Hard West 2 Old Man Bill: Best Skills, Cards, & PlayStyle

Who Is Old Man Bill In Hard West 2?

Old Man Bill is a gunslinger who tried everything a man could do in the hard west. In his life, he has been a sheriff, an outlaw, a bounty hunter, and even an exorcist, which makes him a man whose life has been filled with all kinds of adventures and experiences.

Old Man Bill was revived after his death against his will and had been looking for a chance to return to eternal rest ever since. This made him grumpier as well. Old Man Bill is voiced by Kevin Conroy.

During the events of the game, you can find Old Man Bill fairly early. He can be found in the Abandoned Farm in Chapter 1, where you see him rising up from the grave. As you progress through the game, Old Man Bill becomes a crucial party member with one of the most badass main skills of Hard West 2.

All Card Skills For Old Man Bill

Before we discuss all the skills you can assign to Old Man Bill, we want to go through what “card skills” are. Over the course of the game, you can add different buffs to your characters, and those buffs come in the form of cards. Cards basically reward you gain after completing missions in Hard West 2.

Each character in Hard West 2 can hold five cards. By forming different poker hands with your cards, you unlock new skills and abilities for your character. These skills can be both active and passive.

Now that you are familiar with how skills work, let’s dive into all the skills you can unlock for Old Man Bill in Hard West 2.

Pistolero

• Requirement: Default
• Pistolero gives you a +1 damage increase with handguns.

Horseback Riding

• Requirement: Default
• Horseback Riding gives you multiple buffs. It not only gives you a speed buff but also increases your resistance stat against burn. Your chances of getting hit with this skill equipped are reduced by 25%.

Refreshing Wounds

• Requirement: Loyalty – Ally
• Refreshing Wounds gives you a +10% bullseye increase if your health is below 50% at the start of the turn.

Post-Mortem

• Requirement: Loyalty – Friend
• You receive a +1 increase in weapon damage if Bill’s health is below 25% at the start of the turn.

Deadman’s Revenge

• Requirement: Pair
• This is Old Man Bill’s main skill in Hard West 2. Bill’s corpse is filled with bullets that he can shoot outwards. The more times he has been shot, the higher his payback is.Bill is about to unleash Deadman’s Revenge upon his enemies during the mission “A plague upon this land”.
• The skill deals base damage of ‘2’ to all enemies in Bill’s line of sight. The damage is further increased for every 4 HP Bill has lost.

Bullheaded

• Requirement: Two Pair
• Bullheaded gives you resistance to Dazed and Drunk status.

Winner Takes All

• Requirement: Three of a Kind
• Having this poker hand in your deck will give you a +1 bullseye damage multiplier when you have 100 Luck.

Bloodless

• Requirement: Straight
• Bloodless gives you resistance to bleeding.

Warrior

• Requirement: Flush
• You gain a buff of +1 damage with melee weapons with this skill equipped.

Deadman’s Revenge II

• Requirement: Full House
• It’s an upgraded version of Deadman’s Revenge. It gives you a +3 damage increase as well as a whopping +18 increase in the range too.

High Noon

• Requirement: Four of a Kind
• High Noon gives you a Duelist status at the start of the turn if Bill is not in cover.

Fireproof

• Requirement: Straight Flush
• As evident from the name, Fireproof gives you resistance against burning.

Come At Me, Bub

• Requirement: Royal Flush
• Come At Me, Bub is one of the best skills you can assign to Old Man Bill in Hard West 2. If Bill has a Duelist status, this skill allows him to counter-shot an infinite number of attacks.

Deadman’s Revenge III

• Requirement: Five of a Kind
• It is the final form of Deadman’s Revenge. It allows you to deal base damage of 4 to your enemies.

Weapon Loadout For Old Man Bill

Bill’s weapon loadout should consist of handguns and shotguns. He has been a gunslinger and an outlaw his entire life, so it’s only natural that his area of expertise resides in these weapons.

With these weapons, you should try to remain close as possible to your enemies. With this strategy, handguns and shotguns can pose a great threat to your enemies because of how reliable they are at close range.

Tips For Old Man Bill

As Bill, the first thing you need to do is get a pair and unlock Deadman’s Revenge. Afterward, complete missions and try to get your hands on Deadman’s Revenge II and III as well by having a Full House and Five of a Kind poker hand cards, respectively. Having Five of a Kind will also unlock “Come At Me, Bub” as well, which will let you counter-shot attacks.

Hearts should be your go-to option for card suits because having these cards on Bill will give him an extra HP boost. By doing this, the damage you will deal with Deadman’s Revenge will increase too because the extra damage bill can soak now. So you have to make sure that Bill is on your front lines.

Even though you should experiment with all kinds of strategies and tactics, Deadman’s revenge should always remain your trump card. It is a very devastating skill and will let you nuke opponents instantly.

Some tactics you can use to set up Deadman’s Revenge are as follows:

• In Hard West 2, the character Flynn has the ability to swap places between his allies. So have Flynn get to a position where he has a clear line of sight. Use Flynn’s Shadow Swap on Bill before you decide to activate Deadman’s Revenge.
• If Lazarus reaches a critical state where he needs health, use a Transfusion on Bill so Lazarus recovers his health. Meanwhile, Bill’s low health will increase the damage he will deal with to Deadman’s Revenge.
• Enemies that survive the wrath of Bill’s Deadman’s Revenge can be taken out by your party members. It will increase your party’s chain kills.

This concludes our guide for Hard West 2’s Old Man Bill. Let us know what you think about our guide in the comment section below.

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