Factions in Marathon is a system built around six mega-corps acting as your long-term progression tracks. Each Faction hands out contracts, reputation, and permanent seasonal upgrades, and here’s everything you need to know.
These corporations are your clients, as they pay you in stat boosts, gear, and unlocks for doing their work on Tau Ceti IV.
With that said, here’s a complete breakdown of every Marathon Faction, including their skill trees, what kinds of contracts they offer, and which players they suit best.
Table of contents
How many Factions are there in Marathon?
Marathon currently features six Factions:
- Arachne
- CyberAcme
- Sekiguchi
- MIDA
- Traxus
- NuCaloric, which is often shortened to NuCal
You can level all six at the same time, with no lock-ins or penalties for working with multiple groups. Factions give contracts, which are essentially objectives inside matches, that award reputation, XP, and seasonal upgrades after successful extraction.
| Faction | Core Identity | Contract focus | Best for playerstyle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arachne | Death cult, brutality and kill pressure | Killing other Runners, high PvP impact | Love hunting players and forcing fights |
| CyberAcme | Consciousness tech, cybernetic systems | Tech, respawn or shell systems, utilitiese | Want utility, survivability, and tech perks |
| Sekiguchi | Genetics and body optimization | Resilience, regen, survivability tasks | Prefer tanky, sustain-heavy builds |
| MIDA | Radical saboteurs, explosives experts | Sabotage, destruction, malware, explosives | Enjoy blowing up assets and disruption |
| Traxus | Hyper-rich extraction conglomerate | Resource theft, rare weapons and mods | Chase loot, economy, and power scaling |
| NuCaloric | Agriculture or energy megacorp | Zone control, resource networks, scaling | Like late-game power and macro control |
Once unlocked, Faction upgrades apply to every run for the rest of the season, including stat boosts, cooldown reductions, mobility perks, and access to vendors and wares.
Marathon Factions explained
Arachne
Arachne is a death cult, and their whole vibe leans into horror, such as blood-red visuals, ritualistic flavor, and a focus on feeding “the cycle of death” on Tau Ceti IV. Their contracts require you to hunt and kill other Runners.
Gameplay-wise, Arachne is built for those who want to dominate gunfights (especially PvP) and take fights on their terms. Their upgrades lean into damage, combat uptime, and kill-focused bonuses. If you queue with a squad, you’ll find Arachne a great fit.
CyberAcme
CyberAcme is one of the most important corps behind the scenes of Marathon’s universe. Lore-wise, they sit at the intersection of software, hardware, and identity, monetizing the tech that keeps Runners coming back after every death.
This Faction leans into utility, survivability, and tech-driven perks, with upgrades tied to respawning, shell management, and other cybernetic advantages. CyberAcme should give you a safety net plus QOL buffs across your runs. It’ll be a solid pick for those who want their kit to feel smarter rather than just deadlier.
Sekiguchi
Sekiguchi focuses on biological modification, resilience, and pushing bodies past their limits. They dwell mostly tweaking the human form for harsh environments and repeated high-risk operations, which fits perfectly with life on Tau Ceti IV.
This Faction favors durability, sustain, and body-focused stat upgrades like health, resistances, or regen-style perks. Contracts from them lean into survival-based tasks, enduring dangerous zones, or playing through attrition rather than quick burst skirmishes.
If you fancy tankier builds and like outlasting opponents instead of outdueling them mechanically, Sekiguchi will probably be one for you.
MIDA
MIDA comes from the original Marathon trilogy, where it began as a political movement and eventually morphed into a terrorist organization opposing the UESC. That history carries over as a fixation on sabotage, disruption, and blowing things up in this game.
As a player Faction, MIDA is built for those who enjoy indirect pressure, such as destroying infrastructure, sabotaging objectives, and destabilizing areas so other Runners are forced into bad positions. You can expect explosive-focused bonuses, objective damage perks, and rewards tied to causing chaos instead of just stacking kills.
Traxus
Traxus is described as the richest and most powerful Faction in Marathon, operating from the shadows and making its money by extracting resources from Tau Ceti IV. Their contracts in early tests focused on disrupting UESC supply lines and targeting specific materials, gear, and weaponry.
Traxus is the loot and economy Faction, where the majority of their tasks involve tracking down certain weapons, weapon mods, or valuables in a match.
NuCaloric
NuCaloric is an agricultural and resource-focused megacorp, handling food, energy, and the broader resource networks that keep colonies alive.
In terms of gameplay, NuCal is positioned as a late-game scaling and macro-control Faction, with contracts and upgrades that reward controlling zones, interacting with resource nodes, or playing into long-term advantages across the season.
If you prefer to think in terms of map control, scaling power, and compounding buffs over time, you’ll likely find NuCal’s upgrade tree very rewarding.
Which Faction should you start with?
Because there’s no permanent lock-in, you can sample each Faction early, but only a few are beginner-friendly. Traxus and CyberAcme are strong starting points if you’re new to Marathon, since both offer practical upgrades that help almost every playstyle, including better loot, smoother survival, and stat bumps.
If you’re more into PvP, Arachne and MIDA will reward you for fighting and disrupting other players instead of just sneaking around the map. Meanwhile, Sekiguchi and NuCal cater more to those who value long-term scaling and durability over flashy kills. Over time, it’ll be best if you level all six to freely switch between different playstyles.
In the meantime, do check out our full explanation of all Runner Shells in Marathon.
