Space Marine 2 Classes Overview: All 7 Operations Classes

The six classes

• Tactical (armour 3) — Auspex Scan reveals enemies in an area and marks them, multiplying the damage they take. The generalist and the best pick for your first hundred hours. See the Auspex Scan build.
• Assault (armour 3) — Jump Pack gives enhanced dashes and leaps plus a ground pound. No primary weapon, just a sidearm and hard-hitting melee. Highest fun, highest death rate; the jump pack is a defensive repositioning tool as much as an offensive one. See the Jump Pack build.
• Vanguard (armour 2) — Grapnel Launcher propels you to a target with a diving kick and restores armour on the grapple. The most aggressive armour engine in the game and the least margin for a wrong target. See the Vanguard grapple build.
• Bulwark (armour 3) — Chapter Banner pulses an area effect that restores armour to nearby squad members, and with perks can heal. Carries a combat shield and no primary weapon. The most valuable class in a random group. See the Chapter Banner build.
• Sniper (armour 2) — Camo Cloak conceals you until your next attack, a full reset button. Best against Extremis and Terminus targets, worst when the screen fills with a horde.
• Heavy (armour 3) — Iron Halo projects a barrier blocking all ranged damage from the front and sides. Heavy two-handed weapons, no melee weapon, enormous damage, and fully dependent on the team keeping melee off it. See the Iron Halo build.
• Techmarine (armour 3) — added in Patch 12. Servo-Gun fire, Tarantula Sentry Gun support, and the wide Omnissian Axe. More setup than Tactical, but it locks down space and pressures priority targets while the squad shoots.

Which to learn first

For new players, Tactical or Vanguard teach the ropes, and picking a three-armour class adds room for error while you learn the parry timing. Up to Substantial difficulty you can run almost anything; Ruthless and above, the Extremis enemies become the encounter, and squad composition outranks individual build — a team of three melee classes fails on Lethal regardless of skill because nobody answers a shielded, floating Zoanthrope. For the defensive foundation every class shares, read which defence type to carry and parry timing by weapon type.