Marathon Mid-Season 2 Patch: The WSTR Is Back — What It Means for Ranked

The WSTR Combat Shotgun - Shotgun is back. Bungie confirmed the damage increase from 85 to 100 for the mid-season update landing July 21st, and the 2HKO potential is real — but the range profile is the story, not the raw number.

At grey rarity against base shields, the 2HKO window sits at 3 meters. Max-invested against base shields, 7 meters. Against purple shields, that drops to 4 meters max-invested and 2 meters at grey. Bungie also stripped the precision multiplier entirely (down to 1.0x from 1.05x) and increased spread 20% across all stat tiers. Aim assist falloff tightens at range, and minimum damage at max falloff drops from 20% to 10%.

The read: this weapon rewards aggression inside grapple range. It punishes passive mid-range play. That profile is a direct gift to two shells — Assassin - Stealth and Thief - Stealth. Assassin's Active Camo approach angles and Shadow Strike core (the S-tier Prestige core that massively amplifies Knife - Melee damage from invisibility) pair naturally with a burst option that needs to be point-blank anyway. The ◈ MIPS Slug Converter - Barrel MOD - Prestige prestige barrel mod, which sources list as boosting fire rate and stability on the WSTR, becomes the primary build target. Exact tuned numbers remain source-listed rather than confirmed, but the directional benefit is clear.

“The WSTR's new identity rewards the shells already closing distance invisibly.”

The ⬢ D54 Battle Pistol - Pistol is taking a precision multiplier cut from 1.5x to 1.38x, plus a 10% reduction to damage falloff range across all stat tiers. Bungie's own math makes this concrete: it now takes 3 precision bursts to down a grey-shield runner and 4 against purple, up from 2 and 3 respectively.

That extra burst is a ranked kill window. In holotag fights, every additional trigger pull is exposure time. The D54 was overtuned as a secondary option that collapsed mid-range duels too quickly — at its nerfed state, it's still functional but no longer an anomaly. Players running it as a primary or dominant flex weapon need to reassess. The Repeater HPR - Precision Rifle (38 damage, 86 RPM, confirmed stats) and Stryder M1T - Precision Rifle (sources list it at 36 damage, 180 RPM) remain cleaner mid-range precision options that weren't touched this patch.

Two grenades. That's the new infil cap — any combination of Bubble Shields, Chem Grenades, EMP Grenades, Flechette Grenades, Frag Grenades, and Heat Grenades maxes at 2 on entry. In-run scavenged grenades are still unrestricted.

In ranked, Bubble Shield stacking was suppressing the Thief shell's window. Thief's S-tier solo ceiling depends on hitting a holotag target and extracting — grenade spam into the exfil zone was the clearest counter. Reducing infil-stack bubble coverage directly raises Thief's effective extraction success rate. The Assassin similarly benefits: smoke-reliant approach angles were being neutralized by pre-stacked AoE. This change doesn't fix the problem entirely, but it removes the most egregious opening-kit suppression.

Assassin and Thief go up in the post-patch ranked read. The WSTR's range limitation means the Vandal - Combat — already A-tier across solo and squad — doesn't benefit as directly; Vandal's Amplify-fueled Power Slide identity covers more ground than a 7-meter shotgun wants to operate in.

Drop the D54 as a primary mid-range carry — route that slot to the Repeater HPR or Stryder M1T. On Assassin, run the WSTR with MIPS Slug Converter and lean into the Shadow Strike core; the geometry now matches the tool. On Thief, the reduced grenade spam extends your exfil windows — use them. The Cradle progression revert (the 25% reduction was rolled back) means your Energy investment is fully restored, so double down on Dexterity for Agility and the Loot Siphon perk to maximize the Thief's opening tempo.

The WSTR patch is surgical. Bungie said they'd watch it closely — so will we.