Ability Card Loadouts

[Talisman_83]

 

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I'm sort of interested to find out what ability card loadouts people are using and the thought process behind their selection.

 

As I haven't unlocked the 4th card yet, I'm currently only using:

 

Slow and Steady II - while Dead Eye is active you take less damage and headshots do not kill you outright. You cannot run or sprint

Come Back Stronger - Health begins regenerating a little sooner after you take damage.

Peak Condition II - You inflict a little more damage if your stamina is at least 75% full.

and have been considering getting A Winning Streak - each consecutive shot on the same target does more damage than the last.

 

(namely because I began wanting to increase damage whilst regenerating health and preventing cheese rifle.. sorry varmint rifle headshots)

 

However, I've been toying with the idea that extra damage cards aren't really beneficial, nor is basic health regen.

Due to Express ammo and that I imagine most people are going for 1-2 shot kills anyway, extra damage isn't worth it and you won't be alive long enough to have health regen be of any use.

So, after consulting various posts across the interwebs and considering what may be more advantageous, it may be better to have a Dead Eye build, for instance:

 

Slow and Steady - while Dead Eye is active you take less damage and headshots do not kill you outright. You cannot run or sprint

The Unblinking Eye - Dead Eye and Eagle Eye drain slower

Eye For An Eye - Headshots restore a little Dead Eye

Strange Medicine - you regain a little health whenever you inflict damage. Your health will otherwise regenerate at half the normal rate.

 

That way, with Dead Eye, you can tank headshots and as long as you're dishing them out, your DE restores and also drains slower generally.

Plus, you'll regain health anyway with DE activated.

However, if you have no way to recuperate your DE, you're slightly screwed.

 

So, what's your build and the reason for it?

Is it working for you, or have you thought about trying a different build?

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Talisman_83

[Amy Vinewood]

 

Slow and Steady - while Dead Eye is active you take less damage and headshots do not kill you outright. You cannot run or sprint

- This card helps with the varmint rifle a lot, it seems like their headshots only do body shot damage now.

 

The Unblinking Eye - Dead Eye and Eagle Eye drain slower.

- This one is helpful with my dead eye card and also for picking Herbs and hunting

 

Peak Condition - You inflict a little more damage if your stamina is at least 75% full.

- I like this one because most of the time my stamina is usually always over 75%

 

Come Back Stronger - Health begins regenerating a little sooner after you take damage.

- With the help from the dead eye card a lot of times a 1 on 1 encounter leaves you with little health - and more health, faster is always good.

 

I don't like to switch cards around, I tend to get used to one loadout and stay with it. Those have been working for me pretty well for a mix of freeroam encounters, hunting, and series matches.

[Happy Hunter]

16 minutes ago, Amy Vinewood said:

 

Slow and Steady - while Dead Eye is active you take less damage and headshots do not kill you outright. You cannot run or sprint

- This card helps with the varmint rifle a lot, it seems like their headshots only do body shot damage now.

 

Oh yes.

 

 

I mostly use that for dead eye, and sometimes slippery bastard too (good for melee).

 

Unblinking eye is good, since your dead eye is usually a bigger deal than these perk cards anyway. I also have peak condition, and one that makes my health regenerate faster.

 

I may swap some for more cards that boost my dead eye, if any are worth it.

[fejkb]

Still rocking that second build @Talisman_83 posted. Atm I’m gathering money to buy Missouri Fox Trotter, so it’s gonna take me few more days to check other cards. It’s fun to use vs gang hideouts as I can just go in with my double Schofields and take my time to hit all 12 headshots without finding cover. In PVP I hit around ~4kd every match.

[RAND0M GRAFFITI]

Slow and Steady III

Peak Condition II

Eye For an Eye II

Unblinking Eye II

 

Good for building and keeping dead eye.

[miahus]

Slow And Steady

Unblinking Eye

Never Without One

Cold Blooded (wild card)

 

I used Eye For An Eye, but I don't believe it works while dead eye is activated so I dropped it, someone correct me if I am wrong. This is a good tank build for free roam. Clearing hideouts is much easier when you barely take any damage and each kill will regen your health. The build can't be easily ganked as long as you have a hat on and know when to activate dead eye. 

