The air is thick with tension. On the other side of the door, chaos reigns a volatile mix of armed suspects, terrified civilians, and hidden traps. Your heart pounds in your chest, but your breathing is steady. You are not alone. Through your headset, the calm, clipped voices of your teammates confirm they are in position. This isn’t a game of running and gunning; it’s a methodical, brutal simulator where one wrong move means failure for the entire squad. This is the core of the Ready or Not multiplayer experience, and it’s where the game transforms from a challenging shooter into an unforgettable tactical journey.
Playing solo is one thing, but coordinating with a human squad is the definitive way to experience the game. It demands patience, flawless communication, and unwavering trust in your team. This guide is your comprehensive briefing. We will cover everything from the technical setup of joining your friends to the advanced squad tactics needed to survive the most harrowing missions in Los Sueños. It’s time to gear up, stack up, and bring order to chaos.
What Is in Our Full Ready or Not Multiplayer Guide
Getting Started in Los Sueños: Multiplayer Basics
Before you can breach your first door, you need to navigate the main menu and get your squad together. This process is straightforward, but setting up cross-platform play has a crucial step that often trips up new players.
Hosting and Joining a Game
- To Host a Public Game: From the main menu, select “Multiplayer” and then “Host Public Game.” This will place you in the central LSPD lobby, where you can select missions and customize your loadout while other players join your session.
- To Host a Private Game for Friends: For a controlled experience, create a friends-only lobby. Once you’re in the lobby, press ‘Esc’ to open the menu, click on the lobby manager, and select “invite friends.” This will open the Steam (or console equivalent) overlay, allowing you to send direct invites.
- To Join a Public Game: If you’re looking to join an existing squad, you can browse the list of active public lobbies from the multiplayer menu.
How to Set Up Crossplay (A Critical Step)
Ready or Not supports crossplay between Steam, Epic Games, PS5, and Xbox, but it requires a one time account linking process to work.
- Go to the Main Menu.
- Open Settings.
- Select Gameplay Options.
- Scroll down to the Multiplayer Options section.
- Choose the “Account Linking” button and follow the prompts. This involves connecting an Epic Games account (which is separate from the Epic Games Store) to the game.
After linking your account, ensure that the crossplay option is enabled in the same menu. Now you’ll be able to add and invite friends from other platforms through the in-game lobby manager.
Rules of Engagement: Survival and Apprehension
Mastering the core mechanics of movement, situational awareness, and interaction is the foundation of survival in Ready or Not.
Movement, Posture, and Sound
The golden rule is: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is safe.” Running makes a significant amount of noise, alerting suspects to your presence and giving them time to set up an ambush. Slow, methodical movement is almost always the correct approach when entering unknown territory.
Leaning (Q and E) is a vital tool for minimizing your exposure when checking corners or doorways. The game also features a free lean system, which gives you more control for checking unconventional spots, like under beds where suspects might be hiding.
Doors are arguably the most dangerous element on any map. Instead of throwing them wide open, learn to “peek” them by opening them just a crack. This is quieter and allows you to check for booby traps or listen for sounds inside. In contrast, a dynamic entry like kicking a door, while loud, can have a psychological “morale shock” effect on suspects, sometimes causing them to surrender immediately.
Interacting with Suspects and Civilians
The AI in Ready or Not is designed to be unpredictable and stressful. One of the biggest challenges is quickly distinguishing between a hostile suspect and a terrified civilian. Both can make sudden, erratic movements. A civilian might reach for their phone, a motion easily mistaken for drawing a weapon.
Your first action in any encounter should be to shout for compliance (press F). This must be used constantly to control individuals and compel them to drop their weapons. However, do not trust the AI. Suspects can fake a surrender, only to pull out a hidden sidearm as you approach. They can also play dead after being shot, waiting for a chance to attack you from behind. To counter this, always command a surrendered suspect to turn around and walk towards you, keeping their hands visible at all times.
The Non Lethal Approach: The Path to an S-Rank
The game heavily incentivizes taking suspects alive. To achieve the highest possible mission rating (S-Rank), you must arrest all suspects and rescue all civilians without any casualties. This is only possible by using an exclusively non lethal loadout. A non lethal run is the ultimate test of skill and mastery of the game’s mechanics.
The SWAT Arsenal: Gear and Loadouts
Your choice of equipment is the first step in any tactical plan.
Primary Weapons and Ammunition
The game offers a wide array of realistic firearms. While handling and fire rate differ, the most important factor is your choice of ammunition.
AP (Armor Piercing)
Essential against armored suspects. Its downside is the risk of over penetration, which can harm civilians or teammates behind your target.
