Each of the Space Marine 2 classes offers its own particular playstyle with both strengths and drawbacks that it brings to bear on the battlefield. As ever, though, the best class is whichever you find the most fun. With the variable difficulty of both the campaign and the Operations co-op mode—and whether you decide to play PvP or not—you'll likely find yourself favouring multiple rather than sticking to just one.
If you are looking for a brief summary of what each class does well in PvE, you can refer to the list below. I've also included what I think is objectively the best PvE class—despite the fact I absolutely adore the Heavy—in case you're wondering which feels the smoothest to play. If in doubt, you can always play the Tactical class until you get a feel for whether you prefer melee or ranged.
The best class in Space Marine 2 is the Vanguard in my opinion. In Operations co-op, many of the other classes struggle to deal with ranged enemies most of all, but the Vanguard's two-charge Grapnel Launcher is perfect for closing the distance to ranged enemies and quickly moving in for auto-executions to replenish armour when needed. The Vanguard gets the combat knife—the fastest melee weapon in the game—as well as the instigator bolt carbine, which is one of the best scoped weapons.
Honestly, just a very strong melee class in a game where melee is vital for replenishing armour. The Assault marine is also very good with two Jump Pack charges and the excellent thunder hammer, but lacks the versatility of a primary weapon.
Choose this if you want:
The Tactical marine is essentially what Titus is during the campaign, i.e, an all-rounder with access to the largest range of primary weapons. They only have access to the chainsword, but that's okay since the chainsword is one of the best melee weapons in the game. Their special ability is an Auspex Scan that tags nearby enemies so they take extra damage—pretty good if you're focusing on a boss or dealing with tough specials. If you're unsure of which class to take after campaign, I'd suggest starting with this.
Choose this if you want:
As mentioned above, the Vanguard class is both extremely versatile and a blast to play. With two Grapnel Launcher charges, you can zoom towards enemies to stun-kick them, or auto-execute them if they're in a state where a finisher is possible. This makes it easy to escape tight spots and replenish armour. The Vanguard also gets a unique choice of primary weapons, one of which is the excellent scoped instigator bolt carbine. If you like the game's melee combat, I'd recommend this one.
Choose this if you want:
The Assault marine is my second favourite melee class, and only falls behind the Vanguard because of its lack of a primary weapon. It's worth noting that this Jump Pack trooper is also the only class that gets the thunder hammer, which is reason enough to pick it if you're a fan of smashing tyranids to mush. This class has a special ability that lets it fly into the air and hover, before plunging to deal AoE damage. You can also use the Jump Pack charge to escape tricky situations and get to hard-to-reach enemies.
Choose this if you want:
The Bulwark definitely wins the prize for the coolest looking space marine and has a pretty unique playstyle even among the melee-focused classes. The Chapter Banner is one of the best support abilities in the game, planting down a standard that regens armour for all nearby squadmates—there's even a later perk that lets it revive downed players.
The shield, on the other hand, is a little trickier. It can block damage from attacks when you hold it up and bash enemies to stun them, but it's best used against ranged attacks or when enemies are all coming from one direction so you can funnel them. It often feels a bit useless when you're being swarmed on all sides, so positioning is a vital part of playing the Bulwark. It's also the only class that can get the versatile power sword melee weapon.
Choose this if you want:
I'm going to level with you here; I don't really rate the sniper as a class in PvE—though I'm sure it's strong in PvP, and it does get a lot stronger as you unlock its later perks. The problem is that combat is Space Marine 2 is very melee focused because you need to regain armour through executions or close ranged Gun Strikes if you want to stay alive. Still, if you like ranged weapons and want to give it a try, the sniper's Camo Cloak ability is very fun and great for escaping melee combat to pick off troublesome enemies.
Choose this if you want:
The Heavy is my personal favourite class in Space Marine 2, and yes, it probably is because it's the only one that can get a heavy bolter. This ranged trooper doesn't have access to a melee weapon—though he can bash enemies with his bolter and do AoE stomps—but he does get a powerful heavy weapon instead that can blast enemies from afar. He also gets the incredible Iron Halo ability which creates a shield in front of him and blocks ranged attacks for any squadmates behind it. He can also deactivate this early for reduced cooldown. The real challenge with the Heavy is dealing with swarms, but if you use his AoE stomps by holding melee, you can make space.
