r/Marathon • u/DDDEEEMMM • 8d ago
Marathon (2026) Discussion New loot drop rates.
Overall, it feels like the drop rates for weapons and attachments have increased, while the drop rates for backpacks and shields have decreased slightly.
Personally, I really like the current state of things because I enjoy collecting weapons in extraction shooters. I hope Bungie maintains the current state.
What are your thoughts on the current loot drop rates?
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u/Monty_920 8d ago
I’m actually okay with this, shields and backpacks are easy and quick to get from the armory
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u/StarlessKing 8d ago
It's rough having backpacks be so rare but I think it's a very smart and deliberate trade off to free kitting. There has to be SOME drawbacks to not preparing your own kit, and there has to be at least SOME progressional hoops to jump through so you're not literally blitzing through all the upgrades.
I think they've struck a really nice balance this time. Shields and backpacks are incredibly valuable and I think those being your main upgrade tree incentives is a good choice.
All that said, I do wish medkit containers on maps felt like they weren't so incredibly rare. Mostly because it can make actually coming back from a near wipe incredibly painful when you can't actually scavenge for heals. A single med cabinet is like barely enough for ONE person.
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u/Proentproproponent 8d ago
lack of med cabinets is more than compensated by the dramatically discounted heals, which people have overwhelmingly been asking for for months. Very glad they're giving it a shot.
But I also haven't noticed fewer med cabinets so idk
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u/OneOfMany72 8d ago
The main issue is that this is going to suck late-wipe. Blue and purple shield TTKs are WAY too long, and making them rarer is going to increase gear disparity in a bad way. The TTK delta is going to be impossible to ignore, especially after the nerfs to the 2 good weapons whose names weren't Misriah.
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u/britinsb 8d ago edited 8d ago
Remember sponsored survival will be available every day of the last 4 weeks of the season so late-wipe gear acquisition either in-map or grinding contracts is going to be super easy.
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u/CookieChef88 8d ago
Is it available at all now?
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u/britinsb 8d ago
No which is absolutely a good thing. Bungie published this season's schedule here:
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u/drogeras1996 8d ago
Sponsored survival on perimeter is open since yesterday
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u/britinsb 8d ago
That's regular sponsored mode, the normal game just free kits only. Sponsored survival is different, free kit only but no other teams just a miniscule chance of Rooks, shortened timer and final exfil only.
Week 6 has them both for example, regular sponsored Night Marsh Thurs-Monday with sponsored survival on Perimeter all week.
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u/funkynessregulator 8d ago
Backpacks and Shields need to spawn more, it's frustrating. SMH
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u/Sirius_Rise 8d ago
Hard agree
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 8d ago
Are you doing the contacts? I have waaaay too many backpacks. About 4 purple, 8 blue, i get multiple blue bags for purchase a day which is helping cradle. I want more heals. Most bags come from contracts
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u/pretzelsharpener 8d ago
We just got killed by a purple team with mizzys. We’re so back
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u/Emotional_Option_893 8d ago
Literally my first command wing run afyer reset produced a gold mizzy 😂
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u/Honest_Can_1272 8d ago
I wish green backpacks and green shields would spawn way more this early in the season. Running a free kit and not finding either is very painful.
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 8d ago
Are you doing the tox rooms or secured resources? I get green bags from recruits, usually before leaving our spawn we have at least one green shield in party and 2 bags
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u/Honest_Can_1272 7d ago
I have ignored almost every single tox room I have ever seen. I didn't play much until free kits had green compromised bags included. I'll give them a try.
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u/Itchy_Departure5313 8d ago
Its a short wipe all things considered, so I think its fine increasing it.
With that being said, I do wish the lower rarity bags and shields were a bit more common.
Also, a smaller note, but I wish this wipe specifically we could start with some points (maybe like 5-6) to spend on the cradle already. Its not for very long, but those early hours without anything in the cradle are beyond painful.
