The Exclusive Marathon Runner Shell Cores And What They Do

We’ve covered all of the Shells, so it’s time to take a look at the Marathon Runner Shell cores. These cores only work with their intended Runner Shells, so make sure you put the right core in the right Shell, lest you waste an important slot in your loadout. But if you put these cores on the right Shell, then you’ve got a powerful boost to your capabilities.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores enhance a specific Shell by enhancing specific aspects of your Shell. These could increase the range, charges, damage, and cooldowns of certain abilities or even give them extra abilities. There are many cores to examine here today, so let’s get started so you can infil onto Tau Ceti IV ASAP.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores

It took a bit of time to get to the Marathon Runner Shell cores, but we’re finally here. With all of the current Runner Shells covered, you now know what each of the Shells does, so learning about these cores should be a breeze. And what better way to start than with the first Runner Shell we all start with, Destroyer.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Destroyer

Destroyer, the first Shell we all started with when we first opened up Marathon. This combat specialist Shell features a myriad of abilities for both offense and defense, though you already know that if you read my article about this Shell. But if you haven’t, then you can read it here, and after you do, you can come back to read about Destroyer’s Cores.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Destroyer are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Heavy Ordnance: Defeating hostiles with explosive damage reduces the cooldown of your next Search & Destroy.
  • Bombing Run: Each successive homing missile in your Search & Destroy deals increased damage.
  • Bombadier: Defeating hostiles while your Search & Destroy is active extends its duration.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Myrmidon: After using your Thruster, your melee damage gets temporarily increased.
  • Lock ‘N Load: While receiving damage, your weapons ready and reload more quickly, and you receive less flinch.
  • Ankle Breaker: While a hostile is nearby, your Thruster generates less Heat.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • Intake Vents: Your Tactical Sprint generates less Heat.
  • Bullrush: While performing Tactical Sprint, your Riot Barricade does not passively drain energy.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Impact Siphons: When your Riot Barricade takes damage, the damage received gets converted to repair your Runner shield.
  • Counter Attack: When your Riot Barricade takes damage, you periodically release a homing missile that tracks the attacker.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Vandal

After Destroyer, we have Vandal, the combat anarchist Shell that loves to get anywhere and everywhere. Not only that, but Vandal has one hell of an arm cannon that could even rival Mega Man’s arm cannon, and you can read about that here. But if you already have, then let’s get right into the Marathon Runner Shell cores for our favorite troublemaker, Vandal.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Vandal are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Tag!: Disrupt Cannon deals additional damage and pings targets caught in the blast.
  • Out of Dodge: When your shields break, generated Heat is immediately cleared.
  • Low Profile: While Power Sliding, you gain the effects of Signal Jammer.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Mechanized Holsters: Your Power Slide reloads your ballistic weapons from reserves and recharges a portion of the batteries in your volt weapons.
  • Cut to the Chase: Disrupt Cannon reaches full overcharge in less time, which reduces the time from two seconds to one second.
  • Blast Off: Knockback from the Disrupt Cannon propels you away from the blast and deals no self-damage.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • High-Octane Propellant: Your Microjets propel you further upward.
  • Adrenal Core: While Amplified, your movement abilities generate even less Heat. And using Cardio Kick extends Amplify.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Microjet Efficiency: Gain an additional Microjet jump that generates less Heat.
  • Calling Card: Hostiles affected by the Disrupt Cannon’s damage gain the hacked debuff.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Recon

Up next is Recon, the reconnaissance specialist who can track and pursue any target they please. They can do this with their various abilities in their arsenal, which you can read all about here. Regardless, let’s take a look at the Shell cores for Recon and how they can help Recon in the dangerous environment of Tau Ceti IV.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Recon are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Hot Pursuit: Your Tracker Drone travels faster and farther.
  • Eye in the Sky: TADs remain active for longer and release additional pulses.
  • Bad Cop: Performing a finisher grants Prime Ability and Tactical Ability energy.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Predator: When your Tracker Drone attacks, you gain increased sprint speed and Heat cooldown rate; it also overheats targets for longer.
  • On the Trail: Defeating hostiles affected by your Stalker Protocol reduces the Heat you generate. The trail left by our Stalker protocol lasts 10 seconds longer, bringing it up to 30 seconds.
  • Hunter Killer: Each target pinged by your Echo pulse briefly grants a stacking bonus to your weapons’ equip speed, reload speed, and stability.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • Echo Chamber: Defeating hostiles recently pinged by a Pulse returns Prime Ability energy. Your Echo Pulse also releases three additional Pulses, bringing it up to 10.
  • Cluster Payload: Your Tracker Drone detonates into shrapnel submunitions, dealing additional damage.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Intuition: The ping effect from finishers now triggers when you down a hostile Runner.
  • Early Warning System: When a hostile Runner is nearby, you receive an alert on the bottom right of your HUD.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Assassin

Up next is the yin to Recon’s yang, Assassin, the sneaky Runner Shell that prowls in the darkness. You can read about their abilities and how they can use them to hide from their prey before striking from the shadows here. Aside from that, let’s jump into the Shell cores for my least favorite Shell, mostly because they’re cowards for hiding, Assassin.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Assassin are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Prowl Kit: Your crouch movement speed gets increased. This bonus gets further increased while camouflaged.
  • Ghost Protocol: Any smoke source you create lasts longer before dissipating. Smoke screen lasts the same 20 seconds, Shadow Dive lasts for 10 seconds instead of four, and Smoke bombs last for 40 seconds instead of 30.
  • Breathing Space: While in any smoke source, the reload speed of your weapons gets increased.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Safe Landings: Shadow Dive ground slam knocks nearby hostiles away and creates a longer-lasting smoke field that lasts for 10 seconds instead of four.
  • Flexweave Casing: While in camouflage, you have increased Agility and ready your weapons more quickly.
  • Patience: While both crouched and stationary, your camouflage timer gets paused at the cost of generating Heat.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • Guerrilla: While in any smoke source, your Active Camo and Shadow Dive recharge more quickly.
  • Ambush: Camouflage gained from your abilities has increased duration. This core increases the duration of Active Camo and Shroud from 15 seconds to 18 seconds and from two seconds to five seconds, respectively.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Shadow Strike: When attacking from camouflage, your knife deals greatly increased damage.
  • Minus Sights: After aiming down sights for a short time, you become camouflaged at the cost of generating Heat.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Triage

