Best Vanguard Builds for Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Vanguard Class Guide – Weapons, Perks, and Builds

The Vanguard is one of the six classes available in Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. This class excels in mobility and close-quarters combat, making it a versatile choice for players who want to move swiftly across the battlefield. In this guide, we’ll cover the best builds for the Vanguard across early game, midgame, and endgame, the top weapon choices, how to complete the Vanguard Trials, and essential tips for playing this class in both PvE and PvP.

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Vanguard Class Overview

Ability: Grapnel Launcher
Armor Class: 2
Description: The Grapnel Launcher propels you to an enemy, allowing you to perform a Diving Kick, a powerful attack that deals melee damage.

PvE Rating: A
PvP Rating: A

The Vanguard is all about speed and precision. With its Grapnel Launcher, the Vanguard can zip across the battlefield, allowing for fast engagements or repositioning. This class thrives in both PvE and PvP environments, where quick decision-making and mobility are key to survival.

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Best Vanguard Builds and Loadouts

The Vanguard’s loadout and perk choices are highly adaptable to the stage of the game you’re in. Below are detailed builds for early, mid, and endgame stages, tailored to enhance your performance in both solo and cooperative play.

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Endgame Vanguard Class Build

This build focuses on maximizing your melee damage output and ability recharge speed. By the endgame, you’ll be able to tear through enemies while keeping your abilities on cooldown for quick access to your Grapnel Launcher and powerful finishers.

• Core Perks:

  • Melee Mastery: Increases melee damage, especially against tougher enemies like Majoris-level foes.
  • Duelist: Improves your Perfect Parry window, giving you more defensive options in melee combat.
  • Honed Reactions: When your health is low, your dodge window is extended, increasing survivability in close combat.

• Team Perk:

  • Inner Fire: Performing finishers restores ability charge by 15% for all squad members, allowing for quicker ability regeneration in team play.

• Gear Perks:

  • Shock Wave: Your Diving Kick now deals AoE damage, making it more effective against groups of enemies.
  • Tenacity: After killing 15 enemies in rapid succession, your Diving Kick’s damage is increased by 25% for 10 seconds.
  • Combat Readiness: Grapnel Launcher charges 20% faster, allowing for more frequent mobility and tactical repositioning.

• Signature Skill:

  • Tactical Prowess: Each finisher restores your Grapnel Launcher charge, making this skill essential for chaining mobility and finishers together.

Weapons:

• Primary Weapon: Melta Rifle (Gathalamor Crusade Relic)
  The Melta Rifle is an exceptional choice for the Vanguard, offering high AoE damage and the ability to pierce through enemies. The Gathalamor Crusade version focuses on improving damage while enhancing ammo economy with perks like Extended Magazine and Perpetual Fire.
• Secondary Weapon: Bolt Pistol (Gathalamor Crusade)
  This weapon, with perks like Iron Grip and Extended Magazine, improves overall accuracy and damage, allowing you to effectively deal with enemies at mid-range.
• Melee Weapon: Chainsword (Aquilan Dedication)
  The Chainsword is perfect for fast, powerful strikes. Perks like Saw Blade and Swift Recovery increase attack speed and help maintain offensive pressure in close combat.

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Midgame Vanguard Class Build

At midgame, your goal is to improve melee combat efficiency and manage your Grapnel Launcher’s cooldowns. This build ensures you’re still highly mobile while dealing significant damage to enemies in both PvE and PvP.

• Core Perks:

  • Melee Mastery: Continue boosting your melee damage.
  • Duelist: This perk remains crucial for its Perfect Parry boost, especially as enemies become stronger.
  • Consecutive Execution: Killing 15 enemies in rapid succession restores 1 Equipment Charge, making this ideal for dealing with waves of enemies.

• Team Perk:

  • Melee Champion: Increases melee damage for all squad members, boosting your entire team’s effectiveness in close combat situations.

• Gear Perks:

  • Shock Wave: Adds AoE damage to your Diving Kick, making it effective against clusters of enemies.
  • Tenacity: Increases your Diving Kick damage after killing multiple enemies.
  • Grim Determination: Increases weapon damage when your Grapnel Launcher is on cooldown.

• Signature Skill:

  • Tactical Prowess: As in the endgame build, Tactical Prowess remains vital for maintaining high mobility and chaining finishers with Grapnel Launcher recharges.

