
Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader is a new CRPG developed by Owlcat Games, the same studio behind the Pathfinder games. As you can expect from any CRPG, the character creation screen looks complicated, but only if you donโt know what to look out for. Thatโs why in this guide to Warhammer 40k Rogue Traderโs Archetypes and character classes, weโll be helping you understand what makes a good character build so that you can jump into the thick of it with your new Rogue Trader.
The Best Starting Class for Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader

The best classes to start playing Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader with are Officer, Soldier, and Warrior because these classes allow you to take extra turns.
If youโre new to CRPGs or just want to get a head start in general, you might want to play as an Officer first because you wonโt be able to recruit another Officer until much later in the game and the classโ utility makes having two quite useful. This class lets you feel like the leader of your party in any battle, and with one clear advantage: you can give other characters extra turns. Since you canโt respec a characterโs first Archetype, having an officer right off the bat swings the gameโs action economy in your favor.
The Officer fills a support role in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader, so if you want to be the one personally mowing down hordes of heretics in the name of the God-Emperor, choose the Soldier or Warrior. The Soldier ability Run and Gun reduces the amount of Action Points (AP) needed to attack, allowing you to make an extra attack in the same turn.
Similarly, the Warrior has access to Charge, an ability that lets them move in a straight line and melee attack an enemy. You can still use a regular attack after using this, so you can either hit an enemy twice or reposition your Warrior to finish them off in one turn.
How leveling up works in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader
Your party gains XP together in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader. As they level up, characters earn ranks that grant Characteristic and Skill increases or new Abilities.
- Ranks 1 โ 16: You level up the ranks in your primary Archetype.
- Ranks 16 โ 36: You level up the ranks in your secondary Archetype
- Rank 36+: You level up the ranks under Exemplar, a new Archetype level that gives you additional Abilities based on precious Archetypes.
Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader Archetypes and Sub-Archetypes Guide
Officer

The Officer is a support character that enables other party members to deal more damage not by buffing them (though that is in the toolkit) or debuffing enemies, but instead giving other characters an extra turn with the Take It Down ability and the Finest Hour ability.
- Vanguard: A frontline fighter archetype that can tank thanks to abilities that let it generate wounds.
- Master Tactician: A fully supportive archetype that buffs the team through their shared momentum, allowing them to use heroic acts and desperate measure abilities. It also lets the party attack more within an AoE, albeit at random.
- Grand Strategist: A control archetype that focuses on enemy debuffs and crowd control. This archetype creates AoEs that apply buffs to the party.
Soldier

The Soldier is a fighter at heart, but unlike the Warrior, it specializes in ranged attacks. Rain holy fire on the Emperorโs enemies or be a talented sniper, either way, you get an extra attack.

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- Bounty Hunter: This archetype specializes in single-target damage.
- Master Tactician: A fully supportive archetype that buffs the team through their shared momentum, allowing them to use heroic acts and desperate measure abilities. It also lets the party attack more within an AoE, albeit at random.
- Arch-Militant: An all-around fighter capable of both melee and ranged combat, the Arch-Militant sacrifices power and accuracy for the ability to perform AoE attacks.
Operative

A more shadowy counterpart to the Officer, the Operative helps the team deal more damage by making enemies and their gear weaker.
- Assassin: A complex archetype that exploits enemy weaknesses and dealing more damage if the enemy is made weaker (debuffed, under a certain amount of wounds).
- Bounty Hunter: This archetype specializes in single-target damage.
- Grand Strategist: A control archetype that focuses on enemy debuffs and crowd control. This archetype creates AoEs that apply buffs to the party.
Warrior

The Warrior is a powerful fighter thatโs generally good at both melee and ranged, but their melee ability Charge functions in a way that makes it an extra attack and/or movement tool, making them an effective archetype to use on characters you want to put on the frontlines.
- Assassin: A complex archetype that exploits enemy weaknesses and dealing more damage if the enemy is made weaker (debuffed, under a certain amount of wounds).
- Vanguard: A frontline fighter archetype that can tank thanks to abilities that let it generate wounds.
- Arch-Militant: An all-around fighter capable of both melee and ranged combat, the Arch-Militant sacrifices power and accuracy for the ability to perform AoE attacks.
Whatโs the best Homeworld to use for each Archetype in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader?

Homeworlds in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader decide what additional talents and features your characters have access too based on the planets they came from. Some of these make your character stronger on their own, luckier, or more able to avoid attacks.
- For Officers: Hive World, Imperial World
- For Soldiers: Fortress World, Death World
- For Operatives: Forge World, Voidborn
- For Warriors: Death World, Voidborn
Hereโs why these Homeworlds work for certain archetypes.
- Hive World: Grants bonuses based on characters being near you.
- Imperial World: Provides a feature that lets you gain a +10 characteristic bonus and a talent that assigns half of that to all non-xeno party members.
- Fortress World: Has a feature that comes with a chance of getting free action points at the start of a turn-based on how many enemies are killed. Talents with ballistic skill buffs.
- Death World: Grants temporary wounds once your character drops to a dangerously low level. You also get buffs from being hurt.
- Forge World: Replaces certain rolls with the Intelligence characteristic and gives additional damage based on your Intelligence bonus.
- Voidborn: Lets you reroll dodge, parry, attack, and skill checks with a 20% chance of success.
Whatโs the best Origin to use for each Archetype in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader?

Before you arrive on the von Valacious ship, you lived a completely different life. This is your origin and it determines your additional characteristics and skill modifiers.
- For the Officer: Astra Militarum Commander, Noble, Navy Officer
- For the Soldier: Ministorum Priest, Crime Lord, Commisar
- For the Operative: Crime Lord, Sanctioned Psyker, Mnistorum Priest
- For the Warrior: Commisar, Astra Militarum Commander
Hereโs why these Origins work for certain archetypes.
- Astra Militarum Commander: Grants personal and party-wide buffs.
- Noble: Abilities work in pairs that bind consistent buff effects to the Noble and their chosen servant in the party. No AoE stipulations.
- Ministorum Priest: Enemy debuffs applied within an AoE
- Crime Lord: Intelligence bonus-based personal attack buffs.
- Commissar: Single target buffs (for allies) and debuffs (for enemies).
- Sanctioned Psyker: Gives the character access to crowd control abilities only Psykers have.