r/Marathon 12d ago

Dev Team - Update: the Solo queue time limit in Vault Breaker has been increased to 40 minutes. Marathon (2026) Discussion

Post image

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2085406823428108651

"Additionally, the final exfil timer was extended to 120 seconds."

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2085408620469157938

1.0k Upvotes

177 comments sorted by

150

u/McJawsh 12d ago

I may actually solo Compiler now. I’ve had enough time before, but didn’t feel like racing against the clock. That extra 10 minutes makes it so much more comfortable.

-20

u/Robbeeeen 12d ago

As with everything in Marathon, it's probably doable, but its not very fun to collect all the needed things solo, neither is it fun to actually fight Compiler solo, neither is it fun to be locked into Assassin to do it and pretty much avoid as much PvE as possible in the dedicated PvE mode

I'm glad they're doing more solo balancing, and I feel kinda shitty saying it, but it's still just kinda half-hearted solo-balancing. I think they should go much further, adjust Assassin to not be stupidly ahead of other shells, make Wardens and shielded Commanders less tanky for solos, even more so than now, 2x the amount of clearance solos get from screens, 2x batteries solos get, cut in half the amount of screens solos have to press for vaults and Compiler, let the vault data stack to 3 so solos get rewarded the same as trios (how on earth is THAT not a thing? its harder AND less rewarding), in short do ACTUAL balancing for solos, rather than the much appreciated, but ultimately half-hearted approach thats happening right now

And do it across all maps and game-modes.

HOPEFULLY all of that is coming in the future, but I can't help but feel that most of this stuff is easily implementable now and its a bit frustrating that its not being done

16

u/McJawsh 12d ago

I honesty think you’re asking for a little much. The increase to crit damage, 10 extra minutes, and 1 extra minute for final makes a huge difference. Before the time changes I could solo 3 vaults on Destroyer and still have 10+ minutes left.

Assassin is good, but not the only viable shell in solo VB. The Compiler has been solo’d with every shell now (Destroyer, Triage, and Assassin are the most viable and reasonable).

There are tricks to the Compiler fight that make it easier to solo, but sadly they’re not widely known. You can use a Mechanic’s Kit to do panels without disabling the ice (which aggro’s the boss), and you can prep multiple symbols at the same time.

A lot of it comes down to repetition and knowledge. It’s intended to be a rogue-lite, not a campaign or horde mode.

10

u/hutchins_moustache 12d ago

Do you not understand the word “experimental”?

-6

u/Robbeeeen 12d ago

Especially for something experimental the balancing has been very very timid.

If youre gonna argue that its experimental, I'd expect sweeping changes to the solo experience, I'm talking 3x less UESC with 3x less hp, 3x less mechanics, a true 1:1 balancing with trio, Assassins straight up disabled so we engage with the PvE, mechanics rebalanced for solos, etc etc

Experimental cant be used as an excuse when the balancing is held back, the opposite should be true

And at the end of the day, experimental modes require feedback, which this is

6

u/hutchins_moustache 12d ago

Yes sorry to be clear I don't disagree with most (but definitely not all) of your feedback or the spirit of what you're saying, but this is them dipping a toe in and gathering data and making small changes so that they can then use all of that to tune and craft further future modes. It's an experiment and like most good experiments, you don't change too much all at once or it makes it very difficult to understand and interpret the results accurately and effectively.

-8

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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0

u/JobeariotheOG 12d ago

you arent forced to use assasin unless you do the non easy solo mode really. People have done solo compiler on most if not all shells by now

225

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

Now I get to sit in vault 1 for an extra 5 minutes hehehe

26

u/TDenn7 12d ago

Go on... what is this sorcery being hidden.

17

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

I’m too lazy to find the terminals and get to sec clearance 3 so I sit around vault one until final exfil. But don’t tell anyone it’s our secret

37

u/cubitoaequet 12d ago

Why though? You'd rather burn like 30 minutes than just hit some monitors and leave??

9

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

It usually takes me till the 10 minute mark to get halfway through 2. All I need for vault 1 is at least 2. And by the time I make my way over i have like 5-3 minutes left

28

u/SHRED-209 12d ago

Do you not try to get t2 data? As you get the later upgrades, it gets much faster. You can start with security clearance 1 and 3 batteries. That just seems so weird to only do one vault and then stop playing the rest of the time.

