All the Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 weapons revealed so far

Warhammer 40k has one of the best armories in all of sci-fi. Forget your “elegant weapons for a more civilized age” – the guns, swords, and explosives in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium are big, ugly, and ridiculously fun to play with. This guide to Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 weapons covers the whole arsenal revealed for the game so far.

Wargamer’s time with the Space Marine 2 preview build has us hopeful that it will be one of the better Warhammer 40k games out there. We’re tracking news of the Space Marine 2 release date eagerly, and you’ll find all the rest of the information about the game in our Space Marine 2 walkthrough.

Here’s everything we know so far about Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 weapons:

Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 main weapons

You can only carry one main weapon at a time in Space Marine 2 combat, so pick one to suit your playstyle. We got to play with five in the preview build: the boltrifle, auto boltrifle, bolt carbine, meltagun, and heavy bolter.

Bolt rifle

The bolt rifle is the standard armament of a Primaris Space Marine, an automatic fire gun that launches self-propelled, mass-reactive explosive rounds. In the demo build, the bolt rifle had strong vertical recoil when aimed.

Auto bolt rifle

The auto bolt rifle has a rapid ammo loader, allowing it to put down a far more rapid rate of fire. We tested this in the demo build, but couldn’t say for certain if it was weaker or harder to aim than the main bolt rifle. In tabletop Warhammer 40k, it has lower armor penetration than the bolt rifle.

Heavy bolt rifle

The heavy bolt rifle’s stats appear in the multiplayer trailer. As the name suggests, this is a higher-bore variant of the standard bolt rifle with more stopping power.

Stalker bolt rifle

Another bolt rifle variant, the stalker bolt rifle is scoped, making it more accurate at long range, and has better armor penetration and stopping power. It’s slower to fire than the bolt rifle. Its stats appear in the multiplayer trailer.

Bolt carbine

The bolt carbine is a cut-down bolt rifle with a foregrip that’s quicker to aim on the move. We tested this in the demo build, and couldn’t tell much difference between it and the bolt rifle, other than a faster rate of fire, but its stats have since been revealed in the multiplayer trailer.

Trailers have revealed three other variants of the bolt carbine : the Instigator bolt carbine, a heavy bore bolt carbine with better long-range capability; and the Marksman bolt carbine and the Occulus bolt carbine, which each have subtly distinct advanced targeting systems.

Meltagun

Meltaguns are short-range, man-portable anti-tank weapons that use concentrated bursts of microwave radiation to superheat and melt the particles in their target. In-game, this manifests as a very short range explosive burst with damage that falls off with range – it is utterly lethal at very close range, and even at longer range did significant damage to any Space Marine 2 enemies we were able to test it on.

Heavy bolter

The heavy bolter is a belt-fed fully automatic version of the bolt rifle, firing even larger explosive shells. Human fighters need to use the heavy bolter as an emplaced support weapon, but Space Marines can wield them in their hands. In the demo, continuously firing the heavy bolter caused it to heat up, and it could cease firing if not allowed to cool.

Plasma Incinerator

Plasma weapons use a magnetic containment chamber to superheat gas into a plasma state which the gun then shoots as a projectile. They are capable of melting through Space Marine armor, and are prone to catastrophically overheating, melting down and potentially killing the wielder. The plasma incinerator wasn’t playable in the demo, but stats appeared in the multiplayer trailer.

Melta rifle

Melta-rifles are larger variants of the melta-gun with greater power and longer range, built to be carried by the enhanced frame of a Primaris Space Marine. The melta-rifle wasn’t usable in the demo. In the tabletop game they have equivalent destructive power to a meltagun, but longer range, and are harder to fire on the move.

Multi-melta

The Multi-melta is a twin-barelled, heavy variant of the melta-gun with more power and longer range, ordinarily mounted on light vehicles as anti-tank ordnance. In various editions of the game it either has a higher rate of fire or deals more damage than a melta-rifle, but is harder to fire accurately on the move.

Pyreblaster

The Pyreblaster is a handheld flamethrower with a compact fuel tank, used for close range engagements, trench clearance, and dealing with hordes of lesser enemies. It wasn’t available to test in the demo.

