As the Marathon Server Slam Comes to an End, Bungie Acknowledges Ultra Fast TTK 'Is the Hot Topic' — but Some Players Like It Just the Way It Is

The Marathon Server Slam is coming to an end, and Bungie has outlined the various hot topics players have surfaced ahead of launch.

Chief among them is TTK (time to kill), which is ultra fast in Marathon. During the Server Slam, players found that they could be killed extremely quickly, with their shields and health bar gone in the blink of an eye. Enemy players are of course extremely dangerous in the extraction shooter, but the AI enemies are just as brutal. Turn around the wrong corner and you can find yourself eliminated before you can react, the run over and all your gear lost forever.

“We've learned a lot from you, watched from the shadows as you've hit snags or found moments of glory, and taken notes the whole time,” Bungie said in its Server Slam weekend feedback recap. “Your input during this time has given us a lot of items to sort through and we'll be doing just that in the coming days, so thank you.”

Within PvP feedback, TTK is “the hot topic,” Bungie acknowledged. “Some of you want longer duels and more Runner contact, others are vibing with the current pace. We're reviewing Runner density on non-beginner maps and keeping a close eye on how Perimeter and Dire Marsh feel all in all.”

A quick glance at the burgeoning Marathon community shows a mix of players who want Bungie to change the game’s TTK and players who want the developer to leave it alone.

"You die before you can even react," said one Marathon player. "I enjoy the game and the difficulty, but I feel like it’s an inflated difficulty with how fast the TTK is."

“I’m fine with the TTK but it makes 70% of the abilities we have pointless,” said another. “We simply don’t get to use them. Destroyer shield you would think could save you if you get hit suddenly but it won’t as by the time the animation finished pulling it out you’re dead two times over. I would make the TTK slower by having the tier 3/4 shields take an extra 10%/15% damage and make them expensive.”

“Base TTK should be higher but is probably better with higher tier shields? Weird that we weren't able to test this gameplay easily during this weekend,” said another fan.

"They really needed to hand out shields to players at an accelerated rate, just for this Server Slam," suggested another player. "The TTK 'debate' is just a result of people not being geared appropriately, dying in 0.5 seconds, and thinking this is how every Run in the game will eventually be.

"If we had been given shields as part of some entry quest, or as part of a pre-release Sponsored Kit, people wouldn't be having this takeaway. Once you're geared appropriately TTK is hardly something you're thinking about, but I understand people not knowing what they don't know and this being their takeaway."

“My biggest fear here is the TTK,” added another. “I’d imagine most players won’t give it enough time to adjust from other shooters and complain and Bungie will change it. It’s great how it is and sets Marathon apart. Currently fights are fast and brutal. Apex eventually got frustrating in how people could prolong a fight easily because the TTK was too high.”

“Yes I hope they don't react too strongly to this point,” another said. “TTK is in a good place right now I feel, it allows for clutch 1v2s and 1v3s in a way that high TTK wouldn't for most players. Low TTK also makes matches more tense, you have to stay vigilant because you can get knocked very easily. That said I think they could tweak it ever so slightly and it would still be fine, I just don't want fights to turn into attrition matches because it's too easy to run and hide and heal repeatedly from just taking a little damage.”

Please do no extend the TTK, it actually rewards good aim and allows us to clutch up amazing 1VX! https://t.co/l3WAJbaTLj

— Jon Snow (@JonSnowTM) March 2, 2026 Another point of feedback Bungie acknowledged was on the med and ammo economy. Players have found both sets of items scarce, to the point where it’s easy to run out of ammo, especially, making Marathon an even tougher experience than it already is. When you factor in the in-game cost associated with replenishing med and ammo items for each run, you can see why both are precious commodities.

“We hear you that meds are soaking a lot of your early loadout budget and that back-to-back fights can chew through your med and ammo reserves pretty quickly,” Bungie said. “We've seen some folks for and against the Depleted items as well — along with how rewarding drops off of AI are. If you ran dry mid-fight or at a critical spot in your Run, tell us all about it!”

Bungie once again acknowledged the feedback on Marathon’s UI, which has become something of a sore point for a large number of players. “We do plan to continue iterating post-launch and want to make sure that you're able to easily navigate, read what's happening mid-fight, manage your equipment effectively, and see your pings without any noise around them,” Bungie confirmed.

And Bungie touched on Marathon’s movement and heat generation: “Lots of chatter around slide feel, momentum, and heat alike. The common asks are smoother slide transition, letting downhill speed carry, and lowering heat on core movement for cleaner chases and disengages. Keep your takes coming!”

Generally, it seems people who are soldiering through Marathon’s punishing and initially confusing extraction gameplay are finding it rewarding. But some believe it may be too brutal for its own good and end up putting more casual players off, not just because of how hard it is, but because of the time and effort that will clearly be needed to keep up with the hardcore player base.

The Marathon Server Slam hit a peak Steam concurrent player count of 143,621 when it launched last week, but somewhat surprisingly, that number declined as we worked through the weekend. Marathon hit a peak of 64,128 concurrents on Sunday, just a few days before Marathon goes on sale priced $39.99 on March 5. Of course, Steam concurrents do not paint the entire picture, and neither Sony nor Microsoft makes player numbers public. It will be interesting to see how Marathon does at launch.

“Many Runners have maxed out their Faction Rep, adopted a Rook or two, and braved the haunted hallways of Hauler,” Bungie said. “We've also heard from people saying the deeper they get into progression, the more fun they are having. Tau Ceti can be unforgiving, and we can't wait to see you next week.”

Check out IGN's Marathon review so far to find out what we think.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.