weapon tie...
Marathon Season 2: The Solo Experience Splitting the Community
THE SPLIT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT The Steam review queue for Marathon right now contains a quiet contradictio...
Marathon Season 2 Weapon Tier List: One Japanese Creator's Full PvP Ranking
LIMITED SIGNAL THIS CYCLE One video is carrying the meta signal this cycle. Creator はちぴ dropped an 11-minute ...
Marathon Triage Build: Volt Anchor Support Guide for Ranked Squads
THE SIGNAL THIS CYCLE One video this cycle worth pulling build data from is Oozey's Season 2 session, which r...
Marathon Thief Build: Grapple Knife Engine After Economy Patch
THE PATCH CONTEXT: WHAT CHANGED AND WHY IT MATTERS FOR THIS BUILD Bungie's Season 2 economy update landed wit...
Marathon Misriah 2442 Build: Best Shotgun Loadout for Season 2
THE SOURCE AND THE CONTEXT One video this cycle covers an actual build: TayXDc's "Best Misriah Build in Marat...
Marathon Community Meta Crisis: YouTube Signal Collapse
THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING This analysis cycle reveals a stark reality: Marathon's meta discussion ecosystem ha...
Marathon Season 2 Weapon Mods: Essential Builds Guide
THE MOD SYSTEM EXPLAINED Season 2 brought weapon mods to Marathon, and understanding them is crucial for surv...
Marathon Meta Coverage: Content Signal Shortage
THE SIGNAL PROBLEM The current Marathon meta intelligence cycle represents a stark departure from prior weeks...
CONTENT DROUGHT EXPOSES MARATHON'S TUTORIAL GAP: Single YouTube Creator Highlights Community's Learning Crisis
THE SIGNAL IN THE SILENCE One video. That's the signal this cycle - LUCKYY 10P's "Pack It Up Bungie, You're D...
WSTR Combat Shotgun Engine: The Season 2 MIPS Slug Meta That Turns Close-Range Into High-Speed Execution Mastery
THE CRYO ARCHIVE SPECIALIST The WSTR Combat Shotgun with its custom MIPS Slug Converter mod is emerging as th...
ENERGY WEAPON PARADOX: Volt Arsenal Caught Between Heat Walls and Charge Windows
THE ENERGY CEILING Marathon's energy weapon ecosystem sits in an awkward middle ground this cycle. The volt a...
Marathon Season 2 Weapon Mod Priority: What New Runners Should Chase First
THE HARSH TRUTH ABOUT MOD HUNTING Runners in Season 2 make one critical mistake: chasing the wrong mods first...
Season 2 Arsenal Builds: Essential Weapon Mod Setups for New Runners
UNDERSTANDING WEAPON BUILDS IN SEASON 2 Season 2 changed how builds work. Your shell stats come from the Crad...
Marathon Season 2 Day One: First Impressions on the New Meta
THE SEASON 2 SANDBOX RESET Season 2 launches with the biggest meta shakeup since Marathon's launch. Empty Vau...
SENTINEL HYPE OVERSHADOWS SHELL REALITY: New Defensive Runner Generates Community Buzz While Current Meta Remains Firmly Entrenched
SENTINEL REVEAL CREATES PREMATURE META SPECULATION The YouTube community has fixated on Sentinel, Marathon's ...
Marathon Ranked Progression Guide: Build Requirements for Each Holotag Tier
BRONZE TO SILVER: LEARNING THE FUNDAMENTALS Bronze and Silver Holotag tiers are where players learn Marathon'...
VOLT WEAPONS SURGE AS ENERGY META RESHAPES EXTRACTION: V75 Scar and V22 Volt Thrower Dominate Season 2 Prep While Kinetic Arsenal Faces Identity Crisis
ENERGY WEAPON DOMINANCE CRYSTALLIZES The Marathon meta is witnessing a seismic shift toward volt-based weapon...
Sentinel Defensive Engine: The Season 2 Castle Doctrine Meta That Turns Position Control Into Ranked Dominance
The Sentinel Revolution Season 2 drops the Sentinel shell, and the YouTube community is already calling it "d...
PVP SPOTLIGHT REVEALS GUNPLAY MATURATION: One-Hour Deep Dive Exposes Marathon's Evolving Combat Meta
MARATHON'S GUNPLAY HITS MAINSTREAM Petar Sekulovski's hour-long PvP analysis marks a watershed moment for Mar...
