Shells / Recon Build / Longshot

Best Marathon Recon Longshot Build — Season 2 Loadout

A complete Marathon Recon loadout built around the Longshot — weapon mods, shell cores, implants, and a Cradle stat-track plan — engineered from the Recon’s playstyle and cross-referenced against real in-game stat values. See the full Recon build hub and the Longshot stats behind these picks.

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SHOWING VERIFIED CANONICAL
GOAL
RANK TARGET
EXPERIENCE
WEAPON PREFERENCE
TEAM
BUILD REPORT
Ghost Cartographer
This build turns Recon's information architecture into a solo predator toolkit — you map enemy positions with Echo Pulse before they know you exist, then punish from long range with the Longshot before repositioning. Every item choice feeds the loop: ping, confirm, shoot, vanish.
A
LOADOUT GRADE
RANKED VIABLE
Weapons
Longshot
PRIMARY
69 damage per shot at RPM 60 with a Long range rating perfectly matches Recon's standoff identity. Echo Pulse pings targets through walls every 2.5s up to 7 times — you know exactly where they are before you ever press ADS. The 4-round MIPS mag demands precision over spray, which synergizes with a playstyle that pre-positions rather than pushes.
Hardline PR
SECONDARY
At 23 damage, 275 RPM, Mid range, and a 14-round mag, the Hardline PR covers the engagement band where the Longshot is overkill or too slow to cycle. When a pinged target closes distance faster than expected, the Hardline lets you maintain a precision-fire identity without pivoting to CQB panic.
Weapon Mods
OPTIC
Hi-Zoom Optic (Superior)
Longshot is already Long range — the Hi-Zoom Optic pushes that envelope further with a listed range bonus of +18 and ADS spread reduction of -0.14, and the increased zoom tier means Echo Pulse pings translate directly into confirmed kills at distances other builds can't reach.
BARREL
Farshot Barrel (Superior)
Stacks with the Hi-Zoom Optic for a listed +45 range and -0.2 ADS spread, making the Longshot a true extreme-range instrument. On a solo Recon who controls engagement distance via ability intel, extending effective range is a force multiplier — you fight on your terms, not theirs.
CHIP
Ghillie Suit Chip (Superior)
After crouching for a brief duration, this weapon gains increased stability, range, and accuracy. Recon's pre-positioning loop naturally involves crouching while Echo Pulse cycles — the brief crouch window before confirming a ping and shooting is exactly when this chip activates, rewarding disciplined play over rushed shots.
MAGAZINE
Hi-Cap Mag (Superior)
The Longshot's 4-round mag is its most punishing limitation on solo play where you have no crew to provide suppression during a reload. Hi-Cap Mag lists a +9 magazine increase, effectively more than doubling the mag size and giving you windows to track multiple pinged targets without breaking position to reload.
Shell Cores
Early Warning System
PASSIVE
S-tier rated passive that gives a HUD alert when a hostile Runner is nearby. For a solo Recon who is intentionally isolated at long range, this is a critical survival layer — it catches flankers that your directional Echo Pulse sweeps might miss, preventing the build's core weakness of being caught off-angle.
Echo Chamber
PRIME
B-tier rated Prime core. Additional Echo Pulse pulses extend the information window across a wider area, and the feedback loop of defeating recently-pinged hostiles to restore prime energy is exactly what a precision sniper playstyle enables — clean kills on confirmed targets feed the next pulse cycle, keeping intel flowing.
Hunter/Killer
PRIME
Each target pinged by Echo Pulse briefly grants stacking bonuses to equip speed, reload speed, and stability. On a Longshot with a 4-round mag and 60 RPM, the reload speed stacking from multiple pings directly addresses the weapon's tempo weakness, and equip speed matters when transitioning to the Hardline PR under pressure.
Implants
HEAD
Energy Harvesting V4 (Superior)
Firewall: -5, Tactical Recovery: 40%
Tracker Drone is the build's most aggressive ability — it pins, overheats, and marks targets. A 40% Tactical Recovery stat means the drone cycles back substantially faster, letting you use it offensively before a Longshot engagement to overheat a target and then punish them during the Overheated window when they can't cool down.
TORSO
Survival Kit V4 (Superior)
Ping Duration: 20s, Firewall: 5, Heat Capacity: -5
Ping Duration +20s directly extends how long Echo Pulse-tagged targets remain visible to you. On a solo build without crew to confirm secondary positions, longer ping windows mean more time to reposition, breathe, and take the shot. The Firewall bump is minor but appreciated; the small Heat Capacity dip is an acceptable trade.
LEGS
Graceful Landings V4 (Superior)
Melee Damage: 20, Agility: 20, Fall Resistance: 50%
Agility +20 improves movement speed, which is Recon's survival mechanism — you don't absorb damage, you avoid it by repositioning after shots. Fall Resistance 50% enables confident high-ground drops and vertical positioning that the Longshot rewards. The passive Frenzy Matrix (defeating a hostile increases tactical recharge and sprint speed briefly) stacks with Energy Harvesting V4 to keep Tracker Drone cycling aggressively.

