Red Dead Online - Ability Card Wiki & Combos

[Failed Again]

Horses seem to be taking a LOT more damage in Bounty hunts and trade resupplies.

 

I have been adding the new horse cards, and thinkin of the horse pamphlets for gold cores.

 

for a future wish

 

Ability cards. perks to boost horse bonding

Cool on Cats, .Laughs at wolves,  Snakebite, Crocodile tears no-more, Grin and Bear it

Edited October 27, 2019 by Failed Again

[Ragnar Stalheim]

13 hours ago, Ronin Ogami said:

For PvP I'm generally using:  

 

Paint It Black (or) Focus Fire

Gunslingers Choice - (seems broken for every weapon except the D/A Revolvers & Mausers *hoping for a fix*)

Winning Streak

Peak Condition.

 

For PvE, I switch out Winning Streak & Peak Condition for 

 

The Gift Of Focus

The Unblinking Eye  (Seems to give an ungodly amount of eagle eye+, AWEsome for Bounty Hunting, Hunting in general, & Salvage/Condor Egg)

 

"Good Hunting out there!"

 

Great minds DO think alike, I run the same PvP set up. I tweak it for event specific purposes, but that's the baseline. For PvE, I swap out Gunslingers with Horseman, for general everyday hunting and missions. If an event or mission is going to require a lot of horseback action, I equip all three "horsey" cards plus Focus Fire or Slow and Steady.

[slohbur]

Merged topics

---

This has been my setup since forever. A build focused mostly on headshots and fast TTK.

I'll usually swap Gift of Focus with Sharpshooter if I'm sniping, or the Unblinking Eye if I'm collecting stuff in free roam.

[Nerfgoth]

On 10/27/2019 at 7:45 AM, Failed Again said:

Horses seem to be taking a LOT more damage in Bounty hunts and trade resupplies.

 

I have been adding the new horse cards, and thinkin of the horse pamphlets for gold cores.

 

for a future wish

 

Ability cards. perks to boost horse bonding

Cool on Cats, .Laughs at wolves,  Snakebite, Crocodile tears no-more, Grin and Bear it

We need two more slots for cards that the horse is using, don´t know how many times my horse died in BH....  It starts getting redicolous! Im using the Breton the best horse you can get as BH! So yes I like your idea of cards that is aimed towards your horse!

[Talisman_83]

PVP

 

My PVP build consists of three permanent cards:

• Paint It Black
• Fool Me Once
• Landon's Patience

The fourth slot depends on the scenario:

• Sharpshooter  - if I'm a good distance away
• Iron Lung, Peak Condition or Winning Streak - depends on how I'm feeling what would be most beneficial at the time.
• Gunslinger's Choice - recently acquired for close up action, though haven't tested yet.

I'll probably never use these again:

• Slippery Bastard
• Never Without One
• The Short Game

PVE

 

For PVE and general hunting, I'm in defensive wherever possible and run these:

• Slow and Steady  / Quite an Inspiration
• Fool Me Once
• Iron Lung
• Unblinking Eye / Strange Medicine or perhaps one damage card

Before Slippery was nerfed, I used to run:

• Slippery Bastard
• Unblinking Eye
• Of Single Purpose
• To Fight Another Day

 

..and would zig zag and melee people. With the advent of PIB, that's no longer possible

Edited October 29, 2019 by Talisman_83

[Ronin Ogami]

Went into "Public Enemy" With : Focus Fire, Gunslinger's Choice, Winning Streak, & Peak Condition. (Also thew on my background music player for the first time in forever) the results. I think my best match ever.

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by Ronin Ogami

[Nerfgoth]

Fool Me Once do it effect arrows that hit you? It just says you take less damage each time you are shot.

[Classique]

On 11/9/2019 at 5:09 PM, Nerfgoth said:

Fool Me Once do it effect arrows that hit you? It just says you take less damage each time you are shot.

It does not, as an arrow is a projectile. Fool Me Once only has an effect against bullets.

[TheLordMarvel]

So I'm currently running all level 1's of the ability cards, so bonuses are pretty much nada!

 

Right now I've got

 

Paint it Black

Cold Blooded

Unblinking Eye

Winning Streak

 

-

 

But I'm thinking of switching up Cold Blooded for Live for the Fight, buying up to level 2 when I can. Good cards for someone who usually just fights NPC's? 

 

PiB

Winning Streak
Live for the Fight

Unblinking Eye

[Nerfgoth]

56 minutes ago, TheLordMarvel said:

So I'm currently running all level 1's of the ability cards, so bonuses are pretty much nada!