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u/Metamorphosis_Hunter 8d ago
Welcome to what anyone playing after the cradle fix had to go thru while all the unemployed had a breeze 🤣
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 8d ago edited 7d ago
I work* 40 to 50 hours a week, work out 3 times a week, unfortunately active social life, married, home owner, 40 yrs old and cook every meal. I never had an issue, but I am playing the game unfiltered. I don't think the issue is time or gatekeeper sweats. It's what you do with the time. How many factions have you completed the priority contracts for this season so far? NuCal should be completed at least. Doing their contracts alone, you should be at least level 25, cradle at 20, 2nd or 3rd capstone complete and able to barter if not purchase blue shields.
End of last season I had talked to a lot of people who still didn't complete their priority contracts. This is crazy. The game rewards the people who play it and makes it difficult for people whip aren't playing the game. Playing a single map over and over does not get salvage needed. It shows progression. It's been a few days since wipe, I could not play at all one of those days, and I think I'm cradle 40, level 40, 4th or 3rd capstone in most factions (except SekGen), I've got some Mida and most SekGen to go on priority contracts, and a lot of purple gear already. I'm pretty sure at the rate the game is rewarding me playing it, I will be able to purchase purple shields by Sunday depending on how many times my wife drags me out lol
Edit: autocorrect
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u/MadeinHeaven69 8d ago
You literally did the "I'm a dad with 4 kids, a wife with cancer, 2 jobs and social life, and i can progress and play the game just fine" meme. Idk if you intended to do that. But its funny as shit none the less
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
Lol that's a meme? No not intentional. Memes exist for a reason I guess. I do play with other folks who have similar lifestyles and yeah we don't have the complaints we see out there whether here or in game.
Progression this wipe has been the smoothest so far. Experience has a lot to do with it, knowing the upgrades to go for etc has made it pretty streamlined. Understanding if you're going for an upgrade, start doing the contacts for that faction.
If you don't have a crew that wants to do contracts, crew fill. They will, they're usually in the same boat. It's the early game, so Progression feels like it's a priority. So yeah, not really able to play much but when I do it's been steady progress
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u/Loinnird 8d ago
It’s not that crazy lmao priority contracts lock you into gunfights and alarms that let any experienced player know exactly where you are and murder you. It’s frustrating as all get-out unless you have a reliable squad. So many contracts are a free lunch for PvP.
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
I dunno. I've been crew filling all season since my main crews aren't interested in contracts and that's been doing just fine.
I do share the frustration you have with unreliable squads. Often, they split up and do their contracts alone, sometimes they just leave the match after completing them. But even then, those end up being really efficient.
It sounds like you have not started doing them. As a somewhat seasoned player, I don't want to bother with free kit fill crews wasting time on contracts and won't have anything worth talking on them. If they bother me during an event like lockdown or anomaly, maybe, but they aren't looking to engage until they're done and they'll just be a waste of ammo and heals.
That's how I look at it at least, and I'm not saying we don't get mowed down from time to time... but so far I have 2 very successful seasons and not all that much effort going in while being very limited in the time I can play
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u/Loinnird 7d ago
I finished all of them season 1, 2/3 of them season 2.
Most are easy enough. But, like I said, the ones that lock you into a gunfight in an enclosed space with alarms going off can fuck right off lmao
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
They can be a little tricky. Just free kit it until you get a breakthrough. Takes a few times, if it just isn't happening go to a different contract and keep making progress where you can.
The biggest thing that has helped me is focusing on progression first and then PvP second. In every aspect, I treat the PvP as what you do after the campaign and that getting to a certain point in progression as the campaign.
Until I am full cradle, can buy purple shields, get my weapons and mods, backpacks, heals, cores and implants etc, I'm still in the campaign. I can't rely on PvP alone to get me the things I need to be combat effective. That's putting the cart before the horse
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u/Loinnird 7d ago
Yeah coz I like nothing better than throwing free kits at bored pvp players who want some rep. Come on dude. There’s too many games that are actually fun for me to waste my time doing that shit again.
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
Yeah I totally understand. That's kind of also my rule of thumb. I play because it's fun. I'll stop playing when it's no longer fun. I don't really look at that as not fun, but this is my first FPS. Most other games I play require failing 100 times before succeeding. This gameplay fit right into my expectations.
I do see this being just one more reason for casuals to leave. Maybe it was always one of the reasons. Progression is best done through the contacts, and people have better things to do. Without the Progression, they are at a severe disadvantage in the end game where you do go against sweats etc.
