ABILITY CARD GUIDE

How do I get new cards?

When you open your weapon wheel, you'll see a prompt at the bottom right of your screen that says "Ability Loadout", clicking that button will allow you to see the cards you have currently equipped from the Ability Card Menu (you can also find this from the Abilities section in the Escape Menu). Once you're in this menu, you'll see a "Load Out" of 4 card slots.

The first card slot in your loadout is the "Active" Dead Eye card slot; this means that the only cards you can use in this slot are Dead Eye cards. And likewise, you cannot equip Dead Eye cards in the "Passive" card slots that make up the other 3 slots of your load out. You will unlock your first card slot at Rank 2, and you will unlock the other 3 slots at Rank 10, 20 and 40. However, in order to utilize your card slots, you'll need to actually purchase some cards.

To do this, click on the card slot that you want to fill and choose a card from the list; the first Tier of a card that you purchase will always be $50.00 (unless you have a Benefit Coupon for a free card). Keep in mind that every card has a Rank requirement, so some cards can be unlocked sooner than others.

And don't forget! Once you've bought the card, remember to equip it to that slot and you're good to go!

How do I upgrade my cards?

Just like your character stats, every ability card can be upgraded through 3 Tiers of effectiveness. Each card you buy and equip will start off at (shocker) Tier 1; this is the base level and 'minimum' effectiveness of each card. You can upgrade a card twice by gaining experience while that card is equipped.

Each Tier will require a certain amount of experience and money:

• Tier I - Card Rank + $50.00

• Tier II - 10,000 xp + $350.00

• Tier III - 15,000 xp + $500.00

What's the best loadout?

Slow your roll there buddy. We'll get to that. Remember that it's my firm belief that the "best" of anything is whatever you choose. RDO is designed to be customizable. So the best for one person wont necessarily be the best for another.

That being said, there are some example loadouts you can use for reference at the bottom of this page.

The first of the 4 types of Ability Cards is the Dead Eye card. As stated above, these cards are only effective while your Dead Eye Skill is active and you can only have one of these cards equipped at a time.

There are 6 Dead Eye cards to choose from, and each card does something different (be sure to look at the card pages for more details):

1. Paint it Black

   • Rank 2

   • Lets you mark enemies while Dead Eye is active

   • You can mark as many enemies as there are bullets in your gun

2. A Moment to Recuperate

   • Rank 2

   • Let's you slowly regenerate health, but any damage taken will cancel your Dead Eye

   • You can regenerate up to approximately 8% of your health per second while your Dead Eye is active

3. Focus Fire

   • Rank 2

   • Let's both you and your entire posse deal more damage while Dead Eye is active (does not stack)

   • Allows you to deal up to approximately 20% more damage

4. Slow and Steady

   • Rank 24

   • Lets you take less damage while Dead Eye is active, but keeps you from sprinting. Additionally, headshots taken will do the same amount of damage as a regular body shot. And as an added bonus, your horse will be much less likely to buck you while Dead Eye is active.

   • The damage is reduced by up to approximately 20%.

5. Quite an Inspiration

   • Rank 44

   • Lets both you and your posse members regenerate health while Dead Eye is active (does not stack)

   • Regenerate up to approximately 4% of your total health per second

6. Slippery Bastard

   • Rank 50

   • Makes you harder to hit while Dead Eye is active, but it also effects your accuracy as well. Most useful in a melee build.

   • Increases the hit box for both you and your enemies

The second of the 4 types of Ability Cards is the Combat Ability card. These are 1 of 3 Passive cards that will grant the user special bonuses both in and out of Dead Eye. The Combat category is made up of offense-style cards that help the user deal more damage.

There are 8 Combat cards to choose from, and each card does something different (be sure to look at the card pages for more details):

1. Gunslinger's Choice

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you do more damage while dual-wielding handguns

2. Sharpshooter

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you do more damage and take less damage while using a scope

3. Horseman

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you do more damage on horseback

4. Necessity Breeds

   • Rank 16

   • Lets you do more damage depending on how low your health is. Lower health = higher damage.

5. Landon's Patience

   • Rank 18

   • Lets you do more damage the longer you wait between shots (the damage multiplier doesn't go past 15 seconds)

6. The Short Game

   • Rank 38

   • Lets you do more damage to targets that are close by. The closer the target, the more damage you do.

7. Hangman

   • Rank 42

   • Lets you do damage to enemies when you lasso them. The damage continues the entire time they are lassoed.

8. Winning Streak

   • Rank 48

   • Lets you do more damage for every consecutive shot you land on a single enemy.

