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One ofWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s most straightforward classes is the Sniper, whose best builds specialize in taking down enemies from afar in PvE and PvP. Unlike other sniping archetypes, the Sniper focuses on stealth rather than simple damage output. The deceptive nature of this class can make it tricky to play without the right Perks enhancing their abilities.
Similar to theTactical class inSpace Marine 2, the Sniper has a balanced collection of offensive and defensive options that can adapt to various situations. While this archetype often thrives in PvP, it tends to struggle when dealing with numerous enemies in PvE Operations. You’ll need a good team around you to bring out the potential of this class against swarms of monsters on higher difficulties.
How To Play As The Sniper Class
Hide And Wait For The Perfect Moment
The Sniper comes with a level of versatility you may not expect, given the archetype’s moniker. Youdo not have to stay at long rangeto play this class effectively, but you do want touse long-range attacks against high-priority targets. Like any Sniper you’ve seen in other games, this class is at its best using powerful rifles to deal high DPS through headshots to enemy players or bosses.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 - Best Assault Build
Unleash the power of the thunder hammer with the assault class in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II. Stay aggressive in the center of the fight.
However, the Sniperhas a passive abilitycalledCamo Cloakthat allows you to hide in active camouflage until you activate your next attack. This will enable you todive into enemy groups and surprise them using a melee weaponup close. Very few will suspect a sneak attack from someone who usually attacks from far away in the thick of battle.
Like other classes, the Sniper only gains access to a limited selection of weapons. While the arsenal of the Sniper is larger than the Bulwark orVanguard inSpace Marine 2, it is still less than other archetypes like the Tactical.
Combining the Sniper’s strengths means you’re able to be anywhere on the battlefield. You want toposition yourself in the best placefor your team as the Sniper, acting as the catalyst needed to turn the tide of a fight.
For example, if you have a Vanguard and Bulwark pushing forward, you may stay behind and support them with attacks from a distance. If you have a Tactical player who needs support, you can disappear and eliminate a larger enemy up close from the shadows to take pressure off your ally. Weaving in and out of different positions to where you’re needed is the essence of playing this class.
Every Available Sniper Perk
Craft Your Best Build With Different Buffs
As youlevel up inSpace Marine 2, you will unlock various Perks that offer passive bonuses to your character. You canpick eight different Perksto create a build for the class from each of these categories:
Every section of Perks has a column containing three different bonuses, but you may only choose one. Core and Gear Perks have three columns each, giving you three different buffs from these categories. However, you can only have one Team and Signature Perk in your build, making the one you pick extremely important to determine your Sniper build’s specific playstyle.
All the Perks for the Sniper enhance the class' unique traits or occasionally buff your teammates. You can choose Perks for the Sniper based on the ones shown below:
To follow along and create your own build from the Perks listed, simply pick one Perk per row on the following tables.
Perk #3
Core 1
Block Break- Shots against blocking or shielded enemies deal 25% damage or normal ranged damage.
Melee Mastery- Melee damage is 10% more against Majoris-tier enemies and above.
Core 2
High Capacity- Carry 10% more ammo.
Vantage Point- Standing still for two seconds increases your Primary Weapon damage by 20%.
Adaptability- Reloading while having low ammo increases your melee damage by 15% for five seconds.
Core 3
Iron Grip- 30% less recoil from Bolt Sniper Rifles and Stalker Bolt Rifles.
Dexterous Hands- Bolt Carbines reload 15% faster.
Lethal Efficiency- Multikills with a Laser Fusil refund charges of ammo.
Team
Marksmanship- Your squad deals 10% more headshot damage.
Advanced Conditioning- Weapon spread is reduced by 20% for all teammates.
Squad Renewal- Headshot kills restore 10% of ability energy for all squad members.
Does Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 live up to the hype?
This isn’t generally my type of game, but the images and videos I saw piqued my interest. While I haven’t had time to dive very deep into it, everything about Space Marine 2 lives up to the hype so far. The gameplay is a ton of fun and easy to follow for a newcomer, but my biggest praise is just for the sleek, clean look of its aesthetic.
