Developer Owlcat Games took to the official Steam page of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader to introduce Shields, a new type of equipment coming in the Lex Imperialis DLC. Once the DLC arrives on June 24, Abelard will be able to become the shield of the dynasty he was always meant to be.
Note that shields will become available across the whole game for all players, even those without the DLC.
“Shields are considered a special kind of one-handed melee weapon and take up a total of two weapon slots, one from each weapon set. You can attack, parry, and make attacks of opportunity with shields in melee, but their main purpose is suppression and negating damage.”
The new equipment comes with the new stat, Block. It gives the wielder an opportunity to completely negate the incoming attack, functioning similarly to Parry and Dodge and stacking with them. Block works against both melee and ranged attacks, and prevents an attack from overpenetrating.
All archetypes have access to shields, which offers a rich layer of new tactical opportunities for defensive gameplay with dedicated tank characters. There will be new talents to boost their effectiveness as well:
- Shield Mastery allows the shield to only occupy a slot in a single weapon set.
- Defensive Manoeuvre allows the bearer to regain 2 MP after attacking with a shield.
- Strong Hand gives the wielder +5% block and allows them to deal +50% more damage when attacking with a shield.
But it is not just players that will get access to this new shiny equipment. Enemies can grab shields for themselves as well! Are you up for the challenge?