My absolute favorite Shell is Triage, as it can give your entire team everything they need from a support character. You can read more about Triage’s abilities and how they can help your team here. If you’re an avid support player, then you’ll have a good enough idea of how they work, so let’s see what the Marathon Runner Shell cores for Triage are.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Triage are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Ounce of Prevention: Your active Med-Drone increases your crew members’ Hardware and Firewall stats by 30.
  • High Voltage: Defeating hostiles affected by EMP reduces the cooldown of your next Battery Overcharge.
  • Fresh Install: Reviving crew members with Reboot+ grants them increased Prime and Tactical Ability regeneration, Agility, and Heat capacity for a short duration.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Hypcritic Oath: When your Reboot+ deals damage, the cooldown of your next Reboot+ gets reduced.
  • Friendly Face: When your Med-Drone attaches to a crew member, it cleanses Overheat, Immobilize, Toxin, Frost, EMP, and Hack.
  • Electron Recapture Sinks: While Battery Overcharge is active, defeating a hostile or downing a Runner with a volt weapon recharges some of its battery.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • No Good Deed: You receive a burst of healing when your Med-Drone attaches to a crew member.
  • Med-Drone Overcharge: Your Med-Drone heals crew members at a much higher rate.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Samaritan: Sharing any consumable with our Shareware.exe reduces the cooldown of your next Med-Drone.
  • Double Dose: The benefits and/or duration of consumables shared with your crew members get increased from 25% to 50%.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Thief

Ah, Thief, the one and only Shell that specializes in getting their grubby little hands on everything that isn’t theirs. Jokes aside, Thief’s kit provides them with excellent combat and looting capabilities, and you can read about it here. And their cores enhance their playstyle even further, so let’s take a look ourselves.

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Thief are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Greed is Good: When your backpack is full, your sprint speed and slide distance increase.
  • Crime Spree: Each container you open increases your loot speed. This benefit resets when you get downed.
  • Boutique: The Finer Things also grants Agility and weapon reload speed based on the number of items in your backpack.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Premium Package: Your Pickpocket Drone gets increased lifetime and resistance to incoming damage.
  • Keen Eye: Hacking a hostile with your X-Ray Visor extends its duration.
  • Hit and Run: Immediately after Grappling, striking a target with your melee or knife hacks them and knocks a random loot item out of them.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • Hideout: While piloting your Pickpocket Drone, you become camouflaged.
  • Case the Joint: Your X-Ray Visor gets an increased range.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Partner in Crime: While not piloted, your Pickpocket Drone periodically releases a small-radius pulse that pings nearby hostiles.
  • Break and Enter: Gain a second charge for your Grapple Device.

The Marathon Runner Shell Cores For Sentinel

Last but not least on our list is Sentinel, the newest addition to the Marathon Runner Shells. This defensive specialist can lock down a building and make it a living nightmare to fight in, and you can read all about it here. And what better way to make Sentinel’s insane CQB capabilities better than to equip a few of their cores?

The Marathon Runner Shell cores for Sentinel are as follows:

• Enhanced (Green) Cores:
  • Safeguard: Your Defender System has 12 charges instead of nine.
  • Reversal: Feating a target affected by Immobilize heals you over time. This healing gets interrupted when you take damage.
  • Hurt Locker: Taking explosive damage grants you a small amount of Prime Ability energy.
• Deluxe (Blue) Cores:
  • Wellness Beacon: You and your allies who stand near your Defender System use medical consumables more quickly.
  • Safe Space: The radius of your Defender System covers a larger area.
  • Active Recon: Your Prey tracker lasts five seconds longer, bringing it up to 20 seconds.
• Superior (Purple) Cores:
  • Explosives Expert: Your Snare Mine has increased detection range. When triggered, it sends out an additional salvo of submunitions.
  • Bandolier: Gain a second charge for Sentinel’s Snare Mine.
• Prestige (Gold) Cores:
  • Threat Assessment: Your Prey Tracker shows the elevation of your detected targets.
  • Eminent Domain: When your Defender System neutralizes a Runner grenade, it falls to the floor and becomes lootable.

Is That All For The Marathon Runner Shell Cores?

For right now, that is all for the Marathon Runner Shell cores, but that certainly will change with future seasons or updates that bring in new cores. But for right now, that is indeed all of the Shell-exclusive cores in Marathon, and it’s definitely a lot to take in. However, it’s only a lot if you plan to learn every single one of these cores, instead of the ones you’ll be using for your Shell.

But if you’re a nerd like me, you’ll probably go ahead and learn every single one of them, regardless of whether you’ll ever use them. Nonetheless, now that you know about the Shell-specific cores, you can equip or look out for the ones you want. Either that, or you can finally know how a certain Shell performed an action you saw before.

Now, you better hurry up and materialize onto the surface of Tau Ceti IV; the various companies you work for don’t like laziness, so get to it!

For more information on games and Marathon, stay tuned with us.