[U Carmine]

Slippery Bastard III

Eye For An Eye III

Unblinking Eye III

Never Without One III

 

It's my counter against people with Slow and Steady III. I shotgun their center body mass while they have no auto-lock/aim on me. Or chuck dynamite at 'em. I really hate how we move at the speed of tortoise when Slow and Steady III activated. In Name Your Weapon, Slow and Steady III won't help you against the mostly shotgun gameplay and tomahawks. But for Most Wanted, maybe.

[ALifeOfMisery]

Ok, I'm going to admit I'm being lazy here. But could anyone recommend a good ability card load out for a passive player please?

 

I basically (try to) find secluded areas to hunt and fish. I don't engage in PvP unless I have to and only venture into towns to sell at the butcher.

 

I'm basically looking for a decent load out that will help me to get away when my horse is loaded with pelts.

[fejkb]

17 minutes ago, Ektope said:

Slippery Bastard III

Eye For An Eye III

Unblinking Eye III

Never Without One III

 

It's my counter against people with Slow and Steady III. I shotgun their center body mass while they have no auto-lock/aim on me. Or chuck dynamite at 'em. I really hate how we move at the speed of tortoise when Slow and Steady III activated. In Name Your Weapon, Slow and Steady III won't help you against the mostly shotgun gameplay and tomahawks. But for Most Wanted, maybe.

I barerly play PVP, because I’m forced to play modes I don’t enjoy. For PVE or free roam it’s fun.

 

3 minutes ago, ALifeOfMisery said:

Ok, I'm going to admit I'm being lazy here. But could anyone recommend a good ability card load out for a passive player please?

 

I basically (try to) find secluded areas to hunt and fish. I don't engage in PvP unless I have to and only venture into towns to sell at the butcher.

 

I'm basically looking for a decent load out that will help me to get away when my horse is loaded with pelts.

That second built from first post. Makes you tanky. Slow and steady let’s you survive more shots, so you can run away on your horse or just simply take that annoying bastards before they rush you up.

[U Carmine]

4 minutes ago, fejkb said:

That second built from first post. Makes you tanky. Slow and steady let’s you survive more shots, so you can run away on your horse or just simply take that annoying bastards before they rush you up.

Most griefers would use rifles, either varmint or "noob" carbine repeaters. Or people who do hunting from time to time, might use bolt. These weapons will still hurt, compared to varmint. I would prefer slippery bastard III in these situations. So the griefers can't auto-aim lasso or use their guns from range to hit. It's the best way of escaping and not engaging PvP. With slow and steady, you will move very, very slow while off horse. And still get shot in the ass while riding away.

[fejkb]

6 minutes ago, Ektope said:

Most griefers would use rifles, either varmint or "noob" carbine repeaters. Or people who do hunting from time to time, might use bolt. These weapons will still hurt, compared to varmint. I would prefer slippery bastard III in these situations. So the griefers can't auto-aim lasso or use their guns from range to hit. It's the best way of escaping and not engaging PvP. With slow and steady, you will move very, very slow while off horse. And still get shot in the ass while riding away.

Yea, but taking 5-6 shots from repeaters is enough. I would use Slippery Bastard for close combat, but I avoid it. Let’s not forget it requires you to aim manually, so it won’t be good choice for most people.

[U Carmine]

1 minute ago, fejkb said:

Yea, but taking 5-6 shots from repeaters is enough. I would use Slippery Bastard for close combat, but I avoid it. Let’s not forget it requires you to aim manually, so it won’t be good choice for most people.

I pop in and out of slippery. It's like popping in and out of passive mode in GTA online 

But if they auto-aimed you and you turn on slippery, they will still have auto aim on you. Until the lock breaks. So they must not have lock on when you turn it on. So using covers or dodge "belly flop" to break the lock.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Ektope

[fejkb]

Just now, Ektope said:

I pop in and out of slippery. It's like popping in and out of passive mode in GTA online 

I didn’t do that in GTAO, so idk how it works. Anyway I need 300$ more for Missouri Fox Trotter and then I’m gonna try other abilities.

