Marathon’s Runner Shells are built for distinct jobs: frontline combat, stealth, intel, movement, looting, crew support, or defense. The six launch shells are Destroyer, Assassin, Recon, Vandal, Thief, and Triage; Sentinel joined in Season 2. Rook is a separate solo scavenger experience, not a standard crew shell. Below is what each kit does, with a note where ability details or current tuning are not established.
How Runner Shells work
Bungie describes Runner Shells as moddable biosynthetic bodies built around different gameplay archetypes. Shell-specific Cores can modify abilities, while Implants can be used across shells to add stats and perks. That means a shell’s base kit is a starting point, not the only factor shaping a build. Bungie’s overview of Runner Shells gives examples of how customization can alter a role.
The ability names and descriptions below are drawn from a detailed guide published March 5, 2026, alongside Bungie’s broader shell descriptions. Individual abilities can be retuned, so check their names, effects, and cooldowns in the live game rather than assuming this list reflects every October 2026 balance change. Bungie’s October 6 refresh announcement does not specify whether individual shell kits changed.
Destroyer: frontline combat and defense
Destroyer is the direct-combat choice, with tools for absorbing pressure, pushing forward, and quickly repositioning.
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Prime — Search and Destroy
After Destroyer takes sustained damage, shoulder missiles activate to damage and immobilize targets.
Tactical — Riot Barricade
Deploys a forward-facing energy shield that blocks incoming damage, creating cover for a push or a brief defensive hold.
Traits — Thruster and Tactical Sprint
Thruster provides a lateral dash while airborne. Tactical Sprint increases sprint speed but generates more heat, so using it has a movement-management cost.
Assassin: stealth and ambush
Assassin uses concealment to approach, disengage, or create an opening. Its stealth is temporary and can be disrupted; it is not permanent invisibility. The detailed guide describes the Prime and Tactical abilities but does not establish both Trait names and effects, so check those in-game.
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Prime — Smoke Screen
Throws a smoke disc that creates smoke fields and disrupts the optics of players who enter them.
Tactical — Active Camo
Grants a brief camouflage or invisibility effect. Offensive actions, taking damage, using abilities, or using consumables can break the effect.
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Recon: information and tracking
Recon helps locate and pursue threats. Its tools provide information in specific circumstances; they should not be read as revealing every enemy everywhere.
Prime — Echo Pulse
Sends sonar pulses that reveal nearby hostile positions.
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Tactical — Tracker Drone
Sends a drone after nearby hostiles. It explodes and overheats targets caught in the blast.
Traits — Interrogation and Stalker Protocol
Interrogation warns Recon when a hostile Runner pings them; performing a finisher pings that Runner’s crew. Stalker Protocol leaves a short-lived holographic trail when Recon breaks a target’s shield.
Vandal: movement and disruption
Vandal is built to move aggressively and displace opponents. Its movement tools generate heat, so mobility and heat management go together.
Prime — Amplify
Overcharges movement systems, reducing heat from movement abilities while increasing movement speed and weapon dexterity.
Tactical — Disrupt Cannon
Fires an energy projectile that damages and pushes targets. Charging the shot increases its damage and blast size.
Traits — Microjets and Power Slide
Microjets add an extra jump while airborne. Power Slide strengthens the slide. Both generate additional heat. Bungie has also shown Vandal builds using Cores to alter jumps and movement, so the exact feel can vary with equipment.
Thief: loot detection and mobility
Thief specializes in finding and acquiring loot, with a grapple for movement. Its information tools have visibility rules, and the drone’s tether is not a general-purpose way to take anything from anyone.
Prime — Pickpocket Drone
Remotely pilots a drone for a limited time. Its tether can extract a high-value item from an enemy inventory, collect loose loot, or open doors.
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Launches a grapple and pulls Thief toward the target point.
Traits — X-Ray Visor and The Finer Things
X-Ray Visor highlights hostiles and containers according to the value of their contents, subject to different visibility rules. The Finer Things improves weapon handling and grapple recharge when Thief carries more items.
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- Four-player madness! - You can't spell Nippon Marathon without 'P', 'A', 'R', 'T' and *checks letters* 'I', we suppose… Solo play is supported, but grab up to four pads and enjoy the supreme silliness of gaming's greatest marathon.
