Marathon Mid-Season 2 Update: WSTR, D54, and Grenade Meta Shifts

Update 1.1.5 lands next week and it is not a quiet patch. Three systems are getting meaningful adjustment: the WSTR Combat Shotgun - Shotgun gets a damage buff paired with heavy range restrictions, the ⬢ D54 Battle Pistol - Pistol gets pulled back from its dominant burst-kill window, and grenade stacking gets a hard infil cap. Each change is surgical, but the downstream effects on how fights play out — especially in Cryo Archive — are real. Community reaction to the specifics is not yet available; the notes just published and player response is pending.

The WSTR Combat Shotgun's base damage climbs from 85 to 100 — that is the headline number that will get attention. The precision bonus multiplier is being stripped entirely (down to 1.0x from 1.05x), spread is increasing 20% across all stat tiers, and the damage falloff curve is being retuned significantly. The official notes give concrete 2HKO benchmarks: a grey WSTR can two-shot a base-shield Runner inside 3 meters, and only 2 meters against purple shields. A max-invested WSTR pushes that out to 7 meters on base shields, 4 meters on purple.

That last number is where your buildcrafting decisions get real. The ◈ MIPS Slug Converter - Barrel MOD - Prestige barrel — which the database lists as increasing fire rate, stability, and aim for the WSTR — becomes the critical piece for anyone trying to extend that 2HKO window even fractionally. Without it, this is a point-blank punish tool. With range investment, it becomes something more threatening but still very short-leash.

The Misriah 2442 - Shotgun is also losing its precision multiplier in the same pass, per the notes — full details on the Misriah changes are held for the complete patch release, but both ballistic shotguns are shifting away from headshot-bonus identity toward pure pellet-on-target output.

For tier purposes: the WSTR comes up. It is not the launch menace Bungie is clearly still wary of — they said as much — but 2HKO potential at 7 meters max-invested is a real threat that the current C-tier placement does not reflect.

The D54 Battle Pistol's precision multiplier drops from 1.5x to 1.38x and the damage falloff range contracts 10% across all stat tiers (max 100 Range stat falloff minimum drops from 38m to 34m, maximum from 72m to 64m). Bungie's own framing is direct: grey-shield downs now require three precision bursts instead of two, and purple shields take four instead of three.

That is a tangible TTK increase in Runner-vs-Runner. The D54 was sitting at B-tier in our table because its light-round ammo sharing made it a zero-cost secondary, and that logic still holds — but the dominant burst-kill window that had players questioning whether it was undertiered is now genuinely narrowed. It stays B. The nerf is real but not a kit-breaker; it pulls the ceiling in without collapsing the floor.

Starting July 21, you can only infil with a combined maximum of 2 grenades across Bubble Shields, Chem Grenades, EMP Grenades, Flechette Grenades, Frag Grenades, and Heat Grenades. Grenades found in-run are unrestricted — this is purely an infil loadout limit. Bungie cites both AOE spam reduction and Bubble Shield prevalence as the targets.

The Cryo Archive implication is immediate. Stacked Bubble Shield entries into contested vault rooms — a known high-level tactic — are being compressed. Two-grenade infil forces genuine priority decisions. EMP grenades remain critical for breaking Scorch Warden and Frost Warden shields; Bubble Shields provide extract safety. You are now choosing, not stacking. This benefits shells with built-in survivability — the Destroyer - Combat's Riot Barricade and Triage - Support's Med-Drone and Reboot+ become more valuable when consumable grenade buffers are thinner.

Vault Breaker — a new experimental PvE-only mode inside Cryo Archive running July 21 through August 4 — splits the player base across PvE and PvPvE queues for two weeks. All in-run gear is restricted from exfil, so this does not directly affect the ranked economy, but Vault Data can purchase gear usable in standard activities including Prestige weapons. Cradle and Faction upgrades are active inside the mode. For ranked players: the Cradle Evolution system also arrives this patch — maxed Cradle players can reset for an additional max Energy point and cosmetic unlocks. The 25% Cradle progress reduction that Bungie previously imposed has also been reverted, accelerating everyone's path to full investment. More Energy in the system faster means Cradle track builds solidify quicker. Endurance and Recharge track synergies in particular become more accessible mid-ranked climb.