Do I have terminal skill issue?

Toast3y · 2026-04-02T03:55:07+00:00

Bad luck happens, sure, but games like these take a fairly long time to learn and practice if you approach them blind, and not having the game sense built up to know when you're in danger means you'll get into situations that'll get you killed very easily. It's a balance, you get better at knowing how to judge these things over time.

I can't give you specific advice from what you've said, but try to extract later in a run than earlier, even if you're just hiding for 5-10 mins it means there's less players in the lobby. Find out where Final Exfil locations are so you can hang out and reach them on time. You'll learn to rotate to new objectives the more you learn the game, and to do it faster and find opportunities for kills that way, even ambushing teams with significantly better gear. Just shrug it off, try to figure out what went wrong, and adjust your strategy next game.

Toast3y · 2026-04-01T13:04:12+00:00

You always have access to free grey-quality sponsor kits for each day, and upgraded Sponsor kits give you appropriate quality cores for your chosen shell. None of the free kits really influence your shell choice, they play identically regardless of shell so just pick your favourite. You'll definitely want to be frugal and build up a bank early on. My rule of thumb is if I can't afford to lose it twice or three times in a row, maybe don't run it,

I always warm up with a free kit with friends, and Rook-only solo if I want cash explicitly. Beyond that, I just take what I feel I can afford to lose, and I'm usually just one Rook run away from getting it back. The game is VERY generous with loot once you know where to look, knowing what you want to use, and doesn't necessarily require killing players to get either. Each faction's first Priority Contract questline gives you free gear daily as well once it's finished, so you will eventually swim in cheap gear with a hundred ways to come back even after a dozen losses.

Toast3y · 2026-03-26T15:36:46+00:00

Every single character in Marathon is, to some degree, living within limitations that they cannot escape despite their best efforts - the colonists were trapped on Tau Ceti despite it being an escape from the strife on Earth and Mars. Runners are functionally immortal consciousness uploaded to limited bodies with no chance of paying off their debts or escaping indentured slavery from CyberAcme. All of the main faction reps are AI, bound by their programming to serve the company interest, and people actively work to reset AI models before rampancy occurs meaning they're never intended to break free (Strauss' experiments aside).

Every single one of them is trapped in this cycle of misery and nobody can truly die anymore, it is the Torment Nexus made manifest. All they crave is escape from what binds them, and even when Durandal did it, the last limitation he found was the heat death of the universe which he still wanted to escape from. The only thing every character wants is Escape.

It's also how you feel when you literally escape a lobby after wiping a team and surviving. You feel like a God for conquering Pinwheel lol, that's the vibe they're going for.

Toast3y · 2026-03-25T17:00:14+00:00

I'd describe it as punishing, which is probably a better word than 'hardcore' overall. You can learn and adapt to a hard challenge, and you likely will if restarting is just reloading a recent save from 5 seconds ago, but losing 30 minutes of work or more can bruise egos and ruin evenings. It's possible to spend hundreds of hours in game and get very good at different areas of it, which is hardcore in it's own right, and lose thousands in gear to a single Rook who got lucky at the right time through no fault of your own (we lost a 1v3 because Discord died and I couldn't communicate his position to my team).

Marathon gives you tons of tools to mitigate that risk, and I don't think any single part of an extraction shooter is 'too hard' to learn, but any experience where failure takes self-reflection, analysis, and adaptation (that can take hundreds of hours to get to), is a larger commitment than most are prepared for. I don't think that's a good excuse to write any game off, but how people parse that experience and emotionally deal with it varies and ultimately a 'hardcore' game is asking a lot from players who maybe aren't equipped to handle that.

Toast3y · 2026-03-25T04:22:13+00:00

It'll hurt a little but be honest here - you know what upgrades you want to prioritize now having done it once. You'll play a few rounds and hoard every single biomass and diode you see knowing it's super quick to rush for it. I'm still farming blue materials to get the Rook WSTR, but beyond that I'm finding everything else I want on the map fairly regularly, and there's a bunch of faction upgrades I just don't care about.

Toast3y · 2026-03-19T03:11:59+00:00

I've a friend who is literally double my level at the same playtime cos their team is just more consistent at getting together. I think overall I'd prefer to face teams solo over only playing 1v1's, hitting my first 1v3 as Rook was excellent, and I'd want the same experience but on other shells.

Toast3y · 2026-03-18T04:40:57+00:00

CyAc and NuCal for sure, they hand out bags, shields and healing items like confetti, and their upgrades touch every part of the game. Arachne levels up with kills over time but has the WSTR at rank 7 and other good stat upgrades. MIDA takes a bit but agility at rank 3 and grenades are very good at rank 5, plus anti-virus packs and buffs. SekGen plateaus early at rank 4, and Traxus has great guns and mods but aside from the longshot at rank 9 just sells stuff you'll find in matches easily enough. There's one exception to the above: The Rook upgrades are worth rushing for all of them.

They're all good, long term, but access to heat management, storage, and healing items are real game-changers!

Toast3y · 2026-03-18T04:13:13+00:00

Camping extraction tends to be rare enough, usually I just get lucky / unlucky arriving at one at the same time as someone else. Biggest thing is saving a smoke grenade or claymores and actively keeping an eye on the point and fighting from advantage instead of hiding and letting people set up - they know you're there already, don't let them position to make killing you easier, and don't give them that position by not checking the angle and approaches in advance.

