Marathon’s first major post-launch update has arrived, bringing some smart changes to the sci-fi extraction shooter. It’s yet another example of Bungie moving quickly to improve its newest very good live-service game.
On March 11, Bungie pushed out update 1.0.0.4 for Marathon, the game’s first major post-launch tinkering. And while it might not add any new content, like a map or playable character, this first large update since Marathon launched earlier this month is filled with good changes that should make a few parts of the game a bit easier, without removing the extraction shooter’s bite.
The best parts of Marathon’s update 1.0.0.4
Some free sponsored kits are getting ammo increases, which is much needed, as these kits felt unnecessarily punishing to bring into runs due to their lack of bullets. Another nice-to-see change is that quest objectives will now pop up when you are 20 meters away instead of just 10 meters away. This should help folks find pesky terminals and items needed for Marathon’s various contracts.
Oh, and if you, like me, love doing Rook runs to start or end your Marathon session but were confused as to why he wasn’t showing up on the map, turns out that was a bug, and it has been fixed. Thanks, Bungie!
Another good tweak that I think will help the game in the long run is a small nerf to UESC robot guards. Before, these units could quickly overwhelm a solo runner and could take out even a solidly decked-out crew if they made a few mistakes. The bots have now had small health and shield reductions, so they won’t soak up as many bullets. But you should still be careful around them, as Bungie has no intention of making bots pushovers and still wants them to be a threat.
“The goal here is to allow your bullets and meds to go further without reducing too much of the UESCs bite,” said Bungie in the update’s patch notes. “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.”
Marathon’s season pass is getting improved
Beyond this new update that is now live in the game, Bungie has committed to improving Marathon‘s not-so-great reward pass aka battle pass. It currently only includes one Runner skin and a handful of weapon cosmetics that are mostly just boring recolors. Later this season, Bungie has confirmed it will add more Runner skins to the pass as well as some other free and premium rewards.
“When you spend in Marathon we want you to get great value,” said Bungie. “Whether that’s the game, the deluxe edition, the Rewards Pass, or the in-game store.”
The company says it has more improvements planned for Marathon‘s next reward pass to make it even better, and thanked the community for providing feedback, adding: “When you take the time to be thoughtful and constructive, it helps us move faster and make better calls, and we’re committed to acting on that as quickly as we can.”
And to Bungie’s credit, they have moved fast with making tweaks to Marathon. When players complained about how the premium currency packs seemed designed to screw players trying to buy a single skin, Bungie quickly announced a change so that $10 packs grant exactly what’s needed for a single skin and not a bit less. It has also been quick to expand on the game’s lore with last week’s ARG connected to an upcoming endgame level.
Marathon isn’t perfect, and I still hope Bungie adds a duos queue at some point in the near future. But the studio does seem laser-focused on responding to fan and player feedback quickly, while not compromising Marathon is, which is a hard but exciting extraction shooter built around fast runs and skill. I’m excited to see what the next few weeks and months bring to Tau Ceti IV.
Here are the full patch notes for Marathon update 1.0.0.4, live now on PS5, Xbox, and PC:
Item Economy
- Increased the number of Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates that can spawn on Perimeter
- Increased the amount of starting ammo in MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne free Sponsored Kits
- Reduced the frequency UESC Grenadiers drop EMP grenades
Combat
- Fixed an issue where players could sometimes die instantly in confinement events
- Fixed an issue where the shield break screen effects could constantly play when you had a heal over time effect and a damage over time effect on you at the same time
- Increased the range gunfire and explosions can be heard from
Weapons
Thermal Scopes
- Reduced visual clarity on targets with thermal scopes
- Adjusted max distances for thermal highlight:
- 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)
Overrun
- Increased default ammo capacity by 5
Runners
Rook
- Fixed an issue where backpacks could be deleted when exfiling with Rook
- Fixed an issue where Rook’s position was not being displayed on the map screen.
- Increased CyAc reputation gain from exfilling with Rook
- Rook will now have the same Faction reputation bonus for exfilling that solo players receive
- Rook’s WSTR shotgun will now spawn as Compromised
- Compromised items require use of a Matter Fixative during the run to exfil with the item
UESC
- Reduced health of most UESC enemies and shield hp of UESC bosses by a small amount
DEVELOPER NOTE: With this change we hope to alleviate some of the resource burden in both Solos and Crews when it comes to engaging UESC in combat. The goal here is to allow your bullets and meds to go further without reducing too much of the UESCs bite. 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.
Contracts
- Increased default distance objective nav points appear from 10m to 20m
Introducing NuCaloric Contract
- Fixed an issue where enemy Crews could receive NuCal contract VO audio and subtitles from a long distance away
Introducing Traxus Contract
- Reduced the difficulty of the UESC Commander encounter
Zones
Outpost
- Temporarily disabled switches access route to the Broken Wing on Outpost
DEVELOPER NOTE: We are temporarily disabling the “Broken Wing” entrance into the Pinwheel while we make some tuning changes to it. In its current state it trivializes entrance into the Pinwheel. We are making some tweaks to maintain the spirit of the “silent” entrance while better matching the risk / reward of the Pinwheel. Runners can continue to take advantage of all other ways into the Pinwheel (including the additional silent method) in the meantime.
Rewards Pass and Store
- Fixed an issue where Silk balances were not updating correctly without restarting the game
- Fixed an issue where bundle prices could be displayed incorrectly
- Fixed an issue where cosmetic items might incorrectly say “Savings” when they are full price
- Increased the LUX bundle from (1000 + 100) to (1000 + 120)
Stability
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause dedicated server crashes
- Fixed several issues that could cause client crashes
General
- Fixed an issue where doors would lock preventing players from finishing the new player intro mission
- Updated the description of Perimeter (Beginner) on the Zone Select screen
- Fixed a bug where the Text Chat window could get stuck open
- Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when attempting to use an IME Keyboard
- Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when typing quickly with an IME Keyboard
-DEVELOPER NOTE: Some issues may still remain with third-party IME software and we are continuing to investigate. Windows built-in IME may be a temporary workaround for users who are experiencing issues while we work on a permanent fix.
- Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when typing quickly with an IME Keyboard
- Adjusted the location of the IME keyboard to be closer to the Text Chat window
- Players will no longer see an extended black screen during the map load sequence
