The first major content patch for Space Marine 2 is here, and it’s bringing a bunch of major content additions and small tweaks that should help remedy much of the game’s less-liked quirks and absences. These include, but are not limited to, 1v1 duels between friends, and changes to the PvP spawn system to make spawn camping harder.
The patch notes, released on the Focus Together publisher website, list out all these changes in full. Major additions include the aforementioned one-vs-one mode which allows two players in the same squad to duke it out aboard the battle barge, but also private lobbies for the Operations mode which will allow you to queue up with a single friend and a bot, or all on your lonesome with AI squadmate support.
Ultrawide support for PC is also here, which will be nice for those keen to check out the game in all its splendour. For those of you out there who love customising your space marine, you can also lock in colour presets that you can default back to if you’ve got a preferred colour scheme you absolutely love.
There are some smaller changes that are arguably more impactful for some of the more determined space marine players. For one, the marking tool has been improved to improve responsiveness and comfort when used with a mouse. The power first has recieved a much-needed buff to its charge attack, and med-stims have recieved an additional healing over time effect that’ll make them substantially better. Plus, grenade launcher attachments can have ammunition restored through ammo boxes now – which is nice!
As for campaign changes, the real winner is a nerf to enemy aggresiveness on veteran difficulty, aimed to make the single player experience better. Plus, bots have been made more useful while still not being so powerful as to complete the missions for you.
In PvP, spawn point changes should make spawn camping harder which is nice. The Vanguard, however, got a nasty nerf. His grapple no longer stuns, but now slows down enemies hit drastically. Maybe this will encourage Vanguard players to use the grapple more as a navigational tool than a combat opener.
The real winner here is the 1v1 arena, even if it isn’t the online matchmaking mode players like me truly long for. Duking it out with friends is always fun, and it could act as a nice way of getting the perfect parry down in multiplayer if you haven’t already. As for the lore justification for this? Sparring pits have been a thing forever in space marine chapters. The World Eaters especially loved ’em, and as they’re the best chapter, what they love, I love.
What do you think of this patch? Let us know below!