Red Dead Online - Ability Card Wiki & Combos

[BigStickMama]

 

This is my standard combo. I mainly worry about PvE, but this also dominates in Fool's Gold. Basically spam PIB, get headshots, constantly get more deadeye and health. You can walk right up to a revenuer roadblock or gang hide out and just blast through it without any tonics. Poverty build for life.

 

[Impdollars]

I have a question about focus fire and other area effect cards. 

 

Focus fire says when dead eye is active you do more damage, and players around you gain the effect.

 

So if I have it in play and activate dead eye I do more damage. But what about the other players, does it only affect them when I activate dead eye or when they do theirs?

Also how big is the area of effect? As a team do we need only one in play to help everyone? 

[Talisman_83]

59 minutes ago, Impdollars said:

I have a question about focus fire and other area effect cards. 

 

Focus fire says when dead eye is active you do more damage, and players around you gain the effect.

 

So if I have it in play and activate dead eye I do more damage. But what about the other players, does it only affect them when I activate dead eye or when they do theirs?

Also how big is the area of effect? As a team do we need only one in play to help everyone? 

Check out OnlyPVPCat on Youtube.

He's pretty much to go-to person for ability card questions and various other useful knowledge, plus he's funny as f*ck.

 

Some other folk on this forum might know though

Edited September 18, 2020 by Talisman_83

[1898]

1 hour ago, Impdollars said:

I have a question about focus fire and other area effect cards. 

 

Focus fire says when dead eye is active you do more damage, and players around you gain the effect.

 

So if I have it in play and activate dead eye I do more damage. But what about the other players, does it only affect them when I activate dead eye or when they do theirs?

Also how big is the area of effect? As a team do we need only one in play to help everyone? 

Pretty sure that's for posse members only, not randoms. I've used it since day one along with Winning Streak, Friends for Life and Horseman. Never really bothered with any of the others. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by 1898

[Classique]

2 hours ago, 1898 said:

Pretty sure that's for posse members only, not randoms. I've used it since day one along with Winning Streak, Friends for Life and Horseman. Never really bothered with any of the others. 

This is correct; posse members only.

[Impdollars]

Thanks for the info cow folk! Helped out a noobie gunslinger 

[BigStickMama]

 

Drink dead eye tonics, one shot with express sniper, use bow at medium range, sawed off shotguns or melee weapons close up.

[*Lola]

This setup works well for me.

Free Aim PVE:

Paint It Black - Deadeye

Come Back Stronger - Recovery

Live For The Fight - Recovery

The Unblinking Eye - Defense

[Jaguarknight_187]

Best cards iron lunge, slippery bastard, of single purpose and fight another day makes it almost impossible to hit target get in close and use your jaw bone obsidian blade Or Tomahawk. Your charicter will literely duck and slip bullets as you are running into fire. Great because they can't use paint it black. You can do more damage because of iron lunge take more damage because of fight another day as long as you are running towerds your opponent. From a short distance 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Jaguarknight_187
Spelling

[Nerfgoth]

On 12/1/2020 at 12:28 AM, Jaguarknight_187 said:

Best cards iron lunge, slippery bastard, of single purpose and fight another day makes it almost impossible to hit target get in close and use your jaw bone obsidian blade Or Tomahawk. Your charicter will literely duck and slip bullets as you are running into fire. Great because they can't use paint it black. You can do more damage because of iron lunge take more damage because of fight another day as long as you are running towerds your opponent. From a short distance 

Does it still work?

[Classique]

15 minutes ago, Nerfgoth said:

Does it still work?

Yes!

[Nerfgoth]

24 minutes ago, Classique said:

Yes!

Fight another day and hunker down just seem so weak when I Played against npc

[Classique]

51 minutes ago, Nerfgoth said:

Fight another day and hunker down just seem so weak when I Played against npc

Ability Cards are weaker against NPCs than players iirc, unless they changed that?

[Nerfgoth]

1 hour ago, Classique said:

Ability Cards are weaker against NPCs than players iirc, unless they changed that?

Thx for taking your time to respond!

 

And on the topic: Darn!!!

[Talisman_83]

I wonder if they'll add any of those new ability cards in the Robberies update, or if ability cards are finished now.

[AmyStone]

13 hours ago, Classique said:

Yes!

 

Um no. It's a fairly useless set of cards that's easy to counter.

[Classique]

On 5/28/2021 at 1:23 AM, AmyStone said:

 

Um no. It's a fairly useless set of cards that's easy to counter.

It still works for sure, but it is true that it's easy to counter. Dual sawn-off Shotties can do wonders... 

But assuming that the target isn't prepared, or doesn't have the necessary Ability Cards on-hand, it could work to an extent.

[rollschuh2282]

not sure if i have the best combo.

but i mainly use this:

(will put kick in the butt to level 3 later, was just to lazy to do it before)

[StyxTx]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:52 PM, Talisman_83 said:

I wonder if they'll add any of those new ability cards in the Robberies update, or if ability cards are finished now.

Personally I wish they were never in the game.

[Classique]

Just now, StyxTx said:

Personally I wish they were never in the game.

I like them when you're against PvE. I understand if they're a nightmare in PvP though.

[StyxTx]

26 minutes ago, Classique said:

I like them when you're against PvE. I understand if they're a nightmare in PvP though.

Yeah. There is already autoaim and aim assist, which I'm on record as being opposed to since I'm a free aimer, so why would something like PIB even be necessary. Talk about overkill. Those kind of things really take the challenge out of a game.

