Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 dev admits some damage buff combinations are 'already insane', but its latest patch deliberately opens 'a huge can of worms' by increasing the netcode cap anyway: 'for now, have fun'

An Ultramarine prepares to whack a Tyranid with a power axes in Space Marine 2

(Image credit: Saber Interactive)

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Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 is well into its second year of updates at this point, with Saber Interactive having unveiled the roadmap for year two back in August. Patch 11 represents something of a palette cleanser between September's birthday feast and next year's Techmarine treat. But there's still plenty here for veteran Ultramarines to get their massive, armoured mitts on.

An image listing major features coming to Space Marine 2 in Patch 11 — (Image credit: Saber Interactive)

In other words, expect similar additions to the Tactical and Vanguard Marine classes in due course, though likely not until after Patch 12. Elsewhere, the update improves combos and attack damage for the Power Axe, increases the power of the Heavy Bolt Rifle, and adjusts the Vanguard class to make it less of a healer and "reinforce [the] range/melee hybrid playstyle for him."

One of the most notable changes is hidden away near the bottom of the patchnotes, which is that it increases the netcode damage cap across the game. Saber says this is "going to open a huge can of worms for gameplay balancing, but that it "it has to be done", as the studio believes that game damage numbers should not be restricted by net code:

"It's pretty clear that some damage buff combinations from multiple sources are already insane," Saber adds. "For now, have fun."

Patch 11 will be the last major update for 2025. Patch 12, which will arrive early next year, will introduce the aforementioned Techmarine class, hence why Saber is saving any further tweaks to existing classes until after the Omnissiah axe-wielding engineer arrives. There are plenty more updates planned after that, which should help put paid to the weirdly persistent belief that Saber's development of Space Marine 3 is siphoning resources from Space Marine 2's post-launch support.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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