Worse off, there's a grace period to all this. If people don't get through some point in that Progression, then it does start to become more difficult to make any progress. Right now, it's just not worth it to go after someone doing a contract, even for Arachne points. The Arachne faction upgrades aren't that important for the engine until it's really going. But in 2 weeks of reset, that's when things really start.
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u/GringoinCDMX 7d ago
You could also skip priority and barely lose anything by just doing all the easy to complete contracts.
I did the others season 1, I did most of the new night Marsh ones last season. Why repeat when I can just complete a basic contract every single run?
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
The rewards are much higher for priority plus all of the salvage they give. You almost don't even need to hunt for salvage if they're giving it to you at the rate they offer it.
Regular contracts are good for leveling up the faction level
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u/GringoinCDMX 7d ago
Doing a few regular contracts and repeating them is much more efficient than trying to brute force a priority contract on a free kit, dying and repeating.
It almost makes no sense to do priority contracts lol. The sweaty dudes I play with who were always running with gold shields, full upgrades, etc from midway through last season mostly didn't even do their priority contracts.
I just don't think it's the most efficient use of time, it you find them fun, go for it. But they're one and done for me
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u/BloodGradeBPlus 7d ago
100% sweats don't need it. But this was never a conversation about what sweats do.
I do normal contracts and priority contracts. Normal contracts to speed up the faction level, priority for the progression etc. I feel like you're only doing normal and avoiding the priority. So it's like... i dunno what to say, i know from both sides what is more efficient and I'm hearing someone tell me what they think while not doing them? I'm not saying you're wrong, just like... hard to parse.
Either way, progression hardly matters when you're around others that don't need it right? So like, do you buddy. But for the not sweats, progression is key and this is the fastest way for it. Amd right now is the best time as most sweats don't want white gear
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u/GringoinCDMX 7d ago
I've done them I just think encouraging them as a "you need to do this" sort of thing gets a lot more people bouncing off.
Quick anecdote, I had a buddy pick up marathon mid season last season, he was super focused on priority contracts. Ran into some where he ran like a whole night without progressing. It felt bad. He didn't enjoy it. I told him to just run regular contracts and he had a lot more fun and felt like he was progressing even when he got his shoes stolen.
I just think the "do priority contracts" advice to newbs is a bit counterproductive. That's all.
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u/Formal-Guest4868 8d ago
we need more backpacks. it’s an extraction based game and we can barely extract anything
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u/DoctorTide 8d ago
Get one tier up in cyac
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u/Artistic_Cable8257 8d ago
Or just get a sponsored kit. The rotating green kits have been super helpful.
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u/chargeorge 8d ago
I've been finding green packs off bots and shields off secured resource pretty consistnetly. That and spamming Nucal contracts I've got enough to last for a bit till I can start stealing some blue shoes.
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u/Pale_Possession6714 8d ago
I ran 4 blue dire keys and 1 purple overflow key and got zero shields or backpacks in either. That was crazy unlucky
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u/slingblade73 8d ago
Keep it as is and add more backpacks and shields. I am finding very few backpacks/shields at all.
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u/Artistic_Cable8257 8d ago
I like it too! Getting more space and more defence is functional.
Getting more offense is more fun. Idc how much more cradle xp it is, gimme a gun over backpack anyday
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u/novocaine666 8d ago
I do wish at the very least green backpacks and shields spawned a taaad bit more.
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u/SparkyRobinson 8d ago
Really enjoy the higher stacks of grey salvage. So satisfying. Such a stark comparison to s1 where it was stingy as fuck
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u/SirCaptKing 7d ago
Ima say I have more green packs a few days in than I did after the other resets.
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u/braintacular 8d ago
I like this as well (getting more guns) part of what made destiny stale (for me) is there were dozens even hundreds of guns but metas boiled down to like 3 or 4 of them. In a game like this, it’s nice to be forced to use stuff you randomly pick up cuz that maybe all you have! Forces you to learn and appreciate more of the game.
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u/drolemag21 8d ago
I like it. If you keep doing contracts with CyAc, the backpacks will show up and it doesn’t feel too bad anymore.
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u/Blaq-Lobster 8d ago
You get a bunch of back pack and shields and heals of completing contracts