 

Right now I've got

 

Paint it Black

Cold Blooded

Unblinking Eye

Winning Streak

 

-

 

But I'm thinking of switching up Cold Blooded for Live for the Fight, buying up to level 2 when I can. Good cards for someone who usually just fights NPC's? 

 

PiB

Winning Streak
Live for the Fight

Unblinking Eye

Cold blooded have keept me safe in PvE!

It depends on your play style!

Me? i like running around with my knife out when doing PvE!

 

[TheLordMarvel]

Okay so I did some research and Live for the Fight is awful. 7+ mins to regain a full deadeye bar. Not worth it for me.

 

Only could upgrade to level 2's, but this is what I've got so far.

 

Slow and Steady II

Iron Lung I (Just bought this one)

The Unblinking Eye II
Winning Streak II

[Foxwolfe]

On 9/26/2019 at 9:34 PM, Classique said:

Never Without One got nerfed last update; now it's only your hat that blocks a headshot, and will then fall off. You also take more damage when not wearing a hat. 

 

Also, with all my testings, I can confirm that Defensive Cards do little to no good at all in PvP.

Cards that give Reduced Taken Damage only reduces damage by 2% at level III against players! Hunker Down gives 4%, and Fool Me Once stacks with 2% for each time you are shot.

Defensive cards are much more noticable in PvE.

 

You can say that but I can still come across someone using the right card combo and they are basically unkillable if they are not AFK.

[Classique]

41 minutes ago, Foxwolfe said:

 

You can say that but I can still come across someone using the right card combo and they are basically unkillable if they are not AFK.

I largely blame the Fool Me Once card, together with Slow And Steady. That's a huge damage reduction against players

[Quahox]

PvP Tryhard

    OR 

I see that build over and over again with PC high levels... + ofc Health & Dead Eye Tonics if you want to be PRO.

 

[Classique]

13 minutes ago, Quahox said:

I see that build over and over again with PC high levels... + ofc Health & Dead Eye Tonics if you want to be PRO.

Damage reduction card should be nerfed IMO. 

[Bakkerbaard]

These cards are a miserable enigma to me so I'll just ask here:

For a mission type player, BH, Resupplying, ambushes and on very rare occasions PvP conflicts, what kind of setup should I be looking at.

 

I had a look at all the setups in the first post, but they seem to work with dead eye alot, which I don't care for outside of encountering a group of lounging herons.

[ALifeOfMisery]

34 minutes ago, Bakkerbaard said:

These cards are a miserable enigma to me so I'll just ask here:

For a mission type player, BH, Resupplying, ambushes and on very rare occasions PvP conflicts, what kind of setup should I be looking at.

 

I had a look at all the setups in the first post, but they seem to work with dead eye alot, which I don't care for outside of encountering a group of lounging herons.

I've settled on a PvE based load out of Quite An Inspiration, Peak Condition, Iron Lung and The Unblinking Eye.

 

Admittedly, it's almost useless when it comes to PvP, but I don't play Showdowns and only get into freeroam PvP when it's forced upon me, in which case I let explosive rounds and most players being awful at free aim even the playing field for me.

 

QAI regenerates both yours and your whole teams health while Dead Eye is active, which makes dragging low levels through missions easier, PC and IL give you a huge amount of stamina while on foot and also give you a damage inflicted buff and damage received reduction respectively while TUE makes the health regeneration of QAI last longer and is also very useful for hunting, herb gathering, collecting and bounty hunting.

 

If you're predominantly a PvE player, it's a great all round load out, although, like I said, it is weak when it comes to PvP, especially in Showdowns where Defensive Mode and explosive ammo can't compensate for you.

Edited November 29, 2019 by ALifeOfMisery

[Quahox]

30 minutes ago, Bakkerbaard said:

These cards are a miserable enigma to me so I'll just ask here:

For a mission type player, BH, Resupplying, ambushes and on very rare occasions PvP conflicts, what kind of setup should I be looking at.

 

I had a look at all the setups in the first post, but they seem to work with dead eye alot, which I don't care for outside of encountering a group of lounging herons.

This is what i find balanced PvE.

   

 

Quite An Inspiration (Unlocks at Rank 44)
While Dead Eye is active, you and your allies regenerate Health. The effects does not stack if more than one member of your team has this ability active.
 

Cold Blooded (Unlocks at Rank 36)
After killing an enemy, you will regain Health over the next 5 seconds.
 

Strange Medicine (Unlocks at Rank 32)
You regain Health whenever you inflict damage. Your Health otherwise regenerates at half the normal rate.
 

Fool Me Once (Unlocks at Rank 10)
You take less damage each consecutive time you are shot. This effect ends if you are not shot for 10 seconds.

