In Gears 5, building a class requires the selection of five unique upgrade cards. The best builds for each class in Hore mode are subjective, but, there are usually a few cards that trump the rest. To get the best ones, you will need to level up the class to level 20.

The best builds are always the ones that suit your playstyle, but there is no doubt that some cards are universally better than others. Even when you finally unlock each card, you can continue to level the cards up, further increasing the buffs for those cards.

Blademaster Build

Must-Have Cards

Ambush	Kills from behind reduce ultimate cooldown by 15s
Blade Dancer	Each melee or bleed kill gives +25% melee damage for 15s
Venom Blade	Melee Damage in Venom causes bleeding for 130% of damage
Thrill Of The Hunt	20% resistance and forced healing near bleeding enemies

Standout Optional Cards

Brawler	20% increased melee damage
Nimble	20% extra cover slide speed and reach

The Blademaster is a melee-based class that comes in handy in close quarters combat. If you combine it with the Bleed Damage cards, you can amplify your melee damage.

For instance, pairing the Blade Dancer card with Thrill Of The Hunt and Venom Blade will give you lots of health and damage bonuses for your melee kills.

Demolitions Build

Must-Have Cards

Bullet Boost	Explosive or Bleed kills give +25% ballistic damage for 15s
Confirmed Kill	Kills with Artillery recharge Artillery by 10s
Spotter Support	Artillery drops 2 rounds on ally marked targets
Razor Hail	Explosive hits cause bleeding for 15% of damage

Standout Optional Cards

Good Kill	20% of kills near allies drop ammo
Officers Prerogative	Artillery fires 1 additional round

The Demolitions class is an excellent boss-level class. Your primary ability is to call in artillery strikes, so the cards you pick should elevate that ability. Use the combination of Bullet Boost, Confirmed Kill, Razor Hail, and Spotter Support to rain down damage on your enemies.

This build works best in conjunction with a squad that marks targets, because that increases the amount of artillery you can call in.

Infiltrator Build

Must-Have Cards

Chain	Executing enemies extends Cloak by 2s
Laceration	Shotgun hits within 5 m cause bleeding for 30% damage
Blood Resonance	Bleeding enemies take 50% more shotgun damage
Enhanced Stim	20% resistance to damage while Stimmed

Standout Options

Stim Batteries	Stim Capacity is increased 20%
Healing Jolt	Picking up energy heals for 30%

The Infiltrator class lets you sneak up on enemies by giving you temporary invisibility. First, you will want to amplify your ability to deal damage by choosing the Laceration and Blood Resonance cards.

Next, you will want to increase the longevity of your invisibility cloak with the Chain card. Finally, you will want to focus on your health with Stim cards and healing buffs cards.

All combined, these cards should give you the edge you need when flanking your enemies.

Marksman Build

Must-Have Cards

Icy Precision	13% freezing damage per active headshot with precision weapons
Critical Parade	X-Ray critical hits extend X-Ray by 10%
Longshot Handling	50% automatic reload chance on critical kills

Standout Optional Cards

Explosive Critical Hit	Critical Kills cause 50% splash damage
Exploit Weakness	20% increased critical damage
Counter Snipe	20% resistance to precision damage

The Marksman class has one of the best abilities. When activated, you can see through walls and shoot through objects.

The cards that best suit this ability will give you bonuses for critical shots. The Icy Precision card works great because it will let you shoot at an immobile enemy after you fail to kill them with your first shot. You will also want to go for the Critical Parade card and Longshot handling because they give you great buffs.

Nomad Build

Must-Have Cards

Armored Shot	35% bleeding damage while you have stim
Intimidation	7s of fear to enemies with 5m of a critical kill
Consecutive Shot	Consecutive critical hits increase damage 5% each hit up to +200%
Menace	Executions recharge fear for 25s

Standout Optional Cards

Execution Shield	50% damage resistance while executing and gain stim
Faze	Executing causes Fear for 7s to nearby enemies

The Nomad class is all about striking fear into the hearts of your enemies. So going for executions and choosing cards that add fear bonuses based on that will work best. If you have the Armored Shot car, you can use stim with fear to do extra bleeding damage.

With this card setup, you will want to get close to the enemy, execute, and execute again. This strategy will let you do an enormous amount of damage and extend your fear time.

Anchor Build

Must-Have Cards

Barrier Feedback	Kills during Barrier extends it by 2s
Bullet Chain	Each headshot kill gives +25% damage for 15s
Harness Energy	Each Barrier hit gives 1 Stim to the team
Barrier Battery	Barrier duration increased by 10%

Standout Optional Cards

Lethal Barrier	Barrier does damage to enemies
Crazy Tough	10% increased health

The Anchor class is for mid-range combat situations. Your primary ability is to spawn a barrier shield in front of your character that will follow you.