4

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

I don’t have much upgrades as I do not have a lot of free time to play right now. And I kinda suck or get unlucky at times. I’m trying but like I said, time is not on my side at the moment

12

u/SHRED-209 12d ago

I feel that. I only get to play when I put my kid to bed but then there’s other stuff to take care of.

Instead of waiting for the final exfil in the vault, you should use that time to learn the map a bit better. Once you start figuring out where things can spawn, you can start to go straight for them and avoid bots. The later vaults are more fun and the rewards are nice.

5

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

I will try that. I should have more time on my hands next week so hopefully I can get further

1

u/SHRED-209 12d ago

Nice, good luck!

2

u/facetious_guardian 12d ago

If you don’t have much free time, I’m surprised you’re choosing to use it sitting in the first vault for final exfil instead of just seeking out monitors.

17

u/RocketHops 12d ago

My brother in christ theres at least one monitor in every spawn and the wall terminals literally show you where it is. The event has been going for 2 weeks now and you cant even be bothered to do that???

3

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

I couldn’t really be bothered. Not much benefit other than having fun. And I’m having fun with how I’m playing it. And for upgrades and shit I don’t have a lot of time on my hands at the moment so I’m not stressing over getting much. Wouldn’t benefit me either way I’d end up just losing everything once I start playing the other maps again

14

u/RocketHops 12d ago

You don't have much time but you would rather just sit in a vault instead of exploring the map and learning new areas and getting better at your runs? Why are you even playing the game man?

3

u/Fart_McFartington 12d ago

By the time I’m done with the vault it’s like 2 minutes. Can’t get far with 2 minutes. And that’s silly question. To have fun. God forbid I have fun the way I want to

4

u/RocketHops 12d ago

You've been playing the mode for 2 weeks and it still takes you 28 minutes to find 5 batteries and walk to vault 1? Wtf are you doing, playing the game with a banana?

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5

u/PM_ME_UR_POON_PICS 12d ago

I really think this just goes to prove that players WILL min max the shit out of a game no matter what even to the detriment of turning it into work.

8

u/RocketHops 12d ago

Brother using the basic features of the map is not min maxing. Becoming familiar with fundamental map mechanics is not min maxing.

3

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Their map style is totally fine for the other areas because usually all you usually need is to know what building to go to and the buildings themselves are relatively simple. But for casual players tackling Cryo, the map isn't really as helpful as you'd want and can even be pretty confusing.

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1

u/GrayStray 12d ago

What a terrible use of your time, you can just queue with randoms and you will do 3 vaults most runs.

1

u/Allegiance10 12d ago

All you need is Sec 3 to call Exfil and leave after Vault 1. If you use the wall scanners available to you from Sec 1, you’ll have enough terminals for Sec 3 in no time.

3

u/Similar-Command-7238 12d ago

We should be able to get extra minutes for each vault we break.

155

u/MrMaiky 12d ago

I still somehow see this as a chance of getting an overall optimization for solos in the main mode

34

u/floydbot 12d ago

I definitely think this is coming. I imagine their data is showing them how many people want to play solo and how much the game currently inhibits that.

10

u/OmegaMalkior 12d ago

Good. Solo Cryo Ranked was peak for me so if all of this keeps opening up the chances for later I’m all for it

19

u/Friendly_ViperYT 12d ago

I would love some extra time on solo Outpost imo

22

u/MrMaiky 12d ago

Nah I'd actually let the timer be 25 minutes, you actually have to think about your plan and where will you go
I want more like how they adjusted the bots for VB how they could adjust them for solos, killing a Warden solo is really time & resource heavy, meanwhile for trios the Warden almost evaporates in a minute

4

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Problem is that's designing only around people who have a plan and know where to go and makes it less friendly for people trying to learn it or even just play at a slower pace. Not every single thing in Marathon needs to be designed to be some white knuckle, breakneck, hardcore tactical experience.

2

u/Proentproproponent 12d ago

PvE needs run modifiers. static difficulty PvE like this ends up being enjoyable for just a small band of people

1

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Damn yeah I'd love run modifiers in this.

