Summary
A lot of changes came withSpace Marine 2’s recent patch, adding the new Exfiltration mission, new cosmetics, and most importantly, overhauling how a lot of perks work. The PVE sandbox has been shaken up significantly, partly by the roll-out of Prestige Ranks, but also a large change in weapon availability and perks.
Not every perk was affected by the patch, but many received some changes, or were entirely replaced. Prestige Ranks are a little more self-explanatory, but due to the sheer volume of them, weapon perks can sometimes be overlooked. Anyone who has playedSpace Marine 2at a high level will know, though, that weapon perks are hugely important, so here are some of the most important changes.
All the Most Important Weapon Changes From Space Marine 2’s Patch
Patch 7.0 Expanded Class Weapon Variety
In patch 7.0,Space Marine 2’s “Trygon” update, Saber Interactive did a lot of streamlining of how weapon perks work. The overall trend is that now, weapon perks are less conditional. This means that more perks will work more of the time. Saber also added the Inferno Pistol to Sniper, Heavy, Assault and Vanguard, and added more existing weapons to other classes. The developer commented that while the weapons were not intended for the classes, they are lore-friendly, which is a nice touch, as strict balance should be less of a concern in PVE.
Heavy Bolt Pistol / Bolt Carbine
Bolt Weapons Were Buffed a Small Amount
Bolt weapons received a boost to effectiveness, almost across the board, ranging from 5% damage increases to full reworks for certainHeavy Bolt Rifle variants. The Heavy Bolt Rifle changes were much more significant, and should help to differentiate the variants some more, as well as increasing ammo capacity and headshot damage by 15% for every version of the weapon.
The Biggest Space Marine 2 Weapon Perk Changes Explained
Tyranid and Chaos Eliminator/Slayer Are Gone
A very common feature of many weapons were the Eliminator/Slayer perks, letting that weapon deal 10% more damage to the specified faction. These perks have been removed now, as their activation was conditional on fighting eitherChaos or Tyranids, which meant the perk would not work half the time. They also had very arbitrary functionality, as each perk track made weapons play to a certain strength that the Eliminator/Slayer perks may not have synergized with.
A Few Minor Boost Perks Have Been Buffed
Many perks that provided a 5% increase have been improved to 10%, including Rapid Health, Blast Radius and Elite Health, and some providing a bonus for 5 seconds have risen to 10. It’s a small change, but still technically doubles theeffectiveness of these weapon perks, and reflects a general theme of making timed perks have more impact when triggered.
Players Are Rewarded for Being More Aggressive With Melta Weapons
Both theMelta Rifle and Multi-Meltahave received Decisive Reload (finishing Majoris or higher restores one Melta ammo), and Trick Shot (killing five enemies with one shot restores one armor). To go with these, Melta perks have generally been reworked to incentivize more hip-firing and more perfect dodging. The Weapon Strike perk for Multi-Melta now provides a huge 50% increase to melee damage, instead of the prior 15%.
Bolt Sniper Rifles Can Spec Into High or Low Ammo Builds
A couple of perks forBolt Sniper Riflesnow provide huge damage bonuses for having near-full or near-empty magazines. Extended Magazine, Finisher Reload, Unwavering Resolve, and Strong Start all combo to make a high-damage playstyle that constantly refreshes magazines, while Strong Finish rewards patient players with a big 50% damage boost to the last round in a magazine, saved for critical targets. Right now, the Strong Start combo seems to have more potential, but this might change in patch 8.0.
Area of Effect Weapons Are Now More Effective at Clearing Out Enemies
Plasma weapons have seen a broad boost to their AOE capabilities, not moving the needle too much, but with a few welcome boosts to AOE damage from charged shots and better cooling from perks. The Las Fusil’s Amplification perks were merged from three to two, with each one giving a 15% increase to beam radius, with Amplification 3 replaced by Divine Might (10% more damage). TheNeo-Volkite Pistol’s Distributed Deflagration was also fixed to properly distribute heat to surrounding enemies.
