All Marathon Runner Shells, Abilities, & Traits

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Bungie’s Marathon offers seven unique classes, called Runner Shells, each with its own strengths, abilities, and stats. Many players aren’t sure what sets each class apart or how to best utilize them. So, we’ve put together a guide detailing all the Runner Shells, their abilities, traits, and everything else you need to know. Let’s get started!

All Marathon Runner Shells, Abilities, & Traits Explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCf0Q2siXg

Overall, Marathon technically features seven different Runner Shells for the player to choose from:

Destroyer

  • Prime Ability: Search & Destroy
    • Fires off Homing Missiles that damage enemies
  • Tactical Ability: Riot Barricade
    • Spawns an energy shield that blocks incoming damage. Cooldown period is based on previous shield duration plus any damage it took
  • Trait 1: Thruster
    • Dash in any direction
  • Trait 2: Tactical Sprint
    • Move faster at the cost of generating more heat

Assassin

  • Prime Ability: Smoke Screen
    • Throw a disc which creates a smoke field, making it harder for enemies to see
  • Tactical Ability: Active Camo
    • Makes the player invisible temporarily (certain actions make you visible again)
  • Trait 1: Shadow Dive
    • Creates a smokescreen when the player drops to the ground (also negates fall damage)
  • Trait 2: Shroud
    • Become invisible every time you enter a smoke cloud

Recon

  • Prime Ability: Echo Pulse
    • Reveals nearby enemies
  • Tactical Ability: Tracker Drone
    • Deploy a small spider that blows up near enemies, maximizing their heat and damaging them
  • Trait 1: Awareness
    • Get alerted when enemy pings you. Furthermore, finishing an enemy pings their teammates’ locations
  • Trait 2: Stalker Protocol
    • Enemies leave a trail after breaking their shields

Vandal

  • Prime Ability: Amplify
    • Temporarily provides increased movement speed, reduced heat gain, and improved weapon handling
  • Tactical Ability: Disruptor
    • Hold and charge an energy projectile that can blast enemies far away
  • Trait 1: Microjets
    • Double-Jump (uses more heat)
  • Trait 2: Powerslide
    • Slide faster and farther at the cost of more heat

Thief

  • Prime Ability: Pickpocket Drone
    • Deploy a drone that can knock enemies back and take some of their loot
  • Tactical Ability: Grapple
    • Allows you to traverse the map with ease as you can grapple around to other areas
  • Trait 1: X-Ray Visor
    • Allows you to see loot through walls, as well as enemies
  • Trait 2: TBA

Triage

  • Prime Ability: Capacitive Gauntlets
    • Allows you to zap enemies from afar or revive teammates
  • Tactical Ability: Med-Drone
    • Deploy a medical drone that heals and provides shield for you or an ally
  • Trait 1: Battery Overcharge
    • Overcharges your weapon, improving them to EMP enemies when you take down their shields
  • Trait 2: Shareware
    • Any Teammate being held by a Med-Drone also gain boosts from any consumables you use

Rook

The Rook Shell in Marathon is unique because it’s like getting a free starting point. It doesn’t have as many special skills as other Shells, but it can hide from enemy NPCs. There are also a few limitations that come with using Rook.

  • Firstly, Rook can only join a match that has already begun
  • Secondly, Rook can only play solo

The good thing is, joining a match as Rook won’t alert other players. This makes it ideal for quickly grabbing specific supplies. Just be aware you’ll be on your own against teams of up to three opponents.

This covers everything about the Runner classes in Marathon, including what they can do and their unique characteristics. While Marathon isn’t out yet, it’s good to learn about them now so you’re prepared. We’re excited to test each class and see which one suits our playstyle best.

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2026-01-27 18:40