The main Space Marine 2 enemies are the Tyranids, a hive race of alien predators from beyond the Milky Way, with the traitorous Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines making an appearance at some point in the story. This guide lists every enemy seen in trailers so far.
The Tyranid hive is controlled by a single psychic presence, known as the Hive Mind. More psychically potent than any other entity in the Warhammer 40k universe, save perhaps for the eldritch Warhammer Chaos gods, each individual Tyranid is a genetically crafted puppet serving the will of the swarm. The odds are definitely against you in Space Marine 2.
After having such a good time with the Space Marine 2 preview build, and learning the Space Marine 2 release date, Wargamer is eagerly gathering every scrap of news – you’ll find more guides for the game in our Space Marine 2 walkthrough. In this guide we track all the different Tyranid biomorphs sighted in the game so far, explaining what we know of their weaponry, tactics, and behaviour, as well as providing insight into the lore behind the creatures.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Space Marine 2 enemies revealed so far:
- Termagants
- Hormagaunts
- Tyranid Warriors
- Spore Mines
- Gargoyles
- Zoanthrope
- Lictor
- Carnifex
- Hive Tyrant
- Why do some enemies have red eyes in Space Marine 2?
- Are there Chaos Space Marines in Space Marine 2?
- Exalted Sorcerer
- Rubric Marines
- Scarab Occult Terminators
- Tzaangors
- Helbrute
- Heldrake
- Space Marine 2 bosses
Termagants
Hordes of Termagants form the bulk of Tyranid assaults. Though a deadly threat to most humans, one-on-one they are inconsequential creatures to a Space Marine – but in large numbers they are deadly. They are equipped with short ranged fleshborer guns, which rapidly fire ravenous fleshborer beetles. Engage them in melee and they are easily crushed.
Hormagaunts
Swarms of Hormagaunts race at the front of a Tyranid attack. Each one is equipped with four bladed limbs capable of slicing a normal human in two. Hormagaunts can easily bog down a Space Marine with a tide of bodies, sinking their claws into the weakpoints of his armor and butchering him.
Hormagaunts may leap at the player, an attack that will be signified with a blue aura. If the attack lands it will stagger you, but it can be parried – you’ll grab the leaping beast by its tail and slam it into the ground before stamping on its skull.
In some wave defense sections of the preview, swarms of Hormagaunts mass at the bottom of a defensive wall, forming a pile of squirming bodies capable of scaling the wall. These living siege ladders can be blasted apart with concentrated fire or a well-placed grenade.
Tyranid Warriors
Tyranid Warriors are the smallest Tyranid creature capable of relaying the will of the Hive Mind. Often operating in packs of three, this biomorph is larger than a Space Marine, and can be adapted for ranged or melee combat with different bioweapons.
Warriors have a massively armored cranium, which protects the psychic structures that connect them to the hive. While it’s possible to blast their heads off, this involves putting substantial firepower into their skull. Even Space Marine 2 execution shots with your pistol won’t necessarily finish off a warrior.
Warrior with twin bone swords
Warriors with twin boneswords are adapted for melee. The swords are psychically conductive, making them stronger and more damaging than the already hardened chitin of other Tyranids. This type of warrior can enter a defensive stance, crossing its swords and bracing itself, which renders it invulnerable to frontal attacks.
Warrior with bone sword and lashwhip
Lashwhips are used to snare prey creatures. In Space Marine 2 combat, a lashwhip attack will be highlighted with a red aura. This attack cannot be parried, but it can be dodged. If the lashwhip hits you, it will yank you towards the Tyranid and stagger you. Should you successfully dodge the lashwhip attack, the warrior may be vulnerable instead.
Warrior with devourer
The devourer is a symbiotic ranged weapon that fires a spray of flesh eating maggots that will eat their way through a target’s nervous system towards the brain. It has a considerable rate of fire. This kind of warrior is not defenceless in melee, but it lacks any specialised melee attacks.
Warrior with venom cannon
The venom cannon fires sharp crystals coated in extremely toxic and acidic venom. It’s a lethal weapon, capable of penetrating Space Marine armor and damaging light vehicles. The one mercy for players facing it is that it has a slow rate of fire.
Spore Mines
Spore Mines are floating bags of explosive gas, with enough rudimentary intelligence to launch themselves at living creatures before they explode. Spore mines telegraph their attacks with a red aura: you can shoot them out of the air, or dodge them.
Gargoyles
Flocks of winged Gargoyles soar through the skies of any world the Tyranids invade. These are an adaptation of the -gaunt strain, similarly armed with ranged fleshborer guns. The Gamescom preview build ends just before a setpiece, which – from the way it is set up – promises to pit the player against flock of gargoyles attempting to destroy a radar dish. Whether they’ll be a regular enemy remains to be seen.
