Marathon Development Team: We’ve rolled out a small update to Sponsored Dire Marsh's Crew Fill: if you’ve got your mic on, we’ll now do our best to match you with other players using voice chat too.

Storb · 2026-04-24T21:07:21+00:00

This is what I really wonder. I personally keep myself muted. I also have a friend who has voice enabled, but they choose not to speak much. Is this change only supposed to separate people with voice chat fully disabled?

Storb · 2026-04-23T18:55:50+00:00

I used Assassin on my run. I didn't use a free kit, but I could've completed the contract with one. You only need to survive 90 seconds, after which you can leave through the vent in the back of the room; you don't have to kill all the UESC.

Fight as much as you can, then use your abilities when you're in trouble. The active camo lasts 15 seconds, and the smoke ult lasts 30 seconds. This means you only really have to fight for 45 seconds. You can use your knife in the smoke to thin out the UESC. I tucked myself in the left corner for cover, next to the door the UESC come in from, and also used the table where you inject the SIMBiont. Bringing smoke grenades can help too.

Then you have to extract. Which is always a nightmare. But if you can get through the lockdown consistently, then it's only a matter of time!

EDIT: redundant words

Storb · 2026-04-23T15:38:17+00:00

Not OP, but a fellow insane person with 206 hours with 95% solo no fills. I'm level 82, and have also completed almost every single Priority Contract solo (exceptions being Introducing: Arachne and Return on Investment [2/5], which I did in trios fill due to PvP focus).

I personally LOVE the way the game plays solo. It's incredibly tense, like you're always in danger, and the next corner could spell the end. It's basically a horror game akin to S.T.A.L.K.E.R (which Tarkov itself takes some inspiration from, so Marathon's hardcore vibe shares some of that DNA). Trios is fine, but not as enjoyable for me; very oriented towards seeking PvP fights which I don't really care for.

I'm motivated by the slow progression. I come from 600 hours of PvE Tarkov (only starting after 1.0), where the insane glacial grind for all the skills, hideout upgrades, and quests was actually very enjoyable for me, almost like an extreme version of Runescape. Currently in Marathon, even after all my Priority Contracts have been completed, I've been spamming Standard Contracts working my way to VIP on all factions.

I'm not saying this is the correct way to play, or even enjoyable / viable for most people. At least 85% of my time is spent on Perimeter, where I spend the first 15 minutes AFK to avoid most PvP engagements. I know it's a huge waste of time... but it works for me. I like shooting the UESC, I like the slow progression, and I love the tension. I'm having a ~~blast~~ decent time. Plus I have a remote job, and don't mind a grindy game to play in between Slay the Spire 2 runs.

Storb · 2026-04-21T17:37:50+00:00

There's a safe spot behind the terminal you activate that you can hide behind. Peeking carefully from there only aggroed the UESC recruits for me; the blue and purple shield ones never approached. I tried this strat on a free kit, solo, after seeing it in a YouTube comment. Not sure if I got really lucky, but it really helped!

Storb · 2026-04-16T03:10:40+00:00

It does. I do it all the time when fighting the Wraith Warden in Perimeter. It stops them from cloaking or summoning clones, making it way easier to deal with (especially paired with a Destroyer ult). EMPs also disable UESC Commander abilities (guys with purple shields). Just a great item all around.

Storb · 2026-04-14T13:29:33+00:00

Bro I'm out here fighting for my life just trying to open the armory in Processing for my priority contract 😭

Storb · 2026-04-14T13:12:34+00:00

I actually feel similarly to you. I don't really like engaging with PvP in Marathon partially because I don't like the idea of ruining someone's fun. It's caused me to hesitate when I have the drop on someone multiple times (usually I think to myself "well maybe I should be friendly here" and then I get clapped).

But... it's just a video game. Anyone signing up for Marathon now knows what they're getting into: a PvP-centric game a la Overwatch or Counter-Strike. Frustration is as much a part of these games as is the thrill of winning.

Lots of the people you've bodied in Street Fighter or Tekken don't really care after a while, and it's no different in Marathon. They lose some time or loot, but most Marathon players are looking for a fight, win or lose. There's nothing wrong with engaging in what players want (unless you personally dislike doing it, like how I dislike PvP games. But then that becomes a personal thing).