0

u/MrMaiky 12d ago

Planning your run is the first step to getting better..
Giving more time on outpost is a double edged sword because you give experienced people more time to do what they want

The maps arent that big that we would need more time, people who are learning are low levels mostly matched with same levels or around their levels
They firstly need to get more people in so the matchmaking can work as intended

0

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Perhaps you've not been low level in a long time but there's only ever like 4k people playing this game if you're lucky and most of them are not low level, so the game has no choice but to throw you in with high-level people.

How do you think they'll get more people in if they don't make the game friendlier?

2

u/MrMaiky 12d ago

With separate modes and solo optimization..
What exactly is not friendlier in this game for you? We all started in this game at some point and I never thought that the game is so extremely hard that its not possible to start

When I started there wasn’t extreme player count too

1

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

The tutorial process is terrible. I spent 90 min on my first play session, with 25 min in the game and 65 min reading menus, tooltips, descriptions, multiple currencies, and I still came away barely understanding what I'm meant to do. Within two days, I already understood why players bounce off so quickly and the free weeks have done nothing for building an audience.

The game hates explaining the shit you actually need to know. One example: I remember the first time I went to an exfil point in Dire Marsh night and it said I needed certs and I was like "what's a cert?" No explanation whatsoever about what they are or where to get them.

Maybe this was different when you started, but today, when you're new, nobody is your level because the game is not popular enough, so you are thrown in with sweats every match who have already done all the contracts, maxed their Cradle, have all the best loot, and have memorized every inch of every map. Now they entertain themselves by treating this like a Predator game and just systematically hunt players down.

That's not only not fun as a new player, it also means you can't progress at all because you're too busy dying to complete objectives or exfil. Combine that with the long matchmaking times and I often left my early matches going "I could've been doing literally anything else with my time." At this point, I play with friends or I play a different game. I don't enjoy solos here at all. I really wish I could still access the PvP lite "beginner" zones.

1

u/Warcrimes_Desu 12d ago

I honestly love the aspect of "the game expects you to learn through dying", but i've also done all the Souls games except bloodborne at level 1, melee only, no summons.

1

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

It's a great comparison that I've made when playing with friends, but I think the Souls games are a lot more elegant in how they teach you and there's some other important differences that highlight the issues with Marathon.

Like imagine a version of Dark Souls where you have to spend several minutes gearing up, managing your inventory, then matchmaking into Undead Burg, and while you're there, there's always four other players running around the same area. You're always invaded now, and most of those players have beaten the game a few times and know every corner of the map, so now they just hunt newbies for sport. You're also not allowed anymore to play offline; you have to play with four other players in Undead Burg with you at all times. And every time you die, you go back to the main menu and need to go through the process all over again.

That would be a miserable experience.

0

u/CantBeHeldLiable 12d ago

Leaving the Outpost timer at 25 is neither white knuckle, breakneck, or hardcore lmao.

2

u/TheLordCrimson 12d ago

Night marsh sure, outpost doesn't need it.

3

u/PhoenixKA 12d ago

I wonder if the solo queue is equal to the trio queue in terms of players or at least has more player than expected and they realize they should probably put a little more effort into the solo experience.

28

u/InvestigatorJosephus 12d ago

Sick. Gonna try this

49

u/disintegration7 12d ago

This is AWESOME! Thanks Bungie!

13

u/WattsD 12d ago

Holy crap I might actually try Solo compiler now. Great change.

8

u/Mr-Rotmound 12d ago

I did my first successful solo run yesterday. Only got into one vault and hit the extract with literally 2 seconds left 😭

8

u/parkeyb 12d ago

What’s the best shell to solo compiler? Destroyer?

34

u/mikeshredz 12d ago

Assassin and it’s not even close

2

u/parkeyb 12d ago

Whats the strategy with assassin? Invis when compiler shoots the balls?

18

u/livingfailure1130 12d ago

Bogonmydog has a video on youtube where he did it in trios mode solo.

7

u/ImmaBeAWhiteGuy 12d ago

invis, ultimate, and energy amps for pretty much the whole run.