[Nerfgoth]

1 hour ago, Bakkerbaard said:

These cards are a miserable enigma to me so I'll just ask here:

For a mission type player, BH, Resupplying, ambushes and on very rare occasions PvP conflicts, what kind of setup should I be looking at.

 

I had a look at all the setups in the first post, but they seem to work with dead eye alot, which I don't care for outside of encountering a group of lounging herons.

As a primary PvE player my setup is as follow:

 

Focus Fire        as damage

Cold Blooded   as healing

Fool me Once  to take less damage

 

Fourth slot I use cards like, Kick in the butt, Horseman, Gunslinger Choice, Winning Streak or The Unblinking Eye

 

Working on a melee loadout for knifing npc...

 

Hope we get a bow card and extra cards slots to mounts we are using!

[Talisman_83]

5 hours ago, Quahox said:

PvP Tryhard

    OR 

I see that build over and over again with PC high levels... + ofc Health & Dead Eye Tonics if you want to be PRO.

I agree that its a powerful build, but if I'm using PIB with dynamite arrows / explosive ammo, you're either dead in 1 hit or knocked on your ass, in which case I have the advantage and kill you when you're down.

 

I tend to run a more tanky build like that when I'm in hunting / collecting mode, but for PVP, I feel that a combination of increased damage cards with PIB whilst taking special health tonics is pretty hard to beat.

I've got all the health I need via tonics and have a quicker TTK with perfect accuracy via PIB.

[Quahox]

Ok so what cards got nerfed so far?

[CosmicBuffalo]

Is slippery bastard good again?

[Talisman_83]

On 12/14/2019 at 9:49 PM, CosmicBuffalo said:

Is slippery bastard good again?

Only in as much as I think PIB isn't so deadly against it now.

I haven't tested it though.

The only way SB would be useful for me is for it to return to the way it was + unable to paint you.

So yeah, pretty much defensive mode.

On 12/14/2019 at 8:40 PM, Quahox said:

Ok so what cards got nerfed so far?

From the Newswire:

• Ability Card Improvements 
  • Improvements have been made to Ability Card indicators in the top-right of the screen, making it clearer when certain abilities are active
  • The following changes have been made to Dead Eye Ability Cards in Red Dead Online:
    • Slippery Bastard: Bullet bending effects now also apply when being shot at by a player using Paint It Black
    • Slow and Steady: Fixed an issue where the run/sprint limit of this ability did not apply to some horse breeds
  • The following changes have been made to Combat Ability Cards in Red Dead Online:
    • Horseman: Additional damage dealt from horseback has been increased
    • The Short Game: Additional damage dealt at close range has been increased
    • Hangman: Damage dealt from lasso has been increased
  • The Following changes have been to Recovery Ability Cards in Red Dead Online:
    • Come Back Stronger: Health recharge rate has been increased, and all ranks now also provide a bonus to health regeneration
    • Live For The Fight: Dead Eye regeneration rate has been slightly increased
    • Ride Like The Wind: Amount of damaged converted to horse health/stamina has been slightly increased
    • Cold Blooded: Duration of health regeneration after a kill has been reduced
  • The following changes have been made to Defense Ability Cards in Red Dead Online:
    • To Fight Another Day: Fixed an issue that kept this ability active for several seconds when entering cover while sprinting

So, pretty much no cards were nerfed aside from To Fight Another Day, only slightly, but really - who uses that card? And Cold Blooded, but again, Strange Medicine IMO is a much better card.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Talisman_83

[CosmicBuffalo]

I had a hate invite due to slippery....the guy was like, you dont even know how to fight.  I was like its part of the game...deal with it, he was literally baffled that anyone would think to play the game as its made.  That was proof enough that its backs.  Slippery players hopefully abused the ever living hell out of this S&S buff.  Because that pretty much required all PIB players to use it or paint with dynamite arrows.  Slippery was better when you could just free aim players, but it seems like its alot better now than before moonshiners..now no one can criticize you for simply popping out of it nearby...because it makes sense that your aim is also affected and is also free aim....right, which is what I did most of the time any how, unless there were multiple people that could lock on instantly when you turned off dead eye...it does kindve suck that there is really no go too for multiple players, other than defensive of course which is what I switch too when the butt patrol shows up anyhow.

Edited December 17, 2019 by CosmicBuffalo

[IamCourtney]

I've kinda accepted that as far as free roam goes, RDO is a 98% PvE experience, and a pretty easy one at that. With that in mind, I've taken up free aim and use a purely offensive card build as a way to try and raise the challenge level for myself.