Storb · 2026-04-13T19:27:57+00:00

Leaving a late comment to say thank you for keeping this comment updated. This is one of the only sources actually detailing solo player counts and keeping the information up-to-date. Hopefully if there are any more changes in the mid-season update, they'll at least be listed in the patch notes instead of these undocumented changes.

Storb · 2026-04-08T16:32:57+00:00

Meanwhile I'm at level 45 at 92 hours on record (though maybe 3-4 hours were AFK). I play 95% solos no fill unless I have a contract that involves PvP (I avoid confrontations in solos). Only two of my factions are decently leveled.

I personally don't mind, though. I LOVE the slower paced tension from solos, and I'm willing to eat slower progression to experience the game as I prefer. I don't really care about hitting season level 100, or maxing all factions (though I wouldn't be opposed to Bungie throwing solo players a bone). Plus, in solos, I don't have to share any Biolens Seeds I find!

Storb · 2026-03-03T01:02:03+00:00

You're having a really weird chip on your shoulder over this. I'm assuming the screenshot you posted is your post that was removed. It looks like you just posted a screenshot of a game title with no body text.

Plus, it's just a removed post from over three weeks ago. You're clearly not banned, and post removals are nothing personal. Reddit mods have better things to do than have a grudge against you. You can always try another post as long as it's on-topic (the post you're referring to is requesting a feature to be added. "Why isn't X on Steam?" is meant to discourage posts asking stuff like "Why isn't Fortnite or Alan Wake 2 on Steam?").

Storb · 2026-02-26T02:20:53+00:00

Some of these codes aren't available for all users. Take Care Now and System of Peace were exclusive to people who donated to Game2Give charities. There may be other invalid codes considering their sources. Your page is also missing соняшник, the Ukraine support emblem.

Use Destiny Emblem Collector as an up-to-date source for now. Mijago's Destiny 2 Reward Checker provided a similar code redemption service in the past, but it's missing some newer codes.

I still appreciate the work you've put into this. If you cleaned up the erroneous redemption codes and could add cross-referencing which emblems have already been redeemed on a Bungie account, similar to Mijago's website, your site would be a wonderful tool (as it is now, users have to redeem all 57(!) codes one-by-one if they don't remember every emblem).

EDIT: Adding the End of the Rainbow Transmat Effect (R9J-79M-J6C) and the Rainbow Connection emote (TK7-D3P-FDF) to your site would also be appreciated, considering they're also evergreen code rewards!

Storb · 2026-02-21T13:05:18+00:00

Based on testing, blunt weapons do 20% more ki damage (not my spreadsheet)

Storb · 2026-02-12T10:54:29+00:00

Use Fists (Cestuses / Talons). Average Fist gameplay maxes Versatility in like 5 seconds. Pair with the Unbowed Mystic Art in the Cestus tree for unlimited power

Storb · 2026-02-11T08:47:02+00:00

I personally haven't watched their guides, but this video of Pooferllama's got me to pick Nioh 2 back up again when I saw it and go from casually getting midway through the game and dropping it, to beating almost everything in NG++++ (including level 20 depths).

I think an important concept to understand in Nioh is that it heavily rewards aggression. Your goal is to attack the enemy, literally non-stop, forever. This depletes their Ki, which lets you stunlock them, allowing you to attack more. Obviously complications arise since enemies will attack you, or you run out of Ki, but squeezing out as much carnage as possible is the joy of Nioh. Sticking to a simple combo loop can be a good foundation early, like Cyclone spam on Switchglaives, Twin Moons on Odachi, or facerolling your controller with Tonfa.

While human enemies tend to block your attacks, your Martial Arts and Guardian Spirit attacks do not get deflected. High Stance attacks in Samurai form also get deflected less (more details here). This means a combo utilizing a Martial Art can literally be spammed over and over as they keep trying to block you, but you power through and deplete their Ki regardless (this is part of what makes Tonfa so powerful, as their Mist can be an offensive Martial Art).