The third of the 4 types of Ability Cards is the Recovery Ability card. These are 1 of 3 Passive cards that will grant the user special bonuses both in and out of Dead Eye; the Recovery category is made up of support-style cards that help the user regenerate their stats.

There are 10 Recovery cards to choose from, and each card does something different (be sure to look at the card pages for more details):

1. Come Back Stronger

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you take less damage when your stamina is high, you will also regenerate stamina faster.

2. Iron Lung

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you gain Dead Eye from damage taken.

3. Kick in the Butt

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you gain Dead Eye from damage taken.

4. Live for the Fight

   • Rank 10

   • Lets you regenerate Dead Eye overtime like you would Health and Stamina.

5. Ride Like the Wind

   • Rank 10

   • Turns damage you take into health and stamina for your horse while mounted.

6. Peak Condition

   • Rank 14

   • Lets you deal more damage when your stamina bar is full (75% or higher)

7. Eye for an Eye

   • Rank 28

   • Lets you refill your Dead Eye bar by landing head shots

8. The Gift of Focus

   • Rank 30

   • Gives a boost to things that restore your Dead Eye (tonics, food, abilities, etc), but reduces your damage dealt.

9. Strange Medicine

   • Rank 32

   • Lets you heal by dealing damage, however your innate regeneration skill is reduced by half.

10. Cold Blooded

    • Rank 36

    • Lets you gain health regeneration for 5 seconds when you kill an enemy.

The 4th of the 4 types of Ability Cards is the Defense Ability card. These are 1 of 3 Passive cards that will grant the user special bonuses both in and out of Dead Eye; the Defense category is made up of fortification-style cards that help the user regenerate their stats.

There are 9 Defense cards to choose from, and each card does something different (be sure to look at the card pages for more details):

1. Fool Me Once

   • Rank 10

   • You take less damage each time you're shot in a row by the same enemy (within 10 seconds of the last shot)

2. Friends for Life

   • Rank 10

   • Reduces damage taken by you and your horse while you're mounted

3. Strength in Numbers

   • Rank 10

   • You will take less damage for every posse member nearby (caps at 3)

4. Hunker Down

   • Rank 20

   • Lets you take less damage when your character is in cover

5. To Fight Another Day

   • Rank 22

   • Lets you take less damage while your character is sprinting

6. The Unblinking Eye

   • Rank 26

   • Slows the drain of both your Dead Eye and your Eagle Eye

7. Take the Pain Away

   • Rank 34

   • Reduces the damage taken by you and an ally after you revive them (lasts for 8 seconds).

8. Of Single Purpose

   • Rank 40

   • Reduces the damage taken by your character while using melee weapons or fists.

9. Never Without One

   • Rank 46

   • Allows you to block 1 headshot by wearing a hat. However, you will take less damage when not wearing a hat

Perhaps both the best and worst part of the ability card system is how customizable the loadouts are. While the 1st card slot is limited to Dead Eye cards only, the other 3 slots can be from any of the 3 Passive categories you wish. This means you can make whatever kind of build you want, from a "balanced" loadout with 1 of each kind of card, to a "weighted" loadout with cards all from the same category.

When designing your loadout, the most important thing is to choose cards that highlight your playstyle or what you're trying to achieve. Ask yourself this question: What is my goal?

Are you looking to support other? Are you looking to buff damage or defense? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

While only you can make these decisions for yourself, I can help you with some tips and information.

• Remember to key your Passive Cards off of your Active card

• Pick cards that match your playstyle. Try to choose cards that highlight your strengths

• Or alternatively, choose cards that will boost you in your weak areas

• Pay attention to the benefits and the drawbacks of every card and how they effect each other

• And finally, EXPIREMENT! Try out different cards, change your mind, and then change it again! Just have fun.

In this guide, I will show you 5 types of loadout builds you can make. While there are more combinations of cards than I care to count, each build will fall into 1 of these 5 categories:

• Weighted
  - Weighted loadouts are builds that favor one card category exclusively (i.e. combat only, defense only, etc)

• Mixed
  - Mixed loadouts are builds that have a card from each category

• Offense
  - These mixed loadouts lean towards the offense play-style and combat cards

• Defense
  - These mixed loadouts lean towards the defensive play-style and defense cards

• Support
  - These mixed loadouts lean towards the support play-style and recovery cards

The card images posted in the sections above are listed with their detailed effects, this will allow you to see exactly what each card does. That being said, I've listed some common loadouts and build types that you can use as a reference. I do not support any of these reference builds as "the recommended loadout", they are meant to be a resource and an example of how cards can work together.

TLDR: Experiment with different builds. Pay attention to the details of every card and pick the benefits you want that will work with your playstyle. And use the example builds as a reference only.