IS THE POWER SWORD A BAD WEAPON? (Space Marine 2 Discussion) Patch 5.1

[@wizzolo]

I like the power sword, but a little buff to damage would not hurt.

[@jeast9648]

Agreed.

[@Yannandi]

Real

[@Krylonith]

The power sword feels like one of those nerf swords you find at Walmart in the kids section

[@laser-tw8zy]

all melee weapons still need to be buffed

[@Yannandi]

@ no, only fist

[@gurraxdd]

Bulwark has animation cancels on a lot of moves with block, like parry recovery and regular attack recoviers. Can be a bit tricky to learn but once you get it down its really powerful.

[@shmittie9870]

So like block with the shield in between or with the weapon and then also after parries after attacks aswell?

[@gurraxdd]

​@@shmittie9870Was a while ago i played so i might be wrong but after any attack or sometimes even in the middle of it, hold your block button breifly, it can take some practice as sometimes it causes you to just parry in the air but you'll get it down eventually. If you want to see what it looks like First tour guardsman recently uploaded a 950+ kills true solo lethal run with power sword and he just spams that sht the entire duration.

[@xXCendreXx]

need a slight dmg buff, power sword is sometimes funnier that chainsword. I pref "guard" speciality over the other (cause im beta ig) tips: 1 Power slash give a gunstrike on croud 2 fencing slash on termagants give gunstrike or execution 1 ground slash (of both style) give gunstrike (it staggers ennemies) charging stance give gunstrike after combo -> (replace chainsword bash to get armor back) power sword has a narrow blocking range than chainsword, instead power sword has quicker blocking stance. In the case of missing your timing, you can ( you could bc bugged since 5.0) use your block again. you can put extra slash if you know your window parry on the power sword. if you leap with fencing style it staggers ennemy and sometimes (sometimes) it can break orange (HEAVY) attack (idk how, is it the little power push at the end of the leap, or the whole leap on them). It cancel war call if you leap on them ( but not with "power" style) It really is a good gap closer power style to get to teammates in swarm or surrounded ( I really like "fencing" style, don't much use "power style") might have forgotten some stuff... edit: you can switch style "power" to "fencing" while holding "meele" attack while leaping (need training on this one but work 100%) to switch "fencing" to "power", what I found the best was to ground slash -> exe/gunstrike then switch overall power sword need a lot of training to master it, but for tryharders it's a good mechanical weapon, way more than you think.

[@orangejuice9396]

The main thing to learn with the power sword is that the modes are kinda unintuitive, the light/quick mode and heavy/slow mode actually deal the same damage (unless this has changed since the launch of the game) and the main purpose of the heavy mode is to knock minoris enemies back, opening them up to gunstrikes while you use the light and quick mode to duel with majoris+ targets.

[@turtle27171]

You can change modes while dodging, I like to dodge away from bigger enemies and switch to heavy mode to get gunstrikes on smaller enemies for armor then dodge back in to fight heavy enemies. It's kind of a dance

[@AndrewNiven]

Youre absoljtely right. It makes a huge difference using the right modes. I do get that it can be annoying. But taking the time to learn how to disengage and engage quickly makes bulwark insanely stronger.

[@Soul-HunterVIII]

exactly, holding the button isn't optimal. its better to swap stances while doing dodge attacks. that lunge swing and heavy swipe hits hard as hell too

[@Cmaximus7]

I mean sure but then you are having to dodge and waste time doing that with a slow animation. Even if you get the damage boost perks for switching stances by the time you switch stance you can barely get one swing in before its gone lol.

[@turtle27171]

@Cmaximus7 switching stances mid dodge is way faster than the normal animation and in theory you'd be constantly doing damage to the horde then dodge back in and continue damaging the heavys

[@travisbateman5377]

Thank you and keep rolling out the videos. They are great and informative and hopefully the devs of SM2 check out your content

[@travisbateman5377]

Really enjoy your videos. I just acquired my platinum trophy in SM2 today.

[@Yeertski]

Dude, Congratulations Brother!

