When it comes down to it Marathonthere are several topics that are discussed over and over again. MarathonThe lackluster player count that has met with critical acclaim is one of the common points, the game's difficulty in both ranked and casual play is regularly highlighted, and – as with most competitive multiplayer games – balancing comes up regularly. The knife has been the talk of the town lately, as Runners have been slashing their way through the opposition regardless of whether their enemies have purple shields or no shields. MarathonThe latest update focused on knives, so players need to position themselves properly for melee combat to wipe out groups. With that issue fixed, players have since returned to a mechanic they still feel needs tweaking: thermal scopes.
to be clear MarathonThermal scopes have already been nerfed once. The changes listed came in update 1.0.0.4 and saw the following distance reductions for thermal highlights:
-
The effective range of snipers varied from 180 meters to 100 meters.
-
Precision rifles effective range decreased from 100 to 80.
-
LMGs, rifles, and SMGs are now only effective at 60 meters, up from 65.
-
Pistols have a 40 meter drop instead of 55.
In addition to these distance adjustments, the visual clarity of the thermal scopes has been reduced to make shots fall off a little less easily. And while Bungie addressing thermal scopes has been well received, especially considering the speed with which changes have been made, players feel that thermal scopes remain too powerful. It's not hard to see why, though instead of just complaining, players have been constructive and offered Bungie an amazing potential solution to the game's operational thermals.
The first step to getting back to the marathon is to repeat the exact same trick
With the positive reviews of Marathon continuing to mount, perhaps it's time for Bungie to go back to the well to rekindle interest in its extraction shooter.
Terrorist Government's Explanation for Marathon's Thermal Scopes
While it's true that the biggest problem with thermal optics at launch was their effective range – a few early on Marathon clips showed players bringing down runners from nearly 200 meters with sniper rifles and they were clearly seen despite the opposition having no idea they were being targeted – they remain strong. This is because even with the more obscure targets following the nerf MarathonUpdates 1.0.0.4 help players stand out that would normally be hard to see. Take Dire Marsh, for example, where you can hide a good chunk of leaves. This basically becomes useless if thermals are involved. Similarly, thermals can help a lot on maps like Cryo, where visibility is intentionally difficult (although signal jammers, which are used more regularly here, help keep it from being dominant).
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Start
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Easy to medium hard
In addition to preventing players from sneaking around, thermals work against numerous mechanics and playstyles. Marathon's Assassins feel weaker due to them, smoke grenades are effectively negated, and so on. Throw in weather effects like Perimeter rain or Dire Marsh fog, and players without Thermals can feel like they don't even have a chance because they can't see the enemy that shot them down. And if even a tiny bit of someone's shell is visible through a window or behind a barricade, the thermals will pick it up and completely destroy the group's attempt at strategy.
While some victims of thermal telescopes despise them and do not want them inside Marathon however, the reality is that they are fun to use in a game where smoke and weather effects are common. So instead of taking them out completely, it would be better to see them nerfed in a way that keeps them strong and satisfying to acquire without being overbearing. One solution is to make them a rarer attachment drop, but here comes a smarter idea Marathon kite.01 community member as it adds to Bungie's already impressive sense of immersion. According to kite.01, since Shells run on heat, said heat increase should determine how clear the target player is in range.
Of course there would have to be some sort of base heat on each runner for this to work so that Thermals would be useless against players who didn't generate heat. Maybe the eyes of the grenade or some of the individual pieces on the hub (ie the Vandal's cannon) could glow faintly before the heat builds up. After the target runner adds to their heat bar by sprinting, jumping, using abilities, and so on, they can become brighter and be seen from a greater distance. This could make players think more carefully about how much heat they use and add to the things players need to watch out for on Tau Ceti IV. Like making too much sound Marathon can lead to a runner's doom, players too careless with heat management could suffer the consequences.
With the above mockup posted by AbledShawl even giving an idea of what this thermal design could look like in-game, it's like MarathaThe avid gamer n gave Bungie the ideal solution on a silver platter. Whether the mid-season update for Marathon whether it borrows from this exact concept or nerfs the thermals in some other way remains to be seen, but it's great that more modifications are on the way. Bungie has done a phenomenal job of listening to players so far, and realizing that the initial hit on thermals wasn't enough to get the job done is another example of that.
- Released
-
March 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Teen / Animated blood, language, violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Multiplayer
-
Online multiplayer, online co-op
