Marathon Update Nerfs Bubble Shield, Knife Lunge Distance and Bonus Melee Damage Against Runners

The Biotoxic Disinjector received the nerf bat over the weekend, but Bungie’s mid-season balancing pass for Marathon has well and truly begun. The first update is live, and it reduces the maximum lunge distance of the knife by 10 percent while the targeting angle is reduced by 20 percent.

“At least they didn’t touch the damage,” is what you’d probably say next, but alas. The Melee Damage stat, which can provide up to 100 percent bonus damage against other Runners, now only provides a maximum of 50 percent. Don’t worry – it’s still an effective tool against UESC bots and other non-Runner threats.

The reasoning for this change is reasonable enough. “Melee in Marathon is intended to be a high-risk but potent method to contest close-quarters weapons like shotguns and submachine guns. However, the breakpoints for quick melee kills show up too early in the Melee Damage stat progression, which means additional investment into a build isn’t required to get the maximum effective output.”

So while Bungie doesn’t want melee to feel downright useless, it believes “that getting to that maximum output should be the result of meaningful buildcrafting and upgrade progression.” Consider the knife as more of a “powerful backup tool” that requires “more thoughtful play” instead of the Eater of Worlds that it previously was.

The other big change is to the Bubble Shield. It’s now Superior rarity, making it less common, and its health has dropped by 33 percent. The good news is that its resistance to UESC damage has increased by 17 percent and Volt Weapons are less effective against it.

Check out the rest of the patch notes below for more details. Bungie previously revealed changes to the Recon Shell, but the Vandal Shell is also getting a touch-up on April 14th, so stay tuned.

Marathon Update 1.0.5.3

Combat

Knife

• Reduced the maximum lunge distance by ~10% and trimmed down the targeting angle by ~20%.

Bubble Shield

• Increased rarity from Deluxe (blue) to Superior (purple)
• Reduced bubble HP by 33%
• Removed vulnerability to Volt Weapon damage
• Increased resistance to UESC damage by 17%

Runners

Stats

Melee Damage

• Reduced bonus damage provided by the Melee Damage stat from a maximum of 100% to a maximum of 50% against enemy Runners. Damage against non-Runner targets is unchanged.

DEVELOPER NOTE: Melee in Marathon is intended to be a high-risk but potent method to contest close-quarters weapons like shotguns and submachine guns. However, the breakpoints for quick melee kills show up too early in the Melee Damage stat progression, which means additional investment into a build isn’t required to get the maximum effective output. We don’t want to compromise on having melee feel powerful, but believe that getting to that maximum output should be the result of meaningful buildcrafting and upgrade progression. Our goal for this change and the knife lunge changes above are that the knife remains a powerful backup tool, but requires more thoughtful play – both in and out of run – to be most effective.

Thief

• Fixed additional Grapple-related slide cancel movement exploits.

Vault and Armory

• Fixed an issue causing the Vault and Armory to sometimes appear to be empty.
• Fixed an issue causing the Armory item refreshes and free daily items to not appear consistently.

Contracts

Traxus

• Removed “in a single run” condition from Traxus Return On Investment 4/5.

Zones

Cryo Archive

• Fixed an issue that would cause an exfil countdown to reset if the 1st crew member to enter left the circle, even if the other crew members were in the circle.