Bungie has locked in the date for Marathon's first major seasonal transition. Season 2, titled Nightfall, begins on June 2, and the studio is using what's left of Season 1 to flood Tau Ceti IV with guaranteed rewards, escalating UESC pressure, and a final shot at the game's toughest content before everything resets.
The full Season 2 reveal is scheduled for the week of May 25.
Runners have been pillaging across Tau Ceti, the UESC has had enough, and the first wave of renewed security is rolling out now. The full crackdown arrives with Nightfall on June 2.
What Nightfall Brings on June 2
Season 2 leads with a new zone called Night Marsh, plus a new Runner shell and a fresh batch of weapons. Bungie is also rolling out a system called The Cradle, which lets players customize Runner shell stats directly.
Faction progression is getting noticeably faster in Nightfall. Bungie has also confirmed quality of life updates driven by player feedback, along with additional content the studio is holding back for the May 25 showcase.
Update 1.0.9 Lands Next Tuesday With Guaranteed Drops and Map Events
Before Season 2 hits, Bungie is shipping Update 1.0.9 next Tuesday. The studio's stated goal is to lean into the "liberated chaos" of an incoming fresh start by cranking up rewards across the board.
Locked room keys are now guaranteed to drop from Wardens for the rest of the season. Map events like Intercept, Lockdown, Warden spawns, Convoy, and Anomaly will also be guaranteed on every run, so the better rewards tied to those events come around far more often.
Faction experience gains are going up from all sources through the end of the season. Deluxe keys will also get a chance to drop from every wall safe after Update 1.0.9, opening another path to valuable loot that doesn't depend on Warden encounters.
UESC Forces Escalate Across Tau Ceti IV
UESC presence is climbing across Tau Ceti IV in several concrete ways. Wardens can now spawn at new POIs in Perimeter, Dire Marsh, and Outpost. UESC aerial activity has also jumped dramatically on Perimeter, with dropship flyovers and crash sites giving Runners new opportunities to grab their supplies.
Bungie is also deploying what it calls a "new threat" on Dire Marsh and Perimeter, aimed at shutting down Runner activity. The studio did not share specifics on what that new threat actually is.
Cryo Archive Goes Daily, Ranked Finale Locks Down Late May
Bungie wants more players to try Cryo Archive before Season 1 closes. The map will run every day from May 21 through the end of the season on June 2.
To offset the risk of the "lose everything factory," Bungie is mailing players a free Cryo Archive Sponsored Kit every day during that window.
Cryo Archive: Ranked closes out the Ranked queue for Season 1. It runs from May 24 at 10AM PT to May 28 at 10AM PT, and regular Cryo won't be available during that stretch.
Entry requirements for Ranked Cryo:
- Runner Level 25
- 3,000 loadout requirements for low stakes
- 10,000 loadout requirements for high stakes
Rook Buff and a Major Key Template Rework
Update 1.0.9 brings targeted balance changes on top of the reward boosts. Rook's Signal Mask is getting a buff that makes stealth runs more viable. The ability now stays active longer when sprinting, and the range at which AI detects your footsteps with Signal Mask active has been cut down.
The Key Template system is also getting reworked after sustained player feedback. Bungie acknowledged that Templates haven't been fun to engage with, since getting downed and losing your key pushed players into passive playstyles and quick exfils.
For the rest of Season 1, Templates change from Fragile to Compromised. Charging keys now means hunting Matter Fixatives, which drop from Commanders and other enemies. The shift also stops keys from getting destroyed in matches and opens up the possibility of looting keys off other crews you take down.
The Full Seasonal Reset Breakdown
Season 2 marks Marathon's first ever seasonal reset. Bungie's goal is for everyone to start on equal footing, with a clean slate where the community can rediscover what's valuable and chart new paths through the season together.
