In Marathon, Bungie blends PvPvE gameplay with a loot system where weapon rarity impacts survival, fighting, and extraction.
Loot is key to survival in this extraction shooter, with the rarity system being at the heart of the experience. Unlike a simple color-coded hierarchy that buffs stats, Marathon's rarities deeply affect how weapons behave, what attachments they carry, and how risky a run becomes the moment you pick up high-tier gear.
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+ 2There are five rarity levels in Marathon: gray, green, blue, purple, and gold. Though this structure may seem familiar to looter shooter fans, its execution here has more weight than it initially suggests.
- Gray (Common): These are your standard, bare-bones weapons. No frills, no mods, just functional firepower to get you started.
- Green (Uncommon): Slightly improved with perhaps one attachment or stat bump. These are still basic, but they offer a bit more control or ammo capacity.
- Blue (Rare): Once you're into blue-tier weapons, things get noticeably more tactical. Expect multiple attachments and the start of meaningful improvements in performance.
- Purple (Epic): These weapons provide key gameplay perks like faster reloads, improved recoil, and other upgrades for a major edge.
- Gold (Legendary): These are top-tier, game-changing weapons. Some gold mods change entirely a weapon's function, turning a shotgun into a burst-fire beast or granting auto-reloads from reserves. Some gold gear (like backpacks) even grant effects like invisibility while looting.
What makes this system especially brutal is the permanent loot loss. If you die while holding a gold-tier weapon, it's gone for good unless you've successfully extracted it. In short, superior gear makes your life more valuable—and other players will be after it.
click to enlarge+ 2Gear can be found in crates, scattered on the ground, hidden in rooms, or looted from other players. Enemy AI also drops items, and there are small map events like drop ships or locked vaults that reward you with a higher tier of loot if you complete them.
The lower-tier weapons might not even support mods, but once you reach purple or gold, the changes can be dramatic. Mods can change the fire rate, accuracy, reload speed, and ADS time and even provide passive perks, such as quicker movement after a kill or auto-reloading weapons when holstered.
These mods reshape how your loadout feels, not just your stats. Because weapon damage in Marathon isn't tied to rarity, players with weaker gear can still hold their own.
Timing and positioning play a huge role in winning fights, especially in games with higher time-to-kill. Just like shields, backpacks and implants play an equally important role.
Marathon's rarity system is closely linked to controlling risk. The rarity of your gear goes beyond its strength; it shows what you're willing to sacrifice to protect it.