Marathon’s next few balance updates look to be massive overhauls for the extraction shooter’s combat experience. These include some “secret” changes which will aid solos and bring a more merciful option for those with some lingering Arc Raiders kindness in their heart.

Announced on X by game director Joe Ziegler, these changes are set to come into effect with the next two balance patches, so you should see them implemented very soon. These changes were inspired by Bungie’s own observations, as well as feedback from Marathon players.

Topline changes include:

• Bubble shields being too easy to get, too powerful to use.
• The Knife scaling too easily to god like power levels.
• Thermal scopes being too present and dominant
• Snipers being too strong in all scenarios.
• Giving Vandal and Recon some more oomph to match their counterparts.

Let’s dive through these. Bubble shields were proving very powerful, able to halt fights to a harsh stop due to their long duration and the strength of the shield itself, forcing close range fights and grenade spam as you may have seen in the Cryo Archive map. The knife too was proving a touch too much, as players were able to take down other players in high-value shields in short order.

Thermal scopes, which have been a dominant force across the board in Marathon, are also being altered. In fights (even without smokes to cover typical gunfights), players were able to pick out enemies with ease using them. Snipers too, it seems, were too devastating for the health of the game.

Both Vandal and Recon getting changes is good news too. Vandal, while strong in the hands of some players, didn’t quite have the combat capabilities of other aggressive shells like Thief or Destroyer. Recon too, felt a little weak with their abilities providing ample information but lacking that needed punch.

Now for the “secret” changes, which are real eyebrow raisers. These are:

• A new item to give solos a more common option when downed.
• A new item to give a more merciful option between crews.

The first one seems to hint at an alternative to self revives. While obviously these are pricey, they are also slow to use. In group play this is fine, as you have crew to cover you while your pick yourself back up. In solo games however, it’s quite difficult to actually make use of a self revive, so this change is interesting.

The second secret change is the real sauce though. A “merciful option” seems to be opening the door to something other than brutal digital murder across Marathon, something rather rare in stark contrast to games like Arc Raiders. This being Marathon, I doubt this will be an entirely soft-handed option to dissuade fights altogether, but still it’s a clear indication social collaboration is something Bungie is keen to provide for.

The post by Ziegler ends with the following: “There’ll be a lot more goodies in the coming patches and more details as the patch notes go live. Thank you all again for keeping the feedback flowing. We’ve still got a big list of things we’re looking into that extends beyond this that will take us more time to figure out and we’ll update you as we continue to build on our evolving plans.”