Marathon’s 1.0.5 Update Nerfs Best Weapon to Prepare for 4th Map

Bungie brought its extraction shooter down for the second time since launch for maintenance, rolling out the 1.0.5 update in preparation for the game’s fourth map, Cryo Archive, and the upcoming ranked system. The headline change here is the nerf to the WSTR Combat Shotgun, easily the best weapon in the game.

Why was the WSTR Combat Shotgun so good?

During the Server Slam and at launch, players quickly realized how dominant the WSTR Combat Shotgun is at close range. This is Marathon’s double-barrel shotgun, with only two shots before needing to reload, but those two shots are usually enough.

At close to even mid-range, landing both shots often results in an instant kill.

Against green shields, it’s almost always a guaranteed down if both shots connect. In some cases, pellet spread hitting the head can even delete players with blue shields. It’s so strong that I found myself dropping key materials just to pick it up whenever I saw one. Even at 2,500 credits, it’s A no-brainer to bring one with you if you’re bringing out a serious loadout.

With patch 1.0.5, Bungie clearly agrees. The weapon is still deadly, but now it’s being pushed to it’s intended role of being a true point-blank monster rather than something that dominates beyond its intended range.

Is Cryo Archives Now Out thanks to the 1.0.5 Patch?

Nope. The 1.0.5 patch doesn’t unlock Cryo Archive yet.

Instead, it quietly adds the map into the game files in preparation for its eventual release. Bungie has been teasing this endgame location since launch, even going as far as saying in the patch notes: “Good luck getting there.”

Right now, no one knows exactly how it will unlock, but the community is getting really close.

Some believe it’s tied to the ongoing ARG puzzle the community is working on. Others think it’s simply on a timer and could drop sometime this week.

At this point, it’s all speculation, and that’s clearly intentional. Bungie wants players guessing.

Cryo Archive Requirements

What we do know are the requirements to queue for Cryo Archive once it goes live:

• Reach at least level 25

• Unlock all six factions (CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, MIDA, Arachne, Sekiguchi Genetics)

• Queue with a loadout value of at least 5,000 credits

That last requirement cements it as a true endgame activity. Sponsored free kits won’t be available here. As for Rooks, it’s still unclear if solo players will be allowed to jump in and bother full teams.

1.0.5 Update Patch Notes

Item Economy

• Added three new random-rolled implant perks that can only be found on implants looted from Cryo Archive:

  • Covert Recovery: While in smoke, your self-repair speed is increased and you use healing consumables faster.

  • Freeloader: Defeating an enemy with a knife attack grants a small amount of tactical and prime ability energy.

  • Panic Response: While at low health, using a healing consumable grants the effects of Cardio Kick for a short duration.

• Added three new mods that can only be looted from Cryo Archive:

  • Punishment

    • This weapon deals significantly increased damage against [REDACTED] combatants.

  • Testament

    • Aiming down sights for a short duration increases this weapon's range and aim assist by a massive amount.

  • Hurricane

    • While airborne, this weapon has increased stability and greatly reduced accuracy penalties.

  • Sponsored Kits

    • Rook no longer gets a surplus Sponsored Kit upon death.

Combat

• Players can now activate exfil beacons while downed. Good luck.

• Decreased camera shake intensity from incoming melee and knife attacks.

• Increased post-run spectator camera timeout from 30 seconds to 120 seconds.

• Fixed an issue where a player could have a finisher used on them right as they were completing a self-revive or being revived, immediately downing them again.

• Fixed instances of revive timer lockout shaders appearing on enemy Runner’s body bags.

• Fixed instances where ability activations could become desynced with the server.

• Adjusted the Hacked status screen effect to be lower intensity and have slower glitch crawl effect.

Runners

• Assassin

  • Fixed an issue where Assassin’s smoke puck would not change appearance based on the equipped Runner shell style while activating Shadow Dive.

• Thief

  • Pickpocket Drone can no longer loot players who are in the active exfil animation.

  • Fixed an issue where Pickpocket Drone’s on-screen button prompt wouldn’t update to match a player’s changed keybind or controller button mapping.

  • Fixed an issue where high-speed grapples could affect network stability.

• Triage

  • Fixed an issue where being close to max heat could prevent players from using the Battery Overcharge ability.