[@PsychoFPV117]

Switching power sword modes has a secret trick, if you dodge, then immediately hold melee(hold not press, it only switches modes if you HOLD after dodge) it will do a strong hit in the opposite mode it was already in. If you’re in power mode fighting mobs and a major shows up, dodge to him, hold melee right after pushing dodge, and you’ll launch at him in quick hit mode, then dodge and hold mellee again and you’ll switch to power mode again while you have i-frames.

[@user-KR386]

I have been using the chainsword a lot more, it is a lot more versatile because it is usable by three classes so it is easier to level up, I got it to Relic in a week by playing Tactical and Bulwark. I think the power Sword needs a slight damage buff to feel more viable. The fencing Chainsword is a blast to use on Tactical with the Heavy Bolt Rifle.

[@sentinelslayer8328]

Never realized this was a discussion

[@tktxlegend4540]

The power sword mode switching mid combat is actually not that bad if you know the tech for it. There are 2 easy ways you can do it: 1: Hold block, dodge, and hold the melee button mid dodge. 2: Dodge and hold the melee button mid dodge. Method 1 will switch modes while blocking and method 2 will switch modes and attack at the same time. Utilizing either method will always be better than resigning yourself to fighting in the wrong mode.

[@GiggyWiggy2086]

Yeah power sword isn't bad people just suck at this game mfs die one time with a weapon and call it bad

[@dropzofcrimzon]

Also Air Thrust gives you a gunstrike too on minoris and that is a speed stance move

[@corbincompton2966]

I just figured out that I can dodge out of the shield bash animation faster than I can attack then hold R1 during the dodge to attack and change stances at the same time.

[@Slagterens]

i love the power sword.. if u use the lv 25 perk (imune to knokdown, when u have armor) u can dish out power whirl wery fast, folowed by a gun strike on a minor til get new armor. i gives a good feeling of ripping through enemies. like a space marine should do. almost never use power stance, as power whirl does the job on minors fine

[@warriorfire8103]

I typically stay in Power Style and keep the 50% damage on power Rake perk. I use a simple combo. light-light-heavy-light-heavy-light-heavy. The reason for starting that way is so every light is the harder hitting swing in the combo with the power wave. Majors are seldom alone. Attacking this way, I"m hitting multiple majors and things all around me and even behind me. I sometimes use the speed style but that's typically for terminus.

[@spyhunter6411]

If you get good at mode switch attacks, the power sword is great. I find bulwark shines when you don’t focus any single enemy but deal damage to the hoard as a whole. Hold the hoards attention while dealing chip damage on a broad scale while your team picks off priorities. That’s been working for me. I frigging love the power sword

[@Jomcgrath2]

Dodge stance change helped a lot for me. I almost never hard change anymore. Keeps you vulnerable too long.

[@Tanblch]

Bulwark in general feels like an afterthought of a class. Shield doesn't have a handle to hold it.

[@davidhurcombe6505]

In the tabletop game both the chain and power swords are strength 4 because they work off the users strength. The bonus the power sword gives is basically just a bit of extra penetratton which altered armour saves EG: Power sword attacks an enemy with a 6+ save and manages to wound, they die power sword hits an enemy with a 5+ save that changes to 6+ so rhere shouldn't be a difference in "strength" between the 2 weapons, maybe make it just require 1 less swing than the chainsword?

[@mobiusprimal5840]

I concur with this assessment. Was playing lethal last night, and could single out tyranid warriors from time to time. It was taking 7-8 hits in speed mode before I could kill. Often interrupted by an attack I would parry and then GS. I feel like two hit stomp perk chainsword is better. Also, I feel like the spin move with PS should switch your forms.

[@eschabert1129]

Power rake and power whirl are necessary to get good damage output with power sword. Make sure to take the 50% damage buff on power rake. If you can stance dance well and use power rake a lot you should only get out damaged by a thunder hammer assault. You should always out damage a chainsword if you are staying upright.

[@kfauzi109]

being able to combo into different styles like Bloodborne would be an awese buff for power sword

[@Ballagorn_Ironblood]

Personaly I would preffer for Apothecary class been added and healling icon perk from Bulwark should be removed and repleaced with something more to tanking, and shield bashes should be integrated into Bulwarks attacks. As to the Power Sword, it should get a damage buff and more instinctive fighting stace changes so we could better "Go With the Flow" of combat.

