How to extract from Cryo Archive in Marathon

Knowing how to extract from Cryo Archive in Marathon is critical as you and your team could very easily lose your best gear and some cracking loot. There's a lot to the exfil process, even compared to Complex, with the whole thing hinging around the Security Clearance mechanic that underpins almost everything in Marathon's endgame map. Since it's a relatively complicated process, I've laid out everything you need to know about how to exfil from Cryo Archive.

Marathon Cryo Archive exfil walkthrough

To extract from Cryo Archive safely, you need to do the following in Marathon:

1. Reach Security Clearance Level 3. Find Security Tags and hack Security Monitors to up your team's clearance level. You won't be leaving Cryo Archive if you haven't reached at least Level 3, which requires the equivalent of 18 Security Tags. Make sure you check out our Marathon Cryo Archive guide to learn everything about this mechanic and the basics of the endgame map.
2. Find an Exfil Station. These terminals aren't common or obvious so it's best to use a Scanner and hope that one gets marked on your map. They tend to be found nearer to, and within, the central Control area of the map and have an orange icon with a black arrow.

3. Use the Exfil Station to reveal a Secret Exfil beacon. The Secret Exfil will be visible to only your team and will be near the end of one of Cryo Archive's wings, so probably a long way from whichever station you activated.
4. Get to the Secret Exfil before time runs out. Upon using an Exfil Station, a three-and-a-half-minute timer will start, giving you 210 seconds to reach the exfil. Get there in time and you'll escape Cryo Archive safely with all your gear. You could even hop into another endgame run since you'll almost certainly meet the Marathon Cryo Archive requirements thanks to your top-tier gear.

As soon as your team has activated an Exfil Station, it's time to get going. Cryo Archive's labyrinthine structure means figuring out your way to your exfil is a puzzle in itself, so don't tarry. However, if things go wrong and you don't make it to the exfil in time, you'll have to find another Exfil Station to start a new extraction sequence.

If things go even more wrong and you either don't have enough time on the run timer to reach an exfil beacon or don't have Security Clearance Level 3, your only way out is a hidden Final Exfil beacon. Like normal Final Exfils, the Cryo Archive Final Exfil is available for only one minute after the run timer has expired, but isn't visible on your map and, as far as I can tell, there is no way to figure out where it is – essentially, it's blind luck if you happen to find it or are already nearby. With this in mind, extracting in good time using the above method is practically compulsory, so leave yourself plenty of time to GTFO!

Marathon tips: Survive on Tau Ceti
Marathon factions: AI agents await
best Marathon faction upgrades: Best boosts
Marathon weapons: The entire Tau Ceti arsenal
Marathon maps: Non-endgame zones
Marathon Schema: More loot for the Armory

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