Playing as any of the Space Marine 2 classes lets you deploy signature weapons and wargear of the Adeptus Astartes on your enemies in PVE and PVP. From Iron Halo shields and shields to jump packs and invisibility cloaks, these classes help you fulfil a particular role on the battlefield. You can customize your loadouts, upgrade your weapons, and pick unique skills to bolster your Space Marine 2 Xenos and traitor-killing powers and play how you want. There’s quite a lot to know about how Space Marine 2 classes work and how the six differ, so I’ve explained everything below and have ranked them in tier lists for PVE and PVP.
Space Marine 2 class tier list for PVE
In PVE, most of the Space Marine 2 classes can be useful to have in your squad, bringing different strengths to the team. On the lower difficulties, you can play whatever you want, but as the threat level increases and the all the Space Marine 2 enemies get tougher, you may want to stick to the top-tier classes. Here’s how I think they stack up in Operations:
- S-tier: Bulwark – The most resilient off all the classes, Bulwark offers great survivability, making you hard to kill, and brings a lot of value to the team with its Chapter Banner.
- A-tier: Tactical, Sniper – the Tactical’s versatility makes it a great all-rounder class, while the Sniper and Assault have solid specialized weapons and useful abilities for manoeuvring around the battlefield.
- B-tier: Vanguard, Heavy – Both Heavy and Vanguard are solid classes when getting started but the flaws of both become apparent as you up the threat level; the Heavy is very ammo hungry and an easy target, while the Vanguard’s Grapnel Launcher quickly becomes a tool for getting into danger with few means of escape.
- C-tier: Assault – Great for lower Space Marine 2 difficulties, but the Assault class’s awkward jump pack ability and lackluster weaponry mean it’s a tough class to use in harder missions, especially against the Thousand Sons.
Space Marine 2 class tier list for PVP
As for Eternal War’s PVP modes, team composition is far less important, so pick whichever class suits your playstyle to facilitate taking objectives and getting kills for victory. If you need ideas, here’s how I rank the Space Marine 2 classes for PVP:
- S-tier: Bulwark, Heavy – Again, the Bulwark tops the list here, joined by the similarly robust Heavy class. Both are great for both holding objectives, defending teammates, and getting kills.
- A-tier: Tactical, Vanguard – As in PVE, the Tactical’s versatility makes it a great for an easy run-and gun playstyle, and Vanguard trades a little of that versatility for extra movement with the Grapnel Launcher, which is also great for stunning enemy players!
- B-tier: Assault, Sniper – Good classes that are only excellent in the right hands. Assaults have an over-reliance on melee combat, which is much trickier to pull off in PVP, while Snipers aren’t as potent as you’d hope.
All Space Marine 2 classes explained
Space Marine 2 features six varied classes which you can pick in PVE Operations and Eternal War PVP once you’ve unlocked Space Marine 2 multiplayer. Just remember that you can’t have more than one of the same class in Operations and no more than two of the same in PVP:
- Tactical: Generalist soldier that can wield all sorts of weapons.
- Assault: Melee-focused class with a Jump Pack for aerial manoeuvres.
- Vanguard: Agile grappling hook trooper geared towards fighting high-value enemies.
- Bulwark: Defensive and robust support class that carries a shield.
- Sniper: Long-range specialist that can go invisible.
- Heavy: Hulking heavy weapons specialist.
Unlike Titus’ relatively varied arsenal in the campaign, most of these classes have a narrow selection of Space Marine 2 weapons to choose from, but also get unique class abilities to help slay the enemies of the Imperium and support their teammates. Additionally, you can substantially customize your Space Marine 2 armor for the six classes and can create three different weapon loadouts to cover a number of combat situations.
In Space Marine 2 Operations, each class also gets their own skill tree to work through as they level up by earning XP, helping you lean into certain aspects of the class, better support your team, and further improve your abilities – though you need to unlock perks by spending Space Marine 2 Requisition Points. To help you learn how each class works, you can also undertake Trials in the Armouring Hall. Each class has three of these short combat challenges to complete, dishing out more Requisitions and even Space Marine 2 Armory Data.
