Marathon’s difficulty has been a hot-button topic since the Server Slam, where many players felt the UESC AI were too tanky, and meds and ammo were too limited to fight back. This inadvertently caused PvE to get in the way of PvP too much, which is where Marathon shines brightest. Well, Bungie’s listened by tweaking just about everything that’s been on players’ lists in the new 1.0.0.4 update, starting by increasing the spawn rate of Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates on the Perimeter map. You can scavenge more supplies mid-run when you’re a fresh-faced Runner on Tau Ceti, which is where these issues were most felt. However, Bungie has also increased the starting ammo in MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne sponsored kits to give these free loadouts a little boost.The best change for Dire Marsh enjoyers (well, haters, really) is that thermal scopes have been knocked down a peg. Not only has visual clarity been reduced (no more 4K X-ray vision), but the range has been significantly decreased:
- Pistols: 40 meters (down from 55)
- Rifles/LMGs/SMGs: 60 meters (down from 65)
- Precision Rifles: 80 meters (down from 100)
- Snipers: 100 meters (down from 180)
Thermal scopes will still be a good option, but you hopefully won’t get randomly sniped from across the map by an enemy you never stood a chance of seeing while you were lit up like a Christmas tree.In a move that will piss off Rook mains, no matter how justified, the free WSTR shotgun that you could get each round via the Arachne Boomstick faction upgrade now has limits. It will now spawn as a Compromised item, which means you have to use a Matter Fixative during a run to be able to exfil with it. In other words, you can’t get a free, on-demand source of one of the best weapons in the game to use in all your runs on other Shells. Sorry, Rook, but you’re still one of the best classes.Next up on Bungie’s hit list were the UESC bots themselves. Basically, the health of most UESC troops, and the shield health of bosses, has been reduced by a small amount (a number would be handy, Bungie).The goal is to “alleviate some of the resource burden in both solos and crews when it comes to engaging UESC in combat”, the developer explains, as it wants “your bullets and meds to go further without reducing too much of the UESCs bite.” However, I love the challenge, so I’m really glad that Bungie doesn’t want to make the UESC a pushover: “We see the feedback loud and clear that players appreciate the friction that our UESC combatants provide and we have no plans to change that direction.”The final two major changes are all about range. You can hear gunshots and explosions from further away, so you’ll have to be even less gung-ho, and the contract objective markers can now be seen from 20 meters away, double what it was before. Hard to complain about that one.These patch notes come just a day after Bungie announced that it was beefing up the first season’s reward pass with extra skins, setting a new standard going forward. At least so far, feedback is being taken on board and acted on quickly, which makes a big difference in an extraction shooter where your loot is on the line, and death is punishing.
Marathon best weapons tier list: Our top picks
Marathon best characters tier list: Top Runner Shells
Marathon roadmap: What’s coming
Marathon Lockbox Keys: How to get ’em
Marathon upgrades: Which to pick
Marathon DCON locations: Contract dropboxes
