Red Dead Online: How does Dead Eye and the Ability Card system work?

Red Dead Online uses an Ability Card system that grants a player either passive or active enhancements or abilities to give them a fighting chance when the bullets start to fly.

Ability Cards can be purchased with in-game currency or earned by playing and ranking up in Red Dead Online. The effect of these cards range from personal damage or health enhancers to effects that a player and their posse can make use of in firefights.

Equipping Ability Cards is as simple as opening up the menu and sifting through which cards a player wants in the slots provided. Earning more Passive slots for come as a player levels up.

The system looks to have been made to be fluid and make hostile encounters more diverse in terms of players’ use of situational tactics.

Be warned, that effects and lingo in the cards might be different in Red Dead Online from what a player would be used to in Red Dead Redemption 2.

• Read more: When is the Red Dead Online beta release? Everything we know about Red Dead Redemption 2 multiplayer

For example, Dead Eye cards are the active abilities or boosts that influence a player while in Dead Eye mode, while Passive cards are effects that remain on until unequipped from the Passive cards slots.

In the main game, Dead Eye slows the game to get pinpoint accurate shots off, but since that isn’t possible in a persistent, online world, Dead Eye is the active slot a player would trigger and its effect would change based on the card equipped to it.

As it stands, every card can be leveled up to three tiers and more slots can be unlocked for cards that would grant more effects.

• Read more: Everything you need to know about Red Dead Online game modes – Make It Count, Hostile Territory, and more

Red Dead Online is in beta and this system is fairly simple to use and work from. The beta was made playable for those who bought the Ultimate Edition or played since Day 1 first and will be available to everyone November 30.