All Space Marine 2 Difficulties & How They Work

Both the campaign and the co-op Operations modes in Space Marine 2 have their own set of difficulties to choose from. Whether you want better rewards or real challenges as you earn upgrades, this guide will explain how they all work.

All Space Marine 2 Difficulties in Operations Explained

Operations have four different difficulties that you can choose from: Minimal, Average, Substantial, and Ruthless. They are all labeled as threat levels and they can be changed in the Operations menu when you’re selecting a mission. Like any difficulty options, each one will increase the danger you face and the speed at which you encounter. But for the Operations mode, the threat levels will provide more than extra adrenaline against the Tyranids.

In the first threat level, which is Minimal, the equipment drops are generous, Medicae Stimms function at full strength to help with Mortal Wounds, and there is Master-crafted Armory Data that drops. The difference in Armory Data is what truly separates the Operations difficulties outside of the enemies becoming more of a challenge. To unlock the Artificer or Relic tiers of weapons to earn more Mastery Points, you need to jump into a higher threat level.

The good news is that you can change the difficulty whenever you want. If you believe you’re strong enough to battle the Tyranids in a Ruthless threat, then you can jump right in. But I would still recommend grinding the lower levels first to ensure you have some decent damage.

Campaign Difficulties in Space Marine 2

The campaign has its own set of difficulty options that are separate from Operations. You can choose from Easy, Normal, Veteran, and Angel of Death to customize the way your missions feel. All the names are more straight forward and the changes between each of them are less drastic. Because there are no upgrades or classes in the campaign, there is no data to collect and the enemies don’t necessarily scale.

Before you make a choice, be sure about the challenge. There is no going back once you make a selection. Although the campaign is short, you will have to reset some progress to change the difficulty. But if you have some other Ultra Marines at your side, the campaign should never get too unbearable.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available now on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.