JHP (Jacketed Hollow Point)
Devastating against unarmored targets and reduces the risk of over penetration. However, it is almost completely ineffective against body armor.
For non lethal runs, you have two primary options, each with a critical trade-off:
| Non Lethal Weapon | Pros | Cons | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beanbag Shotgun | Instantly stuns and incapacitates a suspect, making them easy to control. More effective at range. | A headshot is lethal and will instantly ruin an S-Rank run. Slow rate of fire. | Maps with open spaces and long sightlines where you need to quickly neutralize a threat from a distance. |
| Pepperball Launcher (VKS) | Completely non lethal and safe for S-Rank runs. Can affect multiple suspects in a small area. | Requires many shots to make a suspect surrender, consuming ammo quickly. Less effective at range. | Close quarters maps with small rooms where its area of effect gas can control multiple targets. |
Tactical Equipment and Gadgets
- Mirrorgun (Optiwand): The single most important intelligence gathering tool. This fiber optic camera allows you to look under doors to spot suspects, civilians, and, most importantly, deadly booby traps.
- Ballistic Shield: Provides mobile cover for the user and teammates behind them. Restricts the user to a sidearm and prevents them from interacting with doors.
- Door Wedges: A simple but incredibly effective tool for controlling the environment. Use wedges to block doors in cleared areas to prevent suspects from flanking you.
- Grenades (Flash, CS Gas, Stinger): Flashbangs are the standard for stunning rooms before entry. CS Gas is highly effective for non lethal runs, incapacitating suspects in a wide area (requires your team to wear gas masks).
Squad Cohesion: Roles and Team Loadouts
The most critical factor for success in Ready or Not is clear, constant communication. A silent team is a dead team. While the game has no formal class system, squads naturally adopt roles based on their loadouts and position in the formation.
Pointman
The first operator through the door. Often equipped for high survivability (Ballistic Shield) or speed (SMG, light armor). Responsible for the initial threat assessment.
Breacher
Carries the primary breaching tools (ram, breaching shotgun, C2) and is responsible for opening locked doors on the team leader’s command.
Support/Lethal Cover
Typically carries an assault rifle and extra grenades. Moves behind the pointman to provide covering fire and deal with threats the pointman cannot engage.
Rear Guard/Flex
Covers the team’s six to prevent flanks, wedges doors of cleared areas, and carries mission specific equipment like extra non lethal tools or a Mirrorgun.
Advanced Tactics: Mastering the Breach and Clear
Advanced tactics in this game are less about flashy maneuvers and more about the flawless execution of fundamental, risk reducing procedures.
The Art of the Breach
How you enter a room can determine the outcome of the engagement. A “hard breach” using C2 or a ram creates a loud, intimidating entry that increases the chance of suspects surrendering due to “morale shock.” A successful breach follows a clear sequence: Check (with a Mirrorgun), Stack Up (team gets in position), Deploy Grenade, Breach, and Enter & Clear.
Room Clearing (CQB)
Close Quarters Battle requires discipline. The doorway is the “fatal funnel,” the most dangerous spot on any map. Spend as little time in it as possible. Use the “slicing the pie” technique moving in an arc outside the doorway to clear angles of the room before you even enter to reduce the risk of facing multiple threats at once.
Beyond Vanilla: Mods and Community Resources
The Ready or Not modding community is a vital part of the game’s ecosystem, often providing solutions to highly requested features.
Adding AI Teammates to Multiplayer
One of the most common requests is the ability to play co-op with a mix of human players and AI teammates. While not available in the base game, this is achievable through mods. By downloading the appropriate mods from a source like NexusMods and placing the .pak files into your game’s Paks folder, you can add AI bots to your multiplayer lobby. Be aware that typically only the host can command the bots, and their loadouts are pulled from your single-player settings.
While adding AI teammates is one of the most popular uses for mods, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The modding community has created everything from custom maps to new weapons and gameplay overhauls. For a deep dive into the best mods available and how to install them, our Complete Guide to Ready or Not Mods is your essential resource.
Final Words: The Commander’s Mindset
Mastering the multiplayer of Ready or Not is a journey of patience, discipline, and teamwork. It challenges you not just as a shooter, but as a tactical thinker and a communicator under extreme pressure. Success in the brutal streets of Los Sueños depends on flawless communication, a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics, and the intelligent use of every piece of your equipment. By defining roles, coordinating loadouts, and adhering to the fundamental principles of CQB, any squad can dramatically increase its chances of survival. In the end, the difference between a successful operation and a tragedy comes down to your ability to bring order to chaos, together.
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