Bungie just gave us the first real look at Marathon’s core identity — and if you’ve ever lost your mind chasing a Destiny god roll, this is mandatory listening.

In this Power Creep Bonus Episode, we break down Marathon’s Runner Shell system and translate dev-speak into what players actually care about:

How brutal is the grind going to be?

Marathon isn’t “just another extraction shooter.” Bungie is trying to transplant Destiny’s obsessive buildcrafting into a PvPvE survival loop — with seven distinct roles, deep class identity, and a build economy built around four pillars:

Cores. Implants. Weapons. Mods.

Cores look like healthy, shell-defining choices… but Implants are where the anxiety starts:

• universal stat boosts
• random perks
• and higher-tier implants with bonus fixed perks on top

That’s not a loot chase. That’s a multi-layer slot machine — tier + stats + fixed perk + random perk… all stacked.

We also dig into:

• why Cores vs Implants could decide whether shells stay unique or become homogenized stat-checks
• how the Vandal mobility vs “Chaotic Propel” slam build hints at true sandbox creativity
• why the Rook Frame might be the smartest retention system Bungie’s ever built… or a risk-free trap that drains the high-stakes playlists

This is the moment where Marathon either becomes Bungie’s next obsession… or the next game that burns players out with RNG.

So tell us: Are you excited… or already feeling gear anxiety?
Which shell are you picking first — Vandal chaos, Recon intel, or Triage support?
And did Bungie just rebuild Destiny’s grind in a new genre?

Let’s hear your theorycraft.