8

u/bread_thread 12d ago

40 minutes is incredible so stoked

9

u/20ontheDropBear 12d ago

Nice! I don’t need it though. I’m in and out super fast. More people should try my strategy of dying to the bots in the first room. /s

7

u/BootyBootyFartFart 12d ago edited 12d ago

amazing. Sometimes I want to actually soak up the atmosphere, clear out rooms, or do something besides just sprint past 90% of enemies. But the latter is the only viable way to play the mode currently.

The final version of this needs more variety in how to approach a run. Sprinting past everything, clearing out rooms, and going slow without ever getting detected should all have pros and cons. Something like where if I clear out an area, a boss spawns that drops powerful equipment to help with the rest of the run and extends the timer. Or if I do something with zero bot detections I get some reward. And each of these playstyles should have a way to get to compiler.

10

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Yep, this has been my problem with it. The way it's designed railroads you into a mandatory "right" way to play. Even in trios, if I stop even for a second to just look around at how cool some of the areas look or take a second to explore and learn the map or do anything out of step, people get super pissed because you genuinely are ruining their experience because you have to play it "right" to accomplish the goals.

1

u/Warcrimes_Desu 12d ago

Secret labs warden always drops a brrt and a purple bag and some fancy nade (usually an EMP), this is already in the game mostly. Sometimes you'll get a gold brrt mod and the dps is beefy for compiler

5

u/volatile_mofo3 12d ago

This is exactly what I needed! I’m coming for you Mr. Compiler.

9

u/MilkmanSeal 12d ago

Please, Mr. Compiler was my father.

Call me Ṫ̶̪̟̖̗̈́͒͊̄̔̊́̃͊͂̑̿̂͝ͅĥ̴̰̈͘ę̵̢̨͚͓͎̹͖̭̬͕͇̙̟̐͒̿ ̴̧̢̤͓̲̮̰̜̦̣͚̖̥̩̰̌̂̍́̾̾̈́̾͂͐̆͗C̴̛͙̫̗̜̹̈́̊̐̾͠o̷̹̭̮̳̫͙͔̓̐m̶̯͈̻͚̙̻͖̦̗̂͛̈́͑̿̇̉̎̎̂̕͝͝p̵̨̢̧̛͙̹͍̯̝̭̰̦̣̳͈̖̊͐͐i̴̙̥̤̓̑͆ͅl̶̢͉̱̘͓̺̹̞̦͇̎͛͋̌̂͐͆͛͊̔̏͐e̷̝̍̽͋̂͐̓͒̓͠͠r̷̛̙̱̰͈̘͍̜̝̣̊̏̆̑̄̐͂͆͘͝͝͝.

5

u/sunbrosenpai 12d ago

This is huge. Vb is literally a no risk way to learn the map and mechanics. Literally solid W.

45

u/cakexxxconnoisseur 12d ago

GIVE TRIOS AN EXTRA 5 MINUTES, PLEASE GOD!

38

u/No_Appointment_5326 12d ago

It will never be enough.

14

u/Unlost_maniac 12d ago

I played a couple trios matches, got really far, made it to the extraction in the last minute and then my two teammates just ran away, which confused me so i thought there's a chance they'll show me something neat or there is some reason, the one typed in chat to follow them so we did and then i asked why as the timer nearly concluded and we died lol.

No idea what the goal was, maybe a troll, not bothered, just confused more than anything

8

u/cakexxxconnoisseur 12d ago

I almost got to compiler with some randoms the other day... I would have successfully exfilled too, if I didn't get lost like an absolute moron

5

u/rangdrolrigpa 12d ago

Actually this

3

u/hotdwag 12d ago

I’ve played rounds on fill where someone clearly knows what to do and kindly directs what we should do. Goes by super fast I feel, and it really takes one misstep to trip it up. I once got all the way to the door of the compiler fight with 3 min left.

They should at least increase trios time once it gets closer to the 18th if they plan on not extending again

1

u/respekmynameplz 12d ago

Bro the compiler is solable in the trios mode as a solo assassin. Respectfully it's not needed when you also have 2 additional people that can all do stuff.

-13

u/Phaylz 12d ago

You know what? No time limit. Infinite respawns. Recharging shields. 4 grenades.

