Grenades needs to be nerfed

Marathon’s grenade mechanic is becoming one of the most frustrating parts of the game right now.

The biggest issue is how little counterplay grenades actually have in many situations. Especially frag grenades feel way too strong because they explode almost instantly and can delete players even through decent armor. A lot of fights turn into grenade spam instead of actual gunfights, which honestly hurts the pacing and skill expression of the game.

Another major problem is the amount of grenades available during a run. Even after some balancing changes, players are still constantly finding grenades from containers, bots, and dead players, which means engagements often become endless nade chains instead of tactical fights. It feels less like positioning and aim matter, and more like whoever throws more explosives first wins.

A lot of players are also frustrated with how grenades explode immediately on impact. In comparison to games like Apex Legends, there’s barely any reaction time. In Marathon, you often die before you can even process what happened, especially in close-quarter fights or around corners.

The current system also encourages corner camping and pre-throwing grenades at choke points. Instead of dynamic movement and aggressive pushes, many encounters slow down into waiting games where players hold grenades and instantly punish anyone peeking.

Here are some changes that could make the system feel healthier and less frustrating:

• Add a longer fuse timer to frag grenades so players have time to react.
• Reduce grenade spawn rates from containers and AI enemies.
• Limit the total number of grenades players can carry into a raid.
• Add separate utility and grenade slots to prevent inventory abuse.
• Increase self-damage from grenades to discourage reckless spam.
• Add the ability to throw back or counter certain grenades.
• Make grenade usage more deliberate by slightly increasing throw animations or equip times.
• Introduce cooldown-based grenade systems instead of pure inventory stacking.
• Improve audio and visual warning indicators for incoming grenades.

Grenades should be strong and useful, but right now they often feel oppressive rather than tactical. Marathon’s gunplay is genuinely fun, and it would be a shame if explosive spam became the dominant way to play the game.