Using the Barrier Feedback, Harness Energy card, and Barrier Battery card will boost your ability. Combined with the Bullet Chain card, you can spend more time out in the open, lining up headshots and doing damage. Mix that in with either a lethal Barrier or Crazy Tough card, and you've got one heck of a tank class.

Brawler Build

Must-Have Cards

Torch Tackle	Tackle burns and deals 150% damage to burning enemies
All The Glory	Burning enemies explode on kill, dealing 5% HP in damage
Killing Time	Extend The Train by 1s per kill during ultimate
Soothing Warmth	150% health regeneration near burning enemies
Pyromaniac	Deal 25% extra burn damage

Standout Optional Cards

Steam Engine	50% burn radius during ultimate

The Brawler class is all about running toward your enemies and tackling them. You will want to use the Torch Tackle card to increase burning damage, as well as the All The Glory card to make them explode.

There are plenty of great cards with this class, so it is hard to narrow down to just five, but the Killing Time, Soothing Warmth, and Pyromaniac Cards mix well.

Gunner Build

Must-Have Cards

Reflect Shredder	Hits reflected by Reflective Shell do 20% bleeding damage
Serrated Edge	Torque Bow deals 15% bleeding damage
Grace Period	2s immunity on revival

Standout Optional Cards

Sole Survivor	Reflective Shell recharges at 150% when lone survivor
Blast Shield	20% explosive resistance for you and nearby allies
Team Resist	Reflective Shell reduces damage by 50% to allies for 6s

The Gunner class is an excellent tank class for more daring players. Its primary ability is to create a deflective shield around you for several seconds. Pair this ability with the Reflect Shredder card to increase the damage to enemies while active.

The Grace Period card is also unique as it will give you temporary immunity after being revived. It is then best to mix these cards with Either the Sole Survivor card and the Blast Shield or Team Resist Card. It's up to you and your playing style to pick which suits you best.

Pilot Build

Must-Have Cards

Silverback Salvo	Silverback Salvo hits increase Silverback duration by 0.3s
The Hammer	30% extra damage and 1.5s of stun
Healing Trishot	Equip a Trishot which heals the Silverback for 50% of damage dealt
Cold Finish	Damaging an enemy with Low Health freezes it for 20%

Standout Optional Cards

Rear Armor	30% Damage resistance from behind
Exploding Buzzkill	Equip a Buzzkill with 50% splash damage on kills

The Pilot's Silverback ability will let you summon a mech onto the battlefield. The best cards for this build are the Silverback Salvo, The Hammer, Healing Trishot, and Cold Finish cards. These cards will allow you to get in close and beat up enemies efficiently.

Pair these cards with either Rear Armor or Exploding Buzzkill, and you've got one threatening mech on your hands.

Veteran Build

Must-Have Cards

Band of Brothers	Living Legend generates 25 Stim per second
Defensive Stim	Stim Capacity is increased 40%
Headshot Master	10% extra critical damage
Focus	Ultimate duration increased by 25%

Standout Optional Cards

Extended Rifle Mag	40% larger assault rifle magazine
Last Ditch	25% increased damage when at low health

The Veteran class thrives at achieving critical hits. Each card you pick should focus on increasing critical shot damage and giving you more opportunities for criticals.

The Band of Brothers card and Defensive stim will grant that extra health to stay out in the open. Plus, the Headshot Master card and the Focus card will deliver the damage. The last slot can either be the Extended Rifle Mag card or the Last Ditch card, depending on what you prefer.

Combat Medic

Must-Have Cards

Get Up	Team Revive gives you and teammate 30% stim
Intervention	Kills revive teammates within 10m of the kill
Overdoing It	Team Revive heals revived friendlies for 4s

Standout Optional Cards

Healing Bounty	Anyone who kills your mark heals 800HP
Razors Edge	20% damage resistance when under 50% health
Helpful Headshots	Headshot hits provide 5HP Stim to self and nearby allies

Everybody loves the Combat Medic. The best upgrades for this class include the Get Up, Intervention, and Overdoing It cards. These cards all focus on increasing your revive strength and health bonuses, so definitely equip those.

The optional cards can either increase your healing abilities or balance out your combat strength, depending on what you want to do.

Jack Build

Must-Have Cards

Backstab	Hijack kills extend Hijack by 10%
Rampage	Deal 20% bleeding damage during Hijack
Explosive Hijack	Hijacked enemies explode and deal 20% additional damage

Standout Optional Cards

Healing Upgrade	20% increased healing rate
Portable Resupply	Regenerate ammo on carried weapons
Zapper Upgrade	20% increased damage

The Jack class is unique as it is mainly a support-only class — that is, unless you hijack an enemy's mind and take down their allies. The best cards increase the length of your hacks as well as the damage you can deal during the hack.

You can balance this out with other support cards like Portable Resupply or double down on damage with the Zapper Upgrade.

