The Marathon developers decided to quickly intervene in the balance and weaken one of the most problematic weapons, the WSTR shotgun, which now effectively dominates melee combat.
Joe Ziegler, the game director of the project, announced on the social network X that a patch with edits will be released on Tuesday, April 21, at about 19:00 Moscow time. The reason is simple: The WSTR has become too effective — it is able to kill even well-equipped players in just two shots, leaving almost no chance of a response.
After the update, the situation will change, but not radically. The shotgun will still retain its power against weak shields — white and green. However, two shots won’t be enough against more advanced defenses (blue, purple, and gold). This means that the attacker will have to recharge more often, and the defending player will have a chance to survive the first contact and turn the fight around.
In fact, Bungie is trying to bring the counter-game element back into the battles. Right now, WSTR is overshadowing other melee options too much, and the developers are blunt about this: weapons have become the “dominant choice,” which negatively affects the variety of gameplay.
However, one important detail remains unchanged — a modification that allows you to increase the number of shots in the WSTR magazine. Nothing is said about it in the statement, and this may mean that the balance of these mechanics is still ahead.
As a result, the April 21 patch is not just a minor edit, but a signal: the Marathon team is closely monitoring the meta and is ready to react quickly if any element starts to break the game.