In Eternal War, Space Marine 2’s PVP mode, the skill trees are gone and most gear is locked behind your Veterancy Level – earn XP by playing matches to up your level and therefore unlock new wargear. However, you can also choose a grenade for each of your three loadouts and the Bulwark and Heavy classes also have extra armor. You also get separate armor customization from your Operations classes and gain additional Heretic Astartes looks for when you’re playing as Chaos Space Marines in matches.
Space Marine 2 Tactical class
The classic Tacticus-armored Primaris Space Marine soldier, capable of wielding a wide range of primary weapons and highlighting enemies to weaken them with an Auspex Scan.
- Primary weapons: Auto Bolt Rifle, Bolt Rifle, Heavy Bolt Rifle, Stalker Bolt Rifle, Bolt Carbine, Plasma Incinerator, Melta Rifle
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol
- Melee weapons: Chainsword
- Class ability: Auspex Scan – Highlight enemies in the selected area, making them more vulnerable to damage.
- Armor Class: 3 Armor bars
Space Marine 2 Assault class
Melee-focused and highly manoeuvrable, Assault Space Marines don’t get a primary weapon but do get a Jump Pack that lets them blast into the sky, slam into the ground, and dodge quickly.
- Primary weapons: None
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol, Heavy Bolt Pistol
- Melee weapons: Chainsword, Thunder Hammer, Power Fist
- Class ability: Jump Pack – Fly into the air and charge up a melee attack to rocket down and perform a devastating ground slam or use boosted dashes along the ground for added agility. Note that in Operations, the Jump Pack works differently, providing far less height and losing the ability to hover and fire your pistol.
- Armor Class: 3 Armor bars
Space Marine 2 Vanguard class
Midway between the Tactical and Assault classes, the Phobos-armored Vanguard class is great for picking off important targets at all ranges and are especially potent at close-range thanks to their Grapnel Launcher.
- Primary weapons: Instigator Bolt Carbine, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Melta Rifle
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol
- Melee weapons: Comabt Knife, Chainsword
- Class ability: Grapnel Launcher – Shoot an enemy with the launcher to pull yourself towards them and deliver a powerful diving kick to the face, which is great for cancelling a call for reinforcements or quickly reaching an enemy that can be executed.
- Armor Class: 2 Armor bars
Space Marine 2 Bulwark class
The most defensive Space Marine class, Bulwarks forgo a primary weapon, instead getting a shield for extra protection along with their Gravis armor and can use a Chapter Banner to restore armor to all nearby squad members.
- Primary weapons: None, but carries a shield that can be used to guard against attacks and bash enemies to stagger them
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol, Plasma Pistol
- Melee weapons: Chainsword, Power Fist, Power Sword
- Class ability: Chapter Banner – Place a temporary banner on the ground that continuously restores armor to any squad members standing in its area of effect.
- Armor Class: 3 Armor bars/4 in PVP
Space Marine 2 Sniper class
These Space Marines specialize in long-range weapons, firing powerful shots from afar and can slip away to evade danger using the Camo Cloak, though Phobos armor means a reduced Armor Class.
- Primary weapons: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Bolt Sniper Rifle, Bolt Carbine, Las Fusil
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol
- Melee weapons: Combat Knife
- Class ability: Camo Cloak – Go invisible and remain concealed for several seconds or until you attack.
- Armor Class: 2 Armor bars
Space Marine 2 Heavy class
The Heavy is the only Space Marine 2 class to not get a melee weapon, but they’re also the only one that can wield heavy weapons, such as the Multi-Melta, and have their Iron Halo to protect themselves from ranged attacks.
- Primary weapons: Heavy Bolter, Heavy Plasma Incinerator, Multi-Melta
- Secondary weapons: Bolt Pistol, Plasma Pistol
- Melee weapons: None, but can beat enemies with their primary weapon and stomp
- Class ability: Iron Halo – A protective barrier that surrounds only your front, blocking enemy projectiles, that can also be deactivated early for a shorter cooldown.
- Armor Class: 3 Armor bars/4 in PVP
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