- See all of Japan! - Cross the entirety of the land of Nippon in a series of creative courses spanning busy city streets, village lanes, bustling markets & more!
- Wacky characters! - Go toe-to-toe with some of the coolest contestants who ever did, er… contest! Lobster-man J DARWIN, onesie-obsessive Elizabeth Nishibori, school uniform fan Zenbei "Xen Bae" and the completely normal Snuguru Maestro Epic pratfalls! - Swinging poles! Giant face-slapping fish! Cyclists! Shiba Inu! Panes of glass! Traffic! False doors! Barrels! Rolling beams! Wobbly planks! Flying fruit! More Shiba Inu! EARTHQUAKES!!!!!
- Tons of surprises! - You never know what will happen next in Nippon Marathon. Perhaps you'll find time for an impromptu spot of slot machine fun? Maybe a news anchor will jetpack in to interview you on the racetrack? Heck, anything is possible…
- Drop-in/drop-out play! - Random pedestrian passing by your couch and wants to play? Not a problem. Whatever the cause, hop in and out for the ultimate, flexible party get-together!
Triage: crew support and recovery
Triage is the crew-support specialist, with tools for revives, healing, and shields. That makes it useful to a team, but does not make it mandatory for every squad.
Prime — Reboot+
Readies a device that can revive a downed crew member or EMP a hostile target.
Tactical — Med-Drone
Attaches to a crew member to restore health or recharge shields. It can also prevent a downed ally from bleeding out.
Traits — Shareware.exe and Battery Overcharge
Shareware.exe shares the benefits of medical consumables with attached crew. Battery Overcharge trades cooling for improved weapon performance; with volt weapons, its shield-break effect is described as an EMP.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Rook: a separate solo scavenger experience
Rook is a special scavenger frame rather than a normal shell brought into a crew match. Bungie describes the mode as a way to enter an ongoing match solo without a loadout, so it plays by different stakes and expectations than the regular shells.
Prime — Recuperation
Slowly repairs Rook’s health. Taking damage interrupts the repair.
Tactical — Signal Mask
Temporarily disguises Rook from UESC forces. Sprinting or taking damage interrupts the effect.
Sentinel: defense and control of space
Added in Season 2, Sentinel is the clearest defensive and area-control option in Bungie’s Season 2 overview.
Prime — Defender System
Places an automated laser platform that destroys incoming enemy grenades and missiles and improves nearby crewmates’ weapon handling. Its charges for blocking projectiles are finite.
Tactical — Snare Mine
Places a proximity-triggered mine that releases immobilizing submunitions.
Traits — Castle Doctrine and Prey Tracker
Castle Doctrine grants resistance after splash damage and faster handling for close-range weapons when surrounded. Prey Tracker is a short-range motion tracker that reveals nearby moving targets on radar.
Bishop: announced for a later update
Bungie announced Bishop for the December 8, 2026 Symbiosis update, describing it as a fast, surgical hunter-killer built around speed, surprise, and bursts of melee damage. Its individual ability names and mechanics have not been published, so there is no confirmed ability list to give yet. See Bungie’s Bishop announcement and update plan.
Which shell fits your approach?
Choose based on how you want to engage, how much you rely on a crew, and what constraints you are comfortable managing—not on a claim that one shell is universally strongest.
Quick Recap
- Want to take or withstand direct fights? Destroyer pairs its shield with a missile attack and repositioning tools.
- Prefer concealment and ambushes? Assassin offers smoke and brief camouflage, but several actions can break concealment.
- Want help finding opponents? Recon combines sonar, a tracking drone, and traits that can warn of or follow particular threats.
- Want speed and disruption? Vandal trades heat for mobility and can push targets with its cannon.
- Prioritize loot and routes? Thief can spot valuable containers, manipulate loot with its drone, and grapple to a target point.
- Want to support a crew? Triage brings revival, medical support, and shared consumable benefits.
- Prefer holding an area? Sentinel can protect approaches and hinder enemies with its platform and mine.
- Want a solo scavenger run? Rook is the distinct no-loadout option, not a standard crew-shell pick.
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