How did Marathon nerf its claymore drones?

Marathon’s mid-season changes to gear and tactics

Bungie shipped a major mid-season update for Marathon that explicitly aims to make the extraction shooter less hostile—by both changing incentives for players and adjusting certain gear and combat tools.

A key part of the patch is a set of weapon and utility adjustments: claymore drones were nerfed, and thermal scopes were also adjusted. At the same time, Bungie buffed being kind to strangers, a theme that shows up repeatedly across the update’s onboarding and teamwork systems.

The update also includes several broader social and progression improvements meant to reduce friction between teammates and newcomers. In one strand of coverage, Bungie added incentives for being friendly and a “stay together” option to help good teammates coordinate instead of splitting off and getting punished.

Another major onboarding-facing change is a queue/experimental system that encourages new players to use basic “free kits” rather than showing up fully geared. The goal is to reduce the gap between experienced players and first-timers, which can otherwise create a feedback loop where new players get steamrolled and leave.

On the assistance side, Bungie also made the game more forgiving by adding free solo self-revives and ways to revive teammates or even enemy runners in certain situations.

Overall, the patch matters because Marathon is trying to retain players who might otherwise quit when matches become too punishing or antisocial. By nerfing some oppressive elements and pairing it with teamwork-focused incentives and “catch-up” mechanics, Bungie is trying to shift Marathon’s culture toward cooperative play—without turning it into a casual shooter.