2020-02-06T15:22:42 01:00

Red Dead Online: Use & combine ability cards correctly

In our ability card guide to Red Dead Online you can read:

which ability cards there are and in which level you unlock them
how to level up the ability cards
which ability card combinations are especially powerful

The ability cards are a special feature of the online mode of the cowboy epic Red Dead Redemption 2 () and give you one active and three passive options to upgrade your character according to your wishes. Our guide explains the system and good combinations to get the most out of the game. More tips on the online mode can be found in our big beginner's guide to Red Dead Online.

1. Getting and boosting ability cards

Ability cards act as perks in Red Dead Online, allowing you to customize your character for different game challenges. You can find them via the game menu under "Abilities". The Dead Eye ability cards are used after character creation, and the three slots for passive ability cards are unlocked at levels 10, 20, and 40.

In total, you can use one active and three passive cards from the areas of recovery, combat and Dead Eye starting at level 40. Each ability card has a level requirement: some are available at the start of the game, others only when you reach a certain level. The last card is unlocked at level 50.

Important: You can only use all Dead Eye abilities when you activate Dead Eye!

After starting the game, you will pay RDO$50 to activate cards unlocked by leveling, some cards are already available at the start of the game. Then choose the slot in which you want to use a card and select the desired card. Now the active or passive effects of the ability card are available to you in the basic version. If you accumulate experience points in the game through your actions, these points will also be credited to the card.

Once you have accumulated a total of 10,000 experience points, you can upgrade the card to the next stronger version for RDO$350, where the card effects are slightly stronger. You can get the strongest version of a card by collecting another 15,000 experience points and paying RDO$500.

Tip: It is worthwhile to passively level up cards during any activity in the game in order to collect the necessary experience points for them. This is especially recommended for avid collectors in Red Dead Online, who receive at least 100 experience points or more for each collectible item they acquire!

2. Dead Eye Ability Cards

With these ability cards, you fundamentally change the effect of your Dead Eye. Since Dead Eye doesn't slow down time in online mode like it does in single-player play, you shouldn't miss out on any of the useful card effects to increase your chance of survival:

Focus Fire (Default): While Dead Eye is active, you and the team members deal a bit more damage. The effect does not stack if multiple team members have this equipped.
Crossfire (Paint it Black, Default): With Dead Eye active, you can mark targets. Pull the trigger to fire at all targets, each shot consumes Dead Eye. Defensive players cannot be marked or mark other players.

Short Breather (A Moment To Recuperate, Default): When Dead Eye is active, you gradually restore health. If you take damage, Dead Eye will end.
Steady Drip (Slow And Steady, 24): With Dead Eye active, you take slightly less damage, headshots do not kill you immediately. If you take damage, your Dead Eye empties and you cannot run or sprint.
Quite AnInspiration (44): When Dead Eye is active, you and your teammates slowly restore health. The effect does not stack if multiple team members have this equipped.
Slippery Bastard (50): With Dead Eye active, you are much harder for other enemies to hit and your hit accuracy is significantly reduced. Dead Eye is consumed much more quickly.

3. Recovery Ability Cards

With the recovery ability cards you strengthen the regeneration of the three basic stats and get different ways to restore your health:

IronLung: Your stamina regenerates faster. Depending on how full your stamina is, your damage taken will decrease a little.
Live for theFight: You regenerate Dead Eye very slowly over time.
Ride likethe Wind: When you deal or suffer damage on your horse, your horse regenerates a small portion of that damage as Health and Stamina.
Kick in theButt: Whenever you take damage, a small portion of that damage is added to your Dead Eye.
What Doesn't Kill You (Come Back Stronger, 10): Your health regenerates faster and starts regenerating slightly sooner after you take damage.

Peak Condition (14): Running uses less stamina, and depending on how full your stamina is, you deal slightly more damage.
EyeFor An Eye (Eye For An Eye, 28): Taking out an enemy with a headshot restores some Dead Eye.
The Gift Of Focus (30): Items and abilities that restore your Dead Eye are more effective.
Strange Medicine (Strange Medicine, 32): You restore some health when you deal damage. Your overall health regeneration is half as fast.
Cold Blooded (Cold Blooded, 36): You restore some health over three seconds after killing an enemy.

4. Combat Skill Cards

Depending on what weapons you use, how confident you are with headshots, and your playstyle in combat, you'll support that with the appropriate skill cards. The focus here is on PvP, PvE and team play:

Horseman (10): When mounted, you deal a bit more damage.
Gunslinger 's Choice (10): While using two ranged weapons at the same time, you deal slightly more damage and are slightly more accurate.
Sharpshooter (Sharpshooter, 10): While using a scope, you deal a little more and take a little less damage.
Necessity BreedsInventiveness (16): You deal slightly more damage the closer you get to death.

Landon's Patience (18): You do a little more damage if you wait up to 15 seconds between shots.
In Short View (The Short Game, 38): You do slightly more damage to targets near you, but less damage to targets farther away.
Hangman (Hangman, 42): You strangle enemies with your lasso, dealing some damage every second they are lassoed.
WinningStreak (WinningStreak, 48): Each consecutive hit on the same target does slightly more damage than the last. The bonus ends if the target is not hit for 10 seconds.

