Burst fire. Hand-to-hand fighting with a combat knife. As a companion, Ulfar is all about that Space Marine life, bringing woe to his enemies. To do so, you’ll need to set him up correctly. Here’s my guide on the best Ulfar build in Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader.
How to Make the Best Ulfar Build in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
My Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader best Ulfar build guide makes use of Ulfar’s unique capabilities as a Space Marine of the Space Wolves chapter. Compared to other companions, his model occupies four tiles, and he can even act as cover for others, something I’ve found to be quite useful against particularly difficult bosses.
Unfortunately, as an Adeptus Astartes, he can’t wear most types of armors and accessories. However, his bolter packs quite a punch. He also has an Astartes Combat Knife, which restores +1 AP and grants an extra attack whenever he kills an enemy with it.
Likewise, Ulfar’s Curse of the Wulfen ability reduces his resolve to zero, but he gains a boost to Strength and Weapon Skill. Moreover, hitting enemies forces them to perform a resistance test or suffer from critical damage debuffs. Because of these factors, Ulfar truly excels as a Soldier and Arch-Militant hybrid.
Best Attributes and Skill Options for Ulfar
I prioritized the following attributes and skills once I was able to recruit Ulfar during Act 3:
- Characteristics: Agility, followed by Ballistic Skill, then Weapon Skill.
- Skills: You’ll probably want a Medicae rank so he can use Medkits. Other than that, you’re free to choose whatever skill you want. In most cases, other companions will pass skill checks.
Ulfar’s Best Arch-Militant Abilities and Talents
Before we continue with our Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader best Ulfar build guide, I should warn you that Ulfar can’t be respecced past a certain point. As such, his abilities and Talents from the Soldier archetype, such as Controlled Shot and Rapid Fire, are set in stone. For the most part, I simply focused on his Arch-Militant perks.
- Abilities:
- Cautious Approach — Gain +5% dodge and parry for every stack of versatility; at four or more stacks, become immune to slowed, blinded, bleeding, toxin, stun, and prone effects.
- Wildfire — The next attack costs 0 AP, doesn’t count towards the attack limit, and grants a versatility stack. This costs 4 AP initially, but is reduced by 1 AP for every four stacks of versatility.
- Arch-Militant Talents:
- Always Ready — Begin combat with +2 stacks of versatility.
- Adaptability — +10% crit chance when you gain a stack of versatility.
- Armsmaster — Killing an enemy with a melee attack lowers the cost of ranged attacks made during the same turn by -1 AP, and vice-versa.
- Broad Expertise — Gain extra Ballistic Skill based on your Weapon Skill bonus, and vice versa; lasts until the end of combat.
- Focal Point (make sure Abelard is your main tank) — +15% damage against enemies that already have a priority target.
- Critical Versatility — +3% critical damage for each stack of versatility.
- Common Talents:
- Bolt Weapon Expert — +10% armor penetration for bolt weapons.
- Nimble — +10% dodge.
Best Exemplar Talents for Ulfar
The rest of Ulfar’s Talents will come from the Exemplar archetype, which becomes available at Level 36. There’s a slew of options regardless of your basic or advanced class. Here are the talents that I got for Ulfar:
- Deathdealer — Every round when you kill your first enemy, you attack the next closest hostile within range. This attack deals only 30% of the base damage, though there’s a 10% bonus based on the difficulty tier of the enemy you just killed.
- Cataclysm — All damage dealt is increased by 3% for every new enemy you damage in a battle.
- Shot Through — Gain bonus overpenetration based on your Ballistics Skill bonus. Overpenetration attacks cannot be dodged.
- Flesh Wounds — At the start of your turn, restore 10% of your maximum HP/wounds. If you have less than 20% HP/wounds, restore 20% of the maximum amount instead.
Likewise, don’t forget that the Exemplar class still lets you choose from talents that you may have overlooked from earlier archetypes like Soldier and Arch-Militant. For instance, you should definitely get Enough Bullets For Everyone, which deals extra damage for your second attack during the same turn. You can learn more in my Exemplar class guide.
As you can see, Ulfar’s playstyle is primarily about hitting as many opponents as possible with burst-fire shots. He can then switch to his Astartes Combat Knife, hopefully to get a melee kill. You can then follow up with Run and Gun (Soldier skill) to refresh his burst-fire. All in all, the goal is to gain more versatility stacks to keep Ulfar raring to go in combat.
These are my suggestions when considering the best build for Ulfar in Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader. Since you’ll be bashing foes as Ulfar the Space Wolf, you might want to learn about builds for other characters such as Yrliet, Heinrix, and Marazhai. Click the links or head over to our WH40K: RT guides hub for more tips and tricks.