Zoanthrope
The Zoanthrope is a powerful psychic Tyranid monster. It’s a Warhammer 40k psyker, able to channel the energy of the warp to twist reality. Zoanthropes use their psychic powers to float through the air, summon devastating blasts of warp energy, or invigorate other Tyranid creatures.
In the Gamescom preview build, the Zoanthrope appears in command of a swarm of other Tyranids, psychically boosting their survivability until it is slain.
Lictor
Lictors are stealth vanguard organisms, often infiltrating planets in advance of the main hive fleet. They use powerful biological camouflage to disguise themselves, allowing them to assassinate enemy leaders. Their feeder tendrils allow them to gather information by devouring the cerebral matter of their prey.
Carnifex
The Carnifex is a massive, living wrecking ball, an elite shock organism capable of ripping apart tanks and sundering defensive bastions. Carnifex biomorphs can be spawned with a variety of weapons, but the variant shown in trailers so far features massive scything talons and crushing claws, a loadout tailored for melee.
Hive Tyrant
The Hive Tyrant is a walking nexus of the Hive Mind’s will. These towering organisms are apex predators, and it can wield larger versions of all the same weaponry as can Tyranid Warriors. The Hive Tyrant has only made scant appearances in trailers so far, and it seems to be equipped with at least two boneswords – it it has four, then this is a far more lethal Swarmlord.
Ravener
The Ravener is a relative of the Tyranid Warrior, but its rear limbs are replaced by a sinuous tail. They are specialised for infiltration, capable of burrowing through solid earth to emerge behind enemy positions.
Why do some enemies have red eyes in Space Marine 2?
Sometimes, you’ll notice enemies with glowing red eyes and a shower of green sparks rising from their backs. These are more aggressive and have more health than normal enemies.
We haven’t had an official statement from Focus Entertainment, but we can think of two lore explanations for this. It’s possible that this is the result of the Hive Mind directing more of its attention into these creatures; it might also be the result of adrenal glands, symbiotic organisms that clamp onto other Tyranids and turbo-charge their metabolism and aggression.
Are there Chaos Space Marines in Space Marine 2?
The Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines appear as enemies in Space Marine 2, but we don’t yet know when they will join the campaign. Worshippers of the blood god Khorne secretly manipulated the events of the original Space Marine, but the Thousand Sons are adherents of the sorcerous Tzeentch.
When the Emperor of Mankind forged the Imperium of Mankind ten thousand years ago, the Thousand Sons were loyal warriors in the Great Crusade. A mixture of hubris and tragedy saw them fall to the ruinous powers of Chaos during the Horus Heresy civil war.
Exalted Sorcerer
Exalted Sorcerers are potent psykers. As well as the elite gifts of the Space Marines, they are able to draw on the ruinous energies of the Warp and their patron deity Tzeentch to manipulate reality itself.
Rubric Marines
In the wake of the Horus Heresy civil war, the Thousand Sons legion began to fall foul of uncontrolled mutation. Drastic measures were undertaken to attempt to save them – with dire side effects. The Rubric Marines are what remains of the members of the Legion not gifted with psychic powers, animated suits of Space Marine Armor inhabited by the barest glimmer of sentience, but no less deadly in combat.
Scarab Occult Terminators
Scarab Occult Terminators are animated suits of Terminator armor haunted by the faintest ghost of once-living marines.
Tzaangors
Tzaangors are bestial abhumans, part man, part bird, part goat. They are servants of the Thousand Sons. So far, they’ve only been shown off in trailer footage, so it’s conceivable that they’re not actually in the game – but it seems unlikely.
Helbrute
Helbrutes are the warp-twisted remains of 40k Dreadnoughts. In loyalist Space Marine Chapters, Dreadnought walkers are piloted by great heroes of the Chapter who have been wounded unto death. The life support technology that keeps loyal heroes alive is twisted by the powers of Chaos into a nightmarish state of undeath, driving those interred within the machine insane.
Heldrake
Heldrakes are daemon engines, a Chaos daemon imprisoned in the mechanical shell of a war engine. Heldrakes are predatory and draconic, capable of ripping fighter planes out of the sky, and breathing lethal warpfire onto ground targets.
Space Marine 2 bosses
Focus hasn’t yet revealed if Space Marine 2 will feature boss fights. It would be a shame if it doesn’t, as there are so many cool Tyranid and Thousand Sons monsters that would make great boss encounters. So much so that we’ve written a whole guide to all the Space Marine 2 bosses we’d like to see!
Space Marine 2 is shaping up to be one of the best Warhammer 40k games out there – it definitely has the most beautifully rendered depictions of the hideous Tyranids we’ve ever seen. The heavy bolter isn’t quite as much fun as the one in retro shooter Warhammer 40k: Boltgun, but – as I say in my Boltgun review – that’s so good I want to marry it, so it was always going to struggle.