What Gets Wiped
The reset hits gameplay progression specifically:
- Runner Level
- Ranked Level
- Faction Level and Upgrades
- Credits and other currencies, with LUX and SILK exempt
- All items in your inventory and Vault
- Purchases unlocked by Schemas
- Messages, rewards, and returned items in your Mailbox
- Priority Contracts, with the first contract for each Faction exempt
- Gear granting seasonal Codex entries for Runner Level and Ranked
What Stays
Plenty of progress survives the reset:
- Cosmetics and weapons unlocked and redeemed during Season 1
- Codex challenges, including partial progress (Runner and Ranked levels excluded), covering Combat, Feats, Loot, Map, Runner, and Title categories
- Faction Unlocks, since access to each faction you previously unlocked is retained without repeating Liaison Contracts
- Initial Priority Contracts, with completion status of the first contract for each faction retained
- LUX and SILK balances
- Rewards Pass progress, which Bungie confirmed does not reset and carries straight into Season 2
- Cryo Archive Subroutines progress
Claim Your Rewards Before June 2
Bungie has been explicit about what needs claiming before the reset. All unclaimed gear and equipment reward packages from factions and the Codex will reset with the new season, so players need to grab them now and put the loot to use.
Cosmetic items work differently. Styles, titles, and emblems will autocomplete at the end of the season and be automatically available in Season 2. If you earned a cosmetic during Season 1, it'll be there in Season 2 whether you formally claimed it or not.
Season 1 Ranked Rewards
Once Ranked ends, players can claim emblems, titles, and styles based on the highest rank they hit during Season 1. Rewards are claimed in the Codex.
The Season 1 Ranked rewards break down by tier:
- Bronze I: Bronze Runner Emblem
- Silver I: Silver Runner Emblem and Silver Runner Background
- Gold III: Glacial Impact (Destroyer Shell Style)
- Gold I: Gold Runner Emblem and Gilded Survivor Title
- Platinum I: Platinum Runner Emblem and Toolkit (Stryder M1T Weapon Style)
- Diamond I: Diamond Runner Emblem and Glacial Strafe (Bully SMG Weapon Style)
- Pinnacle I: Pinnacle Runner Emblem, Expanse (Repeater HPR Weapon Style), and Ascendant Survivor Title
Two important caveats on Ranked rewards.
First, players only receive the Emblem of the highest rank they reach. Hitting Diamond I means getting only the Diamond Runner Emblem, not the Bronze, Silver, or other lower rank emblems. All other rewards stack additively.
Second, Ranked titles are usable for one additional season after the one they're earned in. The "Gilded Survivor" title earned in Season 1 can still be shown off in Season 2, but the player would need to climb back to Gold I again for it to carry into Season 3. Everything else is permanent.
The four weapon and shell styles tied to higher ranks:
- Glacial Impact (Destroyer Shell Style) at Gold III
- Toolkit (Stryder M1T Weapon Style) at Platinum I
- Glacial Strafe (Bully SMG Weapon Style) at Diamond I
- Expanse (Repeater HPR Weapon Style) at Pinnacle I
Season 2 Sponsored Kits Based on Final Runner Level
When Season 2 begins, CyberAcme will hand out Sponsored Kits based on the final Runner Level players reached in Season 1. Kits are claimed in the Codex.
- Runner Level 10: Enhanced CyberAcme Sponsored Kit
- Runner Level 25: Enhanced CyberAcme Sponsored Kit
- Runner Level 50: Deluxe CyberAcme Sponsored Kit
- Runner Level 75: Superior CyberAcme Sponsored Kit
Rewards are additive, so reaching Level 75 means claiming all four kits.
Looking Ahead to Nightfall
Bungie's official summary of Season 2: Nightfall lists the confirmed additions arriving on June 2:
- The new Night Marsh zone
- A new Runner shell
- New weapons
- The Cradle, a new system to customize Runner shell stats
- Faster faction progression
- Quality of life updates based on player feedback
- Additional content not yet detailed
The full Season 2 reveal is scheduled for the week of May 25, when Bungie has said deeper details will drop.
Season 1 is winding down on a deliberately generous note. Guaranteed drops, escalating UESC activity, daily Cryo Archive access, a final Ranked sprint, and a clear roadmap for the reset all point toward Bungie wanting players to end the season with as much loot, rank progress, and faction standing as possible before everyone returns to zero on June 2. Nightfall's content drop and the new Cradle customization system will have to do the work of pulling lapsed players back once the showcase lands the week of May 25.
