How to get into Cryo Archive in Marathon and when is it available?

Marathon Cryo Archive shooting enemy runner with Magnum pistol — (Image credit: Bungie)

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Entry requirements

The Marathon Cryo Archive endgame map has some strict entry rules in place to ensure you're strong enough to face the endless UESC forces and decked out players also aboard the UESC Marathon. This raid-like activity flips all the usual rules of Marathon matches on their head, with bespoke mechanics and specific exfil procedure to follow. But learn how to navigate Cryo Archive and its secrets and you'll have a shot at the best loot in the game, assuming you've also brought your best gear and you're playing at the right time. Here are all the rules and requirements for playing on Cryo Archive in Marathon.

When is Cryo Archive playable in Marathon?

Marathon Cryo Archive zone selection screen — (Image credit: Bungie)

After a mighty puzzle-solving effort from the community to unlock the map, Cryo Archive is available for all players, provided you meet all the requirements laid out below. The Cryo Archive map is also only available during the weekends, starting every Friday at 5PM UTC and ending every Monday at 5PM UTC. So that you know what to expect before you've even begun assembling your loadout, I strongly recommend checking out our Marathon Cryo Archive guide for a rundown of the basics.

Marathon Cryo Archive requirements

Marathon loadout value on loadout menu — (Image credit: Bungie)

To ensure you're prepared to face Cryo Archive in Marathon, you must meet the following requirements every time you want to play on the endgame map when it's available:

You must be at least Season Level 25.
You must have all Marathon factions unlocked. That just means you need to have completed their respective "Introducing…" liaison contract, such as Marathon Introducing Sekiguchi.
Your current loadout must be worth at least 5,000 Credits. Your loadout's value is the total value of all your equipped gear and it's displayed in the Loadout menu. Certain weapons are worth a lot more than others, but high-rarity attachments can also boost a weapon's value quite a lot. Pack your best possible gear to meet this requirement and give you the best chance of surviving.

If you don't meet all three of the above requirements, you won't be able to play on Cryo Archive, with that 5K loadout value restriction likely being the deciding factor for many players. If you rinse out your vault after several unsuccessful runs in Cryo Archive, you'll have to complete runs on the other Marathon maps to build up your vault once again. To prevent this from happening, you definitely need to know how to extract from Cryo Archive!

While not a specific requirement, Cryo Archive is also designed for full crews of three in mind, but crew fill matchmaking means you can join random players and don't have to assemble a team yourself. That means that playing solo is not an option.

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Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.

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