Warhammer 40K: Rogue Traderputs players in the role of a Rogue Trader, one of the few members of the galaxy able to travel the length of galaxy and see all that it has to offer with little restriction from the Imperium.
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Players will come face to face with all sorts of enemies to fight and moral decisions to figure out, all while furthering their status as a Rogue Trader and growing their legacy. With Rogue Trader being a complex game, there’s a lot that new players may not realize in the early hours.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
10Find Cover, Return Fire
Ignore Some Damage & Prevent Some
Rogue Trader can have some very brutal combat, as the Rogue Trader and their party will almost always be outnumbered in combat. While being outnumbered may make it seem like a fight is unwinnable, cover can make or break any fight and help control the battlefield.
Full cover is able to block all incoming damage from the opposite direction, letting a character effectively cut off any enemies from the other side of the map for a turn or two. Utilizing half cover can also make a character more difficult to hit with ranged attacks, giving them the upper hand against advancing enemies.
9Maximize Your Character’s Potential
Focus On Dealing The Most Damage With One Weapon Type
For those creating their own character, the individual characteristics, skills, and Archetype can be chosen and further altered through the many customization choices. It’s best to decide what kind of character you want to play before then building a character that focuses solely on that role.
Focusing on one single role in combat, such as dealing damage, while quickly having that character snowball over time and become the best damage dealer in the party. Other characters that are recruited can still be very powerful, but their set stats and path limit them much more than the Rogue Trader.
8Balance Your Party
No Single Character Can Do Everything
There are 11 different Archetypes that can be unlocked and leveled up. With a total of 6 party members, the combination of archetypes and party members is incredible. Many roles support and play off each other very well, as glass cannons can hide behind tanks to soak up and taunt all damage during combat.
It’s best to diversify your party with multiple characters of each Archetype, furthering the abilities to be used in combat along with the skills to counter the many enemy types players will encounter. A well-balanced party can make even the most difficult boss battle much easier as long as each party member plays their part.
7Cover All Skills
There Will Be Tons Of Skill Checks For Each Of The Many Skills
Skills are used in conversations to unlock unique dialogue options to handle a situation differently. A character will need a high rank in a skill to successfully pass a check, and no one character can be a master of every skill in the game.
It’s best to have each character in the party prioritize either one or two skills and attempt to max them out, as skill checks will default to the character with the highest ranking for that skill. Passing skill checks can make the game much easier over time, and skills are leveled up for free over time by leveling up the characters of the party, making good coverage of every skill more than possible.
6Find Your Loyalty
There Are Only So Many Loyalty Points To Go Around
There are three different loyalties for Rogue Traders to make decisions for and follow. While some decisions may seem morally correct (or not), the Loyalty of the Rogue Trader also has useful gameplay benefits depending on the level of each Loyalty.
Increasing the rank in a Loyalty will give a useful bonus effect for the rest of the campaign. There are only so many Loyalty points to be earned throughout a playthrough, so it’s best to decide on a Loyalty early and choose it every chance to try and reach the highest rewards for that Loyalty.
5Better To Try & Fail Than Not Try At All
If Theres A Chance For More XP, Always Take It
Passingskill checksrarely has a negative effect in conversation, as there is always something else that can be said or enemies to be killed for XP. Passing a skill check in conversation will reward the party with additional experience that would normally be missed.
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Without any real consequences to failing skill checks beyond an inconvenience, it’s always worthwhile to try and pass the check when the opportunity arises. Getting additional XP from passing these checks will not only make the party stronger but also give you unique rewards for passing the checks.
4Buffs & Debuffs
Make Your Damage Dealers Deal Even More Damage
There are many abilities for each Archetype to use, all using Action Points in a turn to use. While many may want to focus their AP on damage-dealing attacks only, buffing your party members and debuffing the enemy can lead to much higher damage outputs or better outcomes in the long run.
Some characters are built to deal more damage, while others are built to support. Having support-based characters attacking often leads to them missing their shots, while damage-focused units could be even more efficient with additional buffs.
3Respec & Try Again
There Are Many Ways To Build Each Archetype
After the Voidship has been opened up to free roam in, players will be able torespec their charactersanytime while on the ship. This can be done to the main character, preset party members, and mercenaries, but their starting Arcetypes won’t be changed.
Respecing can allow players to try different playstyles focusing around different weapons when a better one of a different type is found or changing the stats and skill ratings to better solve a difficult situation that needs a character to be a master in a specific topic. Respecing is easy to do and can be done as often as players like, letting them try out all sorts of builds before settling on the best one.
2Loot Everything
There Are No Looting Limits & It’s Free Profit Factor
It’s very common for players to encounter enemies that are using a better weapon than one currently being used by the party. Looting all enemies after a battle can help ensure the player is using the best possible weapons and gear while also doubling up on the rarer weapons when they are found on stronger enemies.
Goods and excess loot can also be stored on the Voidship as Cargo, which can later be traded to the various factions of the galaxy to earn Profit Factor. With the Voidship and the character’s infinite storage, looting everything and selling it for Profit Factor is always worthwhile and should be done.
1Play It Safe
There Are Some Serious Difficulty Spikes With Boss Battles
Players will almost always be outnumbered in battles throughout Rogue Trader. Even with a total of six party members, players will still always be at a disadvantage when walking into a room of 30+ cultists. While there are a few characters that benefit from charging straight at their enemies, there are even more benefits to finding cover and letting your enemy come to you.
Staying back will ensure you decidewhere the fighting happensand that your characters will never be without cover. As enemies advance toward your position, they will often need to group up, making them even easier targets for burst fire attacks to kill multiple at once. Boss battles can also be extremely difficult, making staying back and watching their movements your best bet at surviving.
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