‘Gear Comes and Goes, Don’t Be Too Precious About It’ — Marathon Game Director Offers Last-Minute Tips Ahead of Server Slam Weekend

The game director of extraction shooter Marathon has offered a number of top tips for players jumping into the server slam event this weekend.

Bungie’s Joe Ziegler took to social media to offer last-minute tips. I’m hoping to carve out some time this weekend to give Marathon a shot myself, so I found these tips interesting. Hopefully they will also prove useful!

• gear comes and goes, don’t be too precious about it, but learn to use what you got and it will serve you.
• remember to bring enough ammo and consumables to survive a couple fights, if you don’t have much then use a sponsored kit or play as rook and focus your runs on getting gear and creds or stocking up on resources.
• if you’re learning don’t rush your contract objectives, playing slow can help you avoid getting overwhelmed.
• keep your ears open. You will often hear threats before you see them.
• try to take the fights you think you can win, you don’t need to fight everything. Greed and ambition can lead to a quick downfall.
• don’t sleep on the battery weapons, in the right hands they are strong, but remember if you reload with them before they’re empty, you lose the battery.
• a friend who plays Triage is a keeper. Be kind to them.
• if you want to win a fight, use what your opponent wants against them. Patience and cunning are powerful allies.
• stray rooks are unpredictable and can either be a blessing or a curse depending on how you treat them.
• don’t tilt, cooler heads make smarter decisions.
• if all else fails beg for mercy in prox chat and hope someone listens 🙂

It all sounds pretty intense, but that’s what you’d expect from an extraction shooter. I expect I’ll be leaning on that last tip over the weekend.

The Marathon server slam runs from today, February 26, to March 2. We’ve got a quick guide to the exact launch times across the globe, as well as the associated rewards, so you know when you can get that download going and jump in. Marathon’s full launch is scheduled for March 5 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. PlayStation Plus subscribers can nab bonus weapon charms themed around Ghost of Yōtei, Death Stranding 2, and Helldivers 2 at launch. Marathon players on Steam automatically receive the exclusive Crowbar Weapon Charm (don’t say Half-Life 3 confirmed!) when Marathon releases on March 5. Marathon players on Xbox Series X and S, meanwhile, get the exclusive Emerald Clutch Weapon Charm and Emerald Catch Weapon Charm.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.