Marathon: How to Deliver Unstable Gunmetal to DCON – Equitable Distribution Guide

Why This Equitable Distribution Task Is So Annoying

After spending a few Perimeter runs wondering where my progress was going, I finally cracked the second task of the Equitable Distribution 3/4 contract: delivering seven Unstable Gunmetal to a DCON. The contract text sounds simple, but in practice I lost stacks of Gunmetal to bad routes, missed the DCON entirely once, and even deposited stuff at the wrong time.

This guide walks you through exactly how I now do it consistently:

• Where to reliably farm Unstable Gunmetal on Perimeter
• How to survive the trip while carrying seven units
• How to find the rooftop DCON east of Station
• How to deposit the Gunmetal correctly so the contract actually completes

If you follow these steps, you should be able to clear this objective in one or two raids instead of fumbling through half a dozen like I did.

Quick Overview: What You Need to Do

For this specific Equitable Distribution 3/4 step, your goals are:

• Collect 7× Unstable Gunmetal during a Perimeter raid.
• Carry them to a DCON terminal on the Perimeter map.
• Deposit all seven into the DCON’s inventory.
• Complete the interaction so the Traxus contract updates.

You do not have to extract after depositing; the contract completes on deposit. But if you care about keeping extra resources, you’ll still want to get out alive.

Step 1: Track the Contract Before You Drop

First mistake I made: jumping straight into Perimeter without pinning the contract. The DCON will still work, but it’s much easier to lose track of progress.

Before queueing into Perimeter on PC:

• Open your Contracts tab from the main menu.
• Select Equitable Distribution 3/4.
• Make sure the step that mentions Unstable Gunmetal and DCON is active and tracked.

This ensures your HUD and contract log update the moment you hit seven Gunmetal and successfully deposit it, so you don’t need to guess if it counted.

Step 2: Where (and How) to Farm Unstable Gunmetal

Unstable Gunmetal doesn’t have a fixed spawn like a weapon crate – it’s part of the random loot pool. The breakthrough for me was realizing it still has “better” areas, even if it’s not guaranteed.

Best Area: Around Station and the Tunnels

On Perimeter, my most consistent runs all start with a beeline toward the Station POI:

• Check your tac-map when you spawn and rotate toward Station whenever it’s reasonably close.
• On the way, loot every crate, locker, and container you pass, especially in small buildings and shacks.
• Once near Station, look for the tunnels and lower-level corridors beneath and around it – these have been my highest-yield areas for Unstable Gunmetal.

I typically find my seven units by the time I’ve swept the tunnels and one or two adjacent buildings. Some runs are colder and I only get three or four – in those cases, I circle the nearby structures east of Station before moving on.

What You’re Looking For

Unstable Gunmetal usually appears as a small resource item inside containers, but I’ve also picked it up as loose ground loot near loot-heavy spots. When you open a container:

• Look for the item labeled “Unstable Gunmetal”.
• It stacks in your backpack – you need the counter to read 7 total, not seven separate slots.
• Use your standard loot key (default F on keyboard/mouse) or click-drag it into your backpack.

Don’t make my early mistake of thinking a single pickup “completes” the objective – you specifically need seven units in total before you bother pathing to DCON.

Inventory Tips While Farming

This step is where bad inventory habits will cost you. What finally worked for me:

• Leave a couple of empty slots before you even drop: don’t go into this raid with a full backpack.
• As soon as you find Gunmetal, shift other junk out of the way so it sits in one clean stack you can easily see.
• Once you hit 7+, stop over-looting. Extra is nice, but every extra minute in-raid is another chance to die and lose the whole stack.

I usually keep looting until I hit 7–9 Gunmetal, then hard-commit to the DCON route instead of getting greedy.

Step 3: Survive the Trip to DCON

More than once I had my seven units and then died to a random fight on the way to DCON. This part is about risk management, not loot.

• Once you reach 7 Gunmetal, change your mindset from “loot” to “extraction-style objective.”
• Reload everything and avoid loud fights unless you’re forced into them.
• Stick to cover-heavy routes along walls and behind structures as you move toward Station and then further east.
• If you hear heavy gunfire or see multiple Runners between you and Station, consider taking a wider, slower flank instead of cutting straight through.

This is usually 3–5 minutes of careful movement once I’m done looting, but it’s better than losing 10–15 minutes of progress to one bad push.

Step 4: Finding the Rooftop DCON East of Station

Now for the part that confused me the first time: actually locating the DCON. DCONs are special terminals used for contract deliveries, and on Perimeter there’s a very reliable one east / northeast of the Station POI.

