Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Talks Patch 13

The latest April update for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 dropped, giving players a look at what they can expect for the upcoming update. Patch 13 was announced back when the year-two roadmap was revealed, and it's the second-to-last update that we know about, leading into the renewal of a third year of content for players to enjoy.

Patch 13, at the time, promised a new PvE mission, a new Terminus enemy, and a progression update. It was set to launch in Q1 2026, with Patch 14 being part of Q2 alongside Patch 15, but there were some delays and issues that had Patch 15 discarded from the remainder of year two, with Patch 13 and Patch 14 both ballooning in content.

Now, Patch 13 is just around the corner, with the promised Iron Hands Chapter Pack releasing for those who wish to use the customisation changes. This is included as part of the Season Pass 2, so those who purchased that near the beginning of the second year should be able to enjoy it at launch.

Next up is a brand-new PvE map for players to enjoy Operations in. This will be Kadaku, as players investigate Chaos activity and work together to stop an unholy ritual near a Cadian base — while there isn't much information on the Operation, we get a look at the world that it'll take place in.

For completionists, a new batch of Ordeals has been added, called the "Trials of Resolve" (or colloquially called the Ultragrind). Much as the name implies, these will require a lot of endurance, having high asks to unlock the Ultragrind Ordeals.

These will be launching in the form of three difficulty tiers per Ordeal, with some of them being revealed, like completing an Operation a hundred times and slaying three Majoris or higher enemies with a single headshot on Absolute difficulty. These should appeal to hardcore lovers of Space Marine 2, offering reasons to grind out the content and unlock the exclusive cosmetic rewards.

There's also a change to the way that the Wargear will work, beginning in Patch 13. The cosmetics previously available only for Classes will be made available globally, so those who unlock certain items will be able to enjoy them across all of them.

Though it's worth noting that lore restrictions will still apply, so even though the Iron Halo will be included in the first batch of global cosmetics, Snipers won't be able to equip it. Patch 13 brings global cloaks and Iron Halos, and Patch 14 will broaden this with the inclusion of tabards and robes.

Various changes are coming to the Siege Mode during Patch 13 as well, which will change several elements of how it will work. This is one of the areas that received the most updates, bringing numerous changes to the overall way it works.

First is the changes to the Siege Shop. New items will be added, including various boosts to Cadians and a new addition of a Techpriest to aid with currency boosts. This is also accompanied by the capability to earn Accolades for completing the Siege mode.

New modifiers are also being added, including both Blessing and Atonement variations for players to pick. Players can pick one Blessing from three every five waves, and one Atonement is applied every five waves as well, which can be rerolled for Siege currency.

Finally, in terms of actual, in-combat gameplay, the Hive Tyrant and the Vortex Beasts will now be able to be encountered as bosses during the waves. And, to top it off, the timer has been reworked so that instead of receiving an instant Game Over at the point of it running out, enemies become subsequently harder to beat.

A new mini mode has been added, titled the Practice Arena, which will be entirely available for solo players. This is intended to work as a test area, where players can pick their loadout of choice, select enemies, their difficulty, and see total damage dealt and damage per second, to try out new combos and items.

This gives a chance to try out various weapons and combinations before taking them into official combat scenarios. Or, players can also spawn all sorts of enemies and try to survive for as long as they want.

Patch 13 introduces three new weapon variations and six armour variations for Heroic Deeds. The former category includes a new Plasma Pistol, a Chainsword with a Block Type, and a Power Axe with a Block Type.

A new secondary weapon will also be joining, as players will be able ot use a Secondary Carbine SMG, which will be a close-range weapon with a high rate of fire. This is going to be available for the Bulwark and the Assault classes.

And finally, closing out the April update, players can look at the Perks Loadout, which has been one of the most highly requested Quality of Life features. Similar to weapon loadouts, players will be able to customise their perks and link them to a weapon, offering three total perk loadouts for players to skip so much menu navigation.

This was all of the content shown off for Patch 13, which — as we mentioned earlier — grew way past its original vision for the year-two roadmap. This should launch sometime in May, according to the expected release window, though no official confirmation has come just yet.