[@thaoremchan9234]

if bulwark loses its heal perk, no one will play it.

[@ariusxander2684]

I do not think of any tank ability worthy to overwrite the healing skill taking account the whole game can take chunk of hp with slight mistake in higher difficulty. You dont need too tank when u have a team to output dps,if bulwark was like u suggest its just a burden to a team.

[@Ballagorn_Ironblood]

@ I doubt you words old chap

[@brianthewolf1]

Instead of getting the fourth move for the combo in the perk tree for the power stance go for the rake one that gives 50% extra damage. Two shots minoris on ruthless difficulty with that boost, because you have two rakes it’s really easy to kill minoris with it while trying to fight majors with the light stance.

[@benny2742]

I generally think combos should do more damage. I generally feel it takes too long to kill majoris. Sometimes you can stand there and just pound a majoris for ages and it just won't go down... My idea would be that they buff the combo damage. For example if you do like a 3 or 4 move combo the damage output should be more rewarding than it is now. On lethal it becomes much harder to do and I think you should be rewarded for it. I also think assault should be able to pump out more damage per hit than the Bulwark. Otherwise what would the point be of ever taking that class? All that being said... Buff the heck out of the Powerfist! Seriously, don't hold back, just cram every single possble damage buff until you feel guilty for picking it. Now you got it right ;)

[@zarvaaknovarend9860]

I am a power sword main, been on bulwark since launch, I would honestly prefer straight overhaul if the power sword. I thought from the get that the sword was gonna be something that worked up to the powered mode. I would prefer something like that. Rework the move kit, then add a power mechanic where the sword builds a savage charge that allowes you to use it for like a burst if damage or a boosted dog state. I know it would take a while in the dev end to do all that work, but I feel it would be worth it

[@zarvaaknovarend9860]

Know I'm being greedy but I love the class, also would like a rework to the shield on bulwark, like allow me to parry Sniper Bolts from Tyranids or something more, because the shield bash is garbage unless your on a 1v1 with a target

[@nathancawley8759]

The power sword really should have some sort of buff, but not a huge one. Id like to see it add a stacking movement speed penalty and damage vulnerability to the target, per hit just as an additional baseline gimmick that you dont need to build or spec into. This would benefit you by being able to stick on targets better and would facilitate team-shoot strategies. Im thinking something like -15% movement speed and +10% damage taken per hit, up to a maximum of -75% movement and +50% damage taken for 2-3 seconds. At maximum stacks, adding new stacks should reset the timer. Potentially this could see some abuse through coordinated effort, but for most folks it would allow them to do a bit more personally while increasing the effectiveness of their teammates.

[@d4rk5t4r2]

Gotta love the irony that in the lore the Power sword is just straight better than a chain weapon, just cuz the Power is one of the closest things 40k has to a lightsaber

[@OforOrsum]

Power sword needs a damage buff; chainsword feel like it does more damage, and is a lot easier to use. Power sword can take 10 or so hits to drop a majoris. There are some perks you can take improve damage... A perk on the sword to add a few rolling percent damage per hit, and if you change power/speed stance you get a 25% damage buff for 5 seconds, and you can take the perk to get a damage buff after shield bash. I find myself forgetting to do these, so not getting the buffs. And the shield bash damage perk is on the same column as Intimidating Aura, which I'd rather take, as that gives you more time/space to take gun strikes. Not that shield bash is that great anyway... Shield bash doesn't interrupt (most?) incoming heavy attacks, and if you're swarmed by minoris it doesn't create enough space to do a gun strike safely; the incoming chit damage usually is bigger than what you recover from the gunstrike. That said, power sword power mode is amazing at clearing swarms of minoris. Better than the chainsword. I routinely get top kills on Tyranid ruthless missions, and often top ranged damage thanks to gun strikes. Particularly when an assault shows up with the gunstrike damage buff team perk! Kinda funny when a bulwark does more ranged damage than a tactical or heavy!

