Bungie Eases Marathon's Difficulty with Major Inventory and Weapon Changes

Bungie has doubled the stack size of Depleted Patch Kits (meds) and Depleted Shield Charges (armor) in Marathon, allowing players to carry six of each per inventory slot, up from three, as part of an effort to make the extraction shooter more forgiving for newcomers. Update 1.0.6.1, now live, also increases daily stock limits for Enhanced and Deluxe Sponsored Kits, and boosts the drop rate of patch kits and shield charges from Recruits. Additionally, standard rarity sponsored kits now provide twice as many life and shield charge kits, and the overflow inventory size has been expanded to prevent item loss. Game director Joe Ziegler announced plans to nerf the WSTR shotgun, preventing it from downing players with blue shields or above in two shots, aiming to force reloads and increase counterplay. The community has mixed reactions, with some calling the nerf too harsh and claiming the shotgun is now useless. This patch follows last week's introduction of the CyberAcme Runner Reinforcement Initiative (C.A.R.R.I.), which rewards solo and coordinated players for completing objectives and exfiling together, with benefits for both new and veteran players. A new experimental mode, Dire Marsh Sponsored, also launched, restricting players to basic free kits to level the playing field. The full patch notes for 1.0.6.1 are available.