Summary
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Traderis a look at the Warhammer universe through a CRPG lens. Along with a compelling narrative, expansive side quests, and a myriad of ways to build your characters, CRPG’s offer something else: a cast of characters to fill out your party.
Rogue Trader has 14 companions to choose from, including hidden companions and the party member added in the first DLC, Void Shadows. Your party can only consist of five other companions excluding yourself, so who should you choose?
12Uralon The Cruel, Incendia Bastaal-Chorda, And Calligos Winterscale
All three of these party members are “secret” companions. This means they can only be recruited very far into the game, in act four, and which one you’re able to recruit is based on the alignment that you have built up throughout the game (Iconoclasm and Heretical, in this case), as well as following the questline for the void shard in the case of Uralon.
While these companions aren’t necessarily bad choices (in fact, Uralon is a fantastic choice for most parties and has a great default build), you get them far too late in the game and, because they are secret, they don’t end up adding much to the overall plot.
In a game like this that features rich lore and dialogue, as well as interactions with companions and their quest, the lack of interaction with these companions is much more noticeable.
That being said, having a Chaos Space Marine in your party is pretty darn cool. As long as you’re fine with a little harmless heresy.
11Ulfar
It pains us to put theSpace Marinecompanion at the bottom, but, unfortunately, the mark was missed with Ulfar. Even though he is a Space Marine, one of the most respected and feared groups of people in the entire Warhammer 40,000 universe, Ulfar doesn’t excel in any one area.
As a Space Marine clad in Astartes gear, you would think he would be a tank; he even takes up four tiles on the battlefield instead of one. However, he is one of the squishiest characters.
10Marazhai Aezyrraesh
Marazhai is one of the melee-focused characters you can recruit to your party. He is a Warrior Assassin, and while this is a solid build, the other offerings for melee characters are just better.
His main strength as an assassin is his high single-target damage, but there are ranged classes that excel just as much, if not more, in that regard, and you can have your other melee options do things like tanking or wiping out groups of enemies. Marazhai is a very cool character, don’t get us wrong. He has an interesting story, a unique design, and great voice acting. He is still worth recruiting, for sure.
9Heinrix Von Calox
The main issue with Heinrix is he is spread a bit too thin. As a Warrior Biomancer, you’ll have to choose where he gets his bonuses. This doesn’t make him completely unusable, but you’ll be stretching yourself a bit thin, especially if you aren’t very familiar with the mechanics of the game and play on a higher difficulty.
If you want to focus more on his Warrior nature, you’ll not only be missing some Psyker abilities, but you still won’t be as good as someone like Abelard. Plus, you are a bit easier to kill than other warriors, so it’s hard to know what situations he will be useful in, and which he will only drag you down.
8Yrliet Lanaevyss
The Aeldari Sniper of the crew, Yrliet is a great option to have if you don’t go for a sniper-operative path for your Rogue Trader. She begins as an Operative, and you may build her however you wish, unlike previous companions who have their archetype predetermined.
Though you may build her in multiple ways, the Bounty Hunter archetype is great as it focuses on critical damage, which you can accomplish in spades with her sniping. She is also one of the only two Aeldari companions available, and having her in your party and experiencing her story is very interesting and fun to explore, as the Aeldari are basically the Elves of the Warhammer universe, and one of the most ancient races.
7Jae Heydari
Jae is sort of like the Han Solo of your ragtag group of the Emperor’s finest. Or, as close to that as one can be in the Warhammer universe. She posseses a silver tongue and a love of coin, and is a great supportive addition to your party.
While others provide a bit more overall, Jae is a great utility member, being used to buff up your other party members. She is an Officer class, and allows you the freedom to choose any subclass you want to fit the rest of your party, should you choose to use her. This is always a great bonus to choosing specific companions that aren’t locked-in to specific subclasses.
6Idira Tlass
One of the first companions you’ll get in the game, Idira is a Psyker. Psykers are basically the mages of the 40,000 universe, and with Idira you’ll get access to lots of fun supportive and offensive tools to play with.
Idira is also fun to have around for the story, as Psykers can peer into the warp, which can either be helpful or quite worrisome. Usually both. And if you don’t choose to play a Psyker for yourself, this will give you the opportunity to see what they have to offer, while also having a useful and colorful addition to your party.
5Sister Argenta
It’s a shame Argenta is not the number one spot, because the Sisters of Battle need more love. Everyone knows and loves the Space Marines, but the Sisters of Battle are like their less-modified, cooler older sisters, and Argenta is a great representation of this faction.
Besides shining a light on this underappreciated faction, from a gameplay perspective, Argenta is great. She offers great firepower capabilities, either able to focus down a single target or spray across a wide range of enemies. There aren’t many combat situations that Argenta isn’t useful in.
4Kibellah
Kibellah is the newest companion added to the game, coming alongside the Void Shadows DLC, and she is excellent. As a Death Cult assassin, she is an agile melee-focused character with high burst damage and combos to make for a reallyfun gameplay loop.
She is also just a really fun character to have around. She is fiercely loyal and acts like your bodyguard, similar to some of the other characters, while also being romanceable. Finally, Cassia has some real competition in that department.
3Abelard Werserian
Your right-hand man, Abelard Weserian is the backbone of your career as a Rogue Trader. From the narrative side of things, he has your back and informs you about all the goings-on on the ship. He is incredibly loyal, but will also stand up to you if he feels it necessary.
From a gameplay standpoint, Abelard is the tank of the crew, and does an excellent job at it. Right from the beginning, he is built to take hits and get his boots dirty in melee combat. You can’t go wrong putting him in your party, even if it’s just to soak up hits.