[@Chewie571]

Here's the thing: you use the power sword because it's combos and perks are designed for tanking. Its extremely versatile. Has 2 modes (for a reason) and is best used as fencing. Chain sword has different heavy combos that you have different purposes. Like the stomp. So you go blocking chainsword for the faster swing speed and get to those combos faster. You use the power sword because there is no special combos. If you need to swing a ton to stagger the minoris you do that in power stance. If you need to focus down a majoris then you do it in speed stance. And if you need to stop to parry? No big deal. You're not interrupting a combo. There's literally no trade off from being offensive and then swapping to defensive. Thats why it's a bulwark only weapon. It's our versatile tool for when we're taking on a horde, or 1v1ing a tyranid with a bone sword and whip. I will also say its amazing at setting up gunstrikes too on hordes. Which means more armor.

[@dr.krabba4817]

i think a damage buff would be great and make the heavy stance a little faster

[@sontranbich9257]

Power sword needs a major buff. Basically, we don't need speed stance since it is too useless. It takes so many hits to kill a majoris in speed stance, while most of the time we have several majoris to deal with. I have to use power stance nearly all the time.

[@jonwilbeck01]

Desperately needs a raw damage buff on light attacks. It’s literally meant to be a light attack spam weapon

[@MegaHitman1987]

I use my bulwark as area denial, and quick revive, rather than a walking medipack. I enjoy the power sword, and rather than trying to switch modes for the enemy type, just switch the mode for the scenario. For example if there is a group of majoris be in that mode, if there is a group of minors be in that mode, if you are in a swarm situation pick a mode you think will be more helpful. I usually go powered for the swarm and when it’s calmed down a bit and you maybe have more majors switch it then, don’t keep trying to switch just because there is a major in front of you

[@thomasfeasel7532]

I you ask me I think when you have a relic melee it should 1 tap the little guys

[@travisbateman5377]

I agree on the power sword it’s just can’t hold up to the chainsword

[@nfsfreakism]

I feel the powersword needs to get stance changes on power-rakes along with a damage buff. It sucks doing a shield bash, 5 power-rakes, and 5 regular swings just to put a majoris in execute. Power sword has the potential of being a super nova weapon but its damage is simply too low to reliably deal with swarms without gun-strikes. Ive lightly tested a block PS and it was satisfying but fencing just does so much more with much less effort only because of perks and gun-strikes

[@peachg5685]

Needs a damage buff i exclusively used bulwark up until earlier this week I only used the plasma pistol and the power sword. I changed to the chain sword and beat reliquary first try after 24 tries with the power sword

[@christopherstephens2699]

Invigorating icon, power stance with a hoard, and just everyone stand in the banner can be pretty epic. Power stance regains more contested health overall than chain sword even without perks. Power sword really is all about being able to stance dance on the fly through dodges and abusing power rake. If you aren't doing that it's weak. Air thrust to fly into a majoris and then double power rake does quite a number on them though, and power rakes take them down fairly fast. If you're trying to take down single majoris with power stance it's going to feel horrible.

[@volcano3493]

Power sword has reach which is it´s main selling point. I used a blocking power sword last time because doing sword parries with a XBox controller often resulted in the toon performing a shield parry instead which ruined my preferred playstyle with a gun-striking fencing weapon. And I must say the blocking power sword was pretty fun to use.

[@fiddyfresh7350]

Have you noticed that the banner isn’t working properly?. I don’t always get contested health when I put down my banner.

[@juanchairez4083]

Do you have the perk to give you full contested health?

[@wizzolo]

yes, the banner is inconsistent, particularly if there's lag. Sometimes it does not give contested health, other times the contested health runs out during the animation of an execution, particularly with terminus enemies. In lethal I always let my teammates execute terminus enemies, and I stand there to put down the banner at the last second of the execution animation in order not to lose any conteted health.

[@LOWB90]

Sword be swordin

[@Darkwater1886]

The power sword feels better in crowds than the chainsword. You can spin and slash Minoris like crazy with the power sword. It does feel like with Majoris and up you're just using combos to parry fish a hit but I think it's in a good spot due to it's power mode.

[@nikolastanisavlejvic1511]

I have screenshots where i deal more mele damage then the heavy did ranged damage. I think it's a skill issue. I can get up to 17k damage on almost any mission. You can see in this playthrough that he mostly uses the power stance, switch to speed stance and fight, only change stances when surrounded by enemies and even then you can use power whirl and not even switch to power stance.