5. Defense skill cards

In order to better defend yourself against hostile actions of players and NPC opponents, you should not do without a corresponding ability card:

FriendsFor Life: When you are on your horse, you and your horse will suffer less damage.
Outnumbered (Strength In Numbers): You take less damage for each team member that is near you. Applies to up to three team members.
Not Again (Fool Me Once): Each shot that hits you does slightly less damage than the one before it. The effect ends when you are not hit for 10 seconds.
Barricaded (Hunker Down, 20): You take slightly less damage while under cover.
Tomorrow is Another Day (To Fight Another Day, 22): While you're running, you'll take slightly less damage from bullets.

Without Batting an Eye (The Unblinking Eye, 26): Your Dead Eye and Eagle Eye will be consumed a little slower.
Take The Pain Away (34): After you revive someone, you take slightly less damage for 8 seconds.
Protective Armor of Security (Of Single Purpose, 40): While fighting with bare hands or a melee weapon, you take slightly less damage from bullets.
Never Without One (46): Your hat intercepts a headshot and then falls to the ground. If you don't wear a hat, you take more damage.

6. The best ability card combinations

The explanations of the individual ability cards already hint at certain gameplay focuses, for which we will now present you with some strong combinations. You can always change your ability cards if you are facing a certain game situation, in order to ideally prepare for new challenges.

Fight from the horse

With the combination "A True Inspiration", "Rider", "Ride Like the Wind" and "Never Without" you will benefit greatly from your position on horseback: Using Dead Eye, you restore health; mounted, you deal more damage. When you deal or receive damage, the horse's health and stamina are increased.

Furthermore, you are immune to a shot to the head (but not to the face!) as long as you wear a hat. If it is shot off, you simply put one on again via the horse menu!

Concentrated Fire, Rider, Winning Streak, and Cold-Blooded will keep you on your toes in combat even if you're not constantly dishing out headshots. Not only do you deal more damage when you use Dead Eye, but you also get a damage bonus from riding. Shooting the same target multiple times also increases your damage, plus you regain health when you kill an enemy.

If you're a trader in Red Dead Online, you'll make your life easier with a hunting build, in which you'll choose "Crossfire", "Without batting an eye", "Rider" and "Life for the fight". In Dead Eye, you mark several suitable hunting targets and fire accurately at them; spent Dead Eye is better regenerated and consumed more slowly. By doing more damage while on horseback, you're sure to kill your prey.

Fighting on foot against NPCs

With Crossfire, Barricaded, Best Shape, and Strange Medicine, you'll have no problem taking on a large crowd of enemies as long as you can find enough cover. In Dead Eye, you'll tag and shoot multiple targets at once and take less damage while crouching in cover. Since you don't use up stamina while in cover, you'll noticeably benefit from the damage bonus of a full stamina bar, and dealt damage will give you healing.

Without using cover, you'll get further with Concentrated Fire, Barefaced, Cold-Blooded, and Iron Lung. The Dead Eye bonus lets you deal more damage, and you generally use Dead Eye more slowly. After killing an enemy, you regenerate health, plus a full stamina bar lets you take less damage.

If you like to be a sniper, replace "Cold Blooded" with "Sniper". This way, you'll deal more damage and take less damage when using a scope. If you have an extremely large number of enemies, it's worth additionally supporting your health regeneration with a tonic.

"Steady Drop", "Without Batting an Eye", "Strange Remedy" and "Cold-Blooded" make you a sturdy fighter who can withstand a hail of bullets. In general, Dead Eye drains slower in this build. Activate it to take less damage, and each time you hit an enemy, you'll regenerate additional health. You'll get another health boost when you kill an enemy. This build is also good for PvP situations!

Fighting against other players

If you are up against another player, a combination of Steady Drip, Victory Streak, Strange Remedy, and Never Without will help. Use Dead Eye to target your opponent and receive less damage at the same time. If you shoot the same enemy multiple times, the damage dealt will increase with each hit, and at the same time you will be healed on hits.

As long as you are wearing a hat, you are protected from headshots! If your hat falls to the ground after a hit, you simply pick it up again.

With "Steady Drop", "Eye for an Eye", "Strange Medicine" and "Never Without" you are also prepared for multiple player opponents, but you have to distribute safe headshots to slowly restore your Dead Eye. Alongside this, you'll take less damage when aiming in Dead Eye, regain health on each hit, and use hats to protect yourself against headshots.

With the combination of Eel Slick Bastard, Tomorrow's Another Day, Protective Armor of Safety, and a melee weapon like a knife, a fourth card of your choice remains open. Approach other players zigzagging on foot, while being protected from them selecting you as a target in Dead Eye. Sprinting and using a melee weapon will also cause you to take less damage - once you reach your opponents, knock them to the ground and finish off the rest with your weapon.

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