Bolt Sniper Rifle

Using bolter technology with a sniper rifle’s elongated barrel and superior sights, the bolt sniper rifle is used by Space Marine eliminators to pick off targets of opportunity. It wasn’t available to test in the demo, but has appeared in trailers.

Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 pistols

The Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 pistols are back-up ranged weapons that never run out of ammunition, though they still need to reload. It’s quicker to swap to a pistol than to reload any of your main weapons, and you’ll often whip out your pistol for a quick execution shot. They are all accurate at close range.

The Plasma Pistol shows up in the Space Marine 2 gameplay trailers, but wasn’t available in the demo build that Wargamer played.

Bolt pistol

Bolt pistols are semi-automatic pistols, which fire self-propelled explosive rounds. The basic bolt pistol is the weakest of these, but still capable of taking apart lesser enemies and clearing space to allow you to reload a main gun.

Heavy bolt pistol

Heavy bolt pistols fire large calibre bolt rounds with more stopping power, at the expense of a smaller clip and slower fire rate. They have the edge when it comes to executing larger foes, as a heavy bolt pistol head shot is more likely to take a Tyranid Warrior’s head clean off than a basic bolt pistol.

Plasma pistol

Only shown off in trailers so far, the plasma pistol uses a magnetic chamber to heat gas into a plasma state which it can then fire as a projectile. Notoriously prone to overheating at the wielder’s expense, this is a high-powered weapon that can cut through armor with ease.

Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 melee weapons

Space Marine 2 has a full melee combat system, with parries, dodges, stuns, and Space Marine 2 executions. Warhammer 40k has a massive arsenal of melee weapons, though we’ve only been able to play with a few so far. Even when equipped with a two-handed Heavy Bolter, you’re still able to club your enemies with its metal bulk.

Combat Knife

The default melee weapon in the demo, the Space Marine combat knife would be the length of a shortsword in normal human hands. It’s a fast but weak weapon that’s up to the task of clearing hordes of light enemies.

Chainsword

The iconic chainsword is a sword that is also a chainsaw – it’s great. It’s hefty, delivering powerful cuts but leaving you open to strikes if you mistime them, giving the combat a feel of decisiveness.

Heavy weapon smash

If you end up in melee while holding a heavy weapon, like the heavy bolter, you’re able to make a slow and cumbersome swipe with the gunstock. This is powerful enough to smash one or two smaller foes, but it won’t disengage you from a serious threat. If you’re swamped and no allies are available to cut you loose, it’s better to drop the heavy bolter and draw a real blade.

Power sword

The power sword has only appeared in trailers so far. Though this looks like a sword covered in lightning, this blade is actually wrapped in a disruption field capable of explosively severing molecular bonds. A lethal tool capable of cutting cleanly through thick armor.

Thunder hammer

The thunder hammer has only appeared in trailers so far. A massive weapon best wielded in two hands, the thunder hammer’s head contains a disruption field generator. Unlike power weapons, which constantly project a solid disruption field, the thunder hammer’s head fires its field only when it makes contact with an enemy, with explosive force, capable of ripping apart tanks and the largest xenos monsters.

Power fist

The power fist has only appeared in trailers so far. This heavy armored gauntlet is equipped with a disruption field, meaning blows from this weapon land with catastrophic force.

Storm shield

The storm shield has only appeared in trailers so far. Fitted with forcefield generators as well as thick armor plates, the storm shield provides protection from both ranged and melee attacks

Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 grenades

So far, only frag grenades have been revealed for Space Marine 2 – these are classic, explosive, anti-personnel grenades, perfect for blasting apart hordes of Tyranid Termagants. We hope that we’ll get some of the more exotic explosives from the 40k universe later – implosive krak grenades, tank-killing melta bombs, or reality-splitting vortex grenades.

If you’re a fan of third-person action games but you’re new to Warhammer 40k, we actually have a guide answering the question “What is Warhammer 40k?” just for you. You can also check out our guides to the many Warhammer 40k factions, which go in depth into the lore of the many warring species in the setting.