Welcome to the third and final entry in our Aspect of the Aegis series of build guides.
This final chapter will complete the trio of units that make up the core of a defensive Aegis-based strategy. Check out part one of the Aspect of the Aegis series for a Justicar build and part two for a Chaplain build.
Interceptors typically serve as melee fighting specialists. They traverse the battlefield in an instant with their Teleport ability and can deliver crushing critical blows with Hammerhand. This time however, we will focus on a supportive ranged damage build. This setup focuses on:
- Aegis Shield
- Psychic Suppression
- Psilencers
- Teleport
- Support Fire
Ranking Up
Our first priority is to maximise our Interceptor’s survivability. Complemented by our Chaplain’s Litany of Faith, Aegis Shield upgrades will provide a strong level of protection. The Passive Wargear slot upgrade will also provide some utility.
Rank 4-6
At rank 4 we can obtain everything we need from the Teleport discipline by purchasing the Teleport Range upgrade and the Willpower bonus. For ranks 5 and 6, let’s select the Psychic Suppression and Psybolt upgrades. Our goal is to access the Psilencer by Rank 6; combining Scatter Shot with the upgraded version of Teleport can prove deadly, especially if Aegis Shield is activated to cement your position after Teleporting.
Rank 7-9
For our last 3 ranks, we are going to fully invest in the Support Fire discipline to increase our damage output. We can then finish off our ability selection by purchasing the Aegis Shield Warp Charge upgrade which will boost our Aegis Shield by +3 Armour and the Teleport Swap ability that allows us to reposition any Grey Knight caught in a tight spot.
Equipment and Wargear
Because this build switches focus on using a particular weapon type after Promotions, there are multiple recommendations for weapon type. We want to prioritise weapons with high range and high ammo counts as Support Fire will help us deal damage outside of the Interceptor’s turn. Psilencers tend to have high innate range which makes them ideal for use with Support Fire. Having a Warding Stave in earlier Ranks will allow us to make use of our early Aegis Shield upgrades to keep our unit healthy.
Warding Staves
- Anval’s Haven (Tier 1): This Warding Stave offers the Aegis Reaction and +1WP. The Interceptor benefits greatly from any boosts to its WP pool as this means he can Teleport more often. Reposition is a vital part to the Interceptor’s playstyle and that remains true for this build. It can be upgraded to offer an additional +1 WP.
- Strifebreaker (Tier 2): This is the Tier 2 variant of Anval’s Haven. It offers +2WP innately with the same activation chance for Aegis Reaction. The +WP bonus can be upgraded to a total boost of +3 WP and the Force Strike to deal an additional +1 DMG.
Stormbolters
- Credo (Tier 1): Should you decide to invest into Support Fire earlier than this guide suggests, this Stormbolter is a good option to synergise with Support Fire. It offers 4 Ammo innately which can be upgraded to a total of 5. This is the most ammo of any of the Tier 1 Stormbolters. While the DMG and Range of this Stormbolter are merely average, the plentiful amount of ammo in this weapon will often be enough to get you through those lower rank fights before needing a reload.
- Ruins Witness (Tier 2): Despite the Range not being as much as other Tier 2 Stormbolters, Ruins Witness offers 5 base DMG and 12 Range and can be upgraded to hold a total of 4 Ammo. This is an upgrade to Credo and strikes a good balance for this build’s playstyle.
Psilencers
- Revelation (Tier 1): Revelation is arguably the best Tier 1 Psilencer overall as it has an innate ability to directly bypass any armour the enemy has. On top of Armour Pierce, Revelation has an impressive Range of 14. Make sure to pick this one up when you can.
- Censure (Tier 2): Censure is our next pick for Psilencers, it offers a base 14 Range with a respectable Ammo reserve of 4 and a base DMG of 5. It also has the unique property to afflict Hobbled which fits well with our playstyle. This weapon can be upgraded to have a total of 17 Range and a 50% afflict chance for its Hobbled status.
- Victory’s Testament (Tier 3): Victory’s Testament is our ideal choice for Psilencer for this build. It has 17 Range which is the highest base Range of any of the weapons at your Knights disposal. Further to that its Range can be upgraded to a total of 20 which gives the Interceptor extreme Range for Support Fire to activate. The weapon can also be upgraded to offer an additional +10% CRIT and +3 Range to Scattershot.
Armour
- Prodigy’s Plate (Tier 1): Prodigy’s Plate is a protection focused armour that immediately offers +4 HP with a +2 HP upgrade for a total of +6. This armour also offers an upgrade that will provide +1 Armour which makes this one of the only Tier 1 Power Armour that offers any Armour whatsoever. This synergises well with our Aegis Shield focus on additional armour.
- Hero’s Plate (Tier 2): Hero’s Plate is the direct upgrade to Prodigy’s Plate, it offers +6 HP and can be upgraded to offer +1 Armour and a Passive Wargear Slot. This armour offers everything we want for this build: A generous HP bonus, additional armour, and an extra Wargear Slot.
- Heart of Purity (Tier 2): Heart of Purity should serve as a secondary choice should you be unable to find the Hero’s Plate as a reward. It offers a fair HP bonus of +4 as well as full Immunity to the Plagued Affliction. Additionally, this Armour offers +15% Resistance to help you keep your Interceptor Affliction free as well as an upgrade that will give you another Wargear Slot for Passive Equipment. While not as ideal as Hero’s Plate, this Armour still has plenty to offer you.
- Titan’s Aegis (Tier 3): Titan’s Aegis does not offer as much HP as our other choices but it by far offers the most Armour out of any Tier 3 armour available to us. It can be upgraded to offer +3 Armour total and an additional upgrade to give us an extra Wargear Slot. This will boost our Aegis Shields effectiveness greatly when we synergise with our Chaplain.
Servo Skulls and Passive Equipment
Servo Skulls
- Seeker Skull: The Seeker Skull can find its useful in Teleport-Scattorshot ambushes. Using the Skull on a group of enemies and then teleporting to them to blast them with Scatter Shot will net you plenty of damage, especially on a high Ammo count weapon.
- Autoloader Skull: This Skull is also useful for the same strategy of Teleporting to a group of enemies and using Scatter shot on them. We can reload with no Action Point cost and continue the fight as needed.
Passive Equipment
- Artisan Nullifier Matrix: Since we are forced to use Power Armour with the Interceptor we are missing out on an innate 2 Armour that is granted by Terminator Armour. The Nullifier Matrix can make up for that and still allow us impressive amounts of Armour in tandem with your team's support.
- Extended Magazine: A larger magazine means more damage from Scattershot and will allow you to make the most out of Support Fire after already making Ranged Attacks on your turn.
This concludes our three-part build guide on the Aspect of the Aegis! In case you missed the first two entries, check out our builds for the Justicar and Chaplain to complete your defensive tank-based squad strategy. Let us know on our social channels how you find playing with the Interceptor build above!
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5!
The Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters Team