When it comes to Marathon, there are a few topics that are discussed time and time again. Marathon’s lackluster player count clashing with its critical acclaim is one common talking point, the game’s difficulty both in ranked and regular play is regularly highlighted, and — like most competitive multiplayer games — balancing comes up regularly. Recently, knives have been the talk of the town, as Runners have been stabbing their way through the opposition regardless of whether their foes have purple shields or no shields at all. Marathon’s latest update targeted knives, making it so that players need to properly build around melee to wipe out groups. With this issue sorted, players have since returned to a mechanic they still think needs adjusting: thermal scopes.
To be clear, Marathon’s thermal scopes have been nerfed once before. Said changes came in update 1.0.0.4, and they saw the following distance decreases for the thermal highlights:
- Snipers’ effective range went from 180 meters to 100 meters.
- The effective range of Precision Rifles dropped down to 80 from 100.
- LMGs, Rifles, and SMGs are now only effective at 60 meters as opposed to 65.
- Pistols have falloff at 40 meters instead of 55.
In addition to these distance adjustments, visual clarity was lowered for thermal scopes to make headshots a bit less easy to pull off. And while Bungie addressing thermal scopes was well-received, especially given the quickness with which the changes were made, players feel that thermal scopes remain too strong. It’s not hard to see why, though instead of just complaining, players have been constructive and have offered Bungie an awesome potential solution for the game’s OP thermals.
The First Step to a Marathon Comeback is Repeating the Exact Same Trick
With positive Marathon reviews continuing to pour in, it may be time for Bungie to go back to the well to reignite interest in its extraction shooter.
The Reign of Terror for Marathon’s Thermal Scopes, Explained
While it’s true that the biggest problem with thermal optics at launch was their effective range — several early Marathon clips showed players dropping runners from nearly 200 meters away with Sniper Rifles, seeing them clearly despite the opposition having no idea they were being targeted — they remain strong. This is because, even with the fuzzier targets following the nerf in Marathon‘s 1.0.0.4 update, they help players that would normally be tough to see stand out. Take Dire Marsh, for instance, which has a fair bit of foliage to hide within. This essentially becomes useless if a thermal is in play. Similarly, thermals can help a ton on maps like Cryo where visibility is deliberately difficult (though signal jammers being used more regularly here helps prevent them from being as dominant).
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
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Beyond preventing players from sneaking around, thermals counter numerous mechanics and playstyles. Marathon’s Assassins feel weaker because of them, smoke grenades are effectively negated, and so on. Add on the weather effects, like Perimeter’s rain or Dire Marsh’s fog, and players without Thermals can feel as if they don’t even have a chance because they can’t see the enemy that’s gunned them down. And if even a slight bit of one’s shell is visible through a window or behind a barricade, a thermal will pick it up, ruining a group’s attempt ar strategizing completely.
While some victims of thermal scopes despise them and don’t want them in Marathon whatsoever, the reality is that they are fun to use in a game where smoke and weather effects are common. So, instead of taking them out completely, it would be preferable to see them nerfed in a way that keeps them powerful and satisfying to acquire without them being overbearing. One solution is to make them a rarer attachment drop, but a more clever idea comes from Marathon community member kite.01, as it adds to the already impressive feeling of immersion within Bungie’s game. According to kite.01, since Shells run on heat, said heat buildup should determine how bright the targeted player appears within the scope.
For this to work, there would obviously need to be some kind of base heat on each runner so that Thermals are not useless against players who haven’t generated heat. Maybe the shell’s eyes, or some individual pieces per shell (i.e. Vandal’s arm canon) could have a faint glow prior to the heat build-up. Then, as the targeted runner adds to their heat bar by sprinting, jumping, using abilities, and so on, they could get brighter and be visible from further away. This could have players thinking more carefully about how much heat they’re using, adding to the things players have to be wary of on Tau Ceti IV. Much like making too much sound in Marathon can lead to a runner’s doom, players being too careless with their heat management could have to suffer the consequences.
With the above mock-up posted by AbledShawl even presenting an idea of how this thermal suggestion could look in-game, it feels like Marathon’s passionate player base has given Bungie an ideal fix on a silver platter. Whether the midseason update for Marathon borrows from this exact concept or nerfs thermals in another way remains to be seen, but it’s great that more adjustments are on the way. Bungie has done a phenomenal job of listening to players thus far, and realizing that the initial hit to thermals wasn’t enough to get the job done is yet another example of that.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Animated Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
