The First Faction Upgrades You Should Unlock In Marathon

The Faction Upgrade system in Bungie's Marathon game can be very daunting for new players. Personally, the first time I went to the CyberAcme upgrade screen, I almost uninstalled the game. It was like a freakish WoW talent tree that seemingly didn't have any logic to how it was laid out and I had no idea where to even begin.

Even once I started to read through the upgrades and what was available, I had no idea what to choose first. I mean, my first upgrade purchase was Locksmith, which allowed me to purchase Lockbox Keys… Not gonna lie, I bought that upgrade without even knowing what a Lockbox in Marathon even was… they just sounded cool.

Fast forward many hours of gameplay later, and I have a much better idea of what is actually useful for beginners and that is what we'll cover in this article. Upgrades in Marathon aren't cheap, so it's important to buy impactful upgrades early on to not waste time or materials.

Note: clicking any upgrade in the article will take you to the Material Finder tool, letting you to see what Materials are needed to unlock that specific upgrade and where you can find them!

Upgrade Criteria

When writing this article, I gave myself two rules to follow to ensure that the upgrades I recommend are actually things you can unlock early on:

1. They must be upgrades for CyberAcme, NuCaloric, or MIDA - which are the three easiest factions to unlock (and offer the most early game support)
2. They must be upgrades that require Rank 5 with the faction or lower to actually purchase

Run Necessities

Building out loadouts for a run can be overwhelming at first, but every loadout needs the following four items. I've added the proper upgrade to chase for each item with an explanation of what the upgrade does for you! By unlocking all of these, you’ll be able to consistently load into a run with a proper loadout - something that’s not available to you right off the rip!

Shield Charges

Upgrade: Safeguard (Rank 1, NuCaloric)

Shield Charges are essential for surviving runs. After every fire fight (if you live) you will most likely need a Shield Charge to replenish your shields. While you can find free, weak shield charges all over the map, Safeguard gives you 3 free Enhanced Shield Charges per day.

These can be purchased in the Armory but they require either Credits or trading in materials that are also used to purchase faction upgrades.

Patch Kits

Upgrade: Restore (Rank 3, NuCaloric)

Similar to Shield Charges, Patch Kits are something you’ll use multiple times throughout a run. Again, there are free patch kits in the maps but Restore will give you 3 free Enhanced Patch Kits per day.

These can be purchased in the Armory but they require either Credits or trading in materials that are also used to purchase faction upgrades.

Shields

Upgrade: Shielded (Rank 5, NuCaloric)

Enhanced Shields Implants essentially give you twice the shield by either giving an extra shield slot, or a single shield slot that takes half damage when compared to a normal shield. This can make or break a fight vs another player, but unfortunately enhanced shields aren’t available for purchase right away.

Shielded unlocks the ability to purchase these in the Armory, allowing you to always start a match with a health advantage over free kits, Rooks, and other cheapskates!

Backpacks

Upgrade: Carrier (Rank 5, CyberAcme)

The main goal, the only goal, of Marathon is to GET THAT LOOT BABY! And you’re going to need something to carry all your loot and gear, right? Enhanced Backpacks increase your inventory by 8 slots, but they aren’t purchasable in the Armory until you unlock the Carrier upgrade.

Important Early Player Stats

Next up, let’s run through some stat upgrades that I think are important for your character early on and shouldn’t be skipped.

Heat Management

Upgrade: Heat Sink (Rank 1, CyberAcme)

In Marathon, your Heat Level is what allows/prevents you from sprinting, jumping, sliding, and using some abilities. Think of it as a stamina bar. Heat Sink increases how much heat you can handle before overheating. This is crucial for staying in combat longer or escaping sticky situations.

Heat Recovery

Upgrade: Quick Vent (Rank 4, CyberAcme)

Quick Vent improves how quickly you recover from heat buildup. Combined with Heat Sink, this makes your heat management more forgiving and lets you start using your advanced movement abilities faster.

Loot Speed

Upgrade: Scavenger (Rank 1, CyberAcme)

The worst feeling is hearing footsteps coming while the container you’re looting slowly reveals the loot inside. The panic level is astronimical, you wait til that last piece of loot reveals itself, and boom - dead. Before you die, you see that the last piece of loot was worth 10 Credits. Worth it? Absolutely not.

Scavenger increases how fast you can loot items - reducing the chance of this awful situation happening and allowing you to stay on the move.

A Better Economy

Let’s face it - you’re going to die a lot. You’re going to lost money. Sometimes you’ll be poor, begging your friends for some gear. But other times? You’ll extract with a full inventory, and you’ll follow that up with another full inventory, then you a Faction will level up and boom - your vault is full. These upgrades will help make you money, while also letting you keep the loot you earn.

Credit Earnings

Upgrade: Informant (Rank 2, CyberAcme)

Throughout a run, you may stumble upon a Data Card. This is free money - you loot it and Credits are uploaded to your Vault. Informant doubles the credits you earn for each Data Card you find, and since you can’t lose these credits by dying in a run, this is one of the most efficient upgrades for accelerating your progression.

Vault Space

Upgrade: Expansion (Rank 3, CyberAcme)

The worst feeling is having amazing gear or important upgrade materials that you plan to use in the Vault, and then getting back from a successful extraction ony to realize you need to scrap items in the Vault to store the new sick loot you got. Expansion increases your vault storage space by 8 rows, allowing you to keep more items between runs. More storage means more options for different loadouts.

More Firepower

Once you've got the basics covered, it's time to make sure you can actually fight back effectively - and your weapons play a big role in that.

Enhanced Weaponry

Upgrade: Enhanced Weaponry (Rank 4, CyberAcme)

As you pickup more firefights, you’ll lose more guns. Enhanced Weaponry allows you to pick up 3 free Enhanced weapons a day from the Armory. These aren’t world beating weapons by any means, but it will get you set up with a solid loadout no matter how terribly the previous day went for you.

Claymores

Upgrade: Bad Step (Rank 1, MIDA)

Claymores are incredibly useful for controlling space, surprising a team in a firefight, or killing harder UESC. Bad Step is very easy to unlock and lets you purchase Claymores in the Armory, making it one of the first offensive pieces of equipment you can buy.

Frag Grenades

Upgrade: Explosives (Rank 5, MIDA)

Frags are pretty strong in most situations, and I honestly don’t see them used very often. Explosives allows you to purchase Frag Grenades from the Armory, letting you always add them to the kit if you want them.

Final Thoughts

The Faction Upgrade system is definitely complex, but focusing on these core upgrades will give you a solid foundation to build from. Start with the Run Necessities to make sure you can actually survive, then branch into the stat upgrades to improve your effectiveness. Grab the money-making upgrades to accelerate your progression toward the higher-tier upgrades and finish it off with upgraded offensive weapons to give you a bigger advantage.

Don't make the same mistake I did and buy Locksmith first. Trust me on this one!