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One ofSpace Marine 2’smost popular classes is the Heavy. These Astartes carry bulky primary weapons that tear through Tyranid swarms like a hot knife through butter. They deal amazing burst DPS, carry tons of ammo, and can even tank a solid bit of punishment through their signature ability: theIron Halo.
Playing as a Heavy isn’t particularly difficult, but bringing the right tools for the job is vital to surviving harder difficulties. This guide will explain how the Heavy class works, showcase all perk options, and cover a powerful endgame build you can use in Ruthless PvE Operations.
How To Play Heavy
There’s not much to the Heavy class. You use massive primary weapons to obliterate your foes with overwhelming firepower. Heavies have access to some of the highest DPS weapons in the game, including theHeavy BolterandMulti-Melta.You don’t have a melee weapon,so keep your distance.
Heavy units have access toIron Halo, a frontal shield that absorbs all incoming damage. It’s primarily used against Chaos forces in PvEand other playersin PvP. While not ideal for Tyranids, you can modify this ability to give your squad a sizable damage increase, ability recharge speed, and constant AoE damage to nearby foes.
Pick one per row
Restoration
Killing 10 enemies in rapid succession restores an armor segment. 15s cooldown.
Killing 5+ enemies with a single Multi-Melta shot refunds ammo.
Auxiliary Ammunition
While out of primary ammo, a 10+ multikill restores 20% of your ammo reserves. 30s cooldown.
+20% HP
Strategic Stand
While aiming your heavy weapon, you restore 15% more Contested HP but can’t move.
Charged attacks deal 20% more damage
Overwhelming Power
While Iron Halo is active, all squad members in 10m deal 10% more damage.
Versatility
Swapping to your secondary increases its damage by 20%. Lasts until you reload or swap weapons.
Pick one
Adamant Will
After Iron Halo deactivates, you take 20% less HP damage for 5 seconds.
Killing 10+ enemies quickly restores an equipment charge. 180s cooldown.
Emperor’s Protection
When Iron Halo expends all of its energy, all squad members gain one armor segment.
Iron Halo’s durability is increased by 20%.
Field Adjustment
Iron Halo recharges 20% faster, but its durability is decreased by 30%.
Reviving an ally restores Iron Halo’s charge.
Brute Force
While Iron Halo is on cooldown, deal 15% more ranged damage.
Wrath of the Imperium
When Iron Halo expends all of its energy, you unleash a damaging AoE in a 5m radius.
Offensive Capability
While active, Iron Halo deals damage over time to enemies within 5m.
Coolant Reserve
If both of your squad members are incapacitated, your primary weapon will not overheat.
Conversion Field
While active, Iron Halo buffs your squad’s ability charge rate by 50%.
Heavy’s skill tree focuses on primary weapon damage and ammo conservation.Multi-Killis arguably one of the strongest perks in the game, refunding aMulti-Meltashot if you kill five enemies in a single blast. Considering the Multi-Melta has such a massive blast radius, that’s not a difficult condition to meet.Ammo Suppliespairs nicely with this perk, giving you and your squad a 25% larger ammo reserve.
For damage scaling, you have quite a few options here.Brute Forceis a free 15% damage boost for toggling your Iron Halo off.Overwhelming Poweris a nice team support ability, andOverchargeis fantastic if you’re using theHeavy Plasma Incineratorwith venting speed upgrades—it buffsmaximumvent capacity, not just how quickly it cools off. If you rock thePlasma Pistol, you can even runVersatilityfor a constant 20% damage buff, useful for sniping Majoris enemies from a distance.
Melee
The Heavy class forgoes a melee weapon for bulky primary weapons, all of which are only usable by this class. TheHeavy Bolteris a jack-of-all-trades primary, mowing down hordes of Minoris forces without sacrificing single-target DPS if you spec it for accuracy. If you’re OK with trading add clear for beefier hits, then theHeavy Plasma Incineratormight be more up your alley.
ThePlasma Pistol’s ammo capacity and charge efficiency perks work with theHeavy Plasma Incinerator. Stack these perks on both weapons to drastically improve your ammo efficiency.
As strong as those weapons are, nothing comes close to theMulti-Meltafor PvE content. This is arguably the best gun in the game. A single blastdisintegrates Minoris targetsand deals serious damage to Majoris foes. It’s not bad against bosses either if you may stay close. Equip the Multi-Kill perk and spec for range, and you’ll top the damage charts in most missions.
Class Perks
This build focuses on making the Multi-Melta a true powerhouse. We use theMulti-Melta (Gathalamor Crusade)for its extended range. We then spec into the top row of perks for a massive boost to the gun’s damage and fire rate. attempt to get up close before firing to land multikills. Killing five enemies in one shot will triggerMulti-Kill, refunding a round.
You’ll want to constantly toggle your Iron Halo to proc your various gear perks.Brute Forcegives you damage while it’s recharging, whileOverwhelming Powergives your squad a damage bonus when enabled. Try to find some Krak Grenades to deal with floating Zoanthropes or Chaos Terminators, and you should be set to counter just about every enemy type.
Finally, we recommend thePlasma Pistol (Ophelian Liberation)to snipe targets from a distance. The bottom row of perks makes this gun significantly more ammo efficient. Drop the last upgrade for a charge rate boost, and you’ll have a workhorse secondary for killing Majoris-class targets your Multi-Melta can’t reach.
