Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader Walkthrough: Chapter 4, Hunting Grounds to the Dimensional Gate

Part 4 of our Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader walkthrough covers Chapter 4, The Lord Inquisitor and the Lord Captain. It starts when you step out of the webway on Janus and ends when you follow Lord Inquisitor Calcazar through a dimensional gate into Necron space.

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The whole walkthrough

Chapter 4 at a glance

After the tight, linear Commorragh chapter, the Koronus Expanse opens up again. This chapter is about three things:

1. Getting back on your feet after the escape.
2. Hunting Grounds: dealing with the rival Rogue Traders Calligos Winterscale and Incendia Chorda.
3. Answering Calcazar's summons and chasing him through the gate.

Big warning: finish your companion quests before you meet Calcazar. Players report that quests like Heinrix's Price of Humanity and Cassia's The Price of Power were marked as failed when they went to him too early.

Back on Janus

1. You exit the webway on top of a tower on Janus, the same world where you fought Muaran in Chapter 2.
2. An old man called Eklendyl meets you. Talk to him and follow the story out.
3. Get back to your ship. Restock, check your gear and level up your party. Your voidship and the star map are yours again.

Spend some time here. Visit your colonies, catch up on companion talks and side quests, and sell loot to raise faction reputation. Calcazar's main thread stays on hold until you finish Hunting Grounds.

Hunting Grounds

Hunting Grounds sends you to the Nameless Star system in Winterscale's Realm. Calligos Winterscale has shot down an Aeldari ship, which crashed on Quetza Temer, and he has gone down to finish off the survivors.

1. Travel to the Nameless Star system. Check your route danger before you jump.
2. Land on Quetza Temer and track down Winterscale's hunting party.
3. Deal with both Winterscale and Chorda. How you handle them changes who helps you at the end of the chapter, and who might join you.
4. If the quest log doesn't update, check whether Lair of the Haemonculus has started. Some players needed to finish it too.

This planet has heavy fights. Bring your strongest front line and a healer, and rest your party between battles.

Secret companions

Chapter 4 is where the game's hidden companions show up. Guides list three: Calligos Winterscale, Incendia Chorda and Uralon the Cruel.

• Which one you can get depends on your choices and your conviction path.
• Guides agree you can only recruit one of them per playthrough.
• Outcomes in Hunting Grounds decide what happens to Winterscale and Chorda, so save before you make your final call there.

The exact steps for each change between patches and paths, so we keep this general. If you want a specific one, read their requirements before you start Hunting Grounds.

Calcazar's summons

Once Hunting Grounds is done, Lord Inquisitor Xavier Calcazar calls for you. This is the "Lord Inquisitor" in the chapter name, and the man Heinrix serves.

1. Before you go, finish every companion quest you can. See the warning at the top.
2. Answer the summons. Calcazar is gone, and the trail leads to a man named Froscher.
3. Pass a check with Froscher: Persuasion, Coercion or Medicae all work. He tells you Calcazar went through the dimensional gate in Porta Septentum.
4. Head to the gate. Depending on your earlier choices, House Winterscale and House Chorda may come to help.
5. Go through the gate. You arrive in a remote system full of Necrons, and Chapter 4 ends.

Preparing for the gate

Treat the gate as a point of no return for this chapter's content. Before you step through:

• Make a hard save in a new slot.
• Upgrade your voidship and buy the best gear your Profit Factor and reputation unlock.
• Pick a balanced party: a tank, a healer or support, an Officer for extra turns, and two damage dealers.
• Gear up against armour. Necrons are tough, so weapons with good penetration help a lot.

Tips for this part

• Do companion quests first, story second. This is the chapter where they can fail.
• Read every Winterscale and Chorda dialogue carefully. Small choices here decide allies, enemies and a possible secret companion.
• Keep a save before Hunting Grounds and another before Calcazar. Both are big branch points.
• Use Navigator's Insight on the routes you take most. The Expanse gets more dangerous from here.

My take

Chapter 4 felt like the game catching its breath after Commorragh, then quickly getting serious again. Hunting Grounds is a great mix of politics and violence, and I loved how my Chapter 2 choices came back. Did you end up with a secret companion, and which one?

FAQ

Where does Chapter 4 start in Rogue Trader?

On Janus, right after you leave the webway at the end of Chapter 3. An old man named Eklendyl meets you there.

Why did my companion quest fail in Chapter 4?

Some companion quests fail if you meet Calcazar before finishing them. Do them before answering his summons.

Can I recruit all secret companions?

No. Guides agree you can only recruit one secret companion per playthrough, based on your choices and path.

Where did Calcazar go?

Through the dimensional gate in Porta Septentum. Froscher tells you if you pass a Persuasion, Coercion or Medicae check.

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