• Rook

  • Removed Rook’s Runner Level requirement. Rook can now be used at Runner Level 0.

• Implants

  • Fixed an issue where Graceful Landing V5’s unique trait could be activated by Vandal’s Microjets from flat ground.

  • Fixed an issue where Graceful Landing V5’s unique trait was not scaling detonation damage correctly for longer falls.

UESC

• Fixed an issue where UESC would repeatedly use the same ladder.

• Fixed a number of issues that could cause AI to freeze in place or become unresponsive.

Contracts and Events

• Improved the visual clarity of contract and activity waypoint icons.

• Crews carrying both Coordinate Datapads must now bring both of them to the location of the cache before the loot is revealed. Previously, any crew member being present at the location would reveal the loot.

• Fixed some scenarios where the MIDA Order/Chaos 1/1, Traxus Return on Investment 3/5, and Traxus Liaison could prevent players from completing the contract.

• Fixed an issue where the UI could become out of sync between crew members on the same contract during a run.

  • Perimeter Intercept dropships should no longer clip through the environment in South Relay.

  • Tripwires places in Overflow hallways should no longer be floating in mid-air.

  • Fixed an issue where DCON would not show up on the overhead map when on a contract that requires it.

• Dire Marsh

  • UESC dropships that arrive during the Lockdown event in the northeast corner of Algae Ponds will no longer fly in through player space, killing players in their path.

  • Pinging the Stabilization Device and Anomalous Matter on the overhead map will now show a string in the crew feed, notifying your crewmates.

  • Fixed an issue for the Traxus Liaison Contract where the Commander would despawn if a crew didn’t engage and kill it in time.

• Outpost

  • Encounters spawning on the roof of Flight Control have been improved and should now correctly engage players.

User Interface and Experience

• Achievements

  • Fixed an issue where players would not get the “Welcome to Tau Ceti” achievement.

• Armory

  • Item tooltips in the Armory now primarily show the purchase cost instead of the value the item sells for.

• Codex

  • New Codex challenges added for Ranked and Cryo Archive. A “NEW” indicator will appear on Codex categories containing challenges added in Patch 1.0.5.

  • Fixed an issue where inspecting an item in the Codex could display flickering text.

  • Fixed an issue where “Acquired Items” challenges in the Codex indicated that the challenge could be completed by simply picking up the item. Challenges now accurately state that successful exfil with the item(s) is required.

  • Fixed an issue where the WSTR Shotgun Codex challenge incorrectly noted that it could be completed by downing a Runner. Updated the text to indicate that a full elimination is required.

  • Fixed an issue where the Thief Codex challenge “Shattered Hopes” incorrectly tracked combatants. This challenge has been updated to track Runners only.

  • Fixed an issue where the Thief Master Codex challenge “No Target too Great” was only tracking Wardens. This challenge will now track Wardens and Commanders.

  • Fixed an issue where the Destroyer Codex challenge “Close the Gap” would not complete when downing a Runner too close to the initial Thruster activation.

  • Fixed an issue where claiming Seasonal Level rewards from the Codex could displace items in the overflow, causing them to be lost. Challenges granting gear rewards will now check for items in overflow and prevent claiming until the overflow has been emptied.

  • Fixed an issue where inspecting non-weapon items in the Codex would display a “Compatible Weapons” string.

• In-Run

  • Improved the overall legibility of the Revive prompt.

  • Some waypoints will now fade when aiming down-sights (ADS).

• Items

  • Exfilling with a Temporal Fragment will produce variable rewards depending on your seasonal Runner Level.

• Lobby

  • Loadout will now show a banner warning you that you have overflow items.

  • Added a shortcut for “i” or “start” to open the Loadout menu.

  • Added a shortcut for “tab” or “options” to open the Loadout menu while preparing for a run.

  • Updated Missing Equipment warning to clarify that players are missing Health or Shield consumables.

  • Fixed an issue preventing commonly found items from being shown when selecting map regions.

• Ping System

  • Activity icons pinged from the overhead map will more reliably show their waypoints.

• Rewards Pass

  • Premium Rewards Pass Voucher items should no longer appear in your inventory.

• Run Report

  • Fixed an issue where the Runner Level Up rewards screen was sometimes blank.

• Social

  • Added the Ranked tab into the Runner Connections panel so that you can see how you stack up against your connections.

