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Space Marine 2 Gun Strike Guide

The gun-strike is the highest-damage move in melee, and most players waste it. How to open the window, land the shot, and turn a stagger into a kill.

5 min read

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A gun-strike is a shot during a window

When you parry or perfect-dodge an enemy, that enemy enters a stagger during which a single shot becomes a gun-strike: massive damage, often an instant execution on weaker enemies. The executions and gun-strikes page covers the armor interaction; the habit here is to fire the instant the window opens, not admire it. The perfect dodge gun strike page shows the dodge path to the same window.

Parry is the reliable source

Most gun-strikes come from parries, because a parry stagger is longer and easier to read than a dodge one. Learn the parry timing first, and the gun-strike becomes a natural follow-up rather than a lucky shot. Players who wait for a perfect dodge to gun-strike miss most of their windows. Parry, then shoot, is the rhythm that lands.

Gun-strike feeds contested health

The damage from a gun-strike also drives the contested health recovery, so a well-timed strike heals you while it kills. The contested health page explains the recovery; the gun-strike is the fastest way to trigger it in a melee fight. That makes the gun-strike both offense and sustain. Ignore it and you fight every duel at a health disadvantage.

Do not waste it on Minoris

Gun-strikes are best spent on Majoris and above, where the burst actually matters. Spending the window on a chaff enemy is a missed opportunity to delete an elite. Save the parry for the threat that deserves the damage. The squad that gun-strikes the right target ends fights faster than the squad that gun-strikes everything.

Window discipline

A gun-strike is a shot during a stagger, so fire the instant the window opens rather than admiring it, because the perfect dodge gun strike path is the reliable source and the parry timing guide teaches the timing. The executions and gun strikes page covers the armor interaction. Do not waste it on Minoris.

It feeds contested health

The gun-strike also drives the contested health recovery, so a well-timed strike heals you while it kills, which makes it both offense and sustain.

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Sources & References

This guide is verified against the game's own data and official communications. For patch notes, current balance, and authoritative specifics, consult the references below. Where a precise number cannot be verified, we explain the mechanic rather than invent a figure.