[@michaelgimenez4032]

The healing perk at the end of the tree should apply to both modes instead of having to choose which stance will allow you to heal on strikes. The moment I got that perk, to maintain healing I completely stopped using the other stance since it was less effective then the healing one. I tried both scenarios by rebuilding me perk for Power and Speed and ended never switching again during operations. You are potentially locking away half of what the weapon can do because of a dumb choice.

[@Chree_ee]

Honestly the double stomp chainsword clears every melee weapon in game save maybe the hammer.

[@Strelok-o6q]

it would also be nice if the power sword also had more combos, and not just the spin one (can remember the name)

[@sirsilco]

The Chainsword has always been better. Whenever you have to use a specific weapon for lethals, it is the best weapon of it's class.

[@dropzofcrimzon]

Btw you know you can switch stances during a combo right?

[@Yeertski]

And dodging. Still I would rather just swing lol!

[@dropzofcrimzon]

@@Yeertski also, in regard to your stomp point, the ground slam can be performed from speed stance too and besides ranged units you will not get punished for it because it knocks enemies back. it will also create a gun strike opportunity. at this point my only gripe is the dmg, it definitely needs a buff because fencing weapons were pointedly ignored in the last update

[@Jarl_Throthgar]

In PvE its not horrible if you build around the heavy swings, could still use a buff In PvP it feels worse than every other melee weapon, I see less and less bulkwards running it ESPECIALLY SINCE THE CHAINSWORD IS BETTER VS OTHER BULWARKS BECAUSE FOR SOME FUCKING REASON THE STOMP IS THE ONLY WAY TO BREAK THE SHIELD GUARD AND ITS SO SLOW TO WIND UP THEY CAN JUST FUCKING WALK BACKWARDS AND AVOID IT?! WHY?! LET THE SWORD BE EFFECTIVE SO WE CAN DUEL EPICALLY GOD DAMMIT! WHY DO HEAVY SWORD SWINGS HAVE NO ABILITY TO BLOCK BREAK! WHY GIVE ME THE WHILWIND SLASH IF THE SETUP IS SO SLOW AND OBVIOUS THEY COULD LAG OUT, RECONNECT AND STILL DODGE IT! HELL WHY EVEN GIVE ME A SWORD WHEN THE FUCKING COMBAT KNIFE HALF THE SIZE OF IT IS TWICE AS EFFECTIVE!?!? I'm sorry, I didn't want you all to see me like that. I've calmed down now.

[@detyelram2819]

Bulwark needs majoris damage buff for real

[@curtwalker11]

I don't use power mode, I whirl if I need aoe damage. Whirl is faster than stomp.

[@jyoung488]

Lore wise, it should be a good deal stronger than the chainsword, much stronger than the knife.

[@wadescharber286]

I will say i was literally playing a game last night with the PS and i was getting bodied by tyranids. Next op i switch to the CS and was knee deep in tyranids and tzaangors and was just chewing thru them. And i noticed one of the purple tier PS variants had a lower dmg value than green tier. So, to me, it seems that a look into the PS seems like a good idea.

[@warriorfire8103]

I like the style of it but in terms of mechanics I don't think Power Sword really stands out from the other weapons well. At least in a way that feels impactful.

[@Sketch3233]

This whole video, everything you said tells me to put down the bulwark until they get their shit straight. You keep trying to put a positive spin on it, but you admit several time that the weapon just doesnt feel effective atm. Thanks for the that. Came here to see if people were having the same problem.

[@feircy]

Its not bad but when the chips are down I bust out the chainsword lol. The combos and power attacks just flow better, and its easier to knock stuff over on demand. Looks so good though, but the power fist still has the best animations, despit being miserable damage wise 😂

[@BrianStuf]

no, it is not bad. if people think its bad, than its a bonafide skill issue. it's probably the best melee for bulwark because of how versatile it is.

[@ifoundmemallet3394]

If you’re only using the sword for gun strikes then you’re using it wrong. After getting a perfect parry the enemy becomes vulnerable to extra damage for up to three hits and a gun strike. Don’t just immediately go to the gun strike because that immediately sets it off. So after a party hit the man’s three times and then gun strike. Trust me

[@bruterasta]

Power sword is better than combat knife for its horde clear, constant stagger exploit with knife doesn't count. But chainsword is just best melee weapon not including thunderhammer which works only with specific assault's kit.

