Let's be real for a second. If you are new to the extraction shooter genre, the concept is terrifying. We see this constantly in the comments: the paralyzing fear of bringing your best gear into a raid, only to lose it all in a split second.

For those of us coming from the Destiny ecosystem—where Bungie has catered to us for over a decade—this is a massive culture shock. In Destiny, we develop deep attachment issues with our loot. We hoard god rolls; we scream for more vault space; we cherish that Fatebringer with 50,000 kills on the tracker. The idea of taking that prized possession into a zone where it could vanish forever? It feels counter-intuitive.

• The Floor Mechanic: Misconceptions Around Progression
• The Faction Safety Net
• Why You Can't Just Hoard Like a Guardian
• The Real Risk: Security & Cheaters
• FAQ
• Parting Thoughts on The Loop

↖ The Floor Mechanic: Misconceptions Around Progression

Contrary to popular belief, dying in Marathon does not take you back to the beginning of the game. While some items are lost on death, the entire process of account progression is preserved. Yes, that's right, you are saved.

Imagine your progress being more of a floor than a ladder.

↖ The Faction Safety Net

Completing the main game loop is centered on Factions. While you may farm resources and loot during your gameplay, you are actually farmland and loot, but more importantly, you are unlocking variable gear.

As you progress the game, the loop opens up new possibilities:

1. The Rookie Phase: You start with a blank slate. You manage to get through one run and your reward may be a basic shotgun. If you happen to die during the same game, you are going to lose everything.

2. Mid-game: If you've had five runs and leveled up a faction, you've reached the faction vendor that sells basic shields and implants. If you die, don't worry about hunting for those, buy them right away.

3. The Veteran Phase: If you've grinded faction rep enough, the vendor has Runner Cores and high tier weapons for sale (either with credits or items to barter).

When a veteran player dies, they don't start from scratch. They start with the opportunity to get a competitive loadout because they raised the floor from their starting point.

↖ Why You Can't Just Hoard Like a Guardian

We have to change our mindset. In Marathon, you're not building a weapons museum, you're running an economy.

If you try to play this game like Destiny, holding onto your best stuff and never using it, you're going to have a bad time. The game is purposefully designed to make the pieces of your builds obtainable multiple times. As Toecom (the gameplay director) said, lower rarity items can be obtained in just a couple of runs, and with sufficient faction levels, you can literally pay for access to the good stuff.

Using your gear to finish contracts is advised. Contracts do not only reward you, but they also provide experience to the vendor. Once the vendor levels up, you can quickly bounce back after dying to an invisible assassin hiding in the corners.

↖ The Real Risk: Security & Cheaters

Cheaters remain a concern for the community, and no mechanic can improve that.

We have seen comments such as, I can't get over the fact that if I die to a cheater, I lose everything. The point is valid. In games such as Arc Raiders, if a cheater is banned due to your report, a mechanism resets your lost loot.

Considering Bungie's history with Destiny 2 and BattlEye, we are feeling apprehensive. While we appreciate how this system works under the integrity of the game, the feeling of having to deal with losing a fully kitted runner to a hacker is something else. We would like refunds to be implemented, which we would be fine with, and we would see this as the best of the worst to maintain Gear Fear.

↖ FAQ

Q: Will I lose gear from both the match and the gear I loaded in with?

A: You lose all the gear on your character, including the gun, the loot, and the consumables. You lose your gear, but not your money or anything like the vendor status you have.

Q: Do you have a system of blueprints like in the other extraction shooters?

A: You don't have a system of blueprints in the elimination sense, but Factions are your blueprints. Instead of acquiring a recipe, you need to unlock the right to buy the item from a vendor of the faction.

Q: How difficult is it to recreate a specific build after dying?

A: The level you are at in that specific faction definitely impacts how difficult it is to recreate a build. It is more difficult at lower levels. However, once you unlock higher levels for the factions, you have the option to purchase certain Runner Cores and specific attachments, which allows you to recreate your preferred build and playstyle immediately after a loss.

↖ Parting Thoughts on The Loop

If you're worried about losing your loot, just do it. The anxiety is a part of the fun, and thankfully, the game provides you with a way to manage that anxiety.

The aim of the game isn't to survive indefinitely - The aim is to progress your Factions to a point where dying is no longer a concern. The more you play the game, complete your contracts, and upgrade your vendors, the more you will come to realize that losing everything is just a temporary thing.