Call to Arms (2024)

Call to Arms (Also referred to as Survival Mode) is a game mode in Red Dead Online.

In Call to Arms, up to four players are tasked with defending towns or settlements from 10 waves of increasingly more numerous and dangerous enemies.

Access[]

In order to gain access to Call to Arms, one must either check their Camp Lockbox or go to the nearest Post Office to find a telegram named "Call to Arms" from a person simply referred to as "J". After this, the game mode can be launched at any time by selecting the associated telegram in the Satchel.

Overview[]

In Call to Arms, up to four players are tasked with defending a town or settlement from 10 waves of incoming enemies by killing them while keeping both themselves and their allies alive. Five locations are currently available: Blackwater, Fort Mercer, Valentine, Strawberry, and MacFarlane's Ranch.

When initially spawning in, all players will retain whatever weapons and equipment they had equipped prior to launching the game mode and will be given 5 minutes to prepare for the coming onslaught. Scattered throughout the map are various weapons, ammo crates and healing items for the player(s) to use. These items can be picked up once and, with the exception of ammo crates, will not replenish, so it is strongly advise for all players to be well-stocked on both ammo and equipment before launching Call to Arms. Ammo crates restock at the end of each wave. There are also explosive crates and -boxes spread about which can be detonated by both players and enemies. At later waves, Maxim Guns will also become available for use.

Additionally, there are a total of 10 AI allies spread throughout the map that the player(s) can interact with to make them follow the player and instructed to set up defensive positions in various places. These AI allies are armed and will assist the player(s) by shooting enemies on sight but can also be injured and killed by said enemies. Injured AI allies can be healed by interacting with them between waves. Every time an AI ally dies, a prompt will appear on screen showing ho many of them remain. If all AI allies die, the game will end with "Overrun" ending, even if the players successfully complete all waves.

Once the setup time runs out or if a majority of players vote to skip it, the first wave will begin, with a large group of enemies spawning around the outer edge of the play area, who will then assault the area and try to kill both the players and their AI allies. A counter at the top of the screen indicates how many enemies remain alive. The wave lasts until all either enemies are killed or all players are killed.

Once a wave has been successfully completed, a 60-second-long (eventually decreasing to 30 seconds) intermission will commence, any dead players will respawn and players will have the opportunity to restock on ammunition, heal themselves and any injured AI allies and prepare for the next wave, which begins once the intermission time runs out.

Enemies[]

The enemies spawned during the waves are mostly made up of common outlaws and gunmen, initially armed with various basic firearms (like Cattleman Revolvers, Carbine Repeaters and Springfield Rifles), with which to shoot the player(s) but on later waves they also can spawn with melee weapons and will attempt to charge and kill the player(s) with them. When killed, enemies will drop both their weapons and some ammo, which can be collected by the player(s).

As waves progress, however, the number of enemies spawned increases (starting at 24 enemies on Wave 1, ending at 80 enemies on Wave 10), they start arming themselves with better weapons (like Semi-Automatic Pistols, Mauser Pistols and Bolt Action Rifles), arrive onto the play area mounted on horseback or riding on wagons and after Wave 5, more dangerous types of enemies will appear:

• Enemies wielding Melee Weapons (like Machetes and Hatchets)
• Armored Enemies (Highly resistant to all forms of bullet damage)
• 1-3 War Wagons (Armored Wagon with Machine Guns)

Ending and Rewards[]

As the players progress from wave to wave, they accumulate a reward that will be payed out once the game concludes, whether in victory or defeat. Each successfully completed wave increases the payout awarded at the end of the game, with a large bonus for successfully completing all 10 waves. If the players manage to survive all 10 waves, the final reward will be (if no events for the Call to Arms mode) 300$, 1 Gold bar and a hefty amount of XP (awarded on top of any XP earned during the game).

Call to Arms can end in one of two ways; "Defended" and "Overrun". If the players manage to successfully complete each wave and survive to the end of Wave 10 with at least one AI ally remaining alive, the game ends in the "Defended" ending, equating to victory. If, on the other hand, all players are killed or all AI allies are killed, then the game will end in the "Overrun" ending, equating to defeat (or Pyrrhic victory, if the players complete every wave).

Gallery[]