How to complete Equitable Distribution in Marathon

Finding rods for Traxus' Cutthroat Competition contract in Marathon might have been annoying, but this faction's second priority quest—Equitable Distribution—is a massive step up. With four stages, it's one of the longest early quests. Plus, each objective is fairly obtuse and some are even actively misleading.

Below, I'll outline how to complete Equitable Distribution 1-4, so you can trounce Traxus' requests in record time and get onto the next (which is grinding XP, actually). You'll be heartily rewarded with loot along the way though, so it's well worth it.

Marathon Equitable Distribution 1/4

To tick off the first Equitable Distribution quest, you need to find a data disc and deliver it to one of four specific locations across the map called a DCON, all in a single round on Perimeter. You can see how to do it all in the video above.

1. Get the Self-Erasing Data Drive from Hauler

Begin by travelling to the Hauler in the west of Perimeter. Once here, go inside and reach the second floor (you can take the stairs or climb up to the ledge in the garage area), to find the Self-Erasing Data Drive in server boxes against the west wall towards the middle of the vehicle. Search the drawer to spawn the Self-Erasing Data Drive quest item on the floor, which you'll need to hold in your inventory temporarily.

Be warned, once you pick up the Self-Erasing Data Drive, you'll start a three-minute timer to reach your next objective, so familiarise yourself with the next steps first, as you'll need to run quite a distance.

2. Deliver the Self-Erasing Data Drive to a DCON location

Next, you need to head to a DCON unit to send the data off-world. There are four in total in each corner of the map, found on the roof of low buildings. Heading to a DCON is the final quest step, so I'd recommend picking whichever DCON is nearest an extraction. Here are all the DCON locations:

• North Relay: Just northwest of the POI.
• Station: Northeast of the POI, past the pipe near the northern walkway.
• Overflow: Directly west of the POI near the cliffs, not far from the main building.
• South Relay: In the hills in the far south of the map, past Columns. This one is much further away from the main POI than the others.

Reach the DCON machine, interact with it to open its inventory, and then place the Self-Erasing Data Drive. Close the menu, and it'll start to power up, sending the data off-world after just a few seconds. That's the end of the first stage, so it doesn't matter if you extract alive or not.

Marathon Equitable Distribution 2/4

The second stage of Equitable Distribution sends you to Dire Marsh, where you'll also have to complete its objectives in a single run.

First, head to Algae Ponds bang in the centre of Dire Marsh and go inside the main building (it's the one directly south of the 'LG' in Algae Ponds). Go to the second floor, through the control room-looking area, and into what looks like a lab, where you'll be able to hack the UESC security terminal to summon a Transport Drone.

The Transport Drone will take a minute or two to spawn in, so don't panic if you think you're missing something. It'll also look like a standard (non-quest) UESC Drone from afar. In fact, I had both spawn in at the same time, which was more than a little confusing.

The drone will travel along the roadway to the north, so wait a few minutes and it'll pass right over your head. When it gets close enough to you, it should have the green quest marker on it so you know you're looking at the right one.

Shoot down the Transport Drone to loot the UESC Drone Manifest and Supplies priority contract items, which you'll need to store in your inventory. The former takes just one spot, but the latter requires four empty slots. You then need to safely exfil with these items in your inventory, so pick the nearest exit.

Marathon Equitable Distribution 3/4

Equitable Distribution's third stage is the most confusing one, largely because its quest objectives are needlessly complicated to the point of being misleading. Unlike the other stages of the contract, you don't need to complete Equitable Distribution 3/4's two tasks in a single run.

To scan the drones in the tunnels beneath Station on Perimeter, as shown in the video above:

1. Go to Station in the northeast of the map and face the main building
2. You need to get into the garage area blocked by the orange door on the south side of the facility, so either go inside the building and take the stairs down, or break the vent next to all the boxes in the lower areas to enter the tunnels
3. Take the hallway in the garage leading south to find a drone lab
4. Interact with the three marked drones to scan them
   1. The first is on your right when you enter, requiring you to jump on it
   2. The second is on a crane in the northwest corner, so climb onto the oddly-shaped white object and jump up to it
   3. The third one is on a high shelf in the southeast corner, requiring you to climb up to reach it

To find and deliver the seven Unstable Gunmetal to a DCON:

1. Search countertops and containers, such as inside the buildings at Station, to find at least seven Unstable Gunmetal—it's not that rare, so you shouldn't have too much trouble doing it in one match, but you can do it across multiple rounds
2. Go to any DCON, such as the one northeast of Station, and place seven Unstable Gunmetal inside to deliver them to Traxus

Once you've completed both steps, you'll be able to return to Traxus for the final stage of the priority contract.

Marathon Equitable Distribution 4/4

The fourth and final stage of Equitable Distribution requires you to find and kill a UESC Commander, so bring plenty of ammo and healing supplies.

1. Find the secured building on Perimeter to trace the Commander

First, as shown in the video above, you need to trace the Commander's location by heading to the secured building in the hills in the far south of the map, past Columns, which is also the location of a DCON you might have visited during the earlier stages. This is another case of a misleading objective, as it's not really that close to South Relay at all.

The building is laced with traps and barriers, so take the orange pipe to the left and enter from below. I recommend shooting the tripwires to clear a path. Once inside, disable the security barriers by shooting the four batteries hidden around the room on the walls and ceilings.

Then, interact with the console in the centre of the room, which will begin a four-minute timer until the Commander spawns. That's important because you technically have as much time as you need to kill them, but the quest marker will disappear once the timer's up, so it's easy to lose them if you don't arrive on time.

2. Kill the Commander and loot the UESC Credentials item

Race over to the Commander's location—this was North Relay for me, but it could be random—and kill them. It's a pretty simple fight, just bring plenty of ammo as the Commander has back-up.

Once defeated, they will drop the UESC Credentials priority contract item which you'll need to pick up to complete the quest. You don't need to extract with this item, so don't worry if you die.

With all four stages of Equitable Distribution completed, you'll now have to reach level 10 with Traxus to unlock the faction's next priority contracts. Your best bet is to do Traxus' repeatable missions while also prioritising the faction's other reputation sources, such as looting Arms Lockers, Tool Carts, and Transport Drones, completing Convoy and Lockdown events, and exfilling with Traxus valuables.