On October 12 players will find themselves up against hordes of the Ridden in Back 4 Blood, the spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead by Turtle Rock Studios. Players will go on a blood-and-gore-fueled nightmare, all while the game’s AI director will do its best to end a Cleaner’s run. Fortunately, the players have an advantage in the form of Cards which change up the game’s mechanics.
There’s a total of 152 cards in Back 4 Blood, though all are not available at the start of this co-op online game. Cards can be acquired by finding them during the run or by spending Supply Points with the trader in camp. Players will use these cards to make a deck that will award them different boosts to help them in either the campaign mode or versus mode. These are the five best cards players can have in the deck if they want to survive the Ridden in Back 4 Blood.
Slugger
Melee attacks will be key to surviving the Ridden. The “Slugger” card will be amazing for this, awarding players +5 health, +10% melee efficiency and +20% melee attack speed. Melee kills can be one of the most efficient and quiet methods of dealing with the Ridden and are critical when ammunition runs low or stealth is a must. Melee efficiency reduces the amount of stamina lost for each melee attack and melee attack speed will increase the rate of players’ melee attacks, as well as boosting the Cleaner’s health pool to keep them fighting.
Superior Cardio
Whether it’s staying ahead of a charging horde of zombies or avoiding having monstrous Ridden getting its hands on them, movement will be critical in B4B. This will be where the “Superior Cardio” card comes into play, giving the players a boost of +20% stamina, +20% sprint efficiency and +5 health. Driving up the stamina pool once more, the addition of sprint efficiency will keep players at a safe distance without getting tired. Tacking on more health to the player’s pool gives them a bit more staying power if they do find their back up against a wall.
Cross Trainers
A Cleaner’s stamina will be critical in Back 4 Blood, and buffing it can turn a Cleaner into a Ridden-slaying machine. When it comes to managing stamina, no card will be better than “Cross Trainers.” Granting players a +20% stamina, +20% stamina regen, +3% move speed and a +5 health. The increase in the player’s stamina pool will be significant, but with the stamina regen buff, short rests become more productive, all while still adding on additional health and a slight buff to movement speed.
Shredder
Players looking for their character to ramp up the damage need to add “Shredder” to their deck. While in use, the “Shredder” card will cause a target to take an additional +1% of damage for 3 seconds (stacking up to 50%). This additional damage will make quick work of the smaller Ridden and is helpful when they swarm. Against the much larger and boss Ridden, this additional damage will stack up quickly, making taking down these behemoths much easier.
Charitable Soul
“Charitable Soul” will allow a Cleaner to be healed equal to the amount they heal a teammate, effectively doubling the effectiveness of healing items. In runs where meds can come in short supply, “Charitable Soul” could be the difference between survival and the end of the run. Any players running a medic-type class should have this card at the top of their decks.
With players managing and extending their stamina pool, they can sprint longer, while avoiding being trapped by swarming Ridden. The additional stamina will also allow players to lean more on melee attacks when ammo becomes sparse. Include the stacking damage from bullets, optimizing the player’s ammo supply. Three of the cards also include a health buff, keeping a Cleaner in the fight longer. Just one of these cards in any deck will turn a bad situation around. Using all five of these cards in concert, a player’s Cleaner would be nearly unstoppable.
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