Weapons:

• Primary Weapon: Melta Rifle (Salvation of Bakka)
  The Melta Rifle continues to be the best option due to its high damage output. The Salvation of Bakka variant emphasizes damage and ammo economy, with perks like Magazine Restoration.
• Secondary Weapon: Bolt Pistol (Salvation of Bakka)
  Similar to the primary weapon, this version of the Bolt Pistol is optimized for better handling and ammo management.
• Melee Weapon: Chainsword (Achortan Oath)
  The Chainsword is again a solid choice, with perks like Swift Recovery for faster strikes and Tyranid Slayer for extra damage against specific enemy types.

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Early Game Vanguard Class Build

Early on, the focus is on boosting survivability and mastering melee combat, as your weapon choices and abilities are more limited. This build helps you improve your performance during early Operations and the campaign.

• Core Perks:

  • Moving Target: Reduces ranged damage taken with each melee attack you land, helping you survive longer in combat.
  • Duelist: Increases your Perfect Parry window, giving you more time to counter enemy attacks.
  • Retribution: After being knocked back or grabbed, you deal 15% more melee damage for 10 seconds.

• Team Perk:

  • Melee Champion: This remains a solid choice early in the game, boosting your team’s melee capabilities.

• Gear Perks:

  • Restless Fortitude: After a Diving Kick, you take less ranged damage for 10 seconds.
  • Zone of Impact: Finishers with the Grapnel Launcher deal a small amount of damage to nearby enemies.
  • Thrill of the Fight: After a Perfect Parry or Dodge, you take 15% less health damage for 3 seconds, improving survivability in tricky encounters.

• Signature Skill:

  • Tactical Prowess: This skill is essential from the early game, helping you quickly reposition and maintain momentum in battle by restoring Grapnel Launcher charges after each finisher.

Weapons:

• Primary Weapon: Melta Rifle (Master-Crafted – Alpha)
  The Melta Rifle remains the top choice for early game due to its incredible damage output. The Alpha variant offers enhanced range and improved ammo management, making it a reliable weapon throughout early encounters.
• Secondary Weapon: Bolt Pistol (Master-Crafted – Alpha)
  The Bolt Pistol is a solid secondary weapon, offering decent damage and range, with perks focused on increasing damage output.
• Melee Weapon: Chainsword (Master-Crafted – Alpha)
  The Chainsword strikes a perfect balance between speed and power, and its Master-Crafted Alpha variant offers both increased damage and defensive capabilities for parrying.

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Vanguard Trials Guide

The Vanguard class features several trials in Space Marine 2, which offer valuable rewards and enhance your skills. Completing these trials requires mastering the Grapnel Launcher and strategic use of melee attacks to eliminate key targets.

• Trial 1: Cut the Synapse
  Focus on eliminating Tyranid Warriors, as this will also destroy nearby Minoris Tyranids. Use the Grapnel Launcher to move quickly between targets and finish the trial in under 60 seconds.

• Trial 2: Grapnel Launcher
  Although the trial encourages you to use the Grapnel Launcher, you can remain on higher ground and eliminate Tyranid Warriors with headshots from your primary weapon for faster completion.

• Trial 3: Perfectly Timed
  Use your Grapnel Launcher to hit groups of Minoris Tyranids, then focus on killing them with melee attacks to complete the objectives. After this, target the Tyranid Warrior to clear the area.

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Best Vanguard Weapons

• Melta Rifle: The top choice for the Vanguard, the Melta Rifle deals excellent AoE damage and is highly effective at piercing through enemy lines. The Gathalamor Crusade Relic version is the most powerful, offering perks like Perpetual Fire for sustained damage and Extended Magazine for better ammo economy.

• Bolt Pistol: As the Vanguard’s only available secondary weapon, the Bolt Pistol still provides solid damage and range. With perks like Iron Grip and Great Might, it becomes a useful tool for taking out mid-range enemies quickly and efficiently.

• Chainsword: The Chainsword is the Vanguard’s most effective melee weapon. Fast and powerful, it works well with the Vanguard’s hit-and-run style, especially when equipped with perks like Saw Blade for longer light combos or Tyranid Slayer for extra damage against specific enemy types.

