Bungie has rolled out two significant updates for its extraction shooter *Marathon*, addressing long-standing player frustrations with inventory management, rebalancing enemy encounters, and fine-tuning gameplay mechanics.

Vaults Get Roomier in Latest Marathon Update

The latest patch, version 1.0.5, directly confronts a major pain point for many *Marathon* players: cluttered vaults and constant inventory juggling. Bungie announced a substantial increase in vault stack sizes for essential items like consumables, ammo, salvage, and grenades. This change, revealed in the Week 2 patch notes, is expected to provide a ten-fold increase in stack capacity, drastically reducing the need for frequent trips to empty storage.

For new players, this means less time managing an overflowing inventory in the early game. It also lightens the burden of farming specific resources, such as Unstable Diodes in areas like Perimeter and Outpost, which many found tedious. The studio hopes this adjustment will help smooth out gameplay across various points of interest, potentially allowing newer players to progress from Perimeter to Dire Marsh more quickly.

Veterans aren't left out either. As players advance, vault expansion upgrades become increasingly expensive while offering diminishing returns in storage space. The enhanced stack sizes make it easier to hoard valuable gold weapons and other desirable loot without constantly battling storage limits. This move also helps alleviate "gear fear," a common psychological barrier in extraction shooters where players hesitate to use valuable items for fear of losing them. With more space and an abundance of redeemable gear, players can feel more comfortable deploying their best equipment.

Combat Encounters Rebalanced and Refined

Prior to the inventory overhaul, *Marathon* received its first major patch, Update 1.0.0.4, which focused heavily on combat balancing. A key change was a nerf to UESC enemies, making the game's AI combatants slightly less formidable. Bungie clarified this adjustment aimed to help players preserve ammunition and medical supplies, especially during solo and smaller crew matches, while still maintaining a challenging enemy presence.

The 1.0.0.4 update also saw an increased spawn rate for Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates on the Perimeter map, providing more immediate resources. Sponsored kits from MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne now come with more starting ammunition, giving players a better footing at the start of a run. Additionally, UESC Grenadiers will drop EMP grenades less frequently, reducing disruptive crowd control effects from AI.

However, an earlier audio change in 1.0.0.4, which increased the range at which gunfire and explosions could be heard, proved to be an "overcorrection." This led to a noticeable rise in "third-partying," where additional squads were drawn into existing engagements. Bungie acknowledged this feedback in the 1.0.5 notes, stating they are working on further adjustments to find the right balance for player experience in an upcoming update.

Weapon systems also saw adjustments. Thermal scopes received a nerf, reducing their visual clarity on targets. Their maximum highlighting distances were also decreased across various weapon types: pistols dropped from 55 meters to 40 meters, rifles, LMGs, and SMGs from 65 meters to 60 meters, precision rifles from 100 meters to 80 meters, and sniper rifles saw the most significant reduction, from 180 meters down to 100 meters. The Overrun weapon's default ammo capacity was boosted by five rounds.

Runner Fixes and System Improvements

Update 1.0.0.4 also brought several fixes and quality-of-life improvements for specific Runner characters and general game systems. The Rook character, in particular, received attention. Bungie fixed an issue where Rook's backpack could be deleted upon exfilling and addressed a bug preventing Rook's position from displaying correctly on the map screen. Players will also now gain increased CyAc reputation when successfully exfilling with Rook, and Rook will receive the same Faction reputation bonus as solo players.

A notable change for Rook's gear is that the WSTR shotgun will now spawn as a "Compromised" item. This means players must use a Matter Fixative during their run to successfully exfil with the weapon. Other combat fixes included resolving instances of instant death during confinement events and preventing shield break screen effects from constantly playing when players had both heal-over-time and damage-over-time effects active simultaneously.

Looking ahead, Bungie also indicated in the 1.0.5 update notes that they are working to improve high-end PC performance. The developers are also investigating a peculiar credit farming method involving Rooks, suggesting further adjustments might be on the horizon to address unintended economic exploits.

Marathon Servers Briefly Offline for Update 1.0.5

To implement the 1.0.5 update, *Marathon* servers underwent scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. The downtime began at 5:00 AM PDT, rendering sign-on unavailable, though players already in active runs could complete them. By 5:30 AM PDT, servers began to go offline, removing players from ongoing activities. The update was expected to become available across all platforms and regions around 7:00 AM PDT.

<p>Players were anticipated to be able to log back into *Marathon* around 8:00 AM PDT, though some might have experienced queues or sign-on issues as background maintenance continued. Bungie projected that all maintenance would conclude by 9:00 AM PDT. Console players who encountered difficulties updating were advised to restart their consoles. The studio encouraged players to report any lingering issues on the official Marathon Help Forum.</p>