Marathon Update Addresses Major Player Concerns

Marathon launched last week, and while it hasn’t reached the blockbuster status some anticipated, it’s still attracting around 60,000 players daily on Steam, not counting those on consoles.

One reason some players may have sampled Marathon during the pre-launch Server Slam but opted not to buy the full game could be the game’s punishing difficulty against PvE foes. Social media was buzzing with complaints about the damage output from UESC bots and the number of shots required to take them down, particularly for solo players.

Bungie is taking note. The latest patch, update 1.0.0.4, has “reduced health of most UESC enemies and shield health of UESC bosses by a small amount.” Some specific enemy types are excluded from this change, though details on which ones remain undisclosed, except for a mention of the Commander in the “Introducing: Traxus” contract. The developers shared their thoughts:

“With this change, we hope to ease some of the resource strain in both Solos and Crews when engaging UESC in combat. Our aim is to let your bullets and meds stretch further without diminishing the challenge posed by UESCs. We hear your feedback loud and clear; players value the challenge our UESC combatants provide, and we have no intention of altering that.”

In addition, Rook has undergone significant adjustments, particularly regarding the WSTR shotgun it can spawn with, which will now have the “compromised” condition. To keep it upon exfiltration, players will need to find a Matter Fixative item first. However, exfiltrating with Rook will now grant increased CyberAcme reputation, and the faction rep bonus for Rook has been raised to match what solo players receive.

Sponsored kits from MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne will now come with more ammo, and there will be an increase in the number of med cabinets and munitions crates spawning on Perimeter. Completing contracts should also be smoother, as the objective HUD marker will now appear from 20 meters away instead of the previous 10.

For the complete patch notes, including a temporary Outpost change that restricts access to the Pinwheel via the Broken Wing, check out the official blog post.