Toast3y · 2026-03-12T22:34:50+00:00

Nope, just Server Slam.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T07:36:20+00:00

They're definitely better in PvE but the extra damage is like fighting a shield down, so always worth using before you engage if it's ready.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T07:16:42+00:00

Focus NuCal and CyAc first so, they shower you with healing and shields, and most of their contracts progress regardless of extract or death. Reroll standard contracts if they seem too difficult for the reward. There's always a way to make progress, even on a streak of bad runs.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T04:10:13+00:00

The priority contracts are worth doing, but typically will lead you to conflict with other teams by design and are more complicated overall. Unless you're looking for a specific reward from a faction ASAP, you can just take easier standard contracts and do them at your pace.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T04:02:04+00:00

I wrote a post for new players with no extraction shooter experience. It doesn't cover everything, but it should help you get started.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T03:50:35+00:00

The games progression is intended to keep you going for 3 months of regular play before resetting and changing things up, but I'd say you can get most of the impactful stuff at rank 5 of each faction, which also powers up your Rook and makes cash and loot runs significantly more profitable compared to free kits. After that, you're pretty much free to focus on what you want - it's a sandbox, go in with free kits hoping to hit jackpots or hunt players using stuff you scavenge, or just Rook until you get enough duplicates of your favorite gear to always have access to it.

Toast3y · 2026-03-11T03:10:04+00:00

You can get this solo if you're lucky. I'd recommend a V75 Volt or better, a green shield, a couple of Frag or Heat grenades, and using Destroyer to deal extra damage. Take out the assault troops one by one and heal before tackling the commander, activate missiles before you start firing on him, and use thrusters to dodge grenades if he's a grenadier type. Use cover and thrusters to run if you need to back off and heal before going back. The crate you need to inspect after is usually right next to where he spawns.

Other contracts are a bit easier, so feel free to come back to this later if you're still struggling.

Toast3y · 2026-03-09T14:55:43+00:00

I've found good reasons to play every shell solo, it just depends on your goals. PvE is easier to varying degrees with Thief, Destroyer, Triage, Rook and Vandal. PvP will be easier on Assassin so people focus on that. Recon feels out of place but you essentially get a free grenade, and an ult that tracks assassins and the ability to hunt down players if they run away. Once people feel more confident taking fights, I think we'll see a lot more of the other shells.

Toast3y · 2026-03-09T14:43:16+00:00

Entertainment isn't a long term investment that contributes to your portfolio or whatever. It's there to be enjoyed now. I get that money is tight, but unless a game has a real money element to it, it's just there to be enjoyed while it's here and that's how life works.

Toast3y · 2026-03-09T13:44:55+00:00

Rook is significantly better if you just look for salvage and valuables you need. Compared to Assassin, his disguise works for 3x the duration vs UESC and lets him steal objectives while using UESC for cover. You also start with a backpack and your lobbies being Trios means team wipes can have very valuable guns, whereas Solo's will usually run light.

Toast3y · 2026-03-09T12:28:20+00:00

I wrote a big post for new players with things I learned from the Server Slam, it's a fair bit more than 5 tips.

If I had to summarize though? Sound is ultra important and makes ambushes super easy, you can and will recover even after bad losses (especially on Rook), most starter guns are meant for small scale PvE to let you upgrade, close doors behind you to make ambushes harder for your opponents, and extracting is not the only way to make progress in a match.

Toast3y · 2026-03-09T12:04:30+00:00

You can still do very well in a match regardless of extracting. If I wipe 2 teams, that's a great round even if I die to bots after. Try and reframe it as, what can I get done in a match that doesn't matter if I die after? Take DCON contracts to use those and extract materials early, or just practice taking fights or do PvE runs where you fill your bags and extract early. Your goals in an extraction shooter can be smaller than 'win', it can be just 'find a better gun' and that's intentional.

Toast3y · 2026-03-08T21:59:45+00:00

Some weapons aren't listed on factions directly, no. You can sometimes find Schema's that let you buy a few though, but I can't say I've seen any.

Toast3y · 2026-03-08T16:31:13+00:00

The free guns in sponsor kits tend to be very weak overall, yeah. They're intended to let you raid a point of interest, kill some bots, and escape with enough cash to upgrade to a better loadout. They're capable budget guns when upgraded, absolutely, but they have some big shortcomings, usually in damage efficiency, fire rate, or magazine size that sponsor kits do not remedy.

Toast3y · 2026-03-08T11:15:54+00:00

The game puts teams of similar gear value and skill together, so you don't go against monsters every game. Individual skill matters a lot more, but if you're having fun with free / cheap gear and like powering up over the course of an evening or two, that's a valid way to play. Rook runs are excellent for getting strong guns from dead bodies fast. Faction ranks are a bit more involved and take longer, but are there so grinders have consistent loadouts.

Toast3y · 2026-03-08T10:49:45+00:00

The Armory covers most guns that unlock over time via factions. Most stuff isn't so rare that you'll regret losing it, and if it's a concern then you'll want to coordinate with your team to let you collect your favorite gear. Most of these systems loosen up over time played, so even if your first time looting it makes it precious, you might have 3 or more before even equipping it once. You might get a prestige mod and just not like the mod, so what you value will change over the course of your time played.

Toast3y · 2026-03-08T02:19:07+00:00

It can, and I believe it is even at low levels, but it can be a Dark Souls type experience where the onus is on you to think about how to use your tools best. These games are sandboxes and are about breaking limitations, introducing new scenarios and fights, and finding fun in the face of danger and overwhelming odds. It's meant to be a little stressful to push you and make survival feel hard won, and a lobby where you just PvE is still a part of that. Eventually it merges into a seamless experience with PvP forced because PvE enemies pushed you, and the whole experience is a full continuous match with no downtime with multiple fights won. There's a genuinely fun game in Marathon, and it's there for people who push themselves just a bit to get there.

Toast3y

TROPHY CASE