All Vanguard Primary Weapons

• Melta Rifle
• Instigator Bolt Carbine
• Oculus Bolt Carbine

All Vanguard Secondary Weapons

• Bolt Pistol

All Vanguard Melee Weapons

• Chainsword
• Combat Knife

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Vanguard Class Perks

Below is a list of the most important perks available to the Vanguard class. These perks will help you improve your melee combat, survivability, and overall mobility as you progress through the game:

1. Grapnel Launcher (Level 1) – Faster regeneration of contested health.
2. Moving Target (Level 2) – Reduces ranged damage taken by 1% for each melee hit (up to 15%).
3. Duelist (Level 3) – Increases the Perfect Parry window by 50%.
4. Retribution (Level 4) – After being grabbed or knocked back, deal 15% more melee damage for 10 seconds.
5. Melee Champion (Level 5) – Increases melee damage for all squad members by 15%.
6. Restless Fortitude (Level 6) – Reduces ranged damage taken by 10% for 10 seconds after performing a Diving Kick.
7. Zone of Impact (Level 7) – Finishers with the Grapnel Launcher deal AoE damage to nearby enemies.
8. Thrill of the Fight (Level 8) – After a Perfect Parry or Dodge, reduces health damage by 15% for 3 seconds.
9. Tactical Prowess (Level 9) – Performing a finisher with the Grapnel Launcher restores its charge, increasing mobility.
10. Melee Mastery (Level 10) – Increases melee damage against Majoris-level and stronger enemies by 10%.
11. Close-Combat Focus (Level 11) – Reduces melee damage taken by 20%, but increases ranged damage taken by 10%.
12. Consecutive Execution (Level 12) – Killing 15 enemies in rapid succession restores 1 Equipment Charge.
13. Unmatched Zeal (Level 13) – Melee finishers on Extremis enemies restore health to all squad members.
14. Shock Wave (Level 14) – Adds AoE damage to Diving Kicks.
15. Tenacity (Level 15) – After killing 15 enemies in rapid succession, increases Diving Kick damage by 25% for 10 seconds.
16. Grim Determination (Level 16) – Increases weapon damage by 10% when the Grapnel Launcher is on cooldown.
17. Emperor’s Blessing (Level 17) – Taking lethal damage restores all armor instead of incapacitating you (180-second cooldown).
18. Upper Hand (Level 18) – After a Perfect Parry or Dodge, you cannot be knocked back or lose control for 5 seconds.
19. Conviction (Level 19) – When your armor is depleted, you take 15% less health damage for 10 seconds.
20. Honed Reactions (Level 20) – Doubles the Perfect Dodge window when your health is below 50%.
21. Inner Fire (Level 21) – Finishers restore 15% ability charge for all squad members.
22. Collateral Damage (Level 22) – Adds small AoE damage to enemies on the way to the Grapnel Launcher’s target.
23. Tip of the Spear (Level 23) – Enemies hit by the Diving Kick take 15% more ranged damage for 10 seconds.
24. Combat Readiness (Level 24) – The Grapnel Launcher recharges 20% faster.
25. Adrenaline Rush (Level 25) – Melee kills on Majoris-level enemies restore 1% health.

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How to Play the Vanguard Class

The Vanguard is all about rapid movement and quick attacks. To master this class, you’ll need to efficiently use the Grapnel Launcher and melee abilities. Here are some key tips to improve your gameplay:

1. Zip Across the Battlefield
   The Grapnel Launcher allows you to close distances quickly. Use it to engage high-priority targets, escape dangerous situations, or traverse the battlefield in an instant.

2. Focus on Reinforcement Summoners
   Enemies that call for reinforcements are marked with a skull icon. Use your Grapnel Launcher to quickly close the distance and interrupt their calls, preventing them from summoning additional enemies.

3. Manage Your Grapnel Charges
   The Grapnel Launcher is one of the Vanguard’s most versatile tools, but it has limited charges. Only use it in critical moments, like to reach distant enemies or evade an overwhelming situation.

4. Avoid Engaging Large Enemy Groups Directly
   While the Vanguard excels at hit-and-run tactics, diving headlong into a large group of enemies can be fatal. Instead, target isolated enemies or high-priority targets before re-engaging.

5. Don’t Forget to Dodge
   The Vanguard’s melee-focused combat style means you’ll often be up close with enemies. Use dodges to avoid incoming attacks while maintaining a fast, aggressive fighting style. Quick movement is key to staying alive, so make full use of your dodge and parry abilities.

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This expanded guide covers all key aspects of the Vanguard class in Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, providing detailed information on builds, weapons, perks, and strategies. With this knowledge, you'll be well-equipped to dominate both PvE and PvP content as the Vanguard.