Marathon Traxus Contract Guide | How to Get Gold Weapons

Look, we get it. You've been wandering around asking your teammates, "how do I get purple weapons?" and "where are the gold weapons in Marathon?" like some kind of freshly deployed rookie who just read the tutorial once. The answer: miraculously: is not "get lucky." The answer is Traxus Priority Contracts. Do them. Finish them. Stop being broke.

Once you complete the full Traxus contract chain, you unlock the ability to purchase gold mods directly from the Traxus Armory. Yes, buy them. With credits. Like a functioning adult who doesn't rely on loot boxes and prayers. The whole Marathon loot system stops feeling like punishment once you hit this milestone.

After completing the priority chain, the Traxus Armory gold mod purchase option appears. Check your credits: you'll probably be broke anyway. But at least it's there.

The Priority Contract Chain: Every Objective, Explained

Here's every main objective in the Traxus Priority Contract progression, broken down so that even the person who hasn't read a quest description since 2019 can follow along. Pack EMPs, bring a friend (or two, you're not special), and stop taking the wrong path.

• Find & Activate the Relay Flare. Head to North Relay: you'll need keys to access the flare room. Loot early, loot often, and yes you probably need more grenades. Two EMP stacks minimum. Don't argue about it. The flare is inside; someone will inevitably run past it twice before noticing.
• Locate the Contract Drone at Intersection. The drone spawns near Intersection: it's yellow, it's chunky, and your teammates will argue about who saw it first. Ping it. Move fast. The drone triggers a countdown and enemies get very upset about your presence, which, honestly, fair.
• Sacrifice Gunmetal at Decon. You need to gather and sacrifice seven unstable gunmetal at a decontamination station. The good news: this counts for the whole team. The bad news: someone will grab 21 pieces from one box and feel incredible about it for approximately four seconds before realizing they have to share. Head to Field Main or Perimeter Decon.
• Western Maintenance Harvester: Solo Objective. This one's individual, so stop waiting for your squad to carry you. Navigate to the tall red building at Western Maintenance, find Harvester Do Six, and interact with the explosive energy point. If it doesn't count, it's individual. Yes, it's awful. Yes, you still have to do it.
• Acquire UC Commander Credentials. This involves a commander dropping credentials: which naturally spawns as far from you as physically possible and is on a timer. Get moving the second it triggers or someone else steals it and your teammates will never let you forget it. Complete the credential acquisition objective before the connection window closes.
• Reach Traxus Level 10. Once the priority contract is fulfilled, you need to grind to Traxus reputation level 10. Run normal contracts. Don't overthink it. Just keep doing the work like a responsible mercenary who wants gold weapons before retirement.
• AI Uplink or Bio Research Terminal. Choose your path (AI Uplink is usually faster). Access the terminal, grab the storage drive, and don't try to open the loot box at the same time as your teammate: it doesn't work, you will both look stupid, and yes someone already tried it. Navigate via the POI you passed earlier, because of course you walked past it.
• Scan the Supply Drop as It Departs. Find a supply drop, scan it during liftoff. Multiple spawns exist near the split; someone will loot the crate before scanning: just roll with it and grab a weapon mod while you're there. The decon after this is shared. Finally.
• Eliminate Hostile Runners & Loot Three Bags. This is a PvP-adjacent objective. Find the runners, do the damage, and loot all three bags: every single one. If you skip a bag you're doing a second rotation. Don't skip a bag. The anomaly samples come after; grab all three and deliver to Decon to complete this phase.
• Fulfilling the Obedience Matrix / Destroy UC Drone at Marsh. The finale. Head to Marsh, destroy the UC investigation drone (yes, it's large, no, don't panic), collect the final credentials, interact with the unguarded AI terminal, and exfil. Your contract is complete. You did it. Truly a miracle.

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Once the full Traxus priority contract chain is finished, the Traxus Armory gold mod purchase option unlocks. This means you can buy gold weapon mods directly: including guaranteed gold options like the True Shot Barrel: instead of desperately looting every corpse and crate hoping the RNG gods smile on you for once.

Purple loot becomes far more consistent. Purple weapons and gear start appearing in your loadout through regular contract runs. Combined with the armory access, your entire kit becomes dramatically less embarrassing within a few sessions. You'll look like you know what you're doing. You don't, but you'll look like it.

Purple to Gold Pipeline

Priority Contracts → Traxus Rep Level 10 → Armory Gold Mod Unlock → Actually Competitive Loadout. That's the full loop. Write it on your hand if needed.