How Fencing works in Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2

Knowing the proper key terms of your weapons can make a huge difference for your combat playstyle in Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. Several weapons list Fencing as their defensive style, and you might be wondering what this means, and how it works.

Weapon defense describes how your defense works as a character, and what you can expect to do when attempting to deflect oncoming melee attacks. Fencing is one of the more fluid choices, but you typically have to give up increased damage for its increased defense potential. If it helps you live, though, it can be a huge difference. Here’s what you need to know about how Fencing works in Space Marine 2.

What is Fencing in Space Marine 2?

When examining any melee weapon in Space Marine 2, the description tells you if it is used for Fencing, Block, or Balance. Fencing gives you the most time to parry an oncoming enemy melee attack before you have to react to it or take the full damage. This means if you’re using a Fencing weapon, it has the highest defense potential, giving you the best chance to defend yourself and avoid taking damage, performing a Perfect Parry.

A Perfect Parry is a critical effect for several Space Marine 2 classes, especially in the Operations mode, where you face off against the most fearsome of enemies across the galaxy. If you perform a Perfect Parry against an enemy, they stagger back and get a crosshair on their head that you can hit using Gun Strike against them. Landing a Gun Strike does a moderate amount of damage to the enemy, and it also heals some of your character’s armor.

Although weapons share the same defense type, they might have different parry animations to learn. The Power Fist, Chainsword, and Power Sword all have distinct animations that you have to master, making it easier for you to know when you need to parry using those weapons. The Chainsword and Power Sword all have Fencing weapon types that you can choose to build at the lower levels, but the Power Fist only has a Fencing type when you unlock the Artificer weapons.

Try all these weapons out in trials before hitting an Operation with teammates in Space Marine 2. You can test out the various parrying animations and learn the brief window you have for each one. If you’re planning to be in the front of combat, fighting against the largest horde of enemies, taking the brunt of the damage, Fencing might be the best option for you as you have the highest chance to regain additional Armor from landing Perfect Parries. Balance is a solid second, but you need to master a weapon to match the defense of a Fencing weapon.