Zealot Archetype: In the Name of the God-Emperor

Service to the God-Emperor takes many forms. Among the denizens of the Imperium, there are those who devote their lives not only to spreading His word, but to personally delivering His wrath as well. 

Meet the Zealot — a new melee-focused first-tier archetype that makes their debut in the Processional of the Damned DLC. A powerful short-range combatant, the Zealot combines an arsenal of area-of-effect attacks with great effectiveness in drawing the attention of the enemy. 

The new companion, Stella, belongs to this archetype, but the Zealot is not exclusive to her — this option will also be available to the Lord Captain at character creation. 

After all, a Rogue Trader is one of the most powerful conduits of His will!

Up Close and Personal

The Zealot’s niche on the battlefield is that of a splash-damage fighter/off-tank who prefers operating close to enemy lines, drawing attention with a reliable taunt mechanic.

This archetype utilises maces, hammers and other brutal bludgeoning weapons. Yet the Zealot is not limited exclusively to melee combat — their arsenal also includes more exotic options, such as swinging weapons bound to chains or even hurling them at the enemy.

The Zealot’s primary stats are Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness and Willpower, and their abilities scale with Athletics, Carouse, Lore (Imperium), Lore (Warp) and Lore (Xenos). In fact, Lore skills will directly affect how much damage is inflicted on the appropriate enemy category — talk about knowing your enemy!

On the second tier, Zealot may advance into Vanguard, Archmilitant, Tactician, or Executioner, further amplifying their defensive and offensive capabilities.

Wrath of the God-Emperor

The first keystone ability of the Zealot, Thunderous Echo, is a special passive effect applied to any attacks made with bludgeoning weapons, adding an area-of-effect modifier to them. 

With this effect, all enemies and allies within one additional tile of the weapon’s normal attack pattern take additional damage, with the amount of damage scaling differently for one-handed and two-handed weapons. The damage is also doubled on prone targets.

The image below showcases the pattern:

This ability provides the Zealot with an excellent tool for dealing with hordes of weaker enemies or applying negative effects to multiple targets at once. Talents may further increase the affected area or modify its shape and damage.

But be wary of friendly fire — your allies will also suffer damage if they end up in the afflicted area!

Judgement From Afar

The Zealot’s second, and arguably even more exciting, keystone ability is called the Zealous Throw:

The Zealot throws their weapon into the target cell, dealing weapon damage to the first creature in its path. All creatures around the target receive additional damage from Thunderous Echo. The weapon then returns to the Zealot’s hand. Works only with bludgeoning weapons. 

This ability does not count towards the attack limit per turn and can be further enhanced by a number of talents, including the option to throw two one-handed weapons at once. 

Who said hammers and maces were not ranged weapons, anyway?

Let Them Come

Unlike Blade Dancer from the Void Shadows DLC, the Zealot does not boast exceptional mobility. Instead, they prefer to let the enemy get up close, with two distinct tools for making them do so:

1) The third keystone ability called Ardour, which costs 1 AP to activate:

For 1 round, all enemies that were dealt damage by the Zealot consider them a priority target. All incoming damage dealt to the Zealot is decreased by (Carouse / 10)% per affected target. 

2) An archetype ability called Sacrifice Thyself: 

The Zealot makes a religious cry in a radius equal to (WIL Bonus) cells around them. Enemies in the radius must pass a WIL Test (-Zealot's level) or move as close as possible to the Zealot.

Daemons fail this Test automatically.

This gives the Zealot a significant degree of control over the distribution of incoming damage, making them a reliable tank indeed. They may not be as sturdy as Abelard at first, but combined with late-game abilities from their second-tier archetypes, they can become a force to be reckoned with.

Break the Chains

What about Heroic Acts and Desperate measures? Let’s have a look at them as well:

The Zealot’s Heroic Act is called the Unchained Punishment:

Until the end of the turn, the Zealot starts spinning their chained bludgeoning weapon and gains (WIL Bonus) stacks of Unchained Punishment. After moving into an adjacent cell, they consume 1 stack and deal 50% weapon damage to all enemies within 1 cell. These strikes trigger Thunderous Echo. Upon activation, the Zealot automatically deals damage to all enemies within 1 cell, while not consuming any stacks. Once all stacks are consumed, the Zealot continues moving as usual.

With a two-handed weapon, strikes deal (WS Bonus) additional damage. With a weapon in each hand, the Zealot strikes twice per cell traversed.

Removes Immobilized. Until all stacks of Unchained Punishment are consumed, the Zealot cannot change their weapon set. While moving, the Zealot does not trigger attacks of opportunity.

The Desperate Measure version of this ability adds the following downsides:

The Zealot receives Direct damage equal to 5% of their maximum Wounds per cell traversed.

After the turn ends and until the end of the combat, the Zealot's max MP are decreased to (WIL Bonus).

Upgrades to these abilities include additional damage, a pushback effect, and increased block chance and protection from the damage done to allies.

Time to dust off your thunder hammer, Lord Captain!

More Details

The archetype has several other area-of-effect abilities and is supplemented by a plethora of talents and new items designed for it. These include modifications and boosts to damage, mobility, tanking options, attack range, attack pattern size, pushback, additional negative effects on inflicting damage, and much more. 

While we won’t go into each and every one of them for now, the Zealot archetype will offer a rich variety of build options. 

And of course, let’s not forget the synergy this archetype is designed to have with Stella’s origin — the Miraculist. The combination of their abilities opens up a wide range of  different playstyles.

That is all for today, but stay tuned for more exciting details about the Processional of the Damned.

The God-Emperor protects!