The Emperor protects, but having a loaded Bolter never hurts either. Space Marine 2 has a venerable arsenal of wargear to dispense righteous fury upon the enemies of the Imperium, as each class has exclusive access to certain guns and melee weapons. Since each weapon works differently from the rest, it can be hard to find the right one for you. In this guide, we’ll talk about all the armaments of Space Marine 2 and judge them based on their reliability in Operations and Eternal War mode.
S-Tier
Meltagun
This weapon is currently the best gun for fighting both Tyranids and Rubric Marines, as not only does it deal extreme damage, but it can also penetrate through hordes and stagger Majoris enemies. The Meltagun functions like a close-ranged shotgun, but deals full damage in a wide cone that ignores enemy mass. It also has the effect of completely restoring your Contested Health in one shot, even restoring missing health in some cases. If you’re running Ruthless difficulty missions, the Meltagun makes them run a lot smoother.
Multi-Melta
This is the Heavy variant of the Meltagun, giving it a deeper ammo reserve with no reloading. However, in exchange, it has an extremely slow fire rate. The Multi-Melta shares all the same traits as its cousin, but does everything better since it requires no reloading. Heavy mains can use this to clear away hordes of enemies in close-range and completely avert its vulnerability in melee combat.
Chainsword
Despite being the starter weapon for all classes, this blade is still highly reliableand strikes a perfect balance between cleaving potential and single-target damage. Even when compared to other melee weapons, the Chainsword can still deal with Terminus enemies and uses a fairly simple moveset that can be easy to master. Overall, it’s great all-round and certainly not a bad melee weapon to pick up if you class allows for it.
Las Fusil
This weapon is exclusive to the Sniper class. What makes it special is that it can quickly kill some of the tougher targets in the game. When fully upgraded, this weapon can two-shot Tyranid Warriors and Rubric Marines in the head, or even one-shot them into the stagger state even on Ruthless difficulty. For mouse and keyboard player, this is one of the most potent weapons to have if you have an accurate aim and can make Chaos missions super easy with the amount of Rubric Marines present in the battlefield. In PvP, it’s harder to use due to how player movement works, but it can still be a lethal weapon for extremely accurate players.
Bolt Pistol
This weapon is available for most of the classes and is versatile, allowing it to keep pace with its primary cousins. Its ammo reserve is quite generous and can remain accurate at long ranges. The Bolt Pistol can be leveled up to Relic tier and will significantly give fresh classes a leg up in harder difficulties, especially when their own weapons are still at level 1. Overall, its good enough to be used as a primary weapon for most classes when power leveling through Operations and Eternal War.
Plasma Pistol
For players who prefer just a bit more firepower for their sidearm, the Plasma Pistol is for you. Unique to Plasma weapons is that while it can be fired like a regular gun, it can also be charged up to deal even more damage and cause a stagger. This weapon does not require reloading, but it does have a heat mechanic that will overheat if fired too often. Pressing the reload button instead vents the heat to rapidly cool it down. The Plasma Pistol is a great secondary option if you can pace your shots well.
Power Sword
The Power Sword is harder to use compared to the Chainsword and Combat Knife, having two different movesets based on the stance you set the weapon to. However, masters of this weapon are unstoppable in melee combat. It has the most diverse combo list that switches between single-target damage for Majoris enemies and AoE horde cleaving moves for Minoris groups, which can be hard to pull off in the middle of combat. Still, melee enthusiasts will enjoy this weapon for the depth it brings to combat.
A-Tier
Bolt Rifle
Warhammer 40k is synonymous to the iconic Boltgun, which fires a rocket-propelled bullet that explodes after hitting its target. Space Marine 2 does the Bolt Rifle justice with its damage profile and accuracy being right in the middle of the road among the other bolt weapons. This weapon is good enough in most situations and rewards accurate players with satisfying kills that can make short work of Majoris-level enemies.
Instigator Bolt Carbine
Among all the Bolt weapons in this category, the Instigator Bolt Carbine is the most accurate while dealing the full damage of all the other Bolt weapons. This weapon is great for dealing damage against Majoris enemies, but due to its lower magazine capacity and fire rate, it isn’t as effective for clearing hordes. Still, this weapon is great when picking off beefier targets and is particularly effective in PvP.
