Overview
- Bungie announced the Vault Breaker PvE mode on June 23 and said it will launch as part of Marathon’s mid‑season update on July 21.
- Vault Breaker lets solo players, duos, or trios tackle a series of progressively harder vaults on the Cryo Archive map with a unique, persistent in‑mode progression.
- Anything found in a Vault Breaker run will not be extracted as normal loot; the only persistent reward is Vault Data, which upgrades the mode’s Sponsored Kit or can be spent on items usable in other playlists.
- Bungie clarified that defeating the Vault Breaker boss will not grant the PvP‑tied S’Phticide shell cosmetic, keeping some endgame rewards exclusive to the traditional PvP Cryo Archive.
- The mode arrives alongside the first Cradle Evolution iteration and other tuning on July 21 as an explicit experiment to broaden access and test whether PvE content can improve player retention.