Best Space Marine 2 Vanguard build

The Vanguard is the most mobile class in Space Marine 2, allowing players to dive bomb enemies thanks to a handy grapple. Whether it’s a testing elite at close range or a stampeding swarm, it’s up for the job. Such a well-rounded class does come with one major trade-off: it’s lacks armor and limited to one two armor bars as opposed to three available for most other classes. The best Vanguard build mitigates this relative squishiness while also tapping into the acrobatic abilities that define the class.

Vanguard build class perks

Here’s a rundown of the Vanguard class perks you’ll want to choose from this build. The loadout is designed to maintain the Vanguard’s mobility and pace while also adding some survivability. The general idea is to buff the grapple cooldown, mitigate close-range melee damage, and mix in health regen to make up for the class’ up-close-and-personal playstyle, which invariably means heavier sustained damage.

Melee defense bonuses are a big part of the puzzle here as they’ll take the sting out of fighting face to face with swarms, including Majoris and Extremis-class enemies like Liktors, Raveners, and Occultist Terminators. Even melee attacks from Terminus enemies shouldn’t be a problem with these perks.

There’s some flexibility though, so take this as a balanced starting point and refine it as you see fit. These will keep you safe from ranged attacks while you’re in the thick of the swarm.

	Perks	Description
Core Perk 1	Moving target	Each Melee Attack you land reduces the Ranged Damage you take by 1%, stacking to 15%. If you do not land a Melee attack for 3 seconds, the effect ends.
Core Perk 2	Close Combat Focus	You take 20% less Melee Damage, but take 10% more Ranged Damage,
Core Perk 3	Consecutive Execution	Killing 10 enemies in quick succession restores 1 Equipment Charge. 18-0 seconds cooldown.
Team Perk	Unmatched Zeal	Melee Finishers of Extremis enemies additionally restore a small amount of Health for any Squad Member.
Gear Perk 1	Shockwave or Restless Fortitude	Diving Kick additionally deals damage in a 5-meter radius. You can potentially go Restless Fortitude if you’re struggling with ranged enemies due to the ranged damage debuff.
Gear Perk 2	Tenacity	After killing 10 enemies in rapid succession, Diving Kick damage increases by 25% for 10 seconds. Cooldown of 30 seconds.
Gear Perk 1	Combat Readiness	Grapple Launcher recharges 20% faster.
Signature Perk	Adrenaline Rush or Emperor’s Blessing	Melee kills against Majoris or higher enemies to restore health. Emperor’s Blessing allows you to restore all armour when you get uncapped instead of going down. Cooldown of 180 seconds.

Vanguard build weapons

Slot	Weapon
Primary Weapon	Melta Rifle
Secondary Weapon	Combat Knife or Chainsword

The primary weapon of choice for this Vanguard build is Multi-Rifle. It dishes out high burst damage to easily deal with swarms quickly and efficiently. When you reach the Relic tier, opt the Ophelian Liberation – Alpha variant for a boost to damage stats alongside major buffs to ammo and ammo capacity.

✓ Metla-Rifle perks

• For a defensive approach, stick to the bottom row o perks, which restore armor after every kill. If you’re playing with a Bulwark tank build with the armor speed recovery team perk, you’ll forever be regenerating Armour.
• The top row buffs flat damage, boss damage, fire rate, and magazine capacity, so is ideal if you need a bump to damage output.
  

As for the secondary weapon, melee is the way to go. The Combat Knife is better suited to duelling elites, while the Chainsword is lethal when dealing with large swarms. Take your pick.

Weapon	Perks
Combat Knife	– Perpetual Strength – 5% increase in melee damage. – Kinetic Energy – Consecutive Heavy Attacks increase heavy attack melee damage by 3%, stacking to 30% for 3 seconds. – Shoulder Bash – Replaces distant stab with shoulder bash. Active by evading or sprinting and tapping the attack button to perform an AoE shoulder barge. – Tyranid Slayer – Force to take, handy on Tyranid maps though. – Reeling Blow – Hitting enemies with Whirlwind slash deals 30% less damage over 4 seconds. 10-second cooldown. – Extremis Slayer – 15% melee damage bonus against Extremis-level enemies. – Terminus Slayer – increased melee damage against Terminus-class enemies.
Chainsword	– Perpetual Strength – 5% increase to melee damage. – Swift Recovery – Heavy Attacks restore 100% more Contested health to Quick Punch, Front Kick, Shoulder Bash, and Stomp. – Reverberating Impact – Stomp AOE radius increased by 50%. – Chaos Slayer – Forced to take it. Handy for Chaos maps. – Hard Target – Take 15% less ranged when performing a light attack combo. Handy for more defensiveness. – Trampling Stride – After performing a Stomp, hold the attack button to perform another stomp.

If you’re running the Chainsword, opt for the Aquilan Deciation Relic-tier variant. You lose cleaving potential in favour of Fencing and a huge damage increase. The he Stomp AoE increase makes up for the loss of Cleave potential, too.

Combat Knife players should unlock the Blood of Vossis variant. The strength, speed, and balanced stats are important for duelling. No other option is particularly worth it. Getting the heavy attack buffs alongside flat damage buffs boosts DPS significantly.