Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Saber Interactive have published an update on what to expect from the game in the future, answering a number of burning questions from the community.
Since Space Marine 2’s record-breaking launch, fans have asked for better customization of the Chaos Marines, which are playable in the PvP mode, Eternal War. Fans have also asked to be able to pick the Chaos Space Marines Legion they want for every class in the game. This is currently not possible, which means that unlike the playable Space Marine Chapters, the Chaos Marine Legions are locked to a specific class.
Addressing this request, Focus and Saber said there were “many lore restrictions” preventing the development team from doing this. “For instance: we cannot make a sniper with a World Eater armor.”
There are additional challenges here, too, that have to do with the variety of Chaos Marine Legion armor types compared to the relatively consistent Space Marine armor.
“It is very tricky to match armor pieces for Chaos,” the companies said. “Armor pieces have different sizes and styles, will clip through each other, etc. Also, in PvP it is important to be able to recognize an enemy’s class, and we want to keep the visual identity of each of them. Now, we will not keep it as it is and would like to expand Chaos customization, but the reality is they won’t be as modular as the Loyalist.”
That’s that for Chaos, then. But what about other issues with the game? The teams are working on the significant matchmaking issues, which IGN has reported on, as a “top priority,” with a bigger patch planned soon.
Improvements are also coming to the AI bots, which most players consider to be useless (“bots seem a bit passive because we don’t want them to take the spotlight from the player”), alongside tweaks to the veteran difficulty.
There are also balance changes outlined (the Blocking weapon trait, which inexplicably does not let you perfect parry, will be changed), the bullet spongy feel of enemies on higher difficulties will be tweaked, and various balance changes for PvP are incoming.
The update is also interesting because it rules certain requests out. Don’t expect full Battlebarge and Thunderhawk customization any time soon, for example. Restricting Operations Mode to not having two of the same class (we’ve reported on the trouble this causes currently) will remain for regular matchmaking, but “we are considering it as an expansion of private lobbies in the future. It will take us time to finish it.” The dev team is currently focused on improving matchmaking so players will not matchmake with players of the same class, which should help.
There’s also a plan to combat toxic players who kick teammates late during a game (incredibly frustrating!) to let their friend get the XP.
And what about new classes, perhaps the most-requested feature from players (Apothecary please!)? “That is definitely something we are heavily discussing. Adding a new class is quite heavy on production as we also need to create all the customization, PvP Chaos model variant, and animation set depending on what we go for. We’ll keep you updated about this topic.”
Space Marine 2 players have asked for a field of view (FoV) slider and left / right shoulder swap features. Here’s what the team had to say on each:
“FoV slider is not something we are comfortable with, as it can degrade the visual aspect of the game. And on top of that, it is very complex. Our game is not a first person shooter, the camera that we have is very cinematic and constantly changes position and FoV based on what you are doing. Still, we understand that is a very popular request so we are considering it anyway.
“As for the shoulder swap, if we are to implement shoulder swap we will need to support it for all melee animations and transitions because everything in melee combat was made based on the fact that you hold pistol in the left hand and melee weapon in the right hand (because it looks badass). Nevertheless, shoulder swap is a feature we will not add in the game.”
Here’s an interesting one: some players have called on the developers to add invincibility frames (i-frames) on gun-strikes (high damage shots only possible after staggering an enemy). This won’t be added, however. “Gun-strikes are a risk/reward action, and it is very easy to spam. We specifically did not put an i-frame on it for balancing reasons, and we are not looking to change this intention.”
Meanwhile, we also have details on what fans can expect from Space Marine 2’s seasonal post-launch content model. Season 2 runs from October until the end of 2024, and includes a new Operations map, a new enemy, a harder difficulty level, a new weapon, and various other improvements. We also have a story on the probable enemy faction for the inevitable Space Marine 3, and a story on Saber’s refusal to say whether an ‘imposing morals on gamers’ YouTube comment is from its CEO.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 First Q&A:
CONNECTIVITY ISSUES
We know some of you are experiencing server issues, loss of saves or impossibility to connect with friends. We are ramping up our server capacity to reduce the load on them, and are working day and night to reduce the issues. This is a top priority for the team. A bigger patch is planned soon to improve this topic further, alongside new content.
AI BOTS
Question: Bots are regularly mentioned as inefficient, making solo games significantly harder, and you suggested we work on them. According to you, they don’t participate in focusing on objectives or don’t do enough in tense situations.
Answer: Bots seem a bit passive because we don’t want them to take the spotlight from the player. However, they can sometimes be a bit too passive. In the next patch, we have a few improvements of their behavior against boss fights in the campaign. We are also considering improving their involvement during specific objectives in the campaign for a later patch.
CAMPAIGN
Q: Veteran difficulty is said to be too hard in solo as the bots don’t help with the objectives.
A: We will adjust Veteran difficulty in a future patch. It will remain challenging but it will be slightly more fair because we will tweak AI aggressiveness on this difficulty. Other difficulties will remain untouched.
ABOUT PVE…
BALANCING
Q: Assault is often listed as less powerful than other classes: the jump pack in PVE loses its versatility compared to the one in the campaign.
A: We are still collecting data on this issue to see how we can work on it.
Q: The Blocking weapon trait is seen by the community as a bad thing for melee weapons as it removes the potential for mastery (because there is no “perfect” parry window).
A: We fully agree that this is a bummer, and we’ll definitely make changes in a future patch.
