Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Weapons Tier List

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II allows you to have three weapons in your loadout. A primary, secondary, and melee weapon. That's a bit different from the first game, where you got to carry around three primary weapons if you so wished, dealing death with a close-range, mid-range, and scoped weapon. There's a smaller loadout this time around, but more weapons to choose from, so how do you decide which is best to pick?

Well, you read this list of course. While you can get away with killing just about however you please in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, if you want to raise the difficulty without breaking a sweat, here's a breakdown of the stronger weapons. A short note before we begin, the heavy weapons like the Heavy Bolter and Multi-Melta won't be on this list, as while they are very good weapons, they're not things you can equip yourself with from the get-go, unless you play the Heavy Class.

S-Tier:

Chainsword: Honestly, I thought about putting all melee weapons in the S-tier here, as they're just so necessary to combat in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II that you can't really say any of them are useless. But, not all are made equal and it's hard to argue against the starting melee weapon and the most iconic in all of Warhammer 40k. The chainsword has decent damage, solid speed, and great kill animations, what more do you want?

Power Sword: Traditional sword enjoyers will probably want a less serrated edge, and so here comes the Power Sword. Like the chainsword, it has some great kills, and the versatility from its speed and power modes made it a personal favourite through my main campaign playthrough.

Heavy Bolt Pistol: Switching over to ranged weapons now, we start with a secondary weapon. The best secondary weapon, that is, in the Heavy Bolt Pistol. Eight rounds might be a third less than the standard Bolt Pistol, but they pack enough of a punch that you can take down tougher enemies with just the big iron on your hip.

Instigator Bolt Carbine: This might seem like an odd inclusion, and at first I wasn't that much of a fan of any of the scoped, non-sniping weapons, but the Instigator won me over with its ability to just shred through enemies with its three-round bursts. Get a good aim, and you can pop multiple tougher enemies in a single magazine.

Heavy Bolt Rifle: Like the Heavy Bolt Pistol before it, the Heavy Bolt Rifle sits on this top spot because of the punch it packs compared to its brethren. It might have less ammo, but the damage you get allows you to chunk through a horde before they've even reached you, then giving you the chance to jump into melee utterly fresh.

A-Tier:

Combat Knife: Its quickness improves on the chainsword and Power Sword, but the Combat Knife simply doesn't do the damage, sometimes leaving you hacking at enemies for longer than you have time for, as there's always an opponent behind you. Still a very, very solid option, but not quite the best.

Bolt Pistol: Just as I said with the Heavy Bolt Pistol, the Bolt Pistol itself is a great option, and can clear out lesser enemies with headshots easily enough, but it's not quite as powerful as it's heavier cousin.

Auto Bolt Rifle: Speaking of, here we have the rapid-fire version of the Bolt Rifle. A strong way to clear out the smaller enemies, but not strong enough to consistently keep larger foes off your back, the Auto Bolt Rifle is once more an effective option that can be outclassed.

Bolt Rifle with Grenade Launcher: The same is true for this story campaign-exclusive weapon, but it has the extra grenade launcher punch to keep it out of any of the lower listings.

LAS-Fusil: The first of two proper long-range items on this list, the LAS-Fusil is essentially a laser gun that you charge up and blast enemies with. It can two-shot strong foes with ease, and is a preferred alternative to the Sniper Bolter (sorry for the spoiler there).

Stalker Bolter: Sort of a sniper, sort of not, the Stalker Bolter is a strong weapon that has a good enough rate of fire so that you can pin down enemies even if you can't necessarily kill them in one or two shots.

B-Tier:

Thunder Hammer: While I adore smashing foes' skulls in with the Thunder Hammer, I can't say it's as good as the other melee weapons. The damage is up there, but it's so slow that sometimes you could get in two chainsword strikes by the time you get in one with the hammer. Still, make sure you use it at least for a bit because it's just so fun.

Power Fist: The Power Fist is also a slower melee weapon, but while it's not as slow as the hammer it stays in this part of the list because its range can sometimes feel underwhelming. Again, though, get some use out of it because the animations are insane.

Bolt Carbine: It's hard to see the Carbines not as a slightly worse version of the rifles in this game. The Bolt Carbine does decent damage, but it runs out of ammo so fast you can't reliably use it without getting swarmed by the things you've not killed.

Plasma Incinerator: Plasma weapons weren't for me in my playthrough, but I won't deny the power of the standard Plasma Incinerator. Charging this bad boy up and then blasting a Rubric Marine to pieces when I only meant to wound him was a sight to behold.

Melta Rifle: A strong AoE weapon, the Melta Rifle has some gorgeous effects, but it struggles with ammo capacity, and after a few shots you're going to have to look for a refill somewhere. A shame, as the damage is extremely impressive.

Sniper Bolter: The Sniper Bolter is still a great long-range weapon if you don't like lasers for whatever reason. But, it doesn't quite do as much damage unless you're consistent with your headshots, and even then comes a similar ammo problem to that of the Melta Rifle.

C-Tier:

Plasma Pistol: The Plasma Pistol does pack a decent punch, especially if you charge it down, but as a secondary weapon, it goes through its ammo a lot more quickly than you'd expect. Also, it can overheat, meaning you can't just spam it in panic whenever you're surrounded. Not a bad weapon by any means, but the worst of a great bunch of sidearms.

Occulus Bolt Carbine: If you're going for a scoped Carbine, the Instigator just feels like a better version. Sure, you can keep your distance with the Occulus and it doesn't have much recoil at all, but without those three-round bursts, you'll feel like you're not doing much damage at all.

Marksman Bolt Carbine: Despite being very accurate at range with full rapid fire, the Marksman Bolt Carbine again feels underwhelming due to its damage. It's a versatile weapon, but really you don't need your gun for anything more than killing. Once again, no weapon in Space Marine II is a bad choice, but there are better ones than this.

What do you think of our list?