 

Free Aim Free Roam:

 

Paint It Black: I never used this much when I was playing autoaim but, counter-intuitive as it may seem, I kinda like how it interacts with the free aim experience. I still need to line up the shot after all and it feels like Bernadette is really gritting her teeth and focusing above the normal level to make the hit. I have a house rule not to use tonics either, so trying to conserve my dead eye bar adds a little more spice to the experience.

 

Gunslinger's Choice: I bought a pair of Mausers on a whim a while ago and I feel this card is necessary to really get your money's worth with them. Otherwise, the bloom is too severe to really take advantage of the high capacity rapid fire they offer. I use a pair of LeMats the other 50% of the time and this card benefits them as well of course, though it isn't so crucial to their success.

 

Landon's Patience & Winning Streak: When your shots are less likely to hit, it's nice to make the first one count for more when it does connect, and the follow up feels so much more satisfying when you land the one-two combo.

 

No defense or recovery cards; a stat-maxed character is already extremely tanky on the baseline and adding more just makes things waaaaay too easy for my taste. Hell, even this build is getting to be a bit much now that I've acclimated to free aim again, and I expect I'll end up gimping myself more in the future.

 

 

 

 

However, for the other 2% of my RDO experience (the only time PvP might actually matter, ie. a large distant sale) I flip the script entirely. Autoaim is turned back on and my build is about being able to absorb as much damage as possible and hopefully keeping the wagon moving.

 

Delivery Tank Build:

 

Slow & Steady: No need to sprint while I'm sat on the wagon, this gets activated as soon as I see a stranger's blip.

 

Iron Lung: Stamina doesn't drain on the wagon either!

 

Never Without One: Mainly chosen for the general damage reduction effect, but the headshot insurance is nice to have (I always wear my biggest, floppiest hat for deliveries)

 

Fool Me Once: The perfect compliment to S&S and best all 'round defense card in the game imo. Never leave camp without it.

 

And of course, I'm fully fortified with tonics and gold cores for the entire trip. The lack of offensive cards doesn't matter so much because I'm carrying a Springfield, Litchfield and LeMat all preloaded with explosive rounds, plus a Mauser loaded with express for dealing with possible NPC enemies en-route that can be quickly swapped to it's share of 10 explosive rounds if needed

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by IamCourtney

[Slonitram]

My cards are Paint It Black, Unblinking Eye, Winning Streak and Never Without One. I feel like it's a good mix between PVE and PVP, never really felt a complete need to switch. How would you guys rate my build? 

[Quahox]

Anti Griefer

    OR 

Last card depends from range you are fighting. Really good defence build since Paint it Black got nerfed (ballanced).

[Stretch188]

Is Slippery Bastard viable again? I play on free aim and only ever really used it defensively, so it would allow me to even the playing field should someone attack me and get into close range where I can do work.

 

After reading how some people were abusing it, I understand why they nerfed it, and tbh, defensive mode accomplishes most of what I used it for anyways.  I still hate it though - I spent close to 1000$ upgrading a card that now functions completely differently, and I don't even have any other Deadeye cards upgraded lol.

 

Can you guys help me find a new loadout?

 

Im trying to RP a real capital G Gunslinger - I now only ever carry my Remington 1858 and my Colt 1851(I mean my two Navy revolvers) throwing knives, and when I get to BH rank 10, Bolas. Oh and I suck at using tonics - I either just don't remember or can't be bothered lol. I aim for the chest with my revolvers, and if I run out of bullets, I switch to the throwing knife with quick select and go for the throat - but thats really just a last resort.

 

Right now I use:

 

Deadeye: Slow and Steady I

 

Passive 1: Winning Streak III

Passive 2: Gunslinger's Choice II

Passive 3: Strange Medicine I

 

I'm pretty happy with the passives, and Ill upgrade gunslingers choice as soon as I've got the cash - the only spot I'm really not sure on is 3 - I've got Peak Condition 2, and I've always wanted to throw Short Game on as well but I don't know if the damage increase is worth sacrificing my ability to heal. Is there a really good one I'm sleepin on?

 

I don't love Slow and Steady - it just looks dumb to me when I am being riddled with bullets - but it has saved me from alot of griefers. I've considered trying to make Slippery work again, Focus Fire, Paint it Black or Quite an Inspiration.

 

What you fellers/gals think?

[Quahox]

Close Melee

    

If you like mele this is some really good results build.

[Talisman_83]

If anyone is on PS4 and would like to test cards and weapons out, add me: Talisman_83.

I don't mind dying a bunch if it means accruing some useful information.

We all have these cards but I'd hazard a guess that we don't know exactly what will counter what in every scenario.