So, what I and others have realized is that there are core problems with progression in Marathon. 1. You really can't buildcraft for more than one character unless you unlock all the faction upgrades. • There simply isn't enough vault space — thus factions with the plug, mod, & chip upgrades that unlock consistent and daily armory access. • That takes a long time, imo, too long for all but the sweatiest of players. Milo is even talking about it... and he's farming Cryo with good success. Why is this an issue? It's a fundamental obstruction to player development. Players' learning, more casual engagement skill bands and returning players ARE at a deficit. Here's the best analogy: [u]Golf[/u]. Marathon is like the handicap system in reverse. Where higher skill bands receive the benefits playing in the same pools for matchmaking. The solution.... Faction Trees and leveling needs to be reworked... where "more of it" is/are the benefits for skill expression. Meaning adjusted to allow MOST players access to buildcrafting resources AND shell upgrades much earlier. "More of it" is exactly what it sounds like. ViP nodes and final capstones should increase stack limits in the armory. When you watch the sweatiest players, resource management... stalls them out. You can easily farm more money... the issue they encounter IS they reach their buy limits. For casual... mid game players, those reduced limits won't affect them as much. Because at least they'll have access to the full suite and will be on an even playing ground respective shell upgrades. A fair tradeoff for being able to buy less stuff... IS... at least you have access and can buy all/most of it (not golds). IS... at least you won't lose every melee fight. There are mods that increase your melee dmg... combined with melee dmg upgrades means... better players do more dmg not by virtue of direct skill expression.... they're just stronger than you. Pop a shield charge, have max knife upgrades and you'll win MOST of your fights against those that don't. And there's no way... no information for that. I can ADS to peak their shield strength. But no way to determine their melee efficacy. You can't block... there's no counter for players with those deficits other than not engaging. As a rule, because again, no way to get that information in real-time. The ⚠️[b]RULE[/b]⚠️ then becomes... IF you DON'T have all the upgrades and access to buildcrafting, [u]ALWAYS avoid PvP[/u]. If you don't, you'll always be at a disadvantage... by virtue of the example ― of a lower skill band exacerbated by the deficits in buildcrafting and shell capabilities. I just got the last Agility upgrade a few days ago... Night and DAY! That's one upgrade, I feel so much stronger now. That RULE further exacerbating progression, because of Arachne, if you don't engage in PvP you'll never unlock the shotguns... you'll never get the Rook capstone. If these things don't change, it will be impossible to court new players or establish a good casual player base. Because established players, like me, will have max agility... we'll heal faster. Our abilities will be better. Our cooldowns for those abilities will be shorter. We'll have cardio kick to rush spawn upon load. I'll have the mod that increases my melee dmg after using ANY shield charge at any time... with max melee, I'll never lose a knife fight against a player who doesn't have those things or mitigation that matches or exceeds that simple setup. Essentially you got the KotHs, atop the mountain with bazookas... and everyone trying to learn/progress... climbing that mountain with wooden spears and no shoes on. And that NEEDS to change. As much as I love the game, and how brutal it is... I love it. That's too brutal... too much. Skill Gap shouldn't get the handicap... I'm not saying attrition or "mid-band" should. I'm not saying flip it like golf. I'm saying no one should. Thus, most armory access (up to purples)... and ALL shell upgrades need to be more accessible and achieved earlier. @Bungie for your consideration, please and thank you 😇👍💠. To add: Some specifics on how I would address it — utilizing and improving existing mechanics: Ok, obviously the nodes on the trees need to be moved around... a little. Then, already, as you level your factions... you get reward packages, and I know the meta for inventory constraints is holding them... I haven't. If you don't, you'd have noticed that part of those reward packages includes upgrade salvage 😋. That's how. Combined with season rank rewards... and better drop rates in-game. Essentially, you SHOULD get most of what you need by virtue of the faction reward packages to upgrade those faction trees. Close. There could still be a gap. Though right now... 1 Sterilized Biostripping! Ooh boy. That... those rewards could be much better and go a long way to improving progression with a mechanic (rank-up faction rewards) already in-game. 2nd edit: To expound... I know you're talking about nerfing melee... I think that's a mistake. It's an invaluable tool for stealth play... nerfing melee is just a Band-Aid for the larger issue above. That WON'T be an issue IF it's addressed comprehensively as I'm recommending. Melees need to be able to kill bots and players easily once fully upgraded. And those upgrades should come faster and easier for ALL players. Noise. Mitigation of Noise is SO important. And Melee is that on demand utility access point. It's potency and efficacy with investment and buildcrafting. Don't kill melee as a scapegoat for this larger issue.