A week after Saber Interactive promised a slew of player-requested features and fixes for Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, the first of them are here: the sci-fi shooter's latest patch introduces “more useful and effective” bots, private lobbies, and more.
Saber Interactive spent quite a bit of time talking about bots last week, acknowledging player complaints that the general ineffectiveness of teammate bots makes solo games “significantly more difficult.” And hence patch 3.0, which removes several “inhibitory restrictions” during the campaign to make bots more “useful and effective, without the player winning the game.”
For example, previous restrictions preventing bots from finishing off enemies have now been “significantly relaxed,” and bots can now assist with Gargoyle targeting and Zoanthropes that shoot accurately when attacked by players. Additionally, enemy aggression has been reduced on Veteran difficulty to further improve the single-player experience, and to balance these changes, player health has been “slightly” reduced.
Elsewhere in Patch 3.0, Saber has introduced private lobbies for Operation mode, meaning players who want to attempt an Operation solo with bots or alongside a friend will no longer be forced to be matched with random players.
Additionally, players can now play in the new Combat Arena, accessed via the Battle Barge Launch Bay, while in Operations or Eternal War mode. Here, they will be issued weapons and grenades as if they were in a PvP match and then have the chance to face off against their Battle Brothers before a mission.
Other notable additions include Ultrawide support for PC and the option to reset custom color presets, but Saber’s full patch notes are considerably more extensive. Patch 3.0 marks the first release in Space Marine 2’s previously detailed Year One roadmap, with new PvE missions, a new Lethal difficulty, new enemies, and more to come before the end of 2024.