Q: Bolt Rifle family is underperforming while Melta Gun is considered OP
A: We have noticed a bug where the Melta allows the user to heal above the contested health, we aim to fix this in the next patch. As for the rest of weapon balancing, we hear you, and some weapons can underdeliver on the power fantasy at higher difficulty levels. We also recognize that enemies can be too bullet spongy on higher difficulty, which is not much fun. That’s the core issue, rather than the bolters themselves. For now, we are testing some tweaks in difficulty to make the enemies have less health but keep the engaging difficulty.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Q: You asked to be able to have several of the same class, in Operations mode. There is also frustration in matchmaking when two players want to be the same class.
A: For now, we are focusing on improving matchmaking so that you will not matchmake with players of the same class. This is not an easy fix, so it will take us some time to roll it out. As for using the same class, we don’t want to change that rule for regular matchmaking, but we are considering it as an expansion of private lobbies in the future. It will take us time to finish it.
Q: It was observed that players tend to show toxic behaviors as they get kicked late during a game made by a group of friends to let their friend get the XP.
A: We understand this is unfair, and each player will receive XP based on his actual involvement in the mission.
Q: Saved loadouts don’t include skill tree customization, making them less relevant.
A: This is not a priority for us at the moment.
ABOUT PVP…
MATCHMAKING
Q: You have suggested making it possible to tag as a squad of 6.
A: We understand this need. We want to add custom PvP lobbies and give players more control over the match (for example: frag limit, class restriction, etc.). It’s not that easy to make and it takes time! So please bear with us while we work on it, and we will let you know when we have clearer visibility on when it will be released.
BALANCING
Q: It was brought to our attention that shock grenades are OP. Also, many of you consider melee to be underpowered.
Q: Assault is considered weak in PVP. Bulwark is overpowered in capture zones. And, Heavy is overpowered: too much damage for its durability.
A: Regarding pvp balancing, we are currently reading and crunching the data. We don’t want to make rash decisions before seeing the global picture. At the moment we are checking the most common topics such as melee balancing, shock grenades, bulwark & heavy being too present in capture game modes. Expect some tweaks in the first big content patch but not before.
Q: No team balancing after matches creates unbalanced matches for several matches in a row.
A: We have heard this many times, and we want to improve this in future patches. We are looking into it!
SPAWNING
Q: Spawning locations can create spawn-kill situations.
A: This will be tweaked with some parameters in a future patch. We will implement spawn protection.
MOST UPVOTED TOPICS ON FOCUS TOGETHER
Q: Are we getting new colors for the lenses?
A: New lens colors are planned and coming soon in the next big patch!
Q: You asked to pick the Chaos Space Marines Legions you want for every classes:
A: There are many lore restrictions preventing us from doing this (For instance: We cannot make a sniper with a World Eater armor). It is very tricky to match armor pieces for Chaos. Armor pieces have different sizes and styles, will clip through each other, etc. Also, in PvP it is important to be able to recognize an enemy’s class, and we want to keep the visual identity of each of them. Now, we will not keep it as it is and would like to expand Chaos customization, but the reality is they won’t be as modular as the Loyalist.
Q: Many of you have asked for new classes:
A: That is definitely something we are heavily discussing. Adding a new class is quite heavy on production as we also need to create all the customization, PVP Chaos model variant, and animation set depending on what we go for. We’ll keep you updated about this topic.
Q: About the missing armor colors:
A: We aim to expand specific color masks, such as hand, decals or facemask, in upcoming patches. We will be adding all successor chapters eventually. 😉
Q: Adding new melee weapons:
A: New melee weapons would definitely be an extremely cool addition. Making a weapon and designing it is fine, but we need to make all finisher animations for it. It will take time.
Q: Customizing your Marine’s face:
A: Not a quick fix, but we will add an option to change your Marine’s face!
Q: Optimizing PvP Crossplay:
A: We need more time to discuss that. Custom PvP lobbies will solve a good part of the issue.
Q: Thunderhawk Customization:
A: Doing full Battlebarge and Thunderhawk customization is very cool but not up in our priority list. We prefer to focus our art teams on creating new maps.
Q: Pyreblaster in PvE or PvP:
A: We will add it but it will take time because of visual and gameplay progression. We’ll keep you updated!
Q: To be able to customize the AI squad mates:
A: Still in discussions.
Q: Delete Custom Armor Profile:
A: We worked on this. In the next patch, you will be able to overwrite a custom preset with a default one.
Q: FoV Slider and Left / Right Shoulder swap:
A: FoV slider is not something we are comfortable with, as it can degrade the visual aspect of the game. And on top of that, it is very complex. Our game is not a first person shooter, the camera that we have is very cinematic and constantly changes position and FoV based on what you are doing. Still, we understand that is a very popular request so we are considering it anyway.
As for the shoulder swap,if we are to implement shoulder swap we will need to support it for all melee animations and transitions because everything in melee combat was made based on the fact that you hold pistol in the left hand and melee weapon in the right hand (because it looks badass). Nevertheless, shoulder swap is a feature we will not add in the game.
Q: Get rid of class restriction on cloaks and tabards:
A: These are part of class identity; you get to recognize snipers because of those elements.
Q: I-Frames on gun-strikes:
A: Gun-strikes are a risk/reward action, and it is very easy to spam. We specifically did not put an i-frame on it for balancing reasons, and we are not looking to change this intention.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.