[DonnieVega]

Just unlocked "Never without one", already came in handy against a noob who tried headshotting me from up close. I schofielded his chin.

[Talisman_83]

Thanks for the input guys.

 

In time, I'd like to have every single card maxed to Tier 3 so I can swap between them at leisure, though that's obviously gonna take some serious funds and XP!

[Happy Hunter]

6 hours ago, ALifeOfMisery said:

Ok, I'm going to admit I'm being lazy here. But could anyone recommend a good ability card load out for a passive player please?

 

I basically (try to) find secluded areas to hunt and fish. I don't engage in PvP unless I have to and only venture into towns to sell at the butcher.

 

I'm basically looking for a decent load out that will help me to get away when my horse is loaded with pelts.

Both slow and steady and slippery bastard are good deadeye choices. Slow and steady will make you tough - but unless you're on horseback you'll be slow. Slippery bastard stops lock on - so it's good for when you want to pass by someone, but you're not sure they're friendly.

 

Never without one will make your hat block a headshot, but without a hat you'll be weaker. Still, if you don't intend on sticking around to fight - well, your hat will block a shot, give you a chance to activate deadeye. Once you're away, you can put the hat back on from your horse. Snake oil can fill up the dead eye again.

7 hours ago, Ektope said:

Slippery Bastard III

Eye For An Eye III

Unblinking Eye III

Never Without One III

 

It's my counter against people with Slow and Steady III. I shotgun their center body mass while they have no auto-lock/aim on me. Or chuck dynamite at 'em. I really hate how we move at the speed of tortoise when Slow and Steady III activated. In Name Your Weapon, Slow and Steady III won't help you against the mostly shotgun gameplay and tomahawks. But for Most Wanted, maybe.

Slippery bastard and then just melee tackling the slow and steady guy might work too.

 

Personally I switch between the two. Slow and steady is good for varmints, and when you have to fight groups. Slippery is great for melee (name your weapon) or rushing to a camping spot without being shot in the back.

[Fonshway]

23 hours ago, Ektope said:

Slippery Bastard III

Eye For An Eye III

Unblinking Eye III

Never Without One III

 

I use all of these too, but instead of slippery bastard, I use Slow and Steady III, Though slippery is also a good choice.

 

Still not so sure about Never without one though. You only have your hat on once and when you die, you don't respawn with it. So the entire time, you take extra damage from people because you don't have a hat on. That's one of the disadvantages of Never without one.

 

I'm also interested in Winning streak, Cold blooded, and Come back stronger (or whatever the one that says you take less damage while sprinting is called)  there are some people who seem like they just don't get affected by headshots while running. Not sure if this is just lag or because they're using that perk. Gonna have to try that one out.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Fonshway

[rusbeckia]

what's "Slippery Bastard"? haven't seen that before... sounds like you can't be locked-on with it?

[U Carmine]

7 minutes ago, rusbeckia said:

what's "Slippery Bastard"? haven't seen that before... sounds like you can't be locked-on with it?

Yeah, that's true. And opponent's aim is less accurate.

[rusbeckia]

Just now, Ektope said:

Yeah, that's true. And opponent's aim is less accurate.

That sounds as if it was good to combat griefers who‘d like to kill you for no reason, when you‘re on the way to the butcher! 

Thx for the info. When do you unlock it, do you know that? 

[U Carmine]

Just now, rusbeckia said:

That sounds as if it was good to combat griefers who‘d like to kill you for no reason, when you‘re on the way to the butcher! 

Thx for the info. When do you unlock it, do you know that? 

Level 50.

[rusbeckia]

Just now, Ektope said:

Level 50.

Thanks! 

[miahus]

23 hours ago, Happy Hunter said:

Once you're away, you can put the hat back on from your horse.

Pro tip: Never Without One is best used when you're a posse leader, this way you don't need your horse to get your hat back. If you lose your hat, go to posse menu and change the outfit to get your hat back anywhere anytime during free roam.

[sodoff]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 10:22 AM, ALifeOfMisery said:

Ok, I'm going to admit I'm being lazy here. But could anyone recommend a good ability card load out for a passive player please?

