Space Hulk: Deathwing Class Guide

Every year, dozens of games are released bearing the Warhammer 40K mark. Most are bad, some are even good, but so far none have been exceptional. Deathwing - while receiving mixed reviews and boasting a very small player base at the moment - has the potential to become something great. While we wait and see what happens, here is a little class guide to help you and your friends have fun instead of mind-boggling frustration during your bouts of xeno killing.

Tactical Terminator

Capable of fielding a basic Storm Bolter or the Spear of Caliban heavy plasma cannon, the Tactical Terminator provides accuracy and suppressive fire as needed on the battlefield, theoretically representing the full versatility of the Imperium of Men.

The tactical specialty plays both an offensive and supportive role on missions, as its class powers focus on team support: while the Reinforcement ability brings fallen allies back into the fight faster, the Protector shields a targeted living ally from all incoming damage for 10 seconds. That capability of providing support while still packing a punch makes the Tactical Terminator the most well rounded class in Deathwing at the moment.

Apothecary

With all its class abilities focused on healing, the Apothecary can either heal a single team member, auto heal himself, or mass heal all allies within a radius. Packing a specialised bolter called Redemption, the Apothecary can fire frag rounds into the swarms of xenos while keeping the squad alive.

The single most important unit in the game, Apothecaries are -- perhaps foolishly -- the only way to heal during a Space Hulk mission. A team without a medic can still finish a mission, but it will take heavy casualties along the way and spend a lot of time looking at the respawn counter.

Librarian

Burn the heretic with fireballs, kill the mutant with your lightning, purge the unclean with your mighty bolter; the Librarian is a powerful class, and my personal favorite. Capable of wielding only a basic Storm Bolter and a Force Sword or Force Axe, what differentiates the Librarian from other classes is its offensive abilities. Capable of inflicting heavy damage and providing a slight but much needed degree of crowd control, the Librarian powers are a must have.

Heavy Weapons

The number one option for crowd control, the Heavy specialty honours its name by bringing only heavy weapons to the table. Choosing between two slightly different Heavy Assault Cannons and one very awesome Heavy Plasma Cannon, the Heavy Terminator’s job is to hold down the trigger and not let go until every enemy between him and his target is dead. The Machine Spirit class skill that allows players to hack machines faster is useless as it is lore-defying, since turrets need to be manually controlled and cannot be set to fire automatically. It’s better to stay on the move than to be pinned in place controlling a single extremely weak weapon emplacement -- the big guns are the one and only quality of the Heavy Class.

Assault

With its sick looking Lightning Claws and its dwarfy Storm Shield plus Hammer / Mace combo, the Assault class looks primed to be a great experience. An Energy Shield and Teleport abilities add an extra layer of differential depth to the specialty, setting the class up as an essential part of any squad in the cramped corridors of a Space Hulk.

Unfortunately, the game’s current balance makes the vanguard unplayable -- players simply deal too little damage and die way too easily to make playing on the front lines any fun. You can die in seconds once swarmed, unable to fight back as it takes several repeated swings of your melee weapon to kill anything. As such, the assault class has a lot of potential to be fun, but odds are you’ll just spend a lot of your time looking at the respawn timer.

What about you? What do you think is the best and most fun class on Deathwing so far? Let us know in the comments below.