Key Takeaways
1. Thermal Scope Adjustments: Reduced visibility and range for thermal scopes across all weapon categories, impacting target highlighting distances.
2. Weapon Buffs and Bug Fixes: Enhanced Overrun weapon capacity and resolved various bugs affecting player experiences, including audio improvements for gunfire and explosions.
3. UESC Combat Balancing: UESC enemies and bosses have reduced health, aiming to lower resource expenditure during battles while maintaining challenge levels.
4. Rook Adjustments and Contracts: Fixed backpack deletion issues, improved reputation gains from exfiltration, and introduced new contracts while modifying Rook’s shotgun condition.
5. Store and Technical Fixes: Resolved store-related issues, improved Rewards Pass functionality, and addressed various technical bugs, including server and client-side crashes.
The recent Marathon update introduces a comprehensive balance adjustment affecting gameplay, item availability, contracts, and overall stability, while also addressing various bugs that hinder player progression, map navigation, chat functions, and store operations. Some of the main changes include a significant decrease in the effectiveness of thermal scopes, slightly easier UESC confrontations, an increase in resources available on Perimeter, and the introduction of new contracts from NuCaloric and Traxus.
Thermal Scope Adjustments
One of the major gameplay shifts in this patch focuses on thermal scopes. The visibility of targets has been lowered, and the maximum range for thermal highlighting has been reduced for all primary weapon categories.
For instance, pistols now highlight targets at up to 40 meters, down from 55 meters. Rifles, LMGs, and SMGs have their range decreased from 65 meters to 60 meters. Precision rifles have been adjusted from 100 meters to 80 meters, while snipers face the most significant change, seeing their range drop from 180 meters to just 100 meters.
Weapon Buffs and Bug Fixes
Additionally, the Overrun weapon has received a slight enhancement, increasing its standard ammo capacity by five rounds.
The update also addresses a problem that could lead to instant deaths during confinement scenarios. Another fix resolves a bug where the shield break effects would continue to display when both heal-over-time and damage-over-time effects were active simultaneously.
Audio improvements have been made, allowing gunfire and explosions to be heard from greater distances.
UESC Combat Balancing
The UESC combat system has undergone adjustments, with most UESC enemies now having marginally less health, while UESC bosses have experienced a slight decrease in shield health. The developers aim to lessen the expenditure of bullets and healing resources for players during these encounters while maintaining the tension that makes UESC battles challenging.
Changes to the item economy are designed to assist players in staying equipped. Perimeter can now generate more Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates, and the free Sponsored Kits from MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne now come with additional ammo at the start.
The drop rate for EMP grenades from UESC Grenadiers has also been lowered, which should help reduce the utility stress they impose during battles.
Rook Adjustments and Contracts
In this patch, Rook receives various fixes and progression improvements. An issue causing backpacks to be deleted during exfiltration with Rook has been resolved, and Rook’s location should now be accurately shown on the map.
Reputation gain from exfilling with Rook has been enhanced, and Rook will now gain the same faction reputation bonus that solo players receive upon exfilling.
However, there is a crucial tradeoff. Rook’s WSTR shotgun will now spawn in a Compromised state, meaning players will need to use a Matter Fixative during the run to successfully exfiltrate with it.
New Contracts and Navigation
The update introduces the NuCaloric Contract and the Traxus Contract. Objective navigation has been simplified, with default-distance objective navigation points now appearing from 20 meters rather than 10 meters.
The difficulty of the UESC Commander encounter has been lowered, and a problem where enemy crews could receive NuCal contract voice-over audio and subtitles from excessive distances has been fixed.
A significant change in the Outpost zone involves temporarily disabling access to the switch route leading to the Broken Wing.
According to the developers, the current design of that entrance made access too easy to the Pinwheel. They plan to adjust it so it remains a quieter entry point but introduces an appropriate level of risk and reward that aligns with the rest of the area. Other entry methods into the Pinwheel, including another stealthy approach, continue to be available.
Store and Technical Fixes
Beyond gameplay, the update resolves several issues related to the Rewards Pass and the store. Silk balances should now refresh correctly without needing a restart, bundle prices should be displayed accurately, and cosmetic items will no longer show an incorrect savings label when sold at full price. The LUX bundle has also seen an increase.
On the technical front, the update addresses a rare issue that could lead to dedicated server crashes, as well as several client-side crash issues. It also fixes crashes that might arise from fast typing or usage with an IME keyboard, although the developers caution that some problems may still persist with third-party IME software. Using Windows’ built-in IME is suggested as a temporary fix while a permanent solution is being worked on.
General fixes include resolving a bug where doors could lock and impede the completion of the new-player intro mission, an issue with a stuck text chat window, an updated description for Perimeter (Beginner) on the Zone Select screen, and the elimination of an extended black screen during map loading.
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