Space Marine 2 Difficulties: What Each Threat Level Changes

The table

Difficulty	Recommended level	XP	Requisition	Armoury Data
Minimal	1+	630	35	Master-Crafted
Average	5+	945	55	Master-Crafted
Substantial	10+	1,260	95	Artificer
Ruthless	15+	1,890	165	Relic
Lethal	25	2,830	220	Relic
Absolute	max	higher	higher	Relic

The three real breakpoints

Substantial is the first wall. It is where Armoury Data quality jumps to Artificer, which is the tier that actually upgrades mid-game weapons, and it is also where a Mortal Wound starts arriving on your first incapacitation instead of your second. Until then, going down twice was survivable. After it, one mistake carries a permanent penalty for the rest of the mission. Ruthless is the resource wall. Ammo caches become limited per squad member. That changes the mission from “shoot what you see” to “decide what deserves ammunition”, and it is the difficulty where Heavy players stop being able to hold a lane alone. Lethal is the coordination wall. Majoris enemies can become enraged, which makes them deadlier and harder to finish. Finishers stop regenerating armour if your squadmates are far away — so the lone-wolf playstyle that worked on Substantial actively starves you. On the other hand, killing Majoris or higher reduces respawn time, which rewards the squad that keeps killing instead of hiding.

Where progression stops

Minimal and Average pay the same Armoury Data quality. If you are farming the easy pair, your weapons are not improving, and that is the single most common plateau: a player with hundreds of hours who cannot understand why their rifle is still mid-tier. Move to Substantial as soon as you can finish it, even slowly. Artificer-tier weapons only drop on Substantial and above; Relic only on Ruthless and above. So the difficulty you choose is the tier of gear you are allowed to own.

Choosing honestly

Pick the highest difficulty you can finish cleanly, not the highest you can barely survive. A failed run pays nothing — Armoury Data is only credited on completion, and a partial run is worth the same as not queueing. Two clean Substantial clears beat one Ruthless wipe by a wide margin, and they take less time. The Armoury Data page covers the pickup rules, and the Absolute difficulty page covers what changes above Lethal. For spending what you earn, read the Requisition page.