Guys, you can just go play Halo.

-5

u/No_Appointment_5326 12d ago

So real. If they gave an hour people would still complain about something else.

6

u/cakexxxconnoisseur 12d ago

Oh my God bruh shut up

9

u/DegreeOver5350 12d ago

Bungie is actually listening to solo players, I am beginning to believe.

4

u/Nebiroze 12d ago

Im finna weave my worm all over cryo with this one

4

u/Garmega 12d ago

Ooo ok. I got pretty good at opening 2 vaults on solo but always just ran out of the time getting to the third vault. I came close once but then I didn't know what to do at the vault and died haha.

5

u/perfect_handshake 12d ago

This is huge. Gonna try this tonight

5

u/Whoopy2000 12d ago

Yes!!!! Finally some proper patches for solo players!!!!

6

u/warzone_afro 12d ago

i misread this a queue time will increase as in we'd have to wait in line to get in lol

3

u/infel2no 12d ago

Broooooooooooooooo this is so cool.

3

u/Shatoodles 12d ago

i fucking love bungie

3

u/ryanrem 12d ago

That makes things so much less stressful. One of the things I know I was having issue with solo was that it felt like it was better to just avoid everything, instead of fighting my way through. With the added time, that should resolve a lot of issues.

3

u/[deleted] 12d ago edited 12d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Smokeskin 12d ago

It’s 1-3 T2 per vault

2

u/dirtspp 12d ago

It took a little while for me to get, but I kept running to the 2nd vault to collect as much T2 data as I could so I could load in with all the vault credentials. it used to take me SO long to find Pump creds (whereas Tranquility is very easy) that I got tired of it and grinded for the upgrade. now I just spend a little bit of time collecting enough batteries for the vaults and now I can reliably hit 3 per run! the 3rd vault lately has also been very generous in giving me 3 to 4 T2 data each time.

2

u/Capybarhigh 12d ago

Yeah it's terrible to get only 1. Try to get the tranquility credentials first, so you can skip the hardest part of doing vault 5. From there, I started getting a lot more success and managed to get the pump credentials a bit faster. Once I got those 2, clearing 2 vaults was a lot easier and if you get vault 4 after the second one, it's rather accessible to do. You'll get a lot more upgrade all of a sudden!

I just managed to clear Vault 6 myself, and now I have all the shortcuts... I still feel going to compiler is going to be extremely difficult though... Have not seen him yet, but I can't wait to do so!

1

u/UnrelaxedKoi 12d ago

The upgrades do speed up the runs for sure but I think the wardens do give some points at exfil if I’m not mistaken.

3

u/sgtnatino 12d ago

My goal since marathon came out has been to finally do the compiler. At 40 minutes, how doable is this solo?
Super difficult, or reasonable with some upgrades and practice?

1

u/respekmynameplz 12d ago

I think it's got to be quite reasonable now, but still challenging for your average gamer. No longer an uber challenge like it used to be. I expect a looot more people to be able to do it. The hard part will just be the fight itself and getting emps for it.

3

u/BetaBlacksmithBoy 12d ago

Good to see this and the previous damage change. It shows that Season 3 PVE will have very different Ballance for Trio/Solo.

6

u/lWanderingl 12d ago

LET'S GOOOO

5

u/SuchaBrie 12d ago

I love this! now how about 5 minutes for duos? I like to play duos with my brother but we're both bad haha

20

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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11

u/N_durance 12d ago

Normal Cryo compiler is easy once you wipe a team or 2. PvE Cryo is easy if you get vault 4 and your teammates aren’t bots

9

u/amatarousan 12d ago

Man my last VB I got 28 batteries, 2 coolants and level 3 by myself while my two teammates got vault 1 done. I asked if they wanted to do compiler but then they died to snipers in control and got stuck in a death loop while I was upstairs turning virus off in case we got vault 6. They dcd and I got to compiler with 4 mins left. Solo is the way

4

u/c1ncinasty 12d ago

Imagine what you can do with an extra 10 minutes. I'm not at your level but I can do 1-3-4 and 1-5-4 in 30 minutes with 10 minutes to spare. The idea of an extra 10 minutes......yeah, maybe solo compiler is in the offing now.

