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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 needed an enemy even more imposing than Orks, and the Tyranid rose to the challenge. A swarm race as nasty as the original Warhammer‘s Skaven, this Xenos species threatens to consume every planet within the Imperium and beyond. Standing in its way are the Space Marines, the God-Emperor’s chosen warriors. Being a walking tank is no guarantee of survival, however. Without the right intel, skills, and teamwork, your time amongst the Adeptus Astartes (and the living) will be brief. Here are our top 10 beginner tips for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Prioritize Targets
The Tyranid are a swarm; you won’t fight them 1v1. Enemies will come at you and your battle brothers by the dozens and hundreds. Hordes of Hormagaunt and Termagant will clog the battlefield, but it’s the rarer, specialist units like the stealthy Lictors and psionic Zoanthropes that demand your attention. Even if you’re stocked with grenades and ammo, don’t fire randomly. There will be plenty of time to mop up Hormagaunt when the Carnifex is dead.
Stun and Dispatch
After suffering enough damage, enemies will be stunned, flashing red to indicate their vulnerability. Although you’d ideally take this chance to perform an Execution, you won’t always be in a position to do so. If ranged units or other problematic Tyranid are getting out of hand, stunning them and finishing them off at a distance (or letting your battle brothers handle the Execution) is fine. Don’t waste time hunting for an unnecessary Execution.
Know Your Enemy
From floating gas globes to whip-wielding warriors, every unit type offers a unique threat and requires a unique solution. Even with tips for Space Marine 2, grappling with the Xenos isn’t easy, especially if you don’t understand the threat you’re facing. Here are a few ways to get the intel you need.
- Ping enemies to get their official unit name, to make remembering them easier
- Observe enemy behaviors and attack patterns
- Experiment with different weapons against each enemy
Parry Perfectly
You can parry regular attacks, as well as those with blue warning indicators. Doing so is one of the quickest ways to finish off enemies as well as sparing you from damage, so learning the parry timing for each enemy is essential. Although panic-mashing the block button isn’t the worst idea in an emergency, nothing beats knowing exactly when to react. Stringing parries into combos is also a great way to reclaim the battle flow after taking a bad hit.
Use Your Abilities
The six classes in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 each have unique abilities that can turn the tide of even the most desperate battle. From self-oriented abilities like the Sniper’s camo to banners that buff your squadmates, every ability fills a niche within the team. Their cooldowns are mostly forgiving, too, so don’t be shy about popping them off whenever you need them. Unless you’re certain you’ll need the ability more in 30 seconds than you do right now, let it fly.
Pick the Right Tools for Crowd Control
There’s a time and place for the sniper rifle’s superior single-target damage, but nothing solves crowd control issues like a Melta or grenade. Swarms of low-health, low DPS Tyranid are a constant in Space Marine 2, and if your whole squad is kitted out for 1v1s, you’re going to struggle. Grenades resupplies appear frequently, but you might not always get you’re favorite type. Take some time getting to know the pros and cons of different weapons, and keep one player devoted to crowd control, if possible.
Brings Friends on Operations (and the Campaign)
Progressing through the campaign is vital to unlock Operations, but you don’t need to wait that long to play with friends. You can play the entire campaign co-op, and I recommend just that. Bots are competent enough to help at lower difficulties, but as the challenge escalates, there’s no substitute for having real players by your side. Saber Interactive has packed a ton of lore and references into the campaign, as well, and there’s no better way to enjoy it than with friends.
Play Aggressive to Stay Armored
If there’s one thing that Space Marine 2 shares in common with Doom 2016 (other than a fondness for exploding bodies), it’s the emphasis on healing through violence. Stunning enemies and Executing them not only dispatches them with a cool animation: it also restores lost armor. If you get pummeled by an unexpected lash from a Tyranid Warrior or struck by painful psionics, Executing the nearest enemy to recover is a solid idea. Most Space Marine 2 tips revolve around aggressive play, so lean into it.
Master Combos
Each of the melee weapons has its own list of combos, which you can check at any time on the pause screen. Button mashing will carry you for a while, but it’s no replacement for learning combos. Extending combos into shield breakers is one of the best ways to open up armored enemies.
Hardier unit types can take an beating if you ignore this mechanic. Beating the odds through clever combo use is what makes Space Marine 2 of the best games of the year so far. Whenever you’re within melee range, look for opportunities to throw a combo and break a shield or two.
Don’t Overrely on Rolling
Panic rolling is a tried-and-true tactic in most games that use dodge rolls, but it’s risky in Space Marine 2. Like parrying, it’s a way of avoiding damage. Unlike parrying into a combo, it leaves enemies unharmed. At higher difficulty levels, an overreliance on dodge rolling will leave enemies standing way longer than they should. Against the Tyranid swarm, that can quickly result in you and your battle brothers being overrun. For best results, stay on your feet and keep up the pressure with melee weapons instead of spinning up like Sonic.