 

I basically (try to) find secluded areas to hunt and fish. I don't engage in PvP unless I have to and only venture into towns to sell at the butcher.

 

I'm basically looking for a decent load out that will help me to get away when my horse is loaded with pelts.

I'd say Horseman III, Peak Condition III plus any defensive card you like. The one that denies a headshot if you wear a hat is nice. Anyone bothering/pursuing you on horseback better beware. No one shot kill, on horseback you'll be full stamina at all times, so more damage from that plus more damage from Peak Condition makes you a pretty Dangerous prey for any would-be griefer.

[BUT THE BENZ]

I'm rank 22 now, and so far I have not done anything with ability cards...aside from picking one in the beginning. but I feel the time has come to get a little into it.

been relatively satisfied with PAINT IT BLACK,  tier1, it does what I need it to do. But I guess you can do so much more with those cards

 

question to anyone who maxed out PIB: is it worth getting to tier3, is the drain rate noticably lower?

 

 

[Fatsanchez]

So I’m lvl 23 and still haven’t unlocked Slow and Steady, but its the dead eye card I’ve been planning to use since the beginning. Nice to see so many people mentioning it, guess its a good decision.

 

So far I’m leveling up my cards.

I leveled “A moment to recuperate” (activating dead eye recovers your health) to level 2, now I bought “Paint it Black” (mostly for hunting) and am leveling that up until “Slow and Steady” unlocks.

 

For the other two, I’m using “Come back Stronger” lvl2 and just started to lvl up “Necessity Breeds” just to see how it goes. I also have “Horseman” lvl2.

[U Carmine]

1 hour ago, BUT THE BENZ said:

I'm rank 22 now, and so far I have not done anything with ability cards...aside from picking one in the beginning. but I feel the time has come to get a little into it.

been relatively satisfied with PAINT IT BLACK,  tier1, it does what I need it to do. But I guess you can do so much more with those cards

 

question to anyone who maxed out PIB: is it worth getting to tier3, is the drain rate noticably lower?

 

 

It should be worth it. The time you spend marking them and shooting would both drain anyway. You can put unblinking eye with it, to slow it down even more.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Ektope

[IamCourtney]

I'm at an impasse with Ability cards right now... I don't want to invest much money into them until I know whether or not we'll ever have Free Aim sessions where I imagine the meta will favour different loadouts. For now I'm playing with Auto Aim and pretty much sticking to free roam so my current loadout at lvl 41 is:

 

Slow & Steady I

Horseman II

Peak Condition II

Landon's Patience I

 

My build is based on the fact I try to fight from horseback as much as possible for the mobility advantages and extra XP and it's working quite well. Horseman and Peak Condition will probably be good cards no matter which aim settings I end up in for good so I'll likely upgrade them to III soon, Landon's Patience is mostly for an experiment to see if I can boost my potential first shot damage output high enough to guarantee a 1-hit kill with a bodyshot.

Edited January 2, 2019 by IamCourtney

[RayD70]

I have 4 Tier 3 cards that I thought worked well for me (I'll grant I don't do PvP unless forced to. Read: someone attacks me)

 

Slow and Steady

Hunker Down

To Fight Another Day

Unblinking Eye

 

I find that load out useful every bit as much for PvE as PvP. But it allows me to survive an initial attack and respond (unless perfect head shot). And if I'm on my horse, it works even better as SaS doesn't affect me (and I'm usually galloping).

 

Recently, I equipped Never without One, and I'm conflicted. Yeah, it has saved me a few times by blocking a head shot, but having to find my hat (unless on my horse) and put it back on can be a pain. And without a hat, the other cards are less effective. Jury is still out on that one. Very useful for 1v1 or even 2v1. But only if you can reliably get that hat back on quickly. I don't see it being too good for organized PvP since you respawn without your hat.

[U Carmine]

 

 

 

 

Name Your Weapon:

 

 

Hostile Territory / Team Shootout / Most Wanted (Versus Newbs):

 

 

Hostile Territory / Team Shootout / Most Wanted (Versus Slow and Steady III & Slippery Bastard III):

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by Ektope