10 Tips For Beginners In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a massive game, and new players will have a lot to learn as they assume the role of Lord Captain. It’s got all the complexity you’d expect from a CRPG, and is brimming with the famously deep lore of the Warhammer 40k galaxy.

From exploring the hidden places of the Koronus Expanse to battling the enemies of humankind, these tips will make sure you’re ready to face whatever horrors lurk in the void. There are no spoilers here, so read on before starting a new game; you’ll be glad you did.

Updated November 3, 2024 by Matt Arnold: With the release of Void Shadows, it’s a great time to return to the Koronus Expanse. Whether it’s your first time exploring this sector of the galaxy, or you’re back to challenge yourself in the new hardcore Grim Darkness mode, we’ve added some tips to help provide your voidship with smooth sailing along the currents of the Warp.

10

Group Up Your Party While Exploring

“As the Emperor protects, so must we.”

While moving around outside of combat, only the highlighted character(s) at the top of the screen will respond to commands. If only one character is highlighted, you risk walking into an encounter with the rest of the retinue far away.

At the start of each expedition, select your entire team before going anywhere. Moving around this way will cause the retinue to stay together.

If you click on an interactable object while grouped up, such as a goods container or a switch, the nearest character will move to investigate. If the object requires a Skill Test, the character best suited to the task will automatically move to make the attempt.

9

Check The Map For Loot You Missed

“A suspicious mind is a healthy mind.”

Nearly every location you’ll visit has all kinds of goods to recover; discarded gear, clues for your current mission, and valuable cargo that you can return to the ship for profit are just some of the things you’ll find. However, you’ll need to keep holding Tab to highlight them, so it’s easy to miss items that would otherwise be obvious.

Luckily, the map shows every goods container that has entered your retinue’s line of sight, even if you never highlighted it or passed your cursor over it. Check the map before leaving any location; it’s almost always worth going back to collect everything.

8

Use All Your AP Each Turn

“Heresy grows from idleness.”

Characters get four AP (Action Points) every turn in combat. In most circumstances, a character can only attack once, so they’ll often have some AP left over.

There’s no reason to leave AP unspent, so look for reasons to use non-damaging abilities, particularly buffs or debuffs. Even a small advantage is better than no advantage at all!

Only end your turn when there’s absolutely nothing left to do.

7

Pay Attention To The Veil

“Foolish are those who fear nothing, yet claim to know everything.”

Whenever a character – friend or foe – uses a psychic ability, the Veil Degradation meter on the left side of the HUD rises. The higher it gets, the greater the chance that a psychic power will trigger the Perils Of The Warp, resulting in unforeseen (usually dangerous) effects.

The Perils of the Warp can trigger even if the Veil Meter is at zero – using the powers of the Immaterium is never without risk!

The benefits of using psyker powers usually outweigh the risks, but if you’re not careful you could accidentally summon a daemon… or worse. If you start to see ghostly apparitions, it means the Veil is reaching a critical state – avoid using any more psychic abilities until it cools down.

In some areas, the Veil is naturally weak – it might be best to leave psyker characters on the ship for missions in such places.

6

Use Grenades

“Cowards die in shame.”

Your retinue will be outnumbered in nearly every battle throughout the game. Grenades – particularly your basic Frag Grenades – are a perfect way to even the odds.

Not only do grenades excel at clearing tightly-clustered enemies, they’re also a great way to get around line-of-sight restrictions at short range. If you can’t shoot an enemy or get close enough for melee, tossing out a grenade will usually do the job nicely.

5

Send Any Loot That Isn’t Exceptional To Cargo

“Walk Softly, And Carry A Big Gun.”

You’re going to find a lot of loot lying around in this game. One of the perks of being a Rogue Trader is that you can take just about anything that you find, but the downside is that your inventory will quickly get clogged up with junk laspistols and other assorted detritus if you aren’t careful.

A good way to avoid this is to send any piece of equipment that isn’t immediately exceptional straight to cargo as soon as you find it. Not only does this keep your inventory nice and tidy, but it also tags future copies of the item to automatically get packed up for shipping as well.

You still have the choice to manually take or pack items when you find them.

Getting into this habit from the start of the game also means you’ll have more cargo to trade with merchants, even during the Prologue. Having access to higher-Reputation gear as a result can make early missions a lot easier.

4

Specialize Your Companions

“Knowledge is power; guard it well.”

While your team will level up fairly often in Rogue Trader, each advance only comes with one or two upgrades at a time. This makes it effectively impossible to have a true jack-of-all-trades character. Instead, focus on what each party member excels at.

Pay attention to which stats a character’s combat abilities care about, and try to maximize those characteristics. When you have the chance to learn new skills, pick ones that fit with the character’s best stats and skills. By the time you leave the Rykad System you’ll have enough specializations across your retinue to easily handle whatever challenges you face.

3

Use Both Weapon Slots

“Big guns never tire.”

Most characters have slots for two weapon sets, each of which can contain a single two-handed weapon such as a bolter or psyker staff, or a smaller weapon in each hand, typically a melee weapon and a pistol. You can switch between these weapon sets at will in combat, effectively doubling each character’s options.In most cases, it’s best to give each character one loadout for melee, and another for long-range combat. If you fancy a risky strategy, you can also equip a multi-disciplinary psyker with two different staves, giving them access to most or all of their fearsome powers.

2

A Little Friendly Fire Is Okay

“Success is measured in blood; yours or your enemy’s.”

You don’t have to worry about permadeath in Rogue Trader, so you can afford to take more risks than in other games. Characters fully heal at the end of each fight, though if they take a lot of damage or are knocked unconscious they will have to suffer some debilitating debuffs until you can get them back to the ship.

This is to say that when the chips are down, you can afford to deal a little damage to your allies if it means dealing a lot of damage to your enemies. Burst-fire and area attacks might clip a friendly character, but if you’re smart about it you can use this to win the battle with no long-term repurcussions.

1

Always Bring Argenta And Abelard

“They Shall Be My Finest Warriors, These Who Give Of Themselves To Me.”

Unless you’re being very picky for roleplaying purposes, you’ll quickly amass a large array of companions ready to follow you into battle. Since you can only bring six characters on missions, including the Lord Captain, you’ll have to leave some behind. Who you bring is up to you, but in nearly every case, Battle-Sister Argenta and Seneschal Abelard should be on your team.

Abelard is one of the only dedicated melee characters available from the start, and even if your Lord Captain is a melee fighter you’ll want to have another strong sword-arm on your team. Even once Heinrix joins up, it’s hard to argue with the pure tanky power that Abelard brings to the table.

Argenta, meanwhile, is a one-woman army capable of mowing down groups of enemies on her own with either a boltgun or a flamethrower… or both! Not only is she capable of racking up an astounding kill count, but her prayers make it much easier to build up Momentum, which benefits the entire team by letting you unleash Heroic Acts.