Like any Sister of Battle, Argenta is your badass armored vanguard that swiftly dispatches enemies and is a bulwark for your allies. With our build, she’ll be able to deal great AoE damage and even heal your allies. Here’s our Argenta build guide in Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader.
Tips and Tricks for Building the Best Argenta in Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader
I quite enjoy the Bolter-focused Sister of Battle fantasy, and it’s quite mechanically effective in Rogue Trader due to AoE Burst Fire damage. So that’s what we’ll be focusing on today. Yes, you can spec her toward a Flamer build or even a melee one, but I prefer Bolters due to their solid range. That way, we can utilize cover and not worry about armor, defensive stats like Toughness, and building Wounds as much.
She already starts the game with a nice Bolter, and we’ll be able to get better ones later on through traders. Our goal is to output as much AoE damage as possible with Burst Shot so any weapon with a high rate of fire and a decent magazine size will do. Combine her with Cassia or any other Officer as their attack-granting abilities work incredibly well with Argenta.
Furthermore, Argenta’s Homeworld is set to Death World, and her Origin is a Ministorum Priest, so we’ll have these in mind with our Talents below. Especially because she’s a Death World character, this allows us to go for a high critical chance build with Soldier and Death World Talents.
Speaking of Soldier, we’ll be able to double Burst or Single fire reliably with Run and Gun and Revel in Slaughter resets. With this in mind, I would focus on cleaning up weaker enemies in a fight as we’ll need three kills (later two) to activate Revel in Slaughter and refresh our Run and Gun ability.
Lastly, her Priest origin starts her off with a decent Medicae skill, so let’s utilize that as well and make her a combat medic. These three factors, combined with Bolter weapons, turn her into a cover-hopping death-dealing machine that can also support your other allies through healing. Just make sure to stock up on Medikits before a mission.
Best Argenta Talents for This Death-Dealing Build
Briefly, before we dive into talents, I’ve mentioned that I speced my Argenta for Medicae healing in terms of skills. If this doesn’t suit you, she also starts with a decent Demolition skill so you can turn her into your resident bomb and trap defuser. I highly recommend specializing your party members toward a single niche since only the companion with the highest relevant skill is used in a skill check, making jack-of-all-trade characters suboptimal.
In my opinion, here are the best Talents to pick up on our Bolter-focused Burst Fire Argenta:
- Level 2: Demolition or Medicae (Pick one depending on whether you want your Argenta to defuse bombs or be a combat medic).
- Level 4: Unpredictable.
- Level 5: Ballistic Skill + Fired Up (Unpredictable and F.U. are the core of our critical chance focus for an incredibly high damage potential).
- Level 6: Ballistic Skill + Rapid Fire (The core of our build outputting incredible damage).
- Level 7: Ballistic Skill + Brutal Hunter (Another addition to our critical strike chance).
- Level 8: Bullet Hell + Demolition or Medicae.
- Level 10: Swift Slaughter + Ballistic Skill.
- Level 11: Controlled Shot + Demolition or Medicae. (Some safety for our team in awkward position situations).
- Level 12: Ballistic Skill + Rack and Ruin or Muzzle Velocity.
- Level 13: Bolt Weapon Expert or Solid Projectile Weapon Expert.
- Level 14: Bolt Weapon Expert or Solid Projectile Weapon Expert + Demolition or Medicae.
Stick to cover and utilize Burst Fire through Rapid Fire to hit as many enemies as you can. If you have allies in your AoE, don’t be afraid to fire using Controlled Shot, as it will make your allies dodge your Burst Fire. With Swift Slaughter, which you can pick up earlier if you want, your Run and Gun can be reset for just two kills so that you can more reliably double attack per round. Lastly, you’ll have an incredibly high crit chance, so enjoy those crit sound effects.
Best Argenta Advanced Archetype
Since our focus is outputting as much Burst Fire damage with a high critical strike chance, I would highly recommend the Archmilitant. Its Versatility ability dwarfs the Bounty Hunter and the Strategist/Tactician in terms of offense. This is because Versatility increases your Ballistic Skill for accuracy and damage based on your Ballistic Skill when you alternate attacks.
The best part about this is that you don’t have to use different weapons — just different types of shots. Switching from Single Shot to Burst Shot (Rapid Fire) absolutely works. So in combat fire off a Burst Shot, then Single Shot the lowest enemy then pop Run and Gun, and do it again. If you’re attacking weaker mobs you’ll most likely proc Swift Slaughter with two kills and can now reset Run and Gun with Revel in Slaughter.
Furthermore, your alternating fire modes will add stacks of Versatile increasing your Ballistic Skill and at 5 stacks, you’ll even do more damage equal to half your Ballistic Skill bonus. Archmilitant is therefore an excellent choice for Argenta with our build.
Related: WH40K Rogue Trader Combat Guide
That’s where I’d place my money for the best Argenta build in Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader. For more articles like this, such as the best Voidship companions, tips for making the best Psyker in the game, or for understanding conviction and alignment, click the links or visit our WH40K Rogue Trader guides page.