V99 Channel Rifle Volt Engine: The Charge Accumulation Meta That Turns Energy Weapon Mastery Into Ranked Precision
Energy Weapon Fundamentals The V99 Channel Rifle represents Marathon's most sophisticated energy weapon platf...
Predicting the Season 2 Meta from Today's Reveals
TRIAGE CINEMATIC SIGNALS NEW META FOUNDATION The Triage Shell cinematic dropped May 20th isn't just marketing...
ENERGY WEAPON REVOLUTION: Volt Battery Meta Reshapes Marathon's Power Economy as V75 Scar Dominance Exposes Traditional Ammunition Obsolescence
VOLT SURGE ANALYTICS The energy weapon revolution is here. V75 Scar sits at S-tier not because of damage outp...
Thief Case the Joint Engine: The X-Ray Vision Solo Ranked Build That Hunts Holotags Through Walls
THE VISION ADVANTAGE The Destroyer builds dominating YouTube showcase brute force approaches, but Marathon's ...
Compiler Speed Kill Engine: The Biotoxic Disinjector DOT Meta That Melts Marathon's Hardest Boss
THE COMPILER KILL RECORD MrMickk just posted the fastest Compiler elimination we've seen this season - a sub-...
RETALIATOR LMG ASCENDANT: Heavy Support Weapon Gains Ground as Squad Fight Duration Extends in Late Season Meta
HEAVY WEAPON RENAISSANCE The Retaliator LMG is climbing. 11 damage per shot, 44 rounds, 600 RPM. Those number...
Prestige Mod Engine: The ZoneX Discovery That Unlocks Marathon's Hidden Power Ceiling
PRESTIGE LOOT CHANGES EVERYTHING ZoneX's latest discovery exposes Marathon's most overlooked power spike: Pre...
PRESTIGE LOOT AWAKENING: ZoneX Video Exposes Missing Endgame Upgrades as Warden Hunt Drives Superior Mod Discovery
THE PRESTIGE PROBLEM ZoneX's trending analysis "You Are Missing Out On PRESTIGE Loot In Marathon" signals a c...
RANKED LADDER REALITY CHECK: Silver-to-Gold Climb Reveals Core Meta Stagnation as Community Focuses on Progression Over Innovation
THE GRIND EXPOSES THE TRUTH TheOGBoogeyMan's 70-minute Silver-to-Gold ranked climb tells the real story of Ma...
SMG RESURGENCE CONFIRMED: BRRT and V22 Volt Thrower Lead Close-Range Revolution as Season 1 Finale Demands High-Mobility Weapon Control
MOVEMENT META SHIFT DETECTED YouTube signal is clear: SMG specialists are dominating Season 1's final weeks. ...
WARDEN HUNT ESCALATION: Conquest LMG and Thief Shell Dominate PvE Event Meta as Bungie's XP Buffs Transform Season 1 Endgame
WARDEN HUNT TRANSFORMS THE META LANDSCAPE Marathon Update 1.0.9 introduced Warden Hunt — a limited-time PvE e...
Marathon S1 End-of-Season Update: How the May 19 Changes Reshape the Meta
ROOK: SIGNAL MASK BUFF The May 19 patch gave Rook a real Signal Mask buff — extending sprint duration by 40% ...
RAILGUN VOLTAGE SURGE: Ares RG and V00 Zeus Emerge as Season 2 NIGHTFALL Counter-Meta as Bungie's "Too Sweaty" Admission Triggers Extreme Range Specialist Revival
RAILGUN RENAISSANCE BEGINS The community response to Bungie's admission that Marathon is "overwhelming to lea...
SMG SPEED REVOLUTION: BRRT and V22 Volt Thrower Lead CQB Meta Surge as Bungie Admits Marathon "Too Sweaty" - Community Embraces Fast TTK Close Range
SMG META ACCELERATION CONFIRMED Marathon's submachine gun landscape just shifted hard. BRRT SMG climbed from ...
CONQUEST LMG RANKED REVOLUTION: Light Round Suppression Meta Emerges as Security Updates Push Squad Play to 540 RPM Dominance
LIGHT MACHINE GUN ASCENDANCY Conquest LMG surged to A-tier across both solo and squad ranked this week. The 1...
