Look, I am tickled deeply that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is enjoying a further year of content – but as an entitled fan of the mythos, I am allowed to have the occasional bitch and/or moan about what shiny new toys reach my hands.
All the way back in the May Community Update, those saucy people over at Saber were sure to drop a bucket load of hints alongside their rock solid confirmation of another class entering the games deeply incredible PvE missions mode – but for those that have been paying attention to likely incoming content, the heart-breaking truth is that the skull-faced master of religion is likely to not be the new class.
Why? Because the mentioned a big-arse sword is coming to the game. And Chaplains don’t use fuck-off massive blades.
So that more than likely leaves us with the Judiciar.
This sword-swinging bloke is another hero of the imperium, serving as a chaplain-in-training. Essentially a duellist that likes to seek out the scariest bloke on the battle field and quietly challenging them to a decapitation, they enforce discipline within their peers and seek to prove their worthiness to step into the full spiritual rank of Chaplain.
So why do they make the most sense for Saber to implement? Well, there are a few hare-brained reasons floating around the internet, of which I find myself agreeing with many of them.
Firstly, Saber has spoken about adding two-handed swords to the game. As much as I love the idea of swinging a massive claymore to dispatch fleshy fools, I have to agree that the big sword really does suit the fantasy of the Judiciar. In fact, the square-tipped blade shown in the image above is known as an Executioner Crozius, a weapon that is the step before the Crozius Arcanum carried by full Chaplains.
Secondly there is the issue that one of the most notable characters in the Space Marine 2 game is already a chaplain. Love him or hate him, Leandros is one of the figureheads of the narrative, so perhaps Saber want to play their hands pretty close to their chest when it comes to considering whether they care enough to throw him into the mix. Even if they didn’t make use of Leandros, you’d still want to ask any of his chaplain colleagues why he is such an arsehole.
There is also the fact that Judiciar’s have one of the strangest relics in the Space Marine arsenal: the Tempormortis. On the tabletop, it is described as a heavy, ornate hourglass filled with stasis-locked “mortis sand,” but simply put: it is a mechanic that slows time. This would be quite a simple addition to the game for a big ticket ability, creating a slow field that halts enemies (or even projectiles!)
Finally, Judiciars follow a strict vow of silence, so perhaps Saber can save a few pennies with their voice acting budget. A cynical thought? Maybe, but after their previous voice-acting headaches, I am sure it’d be a relief to just skip it altogether.
By any metric I am deeply glad that we will see a third year of Space Marine 2 content, even if they aren’t adding the classes I want. Maybe in Space Marine 3.
We want to hear from you. What class are YOU hungry to play? Are my theories all total crap? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
