Of course, you’ll have to get there first, and even Bungie admits that won’t be easy.
Bungie released the latest Marathon update, which restores the long-awaited combat sound effects. The development team acknowledged that the previous change was an overcorrection. The update includes balance adjustments to weapons and Runner armor abilities, numerous bug fixes, and confirmation that the endgame raid, the Cryo Archive, is now available. In addition to the previously revealed requirements for accessing the Cryo Archive, the community must solve a series of ARG puzzles to unlock the map. Bungie added a third requirement: your gear must be worth 5,000 credits. This effectively rules out players with free sponsored gear from participating in the raid. This also serves as a reminder that players cannot attempt the Cryo Archive as a Rook, though this was already known.
Only attempt this raid if you’re prepared to suffer significant losses in exchange for the high-level loot and resources you can obtain if you successfully complete it. The Cryo Archive is designed as an endgame experience and is the biggest challenge in Marathon to date. The stakes are high, but the rewards are great, so it’s not worth diving in unprepared. Ranked mode is coming to the game later this week. In Ranked mode, players can earn rank points for successful escapes and high-level loot and lose points for failed escapes. Additionally, you’ll need to assemble the right gear; you can’t use sponsored gear or the Rook class in Ranked mode.
In the Vault, you’ll be able to stack items on top of each other, which will free up significant space while leaving the size of your backpack bundles unchanged. The Thief Runner Shell is the first shell to be nerfed in Marathon. Thief players can no longer use their drone to steal loot from another player’s backpack while that player is retreating. Previously, players might have had their most valuable gear snatched from them at the last moment while they were in the middle of finishing a successful run, and there was nothing they could do about it. Technically, this is a nerf, but it’s more of a balance fix than something that makes Thief shells less desirable.
From now on, we can activate the exfil beacon while lying on the ground. It’s unclear if activating the beacon slows or pauses the shell’s bleeding during activation and if we lose everything if we die before successfully escaping. However, at least we have a chance if we’re lying on the ground next to an exfil beacon. Rook shells are now available from the start of the game, and there are no requirements to make our first runs risk-free. The WSTR Combat Shotgun has finally been nerfed; its damage drops significantly when fired from a distance. Additionally, we won’t be able to fire it as quickly because the equip spin-up animation duration has increased.
Overall, these updates are welcome changes expected to bring more variety to Marathon’s gameplay. Hopefully, those leading the charge in solving Marathon’s ARG puzzles will succeed soon so we can all reach the Cryo Archive on the UESC Marathon.