Marathon Ranked Weapon Meta Guide: Tier List and Loadout Strategy
S-TIER: HOLOTAG HUNTERS The Stryder M1T defines ranked Marathon. At 36 damage per shot with 180 RPM, this pre...
Complete Marathon Optics Mastery Guide: Essential Vision Upgrades for Every Range
The Marathon Optics Hierarchy Marathon's optic system divides into three tiers that match your progression cu...
DEMOLITION HMG EMERGES: Heavy Rounds Meta Defines Post-Patch Combat Landscape
HEAVY AMMUNITION REVOLUTION The Marathon meta shifted decisively toward heavy rounds this cycle. Demolition H...
WSTR Combat Shotgun Buff Changes Everything: Patch 1.0.6.2 Ranked Impact
THE WSTR IS BACK Patch 1.0.6.2 just reversed course on the WSTR Combat Shotgun's previous over-nerf, and rank...
WSTR Nerf Forces CQB Meta Evolution — Misriah 2442 Time
POST-NERF SHOTGUN LANDSCAPE SlickFree's timing with his WSTR nerf analysis couldn't be better. With Update 1....
MukeWorld's Demolition HMG Play Shows Post-Nerf Heavy Weapon Viability
DEMOLITION HMG META ANALYSIS MukeWorld Gaming's latest clip showcases the Demolition HMG in action — a weapon...
Knife Nerfs Hit Console Players Hardest — Assassin Struggles in New Meta
LUNGE DISTANCE REDUCTION CHANGES CONSOLE DYNAMICS Update 1.0.5.3 slashed knife lunge distance by 10% and targ...
Post-Patch Bubble Shield Build: Superior Rarity Can't Save This Support Item
THE PATCH IMPACT Marathon Update 1.0.5.3 delivered a crushing blow to bubble shield builds across all shells....
Repeater HPR Meta Analysis: The New Sniper King
THE SHIFT AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL SNIPERS Bungie's balance updates have fundamentally altered Marathon's long-r...
Marathon Assassin: Shadow Strike Core Builds for Cryo Archive
THE SHELL FOUNDATION The Perfect Game Whatever video breaks down Assassin's core mechanics in detail, reveali...
Solo Queue Crisis: Why Current Endgame Forces Suboptimal Builds
THE SOLO PROBLEM Marathon's endgame structure creates a fundamental build crisis for solo players. As noted in...
Xi Shows Knife Meta is Broken — 100 Melee Damage Build Analysis
MELEE META DOMINANCE Xi's 22-minute deep dive into Marathon's knife meta confirms what competitive players al...
Post-Patch Thief: Fixed Drone, Stronger Stealth Builds
PATCH IMPACT ANALYSIS Marathon Update 1.0.5.1 delivered a critical fix to Thief's Pickpocket Drone cooldown e...
Vandal + WSTR Combat Shotgun: The Extraction Meta That Actually Works
The community has spoken, and SlickFree's analysis of the Vandal + WSTR Combat Shotgun combination reveals why...
Meta Analysis: IceManIsaac's Statistical Best Weapons for Ranked Season 1
THE META LANDSCAPE IceManIsaac's comprehensive weapon analysis reveals the statistical powerhouses dominating...
Marathon Weapon Range Guide: Long-Range Meta for Ranked Launch
Understanding Range Categories Marathon's weapon ranges directly impact your ranked Holotag strategy. CQB weap...
What is the best weapon in Marathon?
Weapon strength depends on range and shell pairing. The WSTR Combat Shotgun is consistently S-tier at close range, the M77 Assault Rifle is the most forgiving mid-range pick, and the Stryder M1T excels at long range. Our live tier list ranks every weapon by current meta viability.
How many weapons are in Marathon?
Marathon features 30+ weapons across categories including SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, snipers, DMRs, LMGs, HMGs, and specialty weapons. Weapons come in 6 rarity tiers - Standard, Enhanced, Deluxe, Superior, Prestige, and Contraband.
What weapons are banned from Marathon Ranked?
Certain weapons are flagged as not ranked-viable due to balance issues. These are marked with warnings across our build pages. Check our weapon arsenal for current ranked viability on every gun.
WEAPON GUIDES.