This tips guide will go over what you need to know about cards and give some pointers for the best early ones to look for in Back 4 Blood. 

What are Cards and How Do They Work?

Cards grant your Cleaners and sometimes your team special buffs or debuffs, and while you start with a paltry set of five cards, you’ll quickly amass enough to build full decks. That’s especially true if you’re playing multiplayer and completing supply lines.

Back 4 Blood lets you choose decks at the start of each level or when you begin a new run. When building your deck, make sure to put your favorite or preferred card in the first slot, as it guarantees that the card will show up once the run starts.

Cards are divided into several categories, including:

Mobility Offense Defense Healing Corruption

You can’t buy Corruption Cards. These are just effects the game randomly picks for each round to determine factors such as the hazards you’ll face or what enemies you may encounter.

Team Cards do what their name suggests and apply a given effect to the entire team. They’re temporary, and you can purchase them in safe rooms before leaving to start a round. The Team variety typically have a hefty copper price tag attached to them, but the boons they offer are vital, especially on higher difficulties like Nightmare.

Finally, make sure to keep track of which mode you’re building decks for. Back 4 Blood has three separate deck types, and they don’t cross over between campaign and Swarm, for example.

How to Get Cards

The easiest way to get cards is by purchasing Supply Lines. You’ll earn Supply Points for every round you play in multiplayer, and clearing just the first act usually gets you enough to unlock two or three full Supply Lines.

Clearing challenges in each stage will earn you rarer cards, though it’ll likely take several tries for some of these. Take note of the special conditions on Corruption Cards or in the upper left corner of the screen to get an idea of what challenges each stage has. Some other challenges can be found in the Accomplishments tab. 

Some stages also have areas where you can purchase cards with Copper. These are often behind locked doors, so it’s worth having one party member bring a Tool Kit.

Back 4 Blood: Best Cards

There’s a fair bit of variability in what cards will work best for your Cleaner and style, but these are our top picks for nearly any situation.

Best For Offense

Offense cards are, obviously, the ones that make you hit harder, but they come in many different shapes and sizes.

Combat Knife: Melee attack turns into a knife attack Battle Lust: Melee kills restore 2 health Ridden Slayer: Damage bonus against weak spots Broadside: Precision kills have a chance of making Ridden explode Two Is One and One Is None: Equip a primary weapon in your secondary slot Hellfire: +45% movement speed while firing and +5% speed when not firing

Best For Support

These are the cards that keep your team alive longer. There are several more cards with specific benefits, such as extra stamina or more health if you land hits with shotguns, but these are general enough to work for most teams.

Scar Tissue: -1 damage taken from all Ridden Durable: +15% Trauma resistance Inspiring Sacrifice: Team recovers 25 health if one member becomes incapacitated Smelling Salts: +100% revive speed Ammo Scavenger: Sense nearby ammo, more ammo spawns Charitable Soul: Healing a teammate heals you for 50% of the amount Lucky Pennies: Party has a 35% chance of finding 35% more copper Second Chance: Grants one extra life to the team (this is a must-have on higher difficulties)

Again, these are just starter recommendations applicable to most builds. You’ll unlock dozens more cards suitable for specific Cleaners or builds as you play, but these should give you a good enough foundation to understand how deck building works and which ones are right for you.

Related articles:

How to Remove Weapon Attachments How to Change Characters in Back 4 Blood How to Unlock All Cleaners in Back 4 Blood How to Unlock Cleaner Outfits & Skins Best Weapons Tier List

That’s all you need to know about Back 4 Blood cards, but make sure to check out our other Back 4 Blood guides for more tips.