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There are six factions in Marathon: CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, Mida, Arachne, and Sekiguchi Genetics. Each faction has a unique upgrade path that you can unlock by completing contracts for that faction. These contracts are missions with specific objectives that you can finish during a run.
Each faction caters to different playstyles. CyberAcme emphasizes expanding your vault and increasing looting speed. Arachne focuses on unlocking powerful weapons, which can then be bought at the Armory. This guide explains what each faction offers in terms of unlocks and suggests the best order to prioritize them. Keep in mind, your choice should match your personal playstyle.
Each Faction in Marathon
Here’s a look at what each faction provides in terms of upgrades and rewards. To advance in a faction’s skill tree, you need to choose contracts associated with that faction, completing them during your runs.
Completing contracts grants you faction experience and faction-specific rewards, which vary from one faction to another. Below, you’ll find details on what each faction rewards and which ones to focus on early depending on how you prefer to play.
CyberAcme – Heat Generation and Speed
CyberAcme is the first faction you’ll unlock contracts for. It specializes in loot, with larger vaults for storing gear, and has skills aimed at reducing heat generated while moving. The faction’s theme is about quick entry, swift movement, collecting maximum loot, and filling your inventory with valuable items.
In the early game, I recommend grabbing CyberAcme contracts to level up Heat_Sink.exe, which increases your heat capacity, allowing you to do more actions before overheating. Then, invest in two points in Scavenger.exe to boost looting speed and unlock the capstone ability, Bonus Pay, which gives you extra credits upon completing contracts.
Each faction also has its own armory, offering faction-specific weapons and utility items, as well as sponsors that provide free kits. CyberAcme’s armory includes the Overrun AR, a light-ammo assault rifle. At higher levels, you can also unlock key templates for creating keys to access exclusive loot locations on the map, like deluxe rooms and tunnels.
NuCaloric – Shields
NuCaloric focuses on increasing your shields, making this a key area to upgrade early in the game. Improving shields dramatically extends your chances of survival, especially since damage output from NPCs is quite high early on.
From the start, the Safeguard skill in the skill tree grants free Shield Charges in the Armory, which are crucial and quite expensive. You’ll find yourself spending a lot of credits on healing items initially, so boosting your shields early makes a big difference.
The Shielded skill allows you to buy better shields—green shields initially, then blue shields later—that double or triple the normal shield’s armor, significantly enhancing your survivability. Although these upgrades cost 12 Reclaimed Biostripping each, they’re worth the investment.
NuCaloric’s armory offers healing items and consumables like Patch Kits and Shield Chargers, which you’ll use quickly in the early game due to high damage from enemies. Prioritizing this faction can help manage your resources more efficiently.
Traxus – Long-Range Weaponry
In close combat, your choice of weapons matters. Traxus is all about long-range guns and modifications. Once you have a sense of your preferred weapons, you can decide to level up Traxus to unlock advanced gun modifications and powerful long-range weapons like the Hardline PR and Longshot.
The skills in this faction unlock deluxe modifications, such as barrel, magazine, and optic upgrades, which can significantly improve your weapons’ performance. For example, I personally enjoy sniping, so I plan to aim for the level nine skill MIPS Sniper, which allows buying a sniper rifle directly from the armory. If you like sniping, this skill is a must.
At deeper levels, you can unlock long-range optics—although resource-intensive—making it easier to take out enemies from a distance. Tailoring your faction focus based on your preferred combat style helps optimize your build.
Mida – Equipment and Implants
Mida centers on utility gear and implants. It lets you unlock equipment like Ammo Crates early on, along with a variety of V2 implants such as the Survivor Kit and Bionic Leg Upgrades.
I haven’t found a lack of loot for equipment and implants in the game yet, so I don’t plan to go too deep into this tree immediately. However, the Flex_Matrix.exe skill increases your movement speed and jump height, enhancing mobility. Mobility can be vital during combat and quick escapes, making this a valuable skill to consider.
Arachne – Close-Range Weaponry
Arachne is a weapons-focused faction, much like Traxus. It grants access to weaponry such as light machine guns, shotguns, and railguns, along with mods for these categories. I’m still testing which weapons work best, but shotguns seem very effective at close range.
For support-focused builds like mine, I prefer the Reboot.exe skill, which increases revive speed with each level. There’s also some fun melee options, like a knife that replenishes a small amount of health when you take down an enemy.
SekGen – Class Cores
SekGen is essential for customizing your class. Pick a faction-specific core early—like the Fresh Install core for Triage—that enhances your ability to revive allies and boosts their stats, such as agility, health regen, and heat capacity.
Each class has its own cores, which are vital for loadout optimization. For example, SekGen supports abilities like Lethal_Amp.exe, which grants bonus tactical ability energy when you down an enemy, and increases prime ability energy.
SekGen’s upgrades are more for late-game, requiring rare resources such as Predictive Framework and Neural Insulation to unlock higher-tier cores, making it a strategic choice for advanced players.
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