How to upgrade weapons in Space Marine 2’s PvE Operations

The Adeptus Astartes of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 have an assortment of weapons to play with. However, in Space Marine 2‘s PvE Operations mode, players will need to upgrade their gear if they want to keep pace with tuned-up difficulty options.

While higher difficulty settings offer more significant rewards, they also impose some of the most formidable challenges in the game. That said, the path toward improving weaponry isn’t exactly straightforward.

Space Marine 2 offers cooperative PvE in the form of its Operations mode. It currently contains six difficulty-adjustable missions, with plans to add more. As players ramp up the difficulty, XP and the chance for better rewards increases, but it also means basic bolters and chainswords won’t cut it.

Master your arsenal

The Armory is where the Ultramarines can tinker with their equipment between missions. A quick visit to the Armory allows players to access a menu where all available gear can be equipped, upgraded, and have cosmetics applied. While players can unlock additional weapons as they level up, they can start upgrading the ones they already have right from the start.

The first thing players will need to do to upgrade the weapon of their choice is to use it. As players complete Operations and earn XP or Gene Seed, they’ll also earn progress toward mastering the current iteration of their weapon. Once the gun or melee armament has been used enough, players will earn a Mastery Point to upgrade the weapon family further.

Don’t forget the Armory Data

However, before that Mastery Point can be used, players will first need to upgrade the quality of their chosen weapon. This is done by expending the Armory Data required to unlock the next tier. The Data itself can be earned in each Operation, rewarded for finding hidden Servo Skulls within the PvE missions. 

There are three variations of Armory Data: Master Crafted (green), Artificer (purple), and Relic (yellow). The quality of Armory Data found depends on the difficulty of the Operation, so Relic upgrades will naturally only come from the highest tier of difficulty. In that same vein, as players upgrade a weapon family, it will ask for the corresponding quality Armory Data.

How to spend Mastery Points

Once players have earned Mastery Points and have unlocked the next tier of their weapon, they can spend the Points to improve how the weapon family performs. You can access the Perk Tree tab by viewing the weapon in the Armory, and that’s where upgrades will be available. The number of available Perks coincides with the number of variants in the weapon family, so don’t worry; extra work will be rewarded.

Pushing into Artificer and Relic tiers, players will need to master multiple variations of the weapon, with each successful variant bringing players closer toward overall mastery for the next weapon tier. These weapon variants can be changed at will by visiting the Armory and switching via the Versions tab on the weapon.