Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Challenge Cards
Four cards can stack. Read the risk before you lock a run for bonus requisition.
Challenge Cards return in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 as optional mission modifiers. The sequel’s important change: all four players can select a card. In the first game, one card often decided the modifier. Here, up to four cards can be active on the same drop. That is how a Horde night turns from Standard into a stacked mess of sidearms-only, exploding corpses, and extra damage taken — with requisition and attachment odds to match.
Cards are reusable. You are not burning a consumable every time you want the bonus. Check the armory and your collection as you unlock new ones through campaign and Horde play.
What cards actually do
Typical modifiers include weapon restrictions (sidearms only, no heavy tools), harsher enemy mixes, extra damage taken, exploding corpses, and altered objectives. The payout is bonus requisition and, on high-rarity cards that promise a weapon or attachment on success, an override of the normal drop table for that extraction. Read the card text before you lock. A “bonus pulse rifle” card that also strips your signature tool is a different run than a mild credit bump.
On Horde, stacked cards sit on top of the random faction roll (Xenomorphs, Pathogen, or Weyland-Yutani synthetics) and the five-wave round structure. A thermal-only restriction plus a synth round is how organised squads wipe with a smile. Coordinate in the hangar — see Play with Friends.
When to play a card
Campaign, first clear: skip rare high-risk cards. Learn rooms on Casual or Standard with no stack, then replay a mission with one modest card for requisition.
Campaign, farm: Intense plus a loot-promise card is how late attachments show up. Pair with the Progression page — Combat Rating still has to look honest before you add “take 30 percent more damage.”
Horde: stack only what the four of you can name out loud. One player on “no primary” while another is on “exploding corpses” needs a Medic who knows the extract timer. Cards do not replace Horde map knowledge.
Achievements: some trophies ask for specific difficulties, not specific cards. Do not brick a Pure Professionals style run because a stacked card caused a wipe you cannot afford. See Achievements.
Squad etiquette
Because four cards can fire at once, a random matchmade marine can sabotage the night without meaning to. In public Horde, agree in text chat before ready-up, or play without cards. In a private lobby, assign who brings the loot card and who brings the mild credit card.
Challenge Cards are not DLC. They are in Standard. Premium packs (Ripley, Herk Mondo, Rain’s Jackson’s Star) do not grant extra cards; they grant cosmetics and signature guns. Editions: Editions & DLC.
Patch 1 and cards
Patch 1 did not rewrite the Challenge Card system in the published notes. It did close skip exploits and a duplication bug that made “farm this card” videos from preview week obsolete. Treat any guide that tells you to stand on a ledge to finish a card objective as dead.
Related pages
- How to Play — where cards sit in the mission loop.
- How to Unlock Horde — cards matter most after the mode is open.
- Weapon Augments — attachments cards can drop.
- Loadouts — kits that survive restriction cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions about Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2.
Can more than one Challenge Card be active?
Yes. All four players can select a card. Up to four modifiers can stack on the same mission or Horde round.
Are Challenge Cards consumed on use?
No. They are reusable. Unlock them through play, then apply them from your collection when you deploy.
Do high-rarity cards change loot?
Cards that promise a bonus weapon or attachment on success override the normal drop table for that extraction. They also add risk. Read the text before you lock.
Should I use cards on my first campaign run?
Usually no. Learn the six campaigns clean, then add a mild requisition card on replay. Save stacked Horde cards for a coordinated four-stack.
Are Challenge Cards part of Premium Edition?
No. Cards are in the Standard game. Premium and the Rain pack are cosmetics and signature weapons, not extra modifiers.