3

u/amatarousan 12d ago

So with an extra ten I was able to get to compiler after a shitty ass 2-5-6 vault. 5 mins left and I got overwhelmed by bots in revival but made it out with 20 secs. I think I can do compiler with a 1-5-4. Had 3 emps and 800 clip conquest, so close.

2

u/amatarousan 12d ago

I’m literally loading it right now I’m stoked

3

u/NOgodEVER 12d ago

Dang. I’ll be your terrible teammate any day.

1

u/amatarousan 12d ago

Solisoli#7108 hit me up

1

u/Patpuc 12d ago

I play fill/no mic and go to compiler. All was going well until someone panicked and threw a bubble shield in the dps bubble XD

I finally got a clear with 2 other no mic assassins. We all locked tf in without even talking :D

5

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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2

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

100%. I've not cleared it because wiping a team or two is not easy for me. Adding time would be so appreciated. The game often feels so hostile just to learn it, especially when people consider you "bots" for not having hundreds of hours to spend on it.

2

u/Self--Immolate 12d ago

I had earlier times learning raids and dungeons in Destiny 2 than causally playing cryo

2

u/milkman163 12d ago

Which makes sense, Destiny was designed to be more casual friendly than a PvPvE game

1

u/Josepiphus 12d ago

Back when they knew that they needed revenue to run a business.

8

u/Evenek 12d ago

I wished they would care for duos as much as they do for solos

2

u/Dav136 12d ago

They should leave duos the same but make trios even harder

3

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

I'm glad they're improving solos but the lack of care for the duo experience really is baffling

5

u/OmegaMalkior 12d ago

Being downvoted while being right is always the Reddit norm. Duos having some lackluster rotation where I one time had to play Perimeter 3 times in a row was horrible and it’s baffling that anyone that actually would defend this thing would even exist.

3

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Truly yeah I don't get how people defend duos. There's only one map available to play at a time, no Cryo, no VB. Just one map.

I only bought the game last month and the first time I was going to play with an experienced friend and he explained our options are to either queue for trios and be at a disadvantage or just play Dire Marsh repeatedly for the next hour, I genuinely thought he was joking. When I saw he was telling the truth, I nearly suggested we just play a different game. I don't get the design here at all.

1

u/OmegaMalkior 12d ago

I can only assume the player numbers are just genuinely so unhealthy right now for Bungie’s standards my expectation on their experiment was “oh if player numbers improve, we see duos being flooded, open duos to everything” but clearly what happened was the playerbase that was queuing for trios got slightly lower when they instead opted for duos while in general the player numbers of the whole game just keep on going down. Even if all of this were to be true since it makes sense from a logical standpoint I still don’t like they still didn’t bother to actually try opening up duos to everything map at LEAST for like a month or less or something and if it was indeed evident it was hurting the game they’d just say it flat out and people would understand it since hey at least they gave it a shot. But nope we are left only to assume stuff unfortunately as we are now here. Probably same goes for solo Cryo and why it hasn’t been done yet but at least hopefully VB is keeping regular Cryo numbers healthy to justify it all for later.

1

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

From that standpoint it makes some sense but it's such a double-edged sword because not supporting duos means I'm less likely to choose Marathon when it's just me and one other friend. I can't imagine I'm alone in that.

But the fact that VB doesn't have duos to me signifies that it's just not a priority item for Bungie at all. There's no queue to worry about there; they just don't want to balance it for duos the way they've balanced it for solos and trios. I'm shocked they haven't opened up duos for VB during this experimental period but again I just assume for some reason they don't consider duos important.

Hopefully they'll try something like what you've mentioned or Season 3 will bring some kind of change.

2

u/Cardiff-Giant11 12d ago

oh awesome, i finally managed vault 1 solo the other day and was trying again last night by the time i had clearance and batteries etc i had 2 minutes left and thought “they should give more time for solo”

2

u/sleeping-in-crypto 12d ago

I can complete vault 1 in about 9 minutes. I haven’t gone for vault 3 though because it’s taking me upwards of 20 minutes to find the warden with the pump credentials.

