How to get Marathon Schemas and how to use them

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Everything you need to know about what Schemas are for in Marathon and how they're used

Marathon Schema distance runner implant in armory
(Image credit: Bungie)

Marathon Schemas are a rare type of item that expands your Armory stock without needing faction upgrades, and can help you get items you can't normally loot. They're Marathon's equivalent of crafting recipes – a bit like Blueprints in Arc Raiders or other games – though crucially, there's no crafting involved. They're a little confusing at first as it's not exactly clear what they even do, so I've laid out the key things to know about Schemas in Marathon below.

How Marathon Schemas work and what to do with them

Marathon Schema Destroyer runner core from cargo box

(Image credit: Bungie)

Marathon Schemas are a type of loot that, when exfiltrated, unlock a limited supply of a particular gear item for purchase in your Armory. Schemas can be found basically anywhere on any of the Marathon maps but are rare, so finding them is largely down to pure luck – while it might be a coincidence, several of the Schemas I've found were in the yellow and orange containers held by UESC cargo drones.

For any Schemas that you exfiltrate with, you'll automatically unlock the relevant gear as items that can be purchased with Credits on the right side of the Armory menu, just below the Sponsored Kits section. Schemas for weapons add three of that weapon to your Armory stock, while Implant and Equipment Schemas add five of that item to your stock, and the stocks stack if you find the same Schema more than once.

Marathon Schema copperhead in armory

(Image credit: Bungie)

However, once a Schema's stock runs out, it is removed from your Armory and the only way to purchase the item again in this way is to find the same Schema again – although there may be an upgrade from one of the Marathon factions that allows you to unlock the item for purchase through their regular stock.

You can find Schemas for all sorts of Marathon weapons, Cores, and Implants for your loadout, and there are some weapons that seem to only be obtainable by finding a Schema, making them very rare – for example, I've got Schemas for the Copperhead SMG and Impact assault rifle, which are both guns I've never seen or looted before during my runs.

Marathon tipsMarathon SilkMarathon DCONsMarathon Tox ClearMarathon Introducing SekiguchiMarathon Parasitism

Marathon tips: How to get loot and exfil safely
Marathon Silk: How to spend your Silk
Marathon DCONs: DCON locations for contracts
Marathon Tox Clear: How to clear the gas
Marathon Introducing Sekiguchi: Meet Nona
Marathon Parasitism: Inject yourself with stuff

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Will Sawyer
Will Sawyer
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

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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