Librarian Husky here, brothers! We’ve just received a fresh update for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and it’s loaded with exciting new features and fixes! This latest patch is live, offering an improved experience for players with tons of enhancements, including Ultra-Wide display support. Now, you can immerse yourself in the action with an even broader field of view.

Private Lobbies in Operations

One of the standout features in this update is the addition of private lobbies, though it’s currently limited to PvE operations. PvP private lobbies haven’t been included yet, but in PvE, players can now create private sessions for a more customized and focused gaming experience.

New Arena on the Battle Barge

A fresh arena called “Sparking Arena” has been added to the Battle Barge and can be accessed through the Eternal War mode. This new battlefield allows players to arm themselves with weapons and grenades, similar to PvP combat, providing a new environment to hone their skills before heading into missions.

Ultra-Wide Support and Private Mode Updates

A highly anticipated addition is Ultra-Wide display support, which has finally been introduced in this patch. Alongside this, the patch also includes a private mode for operations and a new “Message of the Day” feature to further customize the gameplay experience. The ability to reset custom color presets has been added as well, making it easier for players to adjust in-game visuals.

Customization and Presets

The community has been calling for more extensive customization options, especially the ability to save and apply custom presets to different classes. For example, if a player wants to use a specific Imperial Fist design for both the Bulwark and Assault classes, they’d like to apply it across the board without manual adjustments. Adding this feature would significantly streamline customization for players.

Gameplay and Balancing Tweaks

Several improvements to gameplay and balancing have been introduced. The marker tool is now more responsive, improving the ease of using the social wheel with a mouse. Unnecessary objects that were previously highlighted are no longer visible, and a variety of minor bugs have been resolved to enhance the overall experience.

Weapon Adjustments

Significant weapon changes include a major increase in Power Fist damage during fully charged attacks. Heavy plasma weapons have also been buffed with an increase in base ammo by five rounds and an expanded blast damage radius. Additionally, overheating per shot has been reduced, and base damage has been increased by 10%, making heavy plasma weapons even more lethal on the battlefield.

Exciting New Gameplay Adjustments

I’m genuinely excited about these updates! Med Sims now heal contested health in addition to actual healing, which is a fantastic improvement. Furthermore, auxiliary grenade launcher ammo can now only be replenished from ammo boxes, eliminating the exploit of infinite refills in operations mode. This change brings a much-needed balance to gameplay.

Campaign Difficulty and Player Experience

In the campaign, the aggressiveness of enemies on veteran difficulty has been reduced based on player feedback. This adjustment should make the single-player experience more enjoyable. At the same time, player health on veteran difficulty has been slightly reduced to maintain balance with AI combat effectiveness, and there are updates to armor management as well.

Improvements to Bots’ Performance

Bots have undergone some major improvements, making them more useful without overstepping their role. They now focus more effectively on priority targets like zone throats when the player is under attack, and their contributions to critical objectives are more aligned with helping players succeed in difficult moments.

Bug Fixes for Bots and Gameplay

The update also includes bug fixes related to bots, such as getting stuck or running out of ammo with non-magazine weapons. Bots are now more capable of assisting with objectives, particularly on challenging maps like the Gargoyle map, which previously frustrated players. These changes should create a more fluid and enjoyable gameplay experience.

Operations Mode Adjustments

I encountered an issue where the sniper’s final fuse would run out too quickly and become ineffective. In operations mode, several tweaks have been made to the AI director and the rules for spawning chaos enemies. The maximum number of Zango with shields in the arena has been reduced from 10 to 4, while cultist snipers have been reduced from 10 to 3, balancing enemy waves for a smoother experience.

Enemy Reductions and Balancing

In addition, the maximum number of Zango enemies has been reduced from 30 to 20, and the number of Rubic Marines equipped with bolt guns has been lowered from 8 to 5. Rubic Marines carrying warp flamers have also been reduced from 4 to 3. These adjustments are aimed at balancing the intensity of combat encounters, though we’ll see how it plays out during gameplay.

Parry and Weapon Mechanics

The perfect parry mechanic now restores armor when killing Minoris rather than just countering their special attacks. A bug affecting fencing weapons during perfect parry has been fixed, adjusting the parry window to 20 frames and reducing the vulnerability period to 10 frames at the end of the animation. This tweak makes the timing of parries more precise and rewarding.

Assault Class Buff

The Assault class has received a well-deserved buff, with ground pound damage increased by 30%. This change should give Assault players more power in close-quarters combat, allowing them to make a bigger impact on the battlefield. Overall, these adjustments contribute to better balancing of the game’s combat systems.

Assault Class Performance in PVE

The Assault class has been underperforming in PvE compared to PvP, where landing a smash attack feels more satisfying. It’s great to see the Assault class finally receiving the attention it needs. Additionally, armor boost drops from destructible crates are now less frequent, and their cooldown has been increased from 30 seconds to 60 seconds.

Improvements to PVP

PvP has also seen some improvements, including adjustments to the spawn system to reduce the likelihood of spawn-killing. The Vanguard grapple launcher has been reworked; instead of a full stun, it now staggers and slows enemies. While this may seem like a nerf, we’ll have to see how it affects gameplay in practice.

AI Adjustments and Combat Balance

The ability to stun-lock enemies with ranged attacks has been reduced for all AI characters. In addition, the accuracy of ranged enemies has been lowered when they fire from off-screen or while engaged in melee combat, making battles less frustrating for players who previously struggled with overpowered ranged attacks.

Melee and Psychic Damage Adjustments

Melee enemies like homon and Zangles now deal fixed amounts of damage instead of draining an entire armor segment per attack. This makes these encounters more manageable. Additionally, the damage from Zone throw psychic scream has been increased from 0.5 to 2 seconds to prevent one-shot kills, making combat feel more balanced overall.