Marksman Bolt Carbine
In comparison to the other bolt weapons, the Marksman Bolt Carbine is Space Marine 2’s version of a designated marksman rifle, which is an accurate, semi-automatic weapon with a smaller ammo reserve. It is great for killing priority targets at range without the slower fire rate of the Bolt Sniper Rifle. In smaller spaces however, it isn’t as effective and will require you to tap the trigger to get any results.
Stalker Bolt Rifle
Think of this weapon as an upscaled Marksman Bolt Carbine, taking the designated marksman rifle role to the extreme. It deals the most damage per shot out of the regular bolt weapons (not including the Bolt Sniper Rifle). The Marksman Bolt Carbine can easily pick off dangerous targets like Rubric Marines and Tyranid Warriors with ease, but with its limited ammo reserves, it isn’t ideal for killing hordes.
Heavy Bolt Rifle
Completely opposite of the semi-automatic and burst-fire bolt weapons, the Heavy Bolt Rifle completely does away with accuracy in favor of a deeper magazine reserve and fast rate of fire. This weapon is tailor-made to deal with large hordes but struggles to hit Majoris targets at far ranges. It can melt heavier targets, but this will require precise recoil management since its high fire rate contributes to the extreme bloom.
Heavy Bolter
The Heavy Bolter is a great all-rounder heavy weapon that can chew through Majoris targets, but it’s best used for clearing hordes with its high rate of fire and damage. It lies in the middle of the road between the Multi-Melta and Heavy Plasma Incinerator, being a versatile tool for all forms of combat. It can be somewhat unwieldy to use, but learning how to make use of the Heavy Bolter goes a long way in clearing Ruthless difficulty.
Plasma Incinerator
This rifle variant of the Plasma Pistol follows the same mechanics of heat management and charged shots for extra damage. With its deeper ammo reserves, it’s a formidable weapon in many situations, though it can easily run out of ammo in more chaotic situations. Its charged shots can damage Majoris enemies enough to get a stagger, but it consumes way more ammo and requires accuracy.
B-Tier
Bolt Carbine
The Bolt Carbine is the game’s version of a submachine gun, trading ammo capacity and accuracy for a blazing-fast rate of fire. At close range, it can deal a lot of burst damage but struggles completely even at medium range and beyond. This weapon is best suited for the Sniper since its cloak ability makes it safe to fight at close range, but other bolt weapons can excel just as well up close and at farther ranges. By the time you’re in its optimal range, you would have already pulled out a melee weapon to start brawling enemies with.
Combat Knife
This weapon is built for 1v1 duels with Majoris targets, executing blazing-fast strikes to whittle down an enemy into pieces. While the Combat Knife excels at dueling, it isn’t as great for cleaving enemies, meaning that you’ll be overwhelmed by large hordes of Minoris enemies. For this weapon, you’ll need to parry a lot against hordes to give yourself some space for escaping or engaging higher-priority targets.
Auto Bolt Rifle
This weapon lies in the middle between the Bolt Rifle and the Heavy Bolt Rifle in its usage. It excels as a mid-ranged rifle that has enough ammo to deal with some threats in one magazine, making it a jack of all trades weapon without having any particular strengths or weaknesses. It’s a decent weapon that stands well on its own, but there are better options out there.
Power Fist
The Power Fist excels at crowd-control with its wide sweeping attacks and stagger power. Its weakness lies in its damage values, as it takes a while for it to kill Tyranid Warriors without using Gun Strikes. It’s a fun weapon, but it really only does one thing well while lacking in the rest, making other melee weapons a better choice.
C-Tier
Thunder Hammer
This weapon is quite slow and clunky, which is quite funny for something named the Thunder Hammer. Sadly, its damage doesn’t justify the sacrifice to mobility and attack speed, especially when the Assault class has access to better weapons like the Chainsword and Power Fist. It does have extremely good cleaving potential for hordes, but the lack of forward momentum you usually get for swinging a melee weapon makes it more difficult to use. To make up for this weakness, the Assault class can use its Jump Pack to gain more ground and distance.
However, due to the Assault’s inherent weaknesses, the Thunder Hammer suffers alongside it.
Heavy Plasma Incinerator
This is a Heavy exclusive weapon and is extremely clunky to use, even when compared to the other Heavy weapons available. It works like a grenade launcher, firing plasma bolts that have projectile drop and have splash damage. While it’s good for clearing hordes and even killing Majoris targets, the small ammo reserve and slow fire rate make it less ideal in practical situations. The Heavy Bolter and Multi-Melta can fill its role with way more ease of use.
