Marathon Cryo Archive

Cryo Archive was "added" with Patch 1.0.5 and unlocked through community ARG events. It was officially playable on arriving March 20th, alongside the new Ranked mode.

To enter Cryo Archive, you need:

• Level 25
• All Factions Unlocked
• 5,000 credit minimum loadout
• To get the best loot, you'll need Security Clearance, and Cryo contracts

Cryo Archive represents the end game and biggest challenge presented by Marathon thus far. Here are some details straight from Bungie:

The UESC Marathon ship left Mars for the Tau Ceti solar system in 2472. It arrived 300 years later. Then… silence. Contact with the 30,000 colonists who set out to make a new home on an alien world was lost.

Decades later, the Marathon ship still hangs abandoned in orbit, a frozen snapshot of the past promising valuable resources and information for anyone brave enough to make the trek and survive.

Cryo Archive is the first deck of the UESC Marathon, where you'll find a labyrinth of cryopods, medical bays, and storage wings where colonists once eased into and out of deep sleep on their journey across the stars.

In game, Cryo Archive takes you through six interconnected wings with a central hub. Traverse from wing-to-hub and back again in search of frozen Vaults containing powerful loot and dark secrets. Battle your way through intense UESC security, decked out Runner crews, and a ship that seems hellbent on keeping you out.

Here's a few quick notes before you dive in:

• Intensity: Cranked to the top. Cryo Archive is a pinnacle challenge and will take many runs to learn and master.
• Playstyle: Think raid-style puzzle solving and layered mechanics wrapped around brutal extraction stakes.
• Design: A labyrinthian layout where tight corridors give way to massive open spaces, pitting enemy crews against each other to unseal frozen Vaults.

Our map guide covers the key details you need to know to go into the map prepared and ultimately exfil.

After community feedback, Cryo Archive's availability will no longer overlap with the Rank queue.

Its current schedule will be:

• Thursday 10 AM PT -> Sunday 10 AM PT

For an efficient rundown on how to best dive right into Cryo Archive, check out this Beginner Guide by our expert, Wallzer. Below, we have some key tips that are summarized from the video.

Stay tuned for his second video coming soon that covers the Vaults and more.

What to Bring

When it comes to surviving Cryo Archive, you'll need a loadout that is prepared for both PvP and PvE. Since the map goes from super close-ranges to long-range pretty quickly in the middle of the map.

Depending on when you get to control in the center, you'll either be fighting out of your wing or trying to trap someone in their wing.

For your first weapon slot, consider a shotgun. This will be your go-to for the closer ranges. :

• WSTR Combat Shotgun
• Misriah 2442
• V85 Circuit Breaker

Your second weapon will be for longer ranges as well as your main UESC fighting weapon:

• M77 Assault Rifle
• BR33 Volley Rifle
• V66 Lookout

These options all have great ammo economy as Volt Battery and Light Rounds are the most abundant. Also be sure to bring a good amount of Bubble Shields and grenades for your Equipment slot as well as health/shield kits, OS Reboot, and Mechanic's Kits.

While Cryo Archive is brutal, the map does supply you with ammo and consumables due to resupply rooms that are scattered about, but its better to be safe than sorry.

High ground is king for PvP. Look to stay on the upper platforms of the map and utilize the routes around the bridges as much as possible because getting caught crossing the middle bridges is a death sentence.

Map Tips and How to Exfil

When you load in, you'll spawn in one of the six wings of the map and will have to work your way towards the middle area, Control.

In order to get there, you'll need to increase your Security Clearance Level. This is the first unique mechanic of the map.

To increase your Security Clearance Level, you'll need to grab priority item Security Tags off of commanders and sometimes from other UESC for one point OR by hacking Security Terminals that are scattered around for three points.

You can track your level at the top right of your screen alongside your Contract tasks. To access the Control section of the map, you'll need at least Security Clearance Level 2.

The higher your Security Clearance Level, the more information and access you'll have across the map.

There are strongbox rooms scattered throughout that require Level 3 Clearance and you'll also need at least Level 3 to exfil.

To exfil:

1. You'll need to find a scanner that is similar to the security terminals.
2. This will then ping a location but the kicker is that it won't spawn on top of you.
3. Instead, it will appear on the map and give you 3:30 min before it will leave without you.
4. In addition, there can only be one active exfil at a time on the map.
5. • If you see a terminal but can't interact with it, it means another team is currently trying to exfil.
   • You'll either need to wait for them or take theirs yourself.

If you're waiting around for the final exfil, good luck because that's its own mechanic. It appears when the clock hits zero and you have 60 seconds to find it without it being marked on your map.

This is intended because lore-wise, Cryo does not want you there in the first place and it sure doesn't want you leaving.

We do NOT recommend waiting on that final exfil as you're leaving your chances up to a random game of hide-and-seek, listening for audio cues while trying to dodge other teams doing the same thing as well as ramped up UESC enemies.

Priority Items to Keep in Mind

• Batteries are used to power vaults and terminals around the map. They're plentiful and can be locating by hitting a scanner terminal which will briefly show them around you and also put a small plus icon on the map.
• Empty Coolant Containers are less plentiful, having somewhat random spawns around the map but have guaranteed spawns in the Preservation Wing in the water at the bottom. You fill these up by going to refill stations, either in the ice pit in the bottom of Control or in the top right of the Biostock Wing.

Press on the Map to see in full-screen

Press on the Map to see in full-screen

Press on the Map to see in full-screen

Cryo Archive contracts are a pool of seven unique contracts that appear within CyberAcme when Cryo Archive is available.

Each Cryo Archive contract provides a random high-rarity item, which could be gear, material, or even a key for a locked room or vault.

Completing a contract removes it from your pool during that week and your crew can reroll a contract to work toward the same objective.

Lastly, there are unique Codex rewards, including Runner shell skins, that can be earned. This progression carries over from week-to-week and doesn't reset.