Bungie brings the nerf hammer down on Marathon's problematic 'rich get richer' gun

Bungie is stepping in to take action against the Marathon Biotoxic Disinjector, admitting its ridiculous endgame gun is proving a problem. As one of the grand prizes from the endgame Cryo Archive raid, you'd expect something special from the red-tiered Biotoxic Disinjector, and it delivers. Combining trace rifle and grenade launcher, it's a versatile tool, but the latter half has become such an issue that the Marathon community has united in voice against it. It's giving those already at the top rung of the multiplayer game an unassailable lead, so the developer has pulled out the nerf hammer.

The trace rifle on this alien-tech weapon is perfectly serviceable, and ensures it can be used in a wider range of situations, but belies its true threat. The Bitoxic Disinjector grenades are powerful enough to nearly one-shot opposing players, which is exacerbated by the fact they will bounce off walls and stick to your victims. In any close-quarters or indoor encounters, it can turn an entire room into a death sentence in a second, which just so happens to make it particularly strong in the Cryo Archive, the primary endgame activity.

"Biotoxic Disinjector. It's strong! … Too strong," Marathon game director Joe Ziegler admits. "We will be doing a change on live taking it down a notch and nerfing its damage." That nerf is no joke, with a 35% damage reduction across the board. "We're likely to make some adjustments to Biotox in the near future and may not stick to this damage nerf," Ziegler explains, "but for now we wanted to make sure we could curb a little bit of its dominion in the game."

Marathon's halfway house between the gear grind of a Destiny and the more traditional competitive nature of an extraction shooter makes striking that balance important. The Biotoxic Injector isn't just a strong meta gun; it's one that's only obtained by coming out on top in the game's current climactic encounter. That means players who own one are at a serious advantage in future Cryo Archive runs, creating a 'rich get richer' scenario where anyone yet to pick the weapon up is going to struggle to survive against those who have it.

Even the game's leading YouTube and Twitch creators have been speaking up. Michael 'MTashed' Tash says the weapon is "single-handedly ruining the game," while Hazel 'HazelSoSlay' remarks, "If they do not do something about it I genuinely think there is a chance it kills any aspiration to play the game for a large amount of people very soon."

"The Biotoxic Disinjector is fun, don't get me wrong, but it is going to ruin Cryo Archive if it doesn't get tuned ASAP," YouTuber 'SayWallahBruh' adds. "Didn't die once yesterday using it and I started to genuinely feel bad for the other players." Twitch streamer 'Drewsky' agrees: "I'll never actually consider bringing in anything remotely good in Cryo as long as Biotoxic Disinjector exists in its current state."

Fortunately, this damage nerf should go some way to tackling the issue, although it's likely that the grenade spam playstyle will still be a very viable option in those close-quarters encounters. Hopefully Bungie spends a little more time in the design studio to figure out a solution. In the meantime, Milo 'MrRoflWaffles' suggests running the next Cryo Archive with "a modifier where all Biotox guns are disabled, and potentially all Bubble Shields are too."