The latest trailer for upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader introduces the ground combat system featuring both ranged and up close attacks.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Trailer Dives into Ground Combat

Whether you plan to attack from afar or get up close and personal Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader will have plenty of options according to its latest trailer. Developer Owlcat Games is just days away from the turn-based RPG’s launch and is gearing up by previewing some of the attacks you can unleash in the game.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Ranged Combat

Ballistic Skill is the way to go if you’re planning on attacking from afar. Having a high skill in this area means characters can become a Deadeye. This means they have a high hit chance for base damage, with a weapon’s effective range being 30 plus the Ballistic Skill. Normally you need to roll equal to or less than 30 and plus your Ballistic Skill in order to land a hit on an enemy.

Other useful Characteristics include attacker’s Perception as well as using cover which grants another 60% less chance of getting hit. Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader also allows for half cover which grants 35%. Firearms also have different ranges, the Unfading Valour for example can fire from 12 radius while a Las Pistol only has 5. If you fire the weapon further than half its weapon’s effective range, your chance become 15 plus your Ballistic Skill halved.

Different weapons have a range of attacks such as Burst Shots or even flame throwers to deal with area attacks. If you fail an area attack, the enemy suffers only 50% of the original damage. You can even be your own undoing by using friendly fire, oops.

Close and Personal

If close combat is more your style Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader uses Weapon Skill and Agility are key indicators of successful attacks. Parry Chance for example is double the target’s Weapon Skill plus Parry Bonus, minus the Weapon Skill and Parry Reduction. Choose Parry or Dodge depending on which gives the better chance. Increase those chances by having allies with Melee Weapons close by, as it will give a further +10 to Weapon Skill, increasing your attack. Same goes for receiving attacks, gaining +10 Weapon Skill for your parries, super useful.

Players should be wary of enemy placement. If they are next to you, you won’t be able to use most ranged weapons, only close-range pistols and shotguns. But this is also a blessing in disguise, as you could take the same approach to disable enemy sharpshooters. As usual in tactical RPGs, if your enemy tries to run away while you’re nearby, you can attack with a free regular attack of a target leaving a neighbouring tile.

Armour Is Your Best Friend

Armour has a percentage of damage that it can absorb, with Deflection damage being decreased by a flat integer value. Damage gives a range of possible values a target will be inflicted with before any modifiers are applied. Penetration acts as a modifier that can pierce through armour. Every hit a player lands has a 10% chance of dealing Crit Damage which deals 150% damage. But these can also be modified.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Keeping up Morale

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader also has a morale system which is represented by momentum, with every party starting with 100. This number can go up or down with a range of 0 to 200. Momentum is affected by what happens in battle, for every enemy defeated it will go up. However, for every ally defeated it will also go down. A benefit of the system is that you can use unique abilities such as Heroic Acts. This becomes available when your Momentum is higher than 175, and the first use will cost you 75 momentum with each consecutive heroic act use being 25.

Of course, Heroic Acts all have their own requirements and some even have cooldowns such as Daring Breach, being available only once per combat. Deploy Desperate Measures when your Momentum is lower than 25, but they also have some cons such as penalties, and costing more AP until the end of combat such as Dismantling Attack.

The Rise of the Expanse

In case you missed it, Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader will follow the rise of the Koronus Expanse which is home to heresy, Xenos and others to be wary of. In turn-based combat, players will engage in battles with their companions. The game includes a morality system and also includes a cover system.

Rogue Trader‘s in-game systems seem quite in-depth, but should be fun to master when to take advantage of the Momentum system as well as the use of Parry and Dodge. Of course, companions will be key to winning the war on heresy. As a Rogue Trader, you will bring along crew members to go on perilous missions with you. Your allies may even turn into something more as Owlcat previously revealed you can even romance them. But you’re going to have to work at it, as won’t be quite as free as Baldur’s Gate 3’s lovefest. You can check our more details of the Companion system on our wiki and maybe prep for winning them over.

Previously Owlcat Games revealed more about the co-op mechanics, with multiplayer being an exciting feature for those who don’t want to venture alone in the space fantasy. You co-op with up to 6 players at the same time.

There will be plenty of hard choices to make, that will reveal consequences that affect the ending of the game. It can also reveal a new ending. Each decision will impact the sub-sector and will catch the eye of Inquisitor Calcazar who oversees the Koronus Expanse.

Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader releases December 7th for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Be sure to visit our Rogue Trader Wiki for more info on the game! 

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For more news find it here in The Witcher 4 May Have Geralt Return But He Might Not Be the Main Character and for a roundup of RPG news: This Week in RPGs – December 3rd, 2023.