Heavy Bolt Pistols Have a More Defined Role
Heavy Bolt Pistolshave had sweeping perk changes, almost entirely refreshing the perk pools. While no individual example stands out, they have been tuned for longer range, elite-hunting roles, with increased Terminus damage, increased headshot damage, and better penetration supporting this. The perk pool is surprisingly varied too, allowing players to pick between long-range fire support or melee range run and gun.
Cleaving Fire Helps Heavy Bolt Weapons Deal Chip Damage
Heavy Bolt Rifles, Stalker Bolt Rifles, Bolt Carbine, and Bolt Sniper Rifles all had a perk replaced with Cleaving Fire, meaning shots will penetrate block stances to deal 25% of normal damage. This helps weapons which normally have to operate at a distance, where blocking enemies can be harder to deal with, and lends some unique identity to the Bolt weapon family.
Remote Threat Increases Long Range Bolt Weapon Damage
Heavy Bolt Rifles, Stalker Bolt Rifles, Bolt Sniper Rifles, and Heavy Bolt Pistols will deal 20% more ranged damage to enemies over 25m away. This is a significant boost to these options, which can typically lose out to weapons like the Las Fusil for long-range damage, as most damage-increasing perks do not give bonuses as high as 20%, enabling a playstyle where picking offteleporting Rubric Marinesis much easier.
Rapid Health Now Restores More Health, More Often
Rapid Health has been buffed to return 10% health after killing 10 enemies in quick succession to players with lower than 30% health remaining, instead of the old 5%. The cooldown on this was removed completely, so players can survive hordes of enemies for much longer, which should be perfect for anyFlesh Tearers players.
Recoupment Restores Armor for Long Range Classes
Recoupment replaces various perks on eight different weapons, including the Bolt Rifle and its Heavy, Auto, Stalker, and Bolt Sniper varieties, as well as Bolt Carbine and Instigator variants, and Las Fusil. Scoring a headshot kill on a Majoris or higher enemy restores one armor every 15 seconds. This, in combination with the previously mentioned perks, is a huge boost to long-range playstyles that struggle to restore armor without getting up close.
Honed Precision Enables Far More Accurate Hip-Firing
Honed Precision’s bonus to hip-fire went from 25% reduced maximum spread to 50%. This will help larger weapons enormously, which often cannot be aimed easily in the midst of largeswarms of Hormagaunts. Now that they can reliably hit targets when fired from the hip, players should be more survivable when being swarmed.
Divine Might’s Damage Bonus Is Available on More Weapons
Previously available on the Heavy Bolt Pistol, Divine Might is now available on 10 different weapons. It gives a 10% damage bonus - no conditions, no cooldowns. The effectiveness of the perk speaks for itself, often replacing some very niche and underutilized options.
Head Hunter used to be split into two perks, but has become one, giving a nice 10% bonus to headshot damage. This is another move by Saber to simplify the very fragmented weapon perk tree, making investment in this perk feel more rewarding.
Armoured Strength Is Much More Forgiving
This perk used to work only with full armor, which was tricky to maintain when one Cultist with an autogun could deactivate it. Now the damage boost is active as long as any amount of armor remains, which is a huge boost toSpace Marine 2’s melee playstylesthat can quickly recover an armor segment with a quick parry to keep the perk up.
Rampage Now Enables Longer Streaks of Boosted Damage
Going from a 5 to 10 second duration, and the cooldown reduced from 30 to 15 seconds, Rampage can now provide its significant 25% damage boost for much longer. Players may be able to fit in another reload to make the most use out of this perk’s longer uptime, and it should generally trigger twice as often.
There Will Be Plenty More Perk Changes in Patch 8.0
These were not the only changes to perks, and there will likely be numerous changes made again in patch 8.0 as the sandbox adapts. However, most will agree that this has been a significant boost to some previously less viable weapons, while generally making some of the smaller perks feel a little more useful.Space Marine 2’s Prestige Rankshave also caused a big shift in the PVE meta, and Saber are looking into how to tune them going forward, but the grind to get them has presented an obstacle to some players.
