You can shoot 29 different weapons in Marathon. This is without counting the varied pieces of equipment, such as grenades, and your best friend: your knife, which ends up being a bit too powerful at times. With so many guns, it’s easy to not know where to start and which are the really good ones.
Don’t worry, we have been doing all the tests and shooting for you. On our Marathon guns tier list, you’ll find the best and most useful weapons you can use in the whole game. The hard part for you will be filling your vault with them.
Marathon is a live-service game that receives balance patches frequently. Weapons can get nerfed and buffed, so use this as a general guide.
How Do Tiers Work?
Whether you’re playing Ranked or if you’re going solo, you need to know which are the best guns in Marathon. You’ll find all the weapons listed on our tier list, which is divided into the following categories:
- Tier S: The crème de la crème. These weapons will give you everything you want and more. Prioritize them over the rest.
- Tier A: Fantastic weapons that either have one or two downsides when compared to the tier above.
- Tier B: These are decent guns. You won’t love them, and you might need skill to use them. But they can get the job done.
- Tier C: We would avoid these like the plague.
Keep in mind that we will speak about the weapons in their ‘vanilla’ version — without attachments. Also, for specific lists on PvE and PvP, you can check this guide and this other one.
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Tier S
|
Weapon |
Type |
Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
Biotoxic Disinjector |
Hybrid |
Added in Cryo Archive, this is the most broken weapon in the whole game. The only downside is that you need to fight against a Compiler in said map and win the fight. This is made for the really good players. |
|
Longshot |
Sniper Rifle |
A sniper so powerful, we are surprised it hasn’t been nerfed yet. Three quick shots with little recoil and huge amounts of damage. |
|
M77 Assault Rifle |
Assault Rifle |
Whether you like M77 or BR33 the most, it’s up to you. These spots are interchangeable, and we like the damage you can deal with this gun, especially against UESC. |
|
BR33 Volley Rifle |
Precision Rifle |
Our favorite precision rifle because it has the most stability and accuracy of its type. Burst weapons can be tough, but try this one first. |
|
WSTR Combat Shotgun |
Shotgun |
If you get good and land the two shots you have before having to reload, this weapon will take down almost any enemy in front of you. Your enemies will have to be far away or wear blue shields to be safe. |
|
Missriah 2442 |
Shotgun |
Do you prefer more shots per mag than two? Then the Missriah is for you. Extremely strong shotgun. |
|
Bully SMG |
Submachine Gun |
Not only this is the most accessible gun in this tier, but it’s also tremendously powerful, and you can start using it from your first hours. |
Tier A
|
Weapon |
Type |
Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
Outland |
Sniper Rifle |
Our dear Outland, you deserve the world. But your slower fire rate makes us put you in A, even if you’re really strong. |
|
Stryder M1T |
Precision Rifle |
Really stable gun that deals more than decent damage with every burst. If you’re aiming well with this, you’re good. |
|
BRRT SMG |
Submachine Gun |
If you can manage the low stability, you have a strong submachine gun for close battles. |
|
V99 Channel |
Sniper Rifle |
The good part of the V99 Channel is that it is a charge sniper rifle that charges as you aim. The slightly bad part is… well, that you need to still have time to charge your shots (or at least the first one). But if you get the hang of it, you can put it above on the list. |
|
Demolition HMG |
Machine Gun |
If you like heavy weapons, you can’t go wrong with this one. Better damage and fire rate than the rest of its kind. |
|
Twin Tap HBR |
Precision Rifle |
You’ll have to sacrifice range because it isn’t good at medium-to-long distances, but the Twin Tap deals really good damage and has a sweet time-to-kill. |
|
Magnum MC |
Pistol |
If you’re not good at dealing headshots with the Magnum MC, you can move it to Tier B. But if you do, you have a strong weapon for PvP. |
|
V11 Punch |
Pistol |
Great for PvP. You can charge your shots to make them worth it. |
Tier B
|
Weapon |
Type |
Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
Hardline PR |
Precision Rifle |
An okay precision rifle that is great for PvE if you’re good at shooting headshots with it. |
|
V85 Circuit Breaker |
Shotgun |
It’s still a more than decent shotgun, but you need to charge your shots to make them really good, which is not the case with the ones in S Tier. |
|
Twin Tap HBR |
Precision Rifle |
It can kill enemies quickly, but it has an important recoil, combined with not the best distance, so it might feel a bit too short. |
|
Impact H-AR |
Assault Rifle |
If it had a slightly better fire rate, this weapon would land easily on Tier A at minimum. But as it is, it leaves you at a disadvantage in closer battles. |
|
V75 Scar |
Assault Rifle |
It uses volt as ammo and will give you quite a few shots before reloading, but it’s not that powerful when your enemy is a bit far away. |
|
V66 Lookout |
Precision Rifle |
Great for longer distances, but it’s missing some damage to put it in higher tiers. |
|
V00 Zeus RG |
Railgun |
Railguns aren’t that popular in Marathon, and it has to do with their charge feature and how uncomfortable they are when compared to pretty much anything else. Still, if you charge your shots and you have the battle controlled, you can do some good damage with the Zeus. |
|
Conquest LMG |
Machine Gun |
You need to shoot ammo for a few seconds to accelerate its fire rate and make it decent. Very situational gun. |
|
V22 Volt Thrower |
Pistol |
Not really recommended against PvP unless you’re fighting a crew with poor equipment, but it’s a fun weapon to use, and it’s useful against UESC units. |
Tier C
|
Weapon |
Type |
Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
Overrun AR |
Assault Rifle |
Not terrible by any means, but it doesn’t have anything distinct when compared with all the other assault rifles. Pointless to use it. |
|
Retaliator LMG |
Machine Gun |
Why is this gun so heavy and has a mess of a fire rate? We don’t know. |
|
Ares RG |
Railgun |
Requires a lot from the player to make it good due to its stats and charge. It’s not worth it. |
|
Repeater HPR |
Precision Rifle |
Even if it deals some somewhat decent damage when getting headshots, it has really bad stats overall. |
|
Copperhead RF |
Submachine Gun |
It will let you down in battles that don’t happen right in front of the enemy, and even then, its high fire rate doesn’t work if the damage it deals is low. Awful submachine gun and super expensive. |
|
CE Tactical Sidearm |
Pistol |
Simply, the worst weapon in the whole game. |
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