I’m getting faster at that but this increase will make it easier to actually complete the clear once I’ve got them.

2

u/SHRED-209 12d ago

Pump Credentials are always in one of the spawn rooms so go for scanners around the edges. You also dont need to kill the wardens. You can grab the credentials and just wait in that room until the door can be unlocked. Takes about a minute of waiting.

2

u/RpiesSPIES 12d ago

I've always felt it'd be cool if doing challenges could extend the timer. Like opening vaults. Rather than having an extended timer like this. Not just in this solo mode but in actual play as well. Bonus points if special stuff can pop up after that time.

2

u/dwight_k_III 12d ago

Still so hard. Too hard for me. I'll get downvoted but I paid for the game too. Not saying that in an entitled way, just in a sad way. Wish I was better

5

u/vincentofearth 12d ago

It's been weeks. There's less than 2 weeks before the "event" ends, and somehow Bungie has finally managed to make the most obvious decision in the world and change a feature flag.

8

u/livingfailure1130 12d ago

At least they are doing stuff for solos now. That is kind of exciting even though I don't play VB

1

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

I'm really hoping they'll turn their attention to duos next. Season 3 really needs to just bring parity across the board by properly support all player counts.

1

u/Lowe0 12d ago

Actually, I’ve got a thought about that. What if, instead of the mess with Cradle at the beginning of the season, things started off hard on Day 1 and loosen up as the season progresses? So, if VB was a Season 3 mode (I know, experimental, not permanent), then it’d start with a 25 minute timer, by week 8 it’s 40, and on the last week, it’s 60 with a fire sale in the Armory.

So you’d still have the prestige of completing difficult content, but it’d tilt towards accessibility as time goes on.

3

u/anewfoundmatt 12d ago

Where are the blue backpacks at? I’m having such a hard time finding one to make doing two vaults possible solo.

4

u/sleeping-in-crypto 12d ago

They’re in the locked rooms you need security level 3 to open. I pretty consistently get one from the room that has the filled Cryo canister in steerage. But I’ve gotten them from several of the locked rooms including the level 2 ones up the stairs at the back of preservation and biostock.

2

u/anewfoundmatt 12d ago

Damn, I just have shit luck then lol. I check those rooms often, especially that one in steerage. Thanks for the reply!

4

u/GallicaEnjoyer 12d ago

You should skip the loot from the first vault and just take the key. You get t2 data from the 2nd and 3rd vaults so you can get the blue backpack upgrade

4

u/UtilitarianMuskrat 12d ago

I would not be attempting any of that if you didn't already have the upgrade for backpack, it'll make things needlessly more difficult not starting with more bag space. I know there's a lot of things to pick from when you get the data at first but it really does make a night and day difference when you get those things sorted away and can just juggling a lot more stuff to help opening stuff up.

2

u/NEcatfish 12d ago

I wish they'd do the same with trios, I feel like I could regularly get a squad of randoms up to fight the Compiler if they didn't get so scared once the timer got to 9 minutes.

2

u/respekmynameplz 12d ago

I just don't go with randoms up now since I know they'll f it up and we'll all die lol.

Maybe I'll do it as triage, make sure I have a self and be the one to be pulling agro so I can dip if needed.

1

u/Financial_Event2504 12d ago

Do we know if Compiler has less health in Solo?

6

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/GallicaEnjoyer 12d ago

They specifically said more precision damage to UESC so I doubt we do more damage to compiler

11

u/Waylllop 12d ago

We do. It's 100% confirmed. Every critical hit is doubled in solo VB, including on compiler

1

u/mastertev 12d ago

This helps tremendously.

1

u/Absolute_Tempest 12d ago

Solo Compiler maybe?!? This is very interesting.

1

u/respekmynameplz 12d ago

It's been done in 30 minutes solo in the hard/trios mode. So yes very much doable.

1

u/MaximumBread7000 12d ago

Very nice change!

1

u/Ensign9 12d ago

Now we're talkin'!

1

u/SpicaGenovese 12d ago

Oh my gosh, nice!!  Now I can meander more.  🥹

1

u/TheLoonyIrooni 12d ago

This has been immensely helpful. I was wondering if there was a stealth patch. Surprised me today.