  • Fixed an issue where Runner Connections were not showing properly when scrolling if players had a large number of friends.*

• Store

  • Updated incorrect item rarity for the Luxe Palace, Overdrive-TSL, and Cyber Red Runner Shells from Deluxe to Superior.

• Vault

  • Consumables, Ammo, Salvage, and Grenades now have larger stack sizes in the Vault.

  • Added filter tabs for keys and backpacks.

• Voice Chat

  • Added an option for consoles and gamepads to support Crew Voice Push-To-Talk while in a run. This only applies to runs; the lobby will still utilize an open mic.

  • Adding an additional Push-To-Talk option, “Tap”. When set, tapping the Proximity or Crew Chat button(s) will open the mic until you’re done speaking or tap the button(s) again.

  • Fixed a number of issues causing voice chat interruptions and inconsistencies.

• Weapon Customization

  • Optimized sticker and charm placement on a handful of weapons.

Stability

• Fixed an issue causing crashes when opening up the map while on Perimeter.

• Added AMD Anti-Lag 2 Low Latency to Video Settings.

Weapons and Equipment

• Ammo Crate

  • Fixed an issue where Ammo Crates could not be interacted with when placed close to walls or terrain.

• Cardio Kick

  • Fixed an issue where normal and depleted versions of Cardio Kick’s status icon appeared separately in the HUD.

• Claymore Mine

  • Fixed an issue that prevented Claymores from taking splash damage when attached to other objects.

• Knife

  • Knife cosmetics will no longer unequip after failing to exfil.

• V75 Scar

  • Fixed an issue with the Ram-Page Mag that was causing bullets to ricochet off turrets, despite dealing damage.

• WSTR Combat Shotgun

  • Reduced leftward motion in firing recoil.

  • Increased duration of spin ready required before it can be interrupted by weapon fire.

  • Redistributed damage falloff. It now retains near-max damage at point-blank range but falls off much more quickly.

  • Reduced aim assist cone size and reduced the influence of aim assist on pellet spread as they travel.

• Misriah 2442

  • Reduced leftward motion in firing recoil.

• BR33 Volley Rifle

  • Lockout Muzzle Brake Prestige mod now also suppresses weapon fire in addition previous effects.

• Longshot

  • Fixed an issue with the gold mod resetting its counter incorrectly and disappearing from the buff tray display.

Mods

• Drag & Drop can now be used to remove weapon mods from weapons. 

  • Dragging a mod attached to a weapon into the backpack or Vault will now remove the mod and place it into that inventory rather than moving the entire weapon 

• Chips

  • Endless Runner

    • Fixed an issue with the Superior rarity version having an incorrect string.

  • Opportunist*

    • Added a 3.5 second cooldown to the perk activation.

    • DEVELOPERS NOTE: The WSTR videos were indeed funny. 

• Optics

  • Thermals

    • Fixed an issue where thermals were not highlighting invisible UESC combatants, ticks, and tick nests.

• Generators

  • Fixed a tooltip display issue that incorrectly labeled the decreased charge time as increased charge time.

• Magazines

  • Cloudfeather Chamber was missing its Weight Reduction stat bonus, making it too similar to Turbo Chamber. It now correctly grants a bonus to Weight Reduction.

• Barrels

  • Suppressors

    • Removed the health display scramble and the 2D damage indicator effects that happened to victims shot by a weapon with a suppressor attachment.

  • DEVELOPERS NOTE: We may revisit this in the future but for now we believe this muddied the gameplay language too much and the benefit of a quieter weapon is attractive enough for these mods.

Zones

• Cryo Archive

  • Cryo Archive has been added to the game. Good luck getting there.

Audio

• UESC spawn-in animation will now play all of the associated audio.

• Lowered the range that you can hear other players in combat.

With how Marathon has been going since launch, I’m honestly surprised at how exciting all of this feels as we inch closer to the eventual release of Cryo Archive. This kind of slow build is a Bungie staple, and it’s clearly working, as players who are invested are paying attention and getting their vault ready for what’s next.

My thoughts on the game haven’t changed much from the first weekend to the second. With over 70 hours played and now past level 50 this season, I’m still enjoying my time with this extraction shooter, whether I’m running solo or with a team.

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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.