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Once you set out from Footfall inWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, you can freely explore the Koronus Expanse by navigating perilous Warp routes between systems. The nearby system Aviorus contains a derelict Imperial ship that you can explore. Doing so is a risky proposition, but yields useful gear and information that you can use when you reach Kiava Gamma later in the main quest.
The space hulk is stuffed to the brim with traps, and contains some of the most dangerous early-game encounters to date. This guide will help make sure that you’re up for the challenge.
Recommended Party
It’s best to enter the Aviorus hulk once you’rearound Level 20.The dangers of this side quest are comparatively specific, sobringing the right teamwill improve your chances of survival.
Bringat least two melee characters, including one Vanguard with a high Parry who can take a hit. The Servitors you’ll be facing hit hard in close combat, so you’ll want to keep them away from your backline whenever possible.
Most of the enemies you’ll be facing have a moderate-to-high Armor rating, sobring weapons with good Armor Penetrationor Operatives who can useExpose Weaknessto temporarily disable enemy defenses.
Bringing aGrand Strategistis a good idea, as they’ll help make use of cover. You’ll need it, as you’ll be facing a disproportionately high number of snipers on this mission!
At least one Soldier specializing inburst-fire or heavy weaponsis extremely useful thanks to the tight quarters, and they’ll shine in the boss fight.
Battles on board the Aviorus hulk start withVeil Degradationat perilously high levels.Avoid bringing Idira and Heinrix on this mission.If your Lord Captain is a psyker, be sure that they have some conventional gear and abilities. Using psychic powers here is very risky, but Cassia’s Navigator powers are safe.
Important Skills
Be sure that your team includes characters with the following Skills:
Spotting traps and hidden doors.
Disarming traps and blasting open secret areas.
Logic
Fixing the malfunctioning door without having to use a Tech-Rite Set.
Allows unique information and dialogue options.
Medicae
Healing and removing Injuries.
Bringing Pasqal is highly recommended, as he allows unique dialogue options.
Our recommended party consists ofAbelard, Argenta, Cassia, Pasqal,andYrliet.If you haven’t yet recruited Yrliet, bringJaeinstead.
How To Get Past The Malfunctioning Door
When you first board the ship, it will quickly become apparent that youneed to restart the main generatorto open the door to the main area. Follow the hallway to the side, being sure tofind and open the path to the balcony above the entrancefor some loot. You’ll come to a door that israpidly sliding open and shut.
Note the two corridors on the opposite side of the room. The right-hand corridor has ahidden doorthat a character with highAwarenesscan spot, containing a chest. The left-hand corridor has the door controls. You can override them with aLogic test, or simply use a Machine-Rite Set.
At the time of this writing, there seems to be a bug with Logic tests; if a character fails the test,have someone else use the Machine-Rite Set.If the same character who failed the Logic test uses the Machine-Rite Set, they’ll still get an Access Denied message and waste the item.
How To Get Past The Electric Pylons
The next room contains pylonsdischarging dangerous amounts of electricity.The console to deactivate them is on the far side.
Don’t send your entire team at once.Instead, choose the character with themost Wounds(and, ideally, the highest Toughness) and send them across alone to cut the power. They should have enough health to make it without suffering too many Injuries - in our run, we made it across with just two on Normal difficulty.
Abelard is a good choice for this task, as he canpatch himself upwith Medkits immediately once he’s safe, removing any Injuries he sustains.
If a character with low Wounds or Toughness attempts to cross before the power is turned off,it is very likely that they will be inflicted with a Trauma, severely reducing their effectiveness in the tough battles to come.
How To Solve The Pressure Valve Puzzle
Past the pylons is a room where malfunctioning pipes areventing toxic gas.Stepping in the green cloud will, predictably, cause a character to take damage.
The console to the left of the cloud indicates that thepressure indicators need to be set to ten.The five valves in the room will each change the pressure by a different amount. From left to right, these values are:
4
1
7
2
Fifth
5
you may’t turn a valve off once you activate it, but if the total pressure goes above ten then the system will reset, letting you start the puzzle over.
There are multiple combinations that will give you the desired pressure level;1-2-5and2-3-4are both viable solutions. As before,only send one character through the gasto limit the amount of damage taken by your team.
Once the gas is pumped away,have your Demolitions expertblow a hole in the wall behind the console to find some loot, thenturn on the generatorin the pit where the gas was. The power to the ship will be restored, and you’ll have to make your way back to the entrance to open the main door.
Turning the power on also activates multiple traps blocking the path back. Havethe character with the highest Awarenesslead the way to spot traps for your Demolitionist to disarm.
The Tech-Priests that you encountered along the way to the generator chamberturn hostile once the power is back on, and will attack when you enter the pylon room. They make fairly dangerous foes, especially given the awkward layout of the room and thebuffs they receive from the Heralds Of Corruption.
The Heralds are locatedon opposite walls halfway down the pylon corridor.They should be your first target, as theygive the entire enemy team, including themselves, Temporary Woundseach round. The longer they last, the more damage you’ll have to deal overall.
Send a melee character to escort a sniper to the top of the gantry near the entrance; once the Herald and other enemies there are dealt with, it’s a perfect shooting position.
Have your melee fighterslock down the Servitors in close combatwhile your ranged attackerspick off Technomatsto neutralize their sniper fire.Avoid grouping your characters up, as the Magos has grenades and isn’t afraid to use them all in a single turn.
Unlike the Servitors, the Magos and Technomats arewilling to risk Opportunity Attacksto get out of melee. If one of them flees down the hall toward your next destination,do not pursue themas you’ll risk activating the next group of enemies and merging two arduous battles.
Once the first group of enemies is defeated,treat any Injuries you’ve sustained,then move on to the next fight, past the formerly-malfunctioning door. There are fewer Tech-Priests here, but more Heralds Of Corruption. Worse, there are severalVox-Skullslurking at the back who willgrant the Servitors extra attacks.
The strategy in the second fight is largely the same, but now you have the advantage of adoorway for your snipers to take cover behindwhile the rest of your team storms the room.
How To Beat The Forgefiend
When you finally enter the Computational Cathedral, speak to the lead Tech-Priest inside. The conversation will trigger a boss battle against aForgefiend, the daemon that has taken over the ship.
Spend the first roundgetting into position;move your long-range characters to the top of the stairs, where they can take cover. Melee and burst-fire characters should stay on the ground level, butspread outaround the Forgefiendto avoid giving it a group target.
If your party includes a Grand Strategist,center a Front Line on the Forgefiendto increase the overall damage that it takes.
Eliminate the smaller enemies as quickly as possible. Not only does this prevent them from attacking, but it alsobuilds up Momentumthat you can use for a Heroic Act. An Operative’sDismantling Strikewill strip away most of the Forgefiend’s Armor permanently, making the fight much, much easier.
The Forgefiend gets a free attackevery time it takes damage, so avoid catching it in area attacks meant for minions andfocus on meaningful, high-damage strikes.The exception to this rule isburst-fire attacks; they only trigger a single counterattack, and the Forgefiend is large enough that the bullets' random trajectories don’t matter from two to three spaces away. Having multiple charactersempty clips into the monsteronce its Armor is gone will bring it down fast.
When the boss is dead,speak to the Tech-Priest one last timeto complete the quest. Before you leave,collect the box that appears next to the Tech-Priest; it contains theDiagnostor, an accessory that increases the user’s Medicae Skill by an impressive fifteen!