Mechanic Build

Must-Have Cards

Shredder Rounds	Turret deals 5% bleeding damage
Healing Repair	Repairing provides 2% Stim
Overload	Fortifications over 50% health do 15% more damage
Reinforced Fabrication	50% increased fortification health

Standout Optional Cards

Armor Plating	Fortifications over 50% health resist 20% damage
Overclocked Locker	10% increased Weapon Locker reload

The Mechanic build works best with the Shredder Rounds, Healing Repair, Overload, and Reinforced Fabrication cards. All of these cards will increase your fortifications damage and health. Plus, the Healing Repair card gives a nice bonus for repairing damaged items.

Optional cards include the Overclocked Locker and Armor Plating. The former will increase the effectiveness of weapon lockers, and the latter will further boost fortification health. Both are great options to have in your deck.

Robotics Expert Build

Robotics Expert special ability in Gears 5

Must-Have Cards

Bloody DR1	Summoned DR1s cause 20% bleeding damage
Global Overclock	All Weapon Lockers reload 20% faster
Experimental Weapons	50% increased DeeBee weapon damage to heavily wounded enemies
Homebody	20% damage resistance near energy Taps

Standout Optional Cards

Precision Repairs	Precision kills heal all fortification for 700HP
Bloody Support	Precision damage causes 10% bleed damage when Reinforce Dr1 is ready

The Robotics Expert is all about using unique weapons to take down waves of enemies. In particular, you can spawn a DR1 robot to come to assist you.

The most important card to equip will be the Bloody DR1 card, as it will massively increase the damage your robot does. The other cards worth having are Global Overclock, Experimental Weapons, and Homebody. They're all different in what they do, but they all have convenient and powerful buffs.

Tactician Build

Must-Have Cards

Cooperation	Teammates deal +5% damage to your mark
Resupply Healing Module	Resupply reduces damage by 20%
Interrogation	Meat shields mark all targets within 20m
Resupply Amplifier	50% increased Resupply radius

Standout Optional Cards

Situational Awareness	Automatically mark aggressive enemies for 2s
Eagle Eyes	Mark 2 additional Targets

The Tactician build is all about being the best teammate in the world. You will want to increase your support strength with the Cooperation, Resupply Healing Module, Interrogation, and Resupply Amplifier cards. With these cards, you will be able to mark enemies quickly and drop useful buffs for your nearby teammates.

The cherry on top is up to you. Would you prefer to increase your total marks or increase the effectiveness of marking?

Architect

Must-Have Cards

Regenerative Field	Regenerate 2 stim per second while avoiding damage
Hologram Extend	Ballistic hits extend hologram by 50%
Hologram Lifetime	40% longer Hologram duration
Deception	100% extra damage when flanking
Armor Plating	Fortifications over 50% health do 15% more damage

The Architect class allows you to spawn a hologram to distract the enemy. By using the cards above, you can turn this hologram into a useful weapon. The Deception card will give you a boost for flanking the enemy.

This card, paired with all the other cards, makes this simple flank maneuver devastating. If you get creative and use some turrets to help you deal damage, these rewards can multiply.

Protector Build

Must-Have Cards

Regenerative Field	Regenerate 2 stim per second while avoiding damage
Close Range Recharge	Kills within 5m recharge Drop Shield by 15s
Drop Shield Duration	50% increased Drop Shield duration
Bloody Blade	Melee hits cause bleeding for 50% of damage
Big Knife	20% increased melee damage

The Protector build is perfect for those who want to protect taps. The options for cards are small for these promotional classes, but they are all pretty practical.

The cards above will let you use your shield to increase damage against the horde rather than only provide cover. If you use this build, melee attacks and close-up shots will become way more effective.

Slugger Build

Must-Have Cards

Impact Receiver	Active shotgun hits within 10m stun drones for 1s
Grenade Proficiency	+50% damage and +25% explosive radius
Lethal Preparations	Plant 1 extra grenade trap
Power Shot	Ballistic Rounds penetrate targets and deal +10% damage
Grenade Capacity	Grenade capacity increased by 1

The Slugger build is all about crowd control and lugging grenades. The cards above increase your ability to stun enemies and blow them up with grenades. It's a fairly standard, tank-like class, but this setup will make you a highly efficient killing machine.

The best strategy for this build is to bunch enemies up with your ballistic weapons and finish them off with a grenade.

Striker Build

Must-Have Cards

GSD	Enemies killed by melee explode for 50% damage
First Strike	Deal +50% damage to undamaged enemies
Melee Armour	Resist 10% melee damage
Melee Rush	Melee kills cooldown ultimate by 20s
Blunt Instrument	Breaker Mace deals 50% bleeding damage

Last but not least, the Stiker build is all about melee. With the card deck above, you will have no issue ripping enemies to shreds with your knife. Plus, you will have a slight resistance to melee damage yourself, making close-quarters combat more feasible.

If you use your breaker mace, you will be able to take advantage of bleeding damage, so if you don't kill them with one strike, they should die quickly afterward.

NEXT: Gears Tactics: Things To Do After You Beat The Game