Use the Map Icon (When It Works)

DCONs usually appear as a unique crate-like icon on your tac-map. Do this:

• Open your map (default Tab on keyboard).
• Look near the east side of Station for a small icon that isn’t a normal POI.
• Set a mental route or just note its relative direction and distance.

I’ve had one raid where the icon didn’t show – bug or visibility issue – but the DCON was still there in the usual place. So learn the physical landmark as well.

Landmarks to Reach the Right Roof

Once you’re at or just east of Station, here’s how I consistently find the DCON building:

• From Station, head east or slightly northeast until you start hitting smaller buildings and cabins.
• Look for a low to mid-height building with an external ladder on one side – this is your target.
• The DCON sits on the roof of this building, so you must climb the ladder to reach it.

If you’re unsure, circle the area slowly and check for any access ladders to roofs. Once you see the terminal itself, you’ll recognize it easily: it looks like a sturdy, faction-branded box or console, not a normal loot crate.

Step 5: How to Deposit Unstable Gunmetal at the DCON

This is where I messed up once by interacting incorrectly and thinking it had failed. The deposit process has a couple of small steps, especially if you’re on a controller on PC.

• Walk up to the DCON and use the interact button (default F or click).
• This opens a storage-style interface with your backpack on one side and the DCON inventory on the other.
• Locate your Unstable Gunmetal stack in your backpack.
• Move exactly seven units into the DCON:
  • On keyboard/mouse: click-drag the stack into the DCON inventory. If you have more than seven, use split controls (usually right-click/drag) to move just seven.
  • On controller: highlight the stack and use the “grab/move stack” input (commonly LT / L2) to transfer it into the DCON slots, adjusting the amount if prompted.
• Once the seven are in the DCON’s storage pane, confirm/close the interface.
• Look for the contract update notification on your HUD – Equitable Distribution 3/4 should tick that objective as complete.

If the contract is tracked and the right step is active, the update usually happens instantly once the seventh unit is inside the DCON inventory.

Common Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To)

Here are the specific errors that wasted my time early on, and how to avoid them:

• Depositing with the wrong contract active
  DCONs are used for multiple contracts. If you dump resources there without having Equitable Distribution 3/4’s step active, you’ll just lose the items for no progress. Always set and track the right contract first.
• Heading to DCON before reaching seven
  Twice I got excited and ran to the rooftop when I only had 3–4 Gunmetal. The objective won’t partially credit; you need all seven in-hand. Stay in the Station area until you’re at 7+.
• Over-looting after hitting seven
  Every extra building you greed after that point is another chance to die. Once you’re at seven, prioritize survival and turn toward DCON.
• Ignoring the ladder building
  I wasted a whole raid searching ground level. Remember: this DCON is on the roof, so always look for that external ladder east/northeast of Station.
• Thinking DCON works like a vault
  DCONs are not mid-match vaults. You can’t send items home from here. Only deposit what the active contract asks for, or you’re throwing loot away.

Rewards and What Comes Next

Once you successfully deposit the seven Unstable Gunmetal, the Equitable Distribution 3/4 step completes and you gain Traxus reputation plus the contract’s listed payout. In my experience, Traxus rep is worth pushing early because it opens up:

• Access to more Traxus contracts that pay out better gear and credits.
• New upgrades and attachments that slot nicely into mid-game builds.
• A more efficient loop where contracts and raids start feeding into each other.

Once I cleared this step, I started treating DCONs as key contract hubs instead of weird loot boxes. That mindset shift made future objectives feel way less confusing.

TL;DR Route I Use Now

If you just want a quick mental checklist for future runs, here’s the pattern that’s been most consistent for me:

• Track Equitable Distribution 3/4 before launching Perimeter.
• Spawn in → rotate toward Station.
• Loot containers in and under Station, plus nearby buildings, until you have 7+ Unstable Gunmetal.
• Once you hit seven, stop looting aggressively and move cautiously toward the east / northeast side of Station.
• Find the building with an external ladder, climb to the roof, and interact with the DCON.
• Transfer exactly seven Gunmetal from your backpack into the DCON inventory and close the interface.
• Watch for the contract completion pop-up, then decide whether you want to extract with any extra loot.

If I can turn this from a frustrating time sink into a predictable 10–15 minute objective, you can too. Once you’ve run this loop a couple of times, delivering to DCON will feel like just another stop on your Perimeter route instead of a mystery.