"Such is the price of bringing retribution to the xenos, the mutant, and the heretic"

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's story-concluding final DLC has been pushed back to December, developers Owlcat have announced. At the same time, they've introduced the companion around which this last expansion, Processional of the Damned, will revolve. Her name's Stella. She's an "unsanctioned psyker", a "miracle sent by the Emperor himself", and is prone to shedding tears of blood.

"Despite our best efforts to deliver the expansion by September as originally intended, it has become clear to us that it won't be ready in time," Owlcat wrote in an update on Processional of the Damned posted to Steam. "That's why, to ensure we deliver the experience players deserve, we have decided to delay the launch. The release window will be set to December 2026 and is not expected to move any further."

As a result of the delay, the studio are offering refunds to owners of the game's Season Pass 2 via Steam's customer support. "Please note that this will remove Processional of the Damned and the Infinite Museion from your Steam account, and break any saved games made with the Infinite Museion DLC content activated," they wrote. "If you wish to continue playing your previous save after a refund, you will need to obtain the Infinite Museion DLC separately. The Appearance Pack included in Season Pass 2 will be made free and integrated into the base game for everyone, and thus will not affect your saves. Note that this change will come slightly later to the other platforms."

For those who are still on board with Processional of the Damned despite its tardiness, Owlcat have offered some info about it in a separate post. The main focus is the aforementioned companion, Stella, a dread priest-looking Miraculist. "Her eyes bleed, and the cracks of her cold porcelain skin haemorrhage when she becomes a conduit of His will, yet such is the price of bringing retribution to the xenos, the mutant, and the heretic," reads her bio. "Raised by the Ecclesiarchy to be a living weapon, she is a unique asset — one whose life was never truly her own. Although, unbeknownst to them, the reality is that she is an unsanctioned psyker, her order does not see her as a witch or a mutant. For them, she is a miracle sent by the Emperor himself, bathing in His light."

The choice you face is whether to grow her and her Psychic Trail ability into a powerful weapon, try to save her, or get in on her "madness and damnation".

Beyond Stella, the DLC will also add a new archetype, the bludgeoning weapon-focused zealot, a new feature called Madness that affects all companions, plus new enemies from the ranks of the Arch Enemy and Aeladari.

Sounds like it's got plenty of Damned promise to live up to the billing as Rogue Trader's last chapter. Here's Edwin's review of the base game, if you've yet to give it a go.