Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a fascinating CRPG take on the grim dark universe from Owl Cat games. Since this is the franchise’s first foray into the genre, the developer took interesting liberties with character creation.
Instead of including many classes akin to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, only a few have branching paths. Called Archetypes, players only have four options at the start, but each can play radically differently depending on some key factors. They all evolve into more advanced Archetypes as the game progresses, but the initial choice is still incredibly important.
When considering the Archetype you want to play it’s important to consider the protagonist’s background for its flavor. I’ll go over what each Archetype is and some possible variants.
Officer
Officers emphasize ordering other characters around. While weak alone, Officers can buff allies and give them extra turns. This means that depending on the number of Officers brought along, heavy-damage dealers can deal ridiculous carnage by having double or triple turns in a round.
There are some caveats with these extra turns most of the time. The basic skill Bring It Down! grants an extra turn but without movement and only two action points. It’s still a great skill, but the Officer’s Heroic Act (think ultimate ability) called Finest Hour! grants an affected ally full action points and movement.
One of my characters is an Officer, and I built her as a noble hailing from an Imperial World. Since homeworld and origin affect stats, I chose the former for traits such as Doing My Part to reduce AP if she’s the only one of her Archetype in a team and a plus 10 to the Fellowship stat. The Officer’s primary stats are Willpower and Fellowship, but the latter has more impact on ally buffs such as Voice of Command.
Her noble background is also fantastic for the Archetype as that allows an ally to be designated as a servant. These allies receive buffs that improve with specific traits, and stacking these with Officer traits can lead to even deadlier allies.
Other Officer possibilities include Cassia’s build. Her background as a Navigator largely gives her traits buffing herself or rebuffing enemies. She can also pick traits like Veil of Protection and Guide of Souls for extra armor or movement to allies.
Operator
Operators have pretty amazing versatility. This Archetype mainly prioritizes debuffing enemy combatants, and then inflicting precise and deadly attacks.
They start with a skill called Analyze Enemies which gives foes Exploit, increasing damage done against them based on how high the Perception stat is. This can be used alone or paired with another skill like Expose Weakness to debuff the target’s dodging. Its Heroic Act called Dismantling Attack excels during boss battles, since it’s a free attack that also debuffs armor and dodging.
Where its versatility comes into play is how these debuffs are exploited. Another character I built is an Operator using these skills as a sniper. These skills paired with the Crime Lord’s Sure-Fire Plan made every shot melt health bars.
Unfortunately, she’s a glass canon, but that’s where someone like Pasqal comes in! He might be a scrawny tech-priest, but his surprisingly strong melee capabilities means he closes distances with less worry. Pasqal’s health pool isn’t as great as the tanky party members, but that doesn’t matter when his attacks shred foes.
Solider
Soldiers are simpler than Officers or Operators but still have some wiggle room. As the name implies, Soldiers are direct combatants whose only focus is attacks.
Distinguishing them from the similarly offensively focused Warriors (which we’ll discuss below) is an emphasis on ranged attacks. Soldiers excel with a gun, with their appropriately named Run and Gun skill allowing more opportunities to shoot.
Their Heroic Act is simply called Firearm Mastery. It eases the attack limit for a turn, allowing for more shots while automatically landing critical hits on new enemies.
Shield Sister Argenta is the only Soldier on a squad for a long time unless you create one, and she perfectly fills the role. Her proficiency in bolters allows her to burst fire the deadly weapons, and her Archetype pairs well with a shotgun. It’s a perfect offensive role that continuously pushes against even large groups.
As an alternative to the trooper role Argenta embodies, you could considering creating a gunslinger type for a Soldier too. Since certain weapons allow dual-wielding, the Archetype can allow for more attacks than the two initially granted. Regardless, Soldiers must have a high Ballistic Skill as that increases ranged accuracy, meaning Astra Militarium Commander works as great origin since it increases that stat.
Warrior
Warriors work as the best melee attackers and as the party’s tank. They can neatly fill a couple of other roles too, ranging from pure to tank to offering mild support.
Charge is their starting skill and is one of the most immediately useful skills. Not only does it let the Warrior charge into enemies, but it acts as extra movement if they aren’t near anyone. They also receive the Endure skill quickly, allowing for a certain amount of temporary health per turn.
Daring Breach is a Warrior’s Heroic Act and makes them an absolute monster when effectively used. It restores all AP and immediately cools down all melee weapon skills. It also removes any limit on melee attacks and grants extra movement until the end of combat.
Regarding party members, Aldbart perfectly captures the Warrior’s tanky side, dealing high damage while taking little himself. Henrix meanwhile can provide some support with minor buffs and healing with his Psyker abilities.
Creating a Warrior from a Death World and giving them a Commissar Origin will increase important stats like Strength and Weapon Skill. The latter is especially important since it dictates melee weapon accuracy.
Each Archetype is fun to mess around with for one reason or another. While the initial selection comes off as limited, it’s quite easy to find a character’s unique build regarding the traits picked. Even if you aren’t happy with some choices, respecing always remains an option for the player and companions.