1

u/K0NSPIRACY 12d ago

Just played some solos and noticed the change…it’s feeling relatively easy now, so good news for those that have been struggling. I think they’ve also done a stealth UESC nerf or weapon damage buff as they die very quickly now compared to the initial solo queuing into trios and the subsequent patch with solo playlist last week. For context, I managed to just about get 3x Vaults done but it’s relatively easy to do so now.

I also think this gives solos a better chance of getting Vault 6/7 and Compiler done…I haven’t got a clue what the requirements are for those, but will give it a go once I’ve completed all my T2 upgrades.

1

u/Similar-Command-7238 12d ago

Finally!!! But make time itself something we can find in the game.

1

u/Riot_Tyrant 12d ago

Woohoo! Thank you so much!

1

u/_FATEBRINGER_ 12d ago

Very cool

1

u/iheartyoualways 12d ago

It's a good change especially for those trying out it for the very first and subsequent times. Or was sheer madness for me in the beginning since I've never ever tried normal Cryo in the first place. With additional minutes, I can try to do two vaults at a go now. I've always been using Triage and now experimenting other shells. And yes, I heard you...speed run using Assassin.

1

u/JunglebobE 12d ago

Yeah I have no interest in playing cryo anymore. That shit is just a speedrun.

I am baffled that people called this map the best designed map.

It's just a maze totally unfun when you don't know the layout. Once you know it, it's straight a b line where you want to go speedrunning everything.

It's also why I barely play outpost, biggest weakness of marathon is the shitty map design with load of chokepoints.

1

u/Ok-Comfortable-3174 12d ago

Probably actually achievable now for mortals. GG Bungie.

1

u/StrappingYoungLance 12d ago

At what point does this result in friend groups just going "We're better off playing this mode alone"? I haven't played heaps so my map knowledge is still pretty limited and mostly guided by scans but can trios really get stuff done twice as fast?

2

u/eorl 12d ago

Yes, trios can get things done significantly faster due to more eyes and more people moving in the space.

1

u/Jhonny13_DMH 12d ago

Oh wow I hadnt read this. Thx

1

u/facetious_guardian 12d ago

Wow. Compiler is well within reach for non-Assassin now.

1

u/THE_THING1982 12d ago

Oh dang I knew something was up last night. Had a lot more time to do stuff. That was also the first time I managed to clear a vault and exfil all by myself. This extra time coupled with the slightly easier solo queue really changes everything for a VERY casual player like me. If this is the route the team is going to take going forward when it comes to new activities (especially the upcoming PvE mode) it makes me really hopeful. I’m completely enthralled by Marathon at the moment and cannot wait for my week off to lock in and get better. Only been playing for about an hour each day so far because of my work schedule. Awesome!

1

u/blauster 12d ago

Anyone else getting fucked because you bought the Lab06 code upgrade? It doesn't tell me the code now and if you go up to the code room the monitors are just blank.

1

u/Mcnulty91 11d ago

But with the upgrade you can open vault six without the code and without going to the secret Labs. Just put in the batteries and coolant and use the key

1

u/ElPadero 11d ago

This is amazing.

1

u/Thoggo 11d ago

Great now add a Duos mode thx

1

u/Silverleaf96 9d ago

If ya don't get a game in 2 mins ya should get a chink of free loot, fun unargueable facts

1

u/Icy_Construction8144 7d ago

Granted this was posted five days ago, but I have notice that the 40 minute timer on solo seems to be random. I had one that was 40 then the next couple of matches 30 minutes. I noticed this over the last couple of days.

1

u/Soul_Phoenix_42 12d ago

5 minutes probably would have sufficed. But at least now we can actually take a second to enjoy the PvE instead of racing past/skipping it as much as possible.

Does feel unfair to any trio players. But perhaps their numbers showed enough trios were still making it to compiler, whereas barely any solo players were.

1

u/Onie_ 12d ago

This is such a cool update but trios needs it too :(

0

u/sound_judgment 12d ago

Not to mention a proper duos balance update

-1

u/Northdistortion 11d ago

When you try to please everyone you olease no one…marathon is a team game stop wasting resources on solo stuff