What secrets lurk in the dark as night descends on Marathon’s second season? Season 2 is coming June 2, bringing new challenges, new opportunities, and new ways to play. You’ll be able to try out Season 2 for yourself with Marathon Open Play Week from June 2- 9. During Open Play Week, the full game will be available on PlayStation 5 (no PlayStation Plus membership required) and any progress you make will carry over into Season 2.
Today we’re excited to bring you an overview of what to expect when the lights go out.
Into the night
Veteran Marathon players already know that Dire Marsh can be an unforgiving place. With its deadly mixture of long sight lines, elevated perches, and concentrated points of interest, one wrong move in the Marsh can change a run in an instant. For Season 2, we’re offering up a new vision of the Marsh, as night descends in the zone, the light disappears, and the tension skyrockets.
With the new Night Marsh zone, light comes at a premium, with multiple areas that feature pitch darkness. Even the exterior wayfinding lights you might rely on are reduced, amping up the dependence on quiet steps, maximum awareness, and a quick trigger finger. Thankfully, players will have new tools at their disposal, including attached lights on their Runner shells, as well as new loot options they can use to combat the darkness, including Darksight scopes and signal flares. But beware: the light you may be using to find your way might just be a beacon for an enemy.
Alongside the challenge of navigating the darkness of Night Marsh comes new enemies to contend with as the anomaly stirs. Meanwhile the UESC has increased its presence to fortify the Complex building for reasons unknown. What are they protecting? The answers will be yours to discover.
Sentinel
With Season 2, we’re introducing more variety to the Runner mix in the form of Sentinel, a new defensive shell designed to control space and shape encounters before they even begin. With a mixture of tools and abilities that offer defensive safeguards, superior intel, and deadly traps, a skilled Sentinel player can control tempo, force hesitation, and turn enemy aggression into deadly mistakes.
Be reborn
In Season 2, you’ll have more control over your Runner shell progression over the course of the season thanks to the Cradle. This new system will let you level up the WEAVEworms that create your cybernetic body and shape your upgrade path as the season continues.
You’ll do so with WEAVEworm Energy you can earn and use to level up your Cradle, routing that Energy into upgrade paths that unlock stat gains and access to new perks. Best of all, you can reallocate your Energy at any time during the season: Simply reset to have your Energy refunded and start again. With the Cradle we’re offering more customization, allowing you to fit your Runner shell into your preferred playstyle.
A fresh start with new tools
Season 2 will begin with a full reset for all Marathon players, leveling the playing field, so that every Runner is once again on the same page gear-wise. It’s a time when everyone is discovering what’s new and learning how to survive Tau Ceti together.
As you build your Runner back up, we’ll have more fun to find, including two new weapons to collect–a small-arms SMG known as the KKV, designed for close-range DPS, and the D54 Battle Pistol, which comes equipped with an integrated red dot optic. Look for new mods, cores, and implants to continue refining your Runner shell into the biocybernetics merc you were born (and reborn) to be.
Season 2 also brings increased faction progression speed, a larger Vault, improvements to some of the more frustrating contracts, and more quality-of-life changes to help you on your climb.
Finally, if you’ve played previous Bungie games before, you might know about Bungie Rewards – our ongoing program that lets you unlock the ability to purchase exclusive game-inspired rewards by completing challenges in the game. We’re happy to share that Bungie Rewards will be coming to Marathon with Season 2 and you can look for more details coming soon. Until then, grab those flashlights and watch your six. You never know what surrounds you in the darkness…