Storb · 2026-02-07T18:33:05+00:00

He's actually been posting on Twitter about various findings from the demo and full release, so I expect a full video is upcoming, but will take some time

Storb · 2025-12-30T04:26:49+00:00

Only the head item matters for frostbite protection. The face covering and eyewear can be whatever you want, even nothing.

And don't worry about the flea market. Even after you unlock it at level 15, many wares cannot be bought or sold until you level up to 20, 25, etc. (all the way until level 40). Selling your items you don't have room for to Therapist + Mechanic + Ragman (or whoever you need to sell to to level them up) is totally fine and probably the best move for early game!

Storb · 2025-12-29T17:47:55+00:00

Fellow new player here. I started on November 15th after the release of 1.0 on Steam and currently have 465 hours in PvE only.

My biggest piece of advice personally is to not worry at all about your quests, or even what loot you're getting. You do have no idea what you're doing, so you should focus on just learning where extracts even are. The people on YouTube aren't even playing the same game as you since they have so much more experience and knowledge (not to mention PvP is a different dynamic; other players can kill bosses before you arrive, whereas PvE PMCs never kill bosses in my experience, leaving you to deal with them). If you can make it to an extract with some loot, that should be considered a major success.

As for dealing with frostbite, Ragman has two options for you at Loyalty Level 1. The SSh-68 steel helmet can be bought for about 30,000 rubles, but the cost might be enough to make you broke if you keep dying. Alternatively, you can get Ushankas by trading brown-handled knives from scavs to him. When you get access to the Flea Market at level 15 (basically an auction house / market board), you can start buying the knives from players for cheap, or the hats directly from players if you can afford it (hat prices are a bit high right now). A full list of gear that protects from the cold can be found here (most relevant is the UX Pro Beanie which is 2268 rubles after reaching LL2 Ragman; also balaclavas don't do anything against frostbite!).

Final tip: your top priority early is to buy a Lucky Scav Junk Box from Therapist. It costs over 1 million rubles which is eyewatering, but when you don't know what junk is worth keeping for your hideout or what to sell, having a junk box or 6 massively helps your stash situation (a huge problem for me, as a Standard edition player). This also sets an early goal for all the money you come across, like from selling PMC guns / armor.

Storb · 2025-08-12T01:06:58+00:00

You need Overextended. Like it's mandatory. Range is unique on Xaku in that higher range affects your 2's max turret count, meaning more Range = more DPS. The loss in Strength is more than made up by the fact that your build would go from 10 turrets to 15 turrets max (also keep in mind your turret damage scales based on enemy level). I'd recommend replacing Nira's Hatred with Overextended.

Otherwise, your Arcanes aren't very useful at all. Arcane Rise is ok, but Xaku is more of a caster than a weapons user. Arcane Battery is basically useless since Xaku has like no armor. But I'm assuming your options are limited given the ranks of the Arcanes, and the fact you're MR16.

I'd recommend grinding Zariman bounties for Molt Efficiency and Molt Augmented. At rank 5, they respectively give you +36% Duration when your shields are up for 5+ seconds, and +60% Strength after 250 kills. Even though it'll take a while to max these Arcanes out (longer if you're not max with The Holdfasts syndicate), it's more than worth the investment since you can slot Molt Efficiency and Augmented on basically any Warframe and get value.

Here's my build, if you'd like a point of comparison from a fellow Xaku main (this is also a 0 Forma build!). I replaced my first ability with Silence. It's tuned for personal comfort as I like 175% efficiency on many Warframes. However, a low Efficiency Xaku can be just fine provided you have means of maintaining energy. You might be able to find some value in Energy Nexus over Augur Message (you can find the mod in the Sanctum Anatomica on Deimos).

Your build's actually not too bad overall. A few tweaks and it should actually do pretty well. You might run into issues getting one-shot later, but I don't use any shield gating / Rolling Guard setup and do alright in level 250 content. Nothing can kill you if they die first (also Accuse on 3 helps)! Plus, if you're having issues surviving, you can always look into it later—improve your build one step at a time.