[@keepersox]

get rid of the mode switching maybe. shield bashing and mode switching is a lot already. give power mode as a baseline mode and increase the speed of power attacks?

[@jacksonwelch9870]

I’m a bulwark main and I feel the power sword is slightly underpowered I have the perks that buff damage when changing styles and when chaining light attacks and like to think I play it pretty damn well (I have all classes and weapons maxed out) not a lot of reward for the skill level the weapon takes to use at its best (gotta change styles during other animations for example) I feel like power whirl needs a decent damage increase as it’s AOE and damage is less than a stomp with a chainsword and you can chain 2 stomps together making power whirl weak in comparison

[@nimblemesh]

It has a big swing and can slap fast

[@detyelram2819]

I finally started leveling up powersword instead of power fist and the power sword is easy mode...even with the lower level swords....

[@Sargatas]

Before block rework it was a literal best melee weapon in the game. It wasn't nerfed at any point. How the hell it turned to be bad? Not to mention that block version maws everything better than fencing ever could even with intimidating aura...

[@harrysmith6277]

I still have fun with it icl

[@giannisfyllas119]

Since when is not powerful? It is the basic damage and killing machine of the humanoid tank called bulwark, it is always nice!!

[@77fabelashadow56]

Tbh this might be a skill issue and I mean that in a serious way and not in a corny way but i seriously don’t have a issue with the power sword

[@Soul-HunterVIII]

As a Bulwark, you use the Power Sword and Plasma Pistol, anything else and you're just meh

[@travisbateman5377]

I love the power sword. Just don’t love it for lethal difficulty.

[@KekusMagnus]

bruh it's literally the best melee weapon in the game

[@SageOfLimitlessHands]

The power sword was always a fencing weapon. Lol It was never anything else because Al other forms are pretty bad.

[@dropzofcrimzon]

It was made worse by way of not buffing it while other weapons got buffed. It takes 8 to 10 speed strikes to make a majoris executable on ruthless...that is not a power sword...that is a limp noodle...but I still use it because...sschhhhhwinnnnng

[@AndrewNiven]

I too still use it because of shwing! But I also feel very similar about the thunder hammer. Chainsword is just super useful. But thunder hammer do big boom and power sword go shwing

[@wilfredwayne7139]

New melee weapons wouldn't hurt hell charge for them if you have to but give us better content.

[@terryduke6591]

Yes it's way to week in pve all weapons are

[@SageOfLimitlessHands]

Nope. All higher level Bulwarks I play with use it. Chain swords is boring with Bulwark and power fist is a joke.

[@TooTrue22-24]

Power fist requires a brain to use properly. It isn’t bad by any means, most people just suck ass with it

[@warriorfire8103]

@@TooTrue22-24 Sup. I'm spreading the Glory of Power Fist ^_^ kzbin.info/www/bejne/emWpnYSbnZWCbpY

[@Soul-HunterVIII]

Bulwark with the Power Sword takes some skill, you need to be good with animation canceling, and not just spamming regular slashes. you gotta utilize power rakes and power whirls, while canceling your animation so youre not stuck between attacks. switching your swords mode is another area you need to be good with, holding the attack button is not the most optimal way to change stances, you can swap between power and light stance by dodging and holding your attack button and it'll always swap modes. You can stun with the Power Sword, you just gotta use heavy attacks and attacks following your dodge. if you're being hit because you're switching modes, then its a skill issue big time. i do it all the time, its muscle memory at this moment. high skill players use the power sword, lower skilled players use the chainsword, its just a fact Gunstrikes are a survival tool with Bulwark because it recovers armor.

[@Crazy4monkey117]

Just stop using block weapon for bulwark

[@jammin1881]

Chainswords better. Better AOE and swings faster. C sword - Hunder thammer Sword Fist. End of..... 🤣

[@lupuslycos88]

No, it's not a bad weapon. The power fist is a steaming pile of shit though.

[@seedyjones5582]

not bad just dissapointing

[@andrewespinoza7869]

The whole game fell off lol😅 for now