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Marathon Build

UAV Recon Build

Season 1

Recon

Squad

Perimeter

Dire Marsh

Low Budget

By Byrdman

Updated on Mar 4, 2026

Mar 4, 2026

Build Overview

In Marathon every fight is determined by what advantage you have over the enemy team. In squads the advantage is having eyes on all the players of an enemy team. Recon is the literal cheat code to ensure you know exactly where every target is at in a fight so you can hunt them down for their loot. Below we'll discuss a setup with Recon that will ensure you're constantly pinging targets for you and your team!

Strengths And Weaknesses

Enemy Team Positions
Overheat Targets With Spider Bot
Gain Intel Before a Fight

Bad For Solos
Ability Recharge Time

Build Variants

Beginner

Min/Max

This setup for Recon is for any player going in for the first time with minimal loot. Most of what you have to begin with will work on maps like Perimeter or Dire Marsh where threats are lower.

Equipment

Beginner

Min/Max

Weapons

Primary WeaponBR33 Volley Rifle

Secondary WeaponBully SMG

Equipment

Equipment (Active)Empty

Shield & Backpack

ShieldProtector V1

Backpack8XS Med Pack

Cores & Implants

CoreHot Pursuit

CoreBad Cop

Head ImplantAugmented Capacitors V2

Torso ImplantSurvival Kit V2

Legs ImplantStrike Kit V2

1.) When it comes to weapons the BR33 Volley Rifle is going to be the most reliable weapon for any character. Phenominal range and accuracy means every target in sight is likely to go down. The Bully SMG on the other hand is going to be your close quarters weapon. This heavy round SMG puts a beating on any target. This is great for Recon who tends to push into fights to get intel on targets with Interrogation.

2.) Your shield should always be the highest rarity you have, but for the purposes of this beginner setup we went with green. Your backpack is also based on what you have, but I'm personally a fan of the 8XS Med Pack. Having faster heals in a team fight is very important especially for Recon that gives team intel.

3.) Early cores for Recon are shockingly very strong. Hot Pursuit is nice since it gives boosts to your Tracker Drone that can stop enemies in their tracks. Bad Cop on the other hand is great since Recon should be the character using finishers the most to activate Interrogation. Doing that and receiving ability energy back is a two for one deal.

4.) Implant wise focus on what is going to boost the ability energy of your tactical and primary. Both have long timers so getting those back faster is ideal.

How It Works

Recon is a lock for squads, but a big reason for this is abilites that you don't even have to activate. Lets do a quick rundown of what you can do with this character!

1.) First your tactical ability is your Tracker Drone. This small spider like robot will chase after targets giving you their location. Not only does it help you find targets, but after a short time the drone will explode causing targets to overheat. It can not be stressed enough how important this is in close quarter team fights. Enemies not being able to move as efficiently while taking some damage is huge.

2.) Your prime ability is the area ping of Echo Pulse. This will mark all the targets within your range with a small red dot about their heads. Do note with this it will only show you the location the target was at when the pulse happened vs a live marker. Also it will also target the UESC bots in an area as well so be mindful of what's a player.

3.) Interrogation is a massive passive skill that I think every team should have. Whenever an enemy would see you and ping your location you'll be alerted and shown their location. Also this gives you the location of enemy players after finishing one of their team members. This is a big reason that Recon needs to be close in the fight to finish off targets and track down the next enemy.

4.) Finally we have Stalker Protocol. This ability will show the trail from enemies whenever you break their shields. Know that this works for both players and UESC bots even though they're less of a threat. This is good though for the Ghost Warden Bot in Overflow on Perimeter since it constantly goes invisible.

When player Recon it's definitely recommended to be one of the first people in a fight. You will be a big part of fights when Echo Pulse is active so you constantly know where enemies are. Being the first to break shields means you'll have Stalker Protocol active and be able to chase down downed targets to activate Interrogation. Finally start a fight with a Tracker Drone to overheat teams and you'll be good to go!

Faction Priority

Your faction priority here will be mainly focused on CyberAcme and Sekiguchi.

1.) CyberAcme is going to be a lock for most characters since they go into many general stats that will help your overall experience. Definitely focus on the ones to reduce your heat use since it can be punishing at times. Also getting more general vault and wallet space is always a big plus.

2.) Sekiguchi on the other hand has direct benefits with it's Recon tabs. By unlocking those you get access to green and blue cores that will be crucial for the builds above. Also the Head_Start tab will partially fill your tactical ability from the start of a round meaning you have your Tracker Drone faster. This is going to be a must for many players out there!