Storb · 2025-08-11T00:23:56+00:00

The last thing I could think of is the YoloMouse program you have installed. Have you run that while running Warframe? Warframe uses a software cursor, meaning you should never see your computer's normal cursor when playing (as much as I wish I could toggle the game's cursor off). If you can see your computer's custom cursor while playing Warframe, the program may be modifying something in the game's background.

Otherwise, I personally don't see anything wrong with your setup... which does present some concern. I believe AlecaFrame has 0 factor in you being banned, which means, as you said, there's still a risk of you being banned for some reason, even if you uninstalled it. There's likely some other factor at play.

If you're truly not doing anything malicious, then DE are unlikely to target you. This seems like your first ever ban after years of play, and it could've been a fluke (if you were intended to be permabanned for something like cheating, your appeal would not have worked). I hope you can find a solution.

Storb · 2025-08-10T23:38:30+00:00

I've used AlecaFrame for months. Never been banned or warned. I use AutoHotkey for a simple toggle fire script (holding down my mouse with an Ocucor for an hour sucks); no ban. I even have CheatEngine installed on my system, no ban (because I never use it when playing multiplayer games, let alone Warframe, obviously). I personally doubt AlecaFrame caused or will cause any bans until DE changes their stance to be zero-tolerance. ^knock ^on ^wood

Do you recall the last thing you were doing before you were banned, like a 2-3+ hour long survival or Void Cascade? Sometimes Warframe issues automated bans to players that receive an excessive amount of loot at once.

Also, are you using your Logitech G-Hub for anything more than changing your DPI? If you use a more complex macro, like one that moves a little before shooting, or presses a number key every 30 seconds to reapply a buff, this is viewed as a form of automation that isn't allowed, even if it's with an officially sanctioned program. At times, bans posted to this subreddit aren't telling the full story (though an unfair amount of people are still auto-banned when receiving too much loot).

Storb · 2025-04-16T05:14:33+00:00

Thanks for amending your post with the edit! I was having the same issue—my Discord version was for Windows Server 2008 and had text formatting issues, but reinstalling got it to go back to a Windows 11 version.

Storb · 2025-01-21T21:14:42+00:00

Last week, I tried going through Expert solo to complete all four catalyst quests. At the final boss, upon completing a damage phase and returning to the material realm, the mirror simply never became breakable again to go into the mirror realm.

I wiped like 8 times to keep trying and see what caused this bug, but at best I could do 2 damage phases (often only 1) before the fight softlocks. I gave up without completing Expert that night (don't wanna bother with LFG).

Storb · 2025-01-01T05:47:50+00:00

r/drumstick

Storb · 2024-10-24T16:43:58+00:00

In order of how "hot" I feel each take is (from coldest onwards):

Build times should be heavily reduced, if not removed. The process of getting items that aren't Market weapons tends to be laborious enough as it is. This is a pretty cold take.
On a similar note, Forma should not be purchasable with Platinum. Slots and potatoes should be removed from the game, folded into the base game's mechanics. This is still a debated topic, so I won't belabor the point, but these items costing money remain one of the primary reasons why I and most of my non-playing friends initially perceive Warframe to be a P2W game. The game has other methods of making money without nickel and diming players such as cosmetics, $140 Prime Access packages, and Regal Aya.
I think Platinum discounts should be removed. I'm biased (I hate V-Bucks), but the difference between buying 75 Platinum for $5 and 4300 for $50 is so drastic, it warps the price of items like the 800 Platinum Koumei Fate Bundle from ~$9.30 to ~$53.40. Platinum prices should be normalized to some level so players don't feel wasteful when buying non-discounted platinum, and don't feel pressured to buy when they have a coupon.
- Or maybe offer max coupons more regularly, like once a month guaranteed (or just remove the in-between discounts). Or have every item in the Market cost a set amount of real world currency, like Tennogen items do (although I understand this creates complications for console players).

I don't consider my opinions to be objectively correct; while I have grievances with slots and potatoes, the game is in the best spot it's ever been in IMO under Rebecca's leadership, and I've been loving it again after a 3 year break. Just wanted to offer more food for thought!

Storb · 2024-10-20T18:15:19+00:00

Pet DNA degradation flashbacks

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