Gear 1
Purification- Manually activating the Camo Cloak removes negative status effects.
Efficient Readiness- Manually activating Camo Cloak automatically reloads all ranged weapons.
Renewal- Headshot kills restore 5% of your Camo Cloak charge.
Gear 2
Guardian Protocol- Upon reviving an ally, you both become cloaked for five seconds. This does not cost a charge of your Camo Cloak. This has a cooldown of five seconds.
Targeted Shot- Your first ranged attack from invisibility deals 75% more damage.
Tactical Ambush- Your first melee attack from invisibility deals 100% more damage.
Gear 3
Persistence- You take 20% less HP damage for five seconds when the cloak deactivates.
Lingering Concealment- After performing an attack that breaks the Camo Cloak, you remain hidden for two seconds.
Ambush- Cloack deactivation stuns nearby targets. This has a cooldown of 30 seconds.
Signature
Evasion- Perfect dodges now trigger Camo Cloak for free. This has a cooldown of 15 seconds.
Emergency Override- If you die, trigger a free Camo Cloak and become invisible for five seconds. This has a 180-second cooldown.
Pattern of Excellence- Landing four consecutive headshots restores a grenade charge. This has a 180-second cooldown.
Some of the stand-out Perks here areTargeted Shot,Tactical Ambush,Ambush, andBlock Breakfor how they enhance the Sniper’s overall DPS. Stunning targets and breaking through their defenses add to the Sniper’s disruptive tactics in both PvE and PvP modes. During one ofSpace Marine 2’s many missions, you’ll want buffs that make your attacks more effective at wiping out bosses or other important targets.
The Best PvE Sniper Build
Never Run Out Of Ammo
In PvP, the Sniper can take care to shoot fewer enemies on an enemy squad, but PvE pits the class against hordes of enemies multiple times. This can be hard to manage as the limited shots of your long-range weapons force you to reload often. The best Sniper build for PvE should be centered aroundrestoring ammo and your abilitiesso that they never run out during an Operation’s most chaotic moments.
According to the above video by YouTube creatorFervor Gaming, this build also focuses on staying hidden as you get your Camo Cloak back more often. By restoring both your class ability and the skills of other squad members, you will have more ways to take on enemies as they threaten to overwhelm your group. When putting all your Perks and equipment together, the build should look something like this:
Evasion
The Las Fusil weapon is important for this build, as its piercing energy damage allows you to activate the Lethal Efficiency Perk often. This will help you rarely run out of ammo by getting multi-kills against smaller enemies in the hordes seen in Operations. With extra damage and invisibility, you will have an easier time running circles around the AI-controlled enemies your team goes up against.
The Best PvP Sniper Build
Deal As Much Damage As You Can
The strongest PvP build for a Sniper should focus ondealing as much damage as possible to enemy players. Human opponents are, sometimes, much smarter than the AI of PvE, so you need to try to take them out in as few shots as possible before they can react. This could be through a surprising melee attack assault at close range or a single headshot from afar.
One of thestrongest classes inSpace Marine 2is the Bulwark, whose shield in PvP can make the class hard to kill. Snipers are the perfect counters for Bulwarks with their defense-penetrating abilities, as long as you can make your attacks count.
Enemy teams can decimate Snipers if they discover them apart from a group, so you need to support your team as well. Powerful Perks that break through enemy defenses can disrupt the cohesion of your rivals, allowing your team to clean up stragglers. The Perks you choose for a PvP build could help you affect the outcome of a large fight between groups, so choose your bonuses carefully.
As you can see, many of the Perks for a Sniper PvP build are the same as a strong PvE one. There is still an emphasis onperforming perfect dodgesto activate Camo Cloak for free for another instance of invisibility during a battle. However, other Perks likeIron GripandPersistencemake you more reliable against humans, allowing you to steady your shots more and survive for longer respectfully.
The combination of these passive bonuses will help you stay active in PvP team fights as you weave in and out of different positions. The best builds for the Sniper class inWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, for PvE or PvP, are the ones that give the archetype the freedom to adapt to nearly any circumstances they find themselves in.
