The God Emperor has bestowed the Space Marine 2 anniversary update on all of his loyal subjects. And with its arrival comes a whole Battle Barge’s worth of free content, both for PvE and PvP. Giving both audiences in Space Marine 2 plenty of free content for them to feast on and explore.
The Space Marine 2 anniversary update brings new game modes, weapons, enemies, and maps to fight those enemies on. The update also includes the long-awaited and highly requested Chaos cosmetic pack. Of course, the Space Marine 2 anniversary update contains numerous other gameplay balances and general bug fixes.
The PvE Content Of The Space Marine 2 Anniversary Update
The Space Marine 2 anniversary update features an equal amount of PvE and PvP content. The first set of content we’ll mention is the PvE content added in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update. The PvE content introduces new weapons, missions, and a new game mode for your brothers to liberat- I mean, purge in.
The New Stratagems Game Mode
The first in line in the PvE content list is the new PvE game mode called Stratagems. This game mode sees you and your brothers battling in the familiar PvE levels, but now with challenging modifiers. These modifiers can either help you, mildly inconvenience you, or downright harm you if you aren’t careful.
Stratagems feature both the normal, or what some may call easy, and hard difficulty for each level. You might be asking, “Do the harder difficulties give better rewards?”, and thank the Emperor that it indeed does. Completing Stratagems levels grants you a new currency called Accolades, and you gain more via more challenging difficulties.
These new Heroic Weapons, along with exclusive cosmetic items, are purchasable with Accolades. Currently, there are six Heroic Weapons and six cosmetic armor pieces for you and your battle brothers to choose from. We’ll get into what these powerful Heroic Weapons do in a few moments, but up next is the new mission.
The New Operation: Vortex
A new operation joins the growing roster of PvE missions, and it also joins on the side of chaos. In Vortex, you and your fellow battle brothers return to the Astropathic Relay on Avarax. Tasked with investigating the relay and cleansing any remaining heresy that crosses your righteous path.
Though as you go deeper into the facility, you may sense a powerful force even deeper below, so proceed with caution. And remember, you are the imperium’s finest warriors, so show all that stands in your way what you are capable of. Speaking of which, the obstacles that you may encounter will feature a new foul creature of Tzeentch.
The New Chaos Spawn Majoris Enemy
The chaotic followers of Tzeentch have a new pawn on the battlefield, and that would be the Chaos Spawn. The Chaos Spawn added in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update features a highly diverse and lethal moveset. Chaos Spawns are dangerous by themselves, but when there’s a group of them, pray that you remain unwavering.
These new enemies will now appear in every level that features the Thousand Sons. Now, old and familiar levels will have a bit of a mix-up from the inclusion of the Chaos Spawn. But it should end the same either way, with the Astartes victorious and the forces of chaos becoming fertilizer.
And to help with gardening, Space Marines gain a new set of weapons in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update.
The New Weapons In The Space Marine 2 Anniversary Update
The Adeptus Astartes gain three new weapons to help in their journey to purge the heresy seen in Space Marines 2. These include the Power Axe, available for PvE and PvP, the Pyreblaster, and Pyrecannon, both exclusive to PvE. The Power Axe is available for Vanguard, Bulwark, and Assault, while the latter are available for the Tactical and Heavy classes.
The Power Axe is a swift, aggressive power weapon used to dish out infinitely chaining attacks. The Power Axe is perfect for those of you who love to get into the thick of things with the Combat Knife. While also wanting a powerful melee weapon like the Power Sword used by the Assault and Bulwark classes.
Moving along, we have the two flamer weapons that both work similarly to each other. The Pyreblaster, used by the Tactical, and the Pyrecannon, used by the Heavy, are both flamethrower weapons that spew out searing flames. The burning flame’s damage scales with difficulty and also slows Minoris enemies down to a crawl.
And the best thing about this update is that these aren’t all the weapons in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update. We have yet to go into detail about the new Heroic Weapons that are purchasable with Accolades. But worry not, for the Heroic Weapons are next on the list to explain and explore.
The New Heroic Weapons
As of the Space Marines 2 anniversary update, there are six Heroic Weapons, all with unique attributes. These six are the Combi-Melta, Honourific Relic, Power Gladius, Xenophase Blade, Relic Battle-Worn, and Choler’s Teeth. The Heroic Weapons act as the next weapon tier after the relic tier, giving weapons new attributes instead of just stats.
These attributes range from the Power Sword’s heroic Xenophase Blade receiving a buff to its Power Rake. The Xenophase Blade makes the Power Rake move wider and deal 20% more damage than previous tiers. Or the Honourific Relic Bolt Pistol being able to fire in three-round bursts, and these are just two examples.
You can view what each of these Heroic Weapons does in the brand new Refinement & Redemption shop. Moving along, we’ve discussed the PvE content; now it’s time for the PvP content.
The PvP Content Of The Space Marine 2 Anniversary Update
Of course, the devs didn’t want to leave PvP players in the dark, so they also developed new content for PvP. The new PvP content contains a new game mode, a new map, and a long-requested Chaos cosmetic pack. And the first on the list is the new PvP game mode, Helbrute Onslaught.
The New Helbrute Onslaught Game Mode
In Helbrute Onslaught, two teams of Chaos Marines fight to control areas, but also to take control of the Helbrute. The first team to capture an objective gains control of the Helbrute and wreaks havoc on the opposing team. The game chooses who pilots the Helbrute by selecting a random player who participated in securing an objective.
The team that failed to secure the objective must fight the player-controlled Helbrute until it is defeated. Thankfully, defeating a player-controlled Helbrute will reward the victorious team with a significant amount of points. And once it’s defeated, a new objective will appear, and the cycle continues until a team is deemed victorious.
The player-controlled Helbrute uses its Thunder Hammer for melee combat, and its Plasma Cannon for ranged combat. The Helbrute can also unleash a battle cry with its special skill to regenerate its health, keeping it in the battle for longer. So make sure to use it wisely to keep yourself going, and if you’re fighting it, good luck.
Next up is the new PvP map added in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update, Bridge.
The New Eternal War Map: Bridge
The developers have added a new PvP map named Bridge in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update. Eternal War, the PvP mode in Space Marine 2, features this map in all of its game modes. So, PvP players get to enjoy a new map for their game modes alongside PvE players with their latest operation, Vortex.
And while players fight in PvP, they’ll contribute to unlocking a long-requested cosmetic pack, the Chaos cosmetic pack.
The Chaos Cosmetic Pack
The long-awaited cosmetic pack has finally arrived for the filthy followers of heresy, the Chaos cosmetic pack. Players can unlock six new chaos-themed cosmetics by killing enemies with the class the cosmetic belongs to. Each class cosmetic requires nine kills in nine different PvP matches, so pick your favorite class and start earning those kills.
Of course, there are a handful of bug fixes and under-the-hood adjustments done in the Space Marine 2 anniversary update. All of which improves the general gameplay of Space Marine 2 for all players. And with the massive amount of content added, it’s nice to experience it with smooth and bug-free gameplay.
So what’s keeping you, brother? Head over to the armoring hall and pick up a Bolter to cleanse the vile heresy from our galaxy. Or spread more heresy if that’s more of your thing.
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