The patch notes for Marathon’s first update rolled out this morning, and they’re full of good news and quick responses to feedback gathered in the game’s first week.
One of the game’s bigger early-game complaints about how difficult the UESC enemies are was quickly addressed, with the health of “most UESC enemies and shield HP of UESC bosses” being reduced by a small amount. But after playing a few rounds, it feels like the difference isn’t all that noticeable, and I’m glad.
After playing Marathon for quite some time now, I’ve become accustomed to the difficulty level of the robots that patrol every map in the game. They’re tough, but feel necessary as part of the punishing experience, so I’m glad that Bungie didn’t over-correct here. And I get the feeling that many of the game’s players agree.
“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,” Bungie said in the patch notes. “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.”
A number of other solid changes make for a good initial update, including doubling the default distance of objective nav points appearing when nearby, nerfing the very powerful thermal scopes a bit, and also increasing the number of Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates on Perimeter.
Last night, Bungie also confirmed that the Rewards Pass will be improved in future updates, including the addition of four new Runner Shells in the season one pass, along with a shotgun weapon skin and profile emblem. This was a hasty response to feedback that the season one pass is very lackluster, so it’s a good sign to see improvements coming within a week of launch.
“From the start, our goal with Marathon has been a real partnership with this community – and the respectful, candid feedback you’ve shared has already made a difference,” Bungie said. “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.”
Bungie posted the full patch notes on Twitter/X, so take a look for yourself before deploying into any Runs today.