Recon Cradle Build — Season 2 Stat Plan

Free respec · resets each season
Invest primarily into Recharge for ability uptime and secondarily into Dexterity for movement fluidity, since this build's power is entirely ability-gated and positional.
RECHARGE TRACK
4 ENERGY
PERK · Head Start
Starting runs with partial Tactical charge (sources list this as unverified) means Tracker Drone is available earlier in the drop, letting you tag and overheat the first hostile you commit to shooting before the Longshot round even fires — critical on solo where early skirmishes can end runs.
RECHARGE TRACK
10 ENERGY
PERK · Primed
Starting with partial Prime charge means Echo Pulse is live within seconds of landing, not a minute in. For an information-first shell, early Echo Pulse access is the difference between knowing the room and guessing it. Sources list this value as unverified but the strategic case is clear.
RECHARGE TRACK
14 ENERGY
PERK · Lethal AMP
Downing a Runner grants Tactical energy; eliminating grants Prime energy. This closes the ability loop: Echo Pulse confirms target, Longshot downs them, Lethal AMP refunds Tracker Drone energy, next engagement begins with both abilities partially charged. On solo play this self-sustaining loop replaces crew ability synergies.
DEXTERITY TRACK
14 ENERGY
PERK · Full Throttle
Gaining Cardio Kick effects at the start of every run (sources list this as unverified) provides immediate sprint speed and agility at drop — critical for a solo Recon who needs to claim high-ground sightlines before other runners establish position. Pairs with Graceful Landings V4's Agility +20 for genuine repositioning capability.
STRENGTHS
+Echo Pulse + Ping Duration 20s from Survival Kit V4 creates an extended intel window that lets you track multiple targets and select kill priority before ever breaking cover
+Hi-Zoom Optic (+18 range, -0.14 ADS spread) stacked with Farshot Barrel (+45 range, -0.20 ADS spread) makes the Longshot's 69 damage viable at distances that eliminate most counter-engagement options
+Energy Harvesting V4's 40% Tactical Recovery combined with Frenzy Matrix passive and Lethal AMP perk creates a Tracker Drone loop that keeps targets Overheated before Longshot shots land — Overheat prevents heat venting and stacks DoT pressure
WEAKNESSES
The Longshot's 4-round mag and 60 RPM make it unforgiving against multiple close-range targets simultaneously — Early Warning System helps but cannot fully compensate for solo play with no crew to hold flanks
Survival Kit V4's Heat Capacity -5 and Energy Harvesting V4's Firewall -5 create minor stat deficits that compound if you're caught out of position without a rotation path
RANKED NOTE
This build is configured for casual unranked play, so no rank score target applies — but the Recon shell's Solo B ranked rating means this loadout would translate to ranked with minimal adjustment, primarily swapping Echo Chamber for tighter ability cycling under ranked pressure.
⬢ Build Analysis
Here's the thesis: Recon doesn't win fights by being better at fighting — it wins by knowing the fight is already won before it starts. Ghost Cartographer builds around that axiom hard. Echo Chamber gives you extra pulse pulses and a refund loop on confirmed kills. Early Warning System catches the one angle Echo Pulse doesn't cover. Hunter/Killer turns every pinged target into a stacking Longshot buff — reload speed, equip speed, stability all climb as you confirm pings, directly patching the Longshot's 4-round mag limitation before it becomes a liability. Survival Kit V4 keeps those pings visible for 20 full seconds, long enough to reposition twice. Energy Harvesting V4's 40% Tactical Recovery means Tracker Drone is back before your next engagement, overheating the target so they're burning DoT during the 60 RPM fire cycle. The Farshot Barrel plus Hi-Zoom Optic combo pushes effective range to where most runners aren't even looking. Ghillie Suit Chip rewards the crouch-and-wait discipline that Recon demands anyway. This is a build for runners who read the map, not the kill feed.
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