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by StyxTx

[GrungeNinja]

6 hours ago, StyxTx said:

Yeah. There is already autoaim and aim assist, which I'm on record as being opposed to since I'm a free aimer, so why would something like PIB even be necessary. Talk about overkill. Those kind of things really take the challenge out of a game.

 

SB and SS are cool, Pib is indeed something out of place in Online.

[AmyStone]

On 5/29/2021 at 11:46 AM, Classique said:

It still works for sure, but it is true that it's easy to counter. Dual sawn-off Shotties can do wonders... 

But assuming that the target isn't prepared, or doesn't have the necessary Ability Cards on-hand, it could work to an extent.

 

So if you're lucky it might get you one kill but then you're stuffed. But you don't need any special cards to counter it. But if it works for you then keep using it.

[IzzyBlues]

 

So this is my load-out. I mainly do PvE with legendary bounties from time to time. Is this build any good?

 

Also can someone explain why the Paint It Black card is deemed as OP? I don't PVP all that often so I don't actually know. Is it because of the ability to put X marks on peoples heads with ease?

[AltiMetro]

45 minutes ago, IzzyBlues said:

 

So this is my load-out. I mainly do PvE with legendary bounties from time to time. Is this build any good?

 

Also can someone explain why the Paint It Black card is deemed as OP? I don't PVP all that often so I don't actually know. Is it because of the ability to put X marks on peoples heads with ease?

My PvE build is Paint it Black, Eye for an Eye, Strange Medicine, Come back Stronger.
Try it out sometime. It heals you, and replenishes Dead Eye.
Lets you go through any PvE missions like a buzzsaw, without any tonics - as long as you can consistently get headshots .

For some Legendary Bounties on hardest difficulty, I might swap Come back Stronger out for Iron Lung or Fool me Once.
For Trade Route it's PiB, Eye for an Eye, Winning Streak, Peak Condition. Has to do with the ranges of the game mode, and the need to get kills quicker than everyone else.

PiB is very effective in PvE and PvP because it instantly takes away weapon aim bloom (which means faster shots), and gives 100% accuracy.

Focus Fire works well, but I prefer Paint it Black for PvE.
Headshots are almost never a factor in PvE, I'd leave out Never Wthout One.
If you're on foot, Horseman doesn't proc - I'd take it off

[Nerfgoth]

On 9/27/2019 at 6:34 AM, 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.

 

So there is no build that makes you take less and run up to them and axe them?

 

On 5/18/2020 at 9:05 PM, Quahox said:

Not fully

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.

It's working for you allies - posse members. If this is your play style with crew - go for it.

Next - 
 

Of Single Purpose (Unlocks at Rank 40)

You take less damage from bullets while unarmed or using a melee weapon.

There is not much mele in this game... everyone is sniping... but again if this is what is your play style - go for it - but not much NPC will wait for mele... they will kill you before you will reach him.

 

Now that basic everyone is running around with PIB, there is hardly any good counters to use....

 

On 12/17/2019 at 2:05 AM, Talisman_83 said:

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.

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.

 

Does hangman work when hunting animals?

 

On 5/29/2021 at 2:18 PM, StyxTx said:

Yeah. There is already autoaim and aim assist, which I'm on record as being opposed to since I'm a free aimer, so why would something like PIB even be necessary. Talk about overkill. Those kind of things really take the challenge out of a game.

 

 

 

On 6/12/2021 at 12:12 AM, AltiMetro said:

My PvE build is Paint it Black, Eye for an Eye, Strange Medicine, Come back Stronger.
Try it out sometime. It heals you, and replenishes Dead Eye.
Lets you go through any PvE missions like a buzzsaw, without any tonics - as long as you can consistently get headshots .

For some Legendary Bounties on hardest difficulty, I might swap Come back Stronger out for Iron Lung or Fool me Once.
For Trade Route it's PiB, Eye for an Eye, Winning Streak, Peak Condition. Has to do with the ranges of the game mode, and the need to get kills quicker than everyone else.

PiB is very effective in PvE and PvP because it instantly takes away weapon aim bloom (which means faster shots), and gives 100% accuracy.

Focus Fire works well, but I prefer Paint it Black for PvE.
Headshots are almost never a factor in PvE, I'd leave out Never Wthout One.
If you're on foot, Horseman doesn't proc - I'd take it off

 

They should split paint it black in to two cards! One that paints and one that removes the bloom. The later could be a yellow card.

 

[Classique]

1 hour ago, Nerfgoth said:

So there is no build that makes you take less and run up to them and axe them?

Aaah, a man of culture Axe as well.

 

I will recommend this deck for your desired need is to shove an Axe six inches into someone's skull whilst getting shot at  

 

    OR  OR 

Depending on your playstyle.

[Talisman_83]

On 11/5/2021 at 3:25 PM, Nerfgoth said:

Now that basic everyone is running around with PIB, there is hardly any good counters to use....

 

Defensive mode. At least against PIB.

On 11/5/2021 at 3:25 PM, Nerfgoth said:

Does hangman work when hunting animals?

 

I think so. Haven't tried, but I've heard people say that it does.

[Nerfgoth]

12 hours ago, Talisman_83 said:

 

Defensive mode. At least against PIB.

 

I think so. Haven't tried, but I've heard people say that it does.

 

1. Not in showdowns and free mode events..... it is god with the bow but everything else the auto aim fixes. Played a showdown and most of the time their deadeye was active before I was killed!
2. Need to try that out!

[AmyStone]

On 11/5/2021 at 3:25 PM, Nerfgoth said:

Now that basic everyone is running around with PIB, there is hardly any good counters to use....

 

Then you can't get involved in PVP much. Someone who is good with SB will defeat PIB every time.