Rogue Trader Post-Launch Patches Pave the Way for Void Shadows

During the start Warhammer 40,000: Rogue was a demanding game to recommend, even though it’s a carefully crafted adaptation of the Koronus Expanse, building on the lore I love from RPGs. The initial conflict drew me into the story, and I stayed to lend a hand my companions achieve their goals. But there was an unclear leveling system that required constant math homework, there were bugs in the second half of the game, and there were a few awkward, unwieldy bits. Thankfully, developer Owlcat Games continued to work on Dishonest traderpatching it up regularly. Now that the game’s first expansion is in sight, I’m excited to see what the story looks like with the additional layers of long-term polish.

Dishonest trader is both huge and dense; it’s so sophisticated that even Owlcat lost count of all the different scenarios that were interconnected. “There were certain sequences and scenes that worked in ways we didn’t expect. It was almost a scientific discovery of how things would work or not work together in conjunction,” said Anatoly Shestov, executive producer Dishonest trader.

Players playing through the campaign provided Owlcat with much more data than internal playtesting. Since the game’s original release, Owlcat has released 10 patches, fixing thousands of issues and introducing quality-of-life updates, as well as fixes to UI graphics, difficulty, boss design, character progression, narrative issues, and more. This process paved the way for the game’s first expansion: Shadows of the VoidAccording to Shestov, Shadows of the Void is inspired by a mechanic the team wanted to implement before release, but ultimately had to postpone.

“The ship itself, we wanted to open it up to more perspectives. We wanted to tell different stories about the people who live there, the difficult choices that are made there,” Shestov said. “We found this compelling story about things that have happened before and now throughout the history of your crew.” It’s an aspect that’s lightly present in the main game; at one point, my Lord Captain went down into the depths of his voidship to deal with a rookie union negotiation.

Shadows of the Void includes a up-to-date companion and potential love interest, Kibellah, an assassin from the Death Cult. Assassins are relatively deeply embedded in Warhammer 40K lore. Everyone in the PC crew is a misfit in one way or another—apart from Abelard, my beloved right-hand man and the steadfast seneschal—but the Death Cult Assassins are deeply ritualistic killers who are unleashed against the enemies of the God-Emperor after mental conditioning, genetically engineered elements, and elite training. Kibellah joins the rest of the crew, allowing for up-to-date squad configurations.

As for the up-to-date enemy, players will need to discover and defeat the invading Genestealer Cult on their ship. These massive warships carry a crew full of cities, and the Genestealers love to slip into situations where they can slowly take over more and more of the population until they can finally start a revolution and call upon their dim alien masters to consume the gathered people and their nest.

“One of the pillars of our development ideology is that we never try to make something that will be good for 100% of the audience,” Shestov said. “To be bold, we try to choose sharp elements that will move someone and draw them in as deeply as a good story.”

According to Shestov, the expansion of the spaceship will be very different from the settlements in the main narrative. As the story progresses, the Rogue Trader — the player character — lays claim to more of the worlds of his dynasty. These worlds fall under the Rogue Trader’s rule, and the player can return to improve them and pass on instructions to the regents who rule in his name during the events of the main campaign. Shadows of the Void– Additional chapters will be more narrative in nature, focusing on exploring the ship and meeting its inhabitants.

Image: Owlcat Games

This includes more officers to give advice to the Rogue Trader, and up-to-date environments to explore. With a little demanding work, players can even augment the combat power of their starship by adding a massive hangar. The main campaign will feature around 15 hours of up-to-date content. All of this is a good excuse to return to Dishonest trader and enjoy the fruits of all the previous patches that paved the way for this up-to-date content. As Baldur’s Gate 3multiple runs Dishonest trader are recommended to learn all the intricacies of each companion’s story and try out different decisions in the main narrative.

Shadows of the Void is set to be released on September 24. The second expansion, Imperial Lawis planned for later this year. According to Shestov, Owlcat will continue to work on Dishonest trader for at least one year from the date of introduction to the market Shadows of the Void. The Lord Captain’s travels have much more to offer, and I am curious to see how they unfold.