The best weapons in Marathon

You can shoot 29 different weapons Marathon. And that's not counting various pieces of gear like grenades and your best friend: your knife, which is sometimes too powerful. With so many guns out there, it's easy to not know where to start and which are the really good ones.

Don't worry, we did all the testing and filming for you. Check out our list of Marathon guns levels for the best and most useful weapons to use throughout the game. The hardest part for you will be filling your vault with them.

Marathon is a live game that receives frequent balance fixes. Weapons can be nerfed and buffed, so use this as a general guide.

How do layers work?

Customization menu with all weapons shown in Marathon.

Whether you're playing Ranked or going solo, you need to know what the best weapons are in Marathon. You can find all weapons in our tier list, which is divided into the following categories:

Level S: The crème de la crème. These weapons will give you everything you want and more. Prioritize them over others.
Level A: Fantastic weapons that have a disadvantage or two compared to the level above.
Level B: They are decent weapons. You won't love them and you may need skills to use them. But they can get the job done.
Level C: We would avoid them like the plague.

Keep in mind that we will be talking about weapons in their “vanilla” version — without attachments. For specific lists on PvE and PvP, you can also check out this guide and this one.

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Level S

Weapon	Type	Reason
Biotoxic Disinjector	Hybrid	Added to the Cryo Archive, this is the most broken weapon in the entire game. The only downside is that you have to fight the compiler on said map and win the fight. This is made for really good players.
Long shot	Sniper rifle	Such a powerful sniper, we're surprised it hasn't been nerfed yet. Three quick shots with little recoil and huge damage.
M77 assault rifle	Assault rifle	Whether you like the M77 or the BR33 best is up to you. These spots are interchangeable and we like the damage you can deal with this weapon, especially against UESC.
BR33 volley rifle	Accurate rifle	Our favorite precision rifle because it has the greatest stability and accuracy of its type. Explosive weapons can be difficult, but try this one first.
Combat Shotgun WSTR	Shotgun	If you succeed and land two shots before having to reload, this weapon will take down almost any enemy in front of you. Your enemies will need to be far away or wear blue shields to keep them safe.
Missriah 2442	Shotgun	You prefer more shots per mag than two? Then Missriah is for you. Extremely powerful shotgun.
Bully SMG	Submachine gun	It's not just that the most affordable weapon in this tierbut it is also extremely powerful and you can start using it from the first hours.

Level A

Weapon	Type	Reason
Outlands	Sniper rifle	Our dear Outland, you deserve the world. But your slower rate of fire they put us in A even if you are really strong.
Stryder M1T	Accurate rifle	A really stable weapon that does more than decent damage with each explosion. If you aim well with this, you're fine.
BRRT SMG	Submachine gun	If you can handle the low stability, you have powerful submachine gun for close combat.
Channel V99	Sniper rifle	The good part about the V99 channel is that it is cartridge sniper rifle that charges as you aim. The slightly bad part is… well, you still have to have time to charge your shots (or at least the first one). But if you figure it out, you can put it higher on the list.
HMG demolition	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	Accurate rifle	You'll have to sacrifice range as it's not good at mid to long range, but the Twin Tap delivers really good damage and has a sweet time to kill.
Magnum MC	Pistol	If you're not good at giving out headshots with Magnum MC, you can move it to level B. But if you are, you have a powerful weapon for PvP.
V11 Punch	Pistol	Great for PvP. Yyou can charge your shots to make them worth it.

Level B

Weapon	Type	Reason
Hard PR	Accurate rifle	Good, accurate rifle great for PvE if you're good at headshots with that.
Circuit breaker V85	Shotgun	It's still a more than decent shotgun, but you have to charge the rounds to make them really goodwhich is not the case with those in the S Tier.
Twin Tap HBR	Accurate rifle	He can kill enemies quickly, but he has important recoil combined with not the best distanceso you may find it too short.
Impact of H-AR	Assault rifle	If it had a slightly better rate of fire, this weapon would easily land at least A level. But as it is, it leaves you disadvantage in close combat.
V75 Scar	Assault rifle	Uses volt as ammo and it will give you quite a few shots before it rechargesbut it's not that strong when your enemy is a bit far away.
Prospect V66	Accurate rifle	Great for longer distancesbut lacks some damage to place it in higher tiers.
V00 Zeus RG	Railgun	Railguns aren't that popular in Marathon and that has something to do with it their charging functions and how inconvenient they are compared to anything else. Still, if you load your shots and control the battle, you can do good damage with Zeus.
LMG conquest	Machine gun	you have to shoot ammo for a few seconds to increase your fire rate and make it decent. A very situational weapon.
Thrower V22V	Pistol	Not really recommended against PvP unless you're fighting a crew with bad gear, but it's a fun weapon. it is useful against UESC units.

Level C

Weapon	Type	Reason
Exceeding AR	Assault rifle	Not terrible by any means, but there is nothing significant about it compared to all other assault rifles. There is no point in using it.
LMG Retribution	Machine gun	Why is this weapon so heavy and messed up in its rate of fire? We don't know.
Ares RG	Railgun	It demands a lot from the player to make it good with his stats and charge. It's not worth it.
HPR repeater	Accurate rifle	While it does some decent headshot damage, he has really bad stats overall.
RF copper head	Submachine gun	It will let you down in battles that don't happen right in front of the enemyand even then his high rate of fire doesn't work if the damage he deals is low. Terrible submachine gun and super expensive.
CE Tactical Handgun	Pistol	Simply, worst weapon in the entire game.

Other

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