XDefiant GSK Faction abilities & gameplay

Season 1 of XDefiant is here and has brought along with it the long-awaited GSK Faction which has the potential to shake up the current Faction meta.

Despite the various maps and weapons that have been added to the game, it’s safe to assume that the new faction is the main highlight of the update, primarily because of the skillset that they have. So, here’s everything you need to know about its abilities.

All GSK Faction abilities

• ADS (Active Defense System)
• Shockwire
• Ballistic Helmet (Passive)
• Flash Shield (Ultra)

Activated Defense System

The Activated Defense System is similar to the Trophy System that you will come across in Call of Duty. When activated, it will disable any enemy gadgets that are deployed in its vicinity.

However, it’s only available for 25 seconds when deployed and has a cooldown of another 25 seconds before you can use it again.

Shockwire

The Shockwire is quite similar to what you will see in Rainbow Six Siege as well but with a few differences. When you activate this ability, the operator will spread barbed wire over an area. Whenever an enemy steps on this, they’ll be stunned and will take damage.

The Shockwire ability in XDefiant spreads the wire over a larger area allowing you to create effective choke points.

Ballistic Helmet

The Ballistic Helmet acts as a direct counter to Snipers because it dampens headshot damage. While you will not be downed with just one shot, you will still take a considerable amount of damage.

Flash Shield

The Flash Shield Ultra is the only Ultra ability that allows you to use a shield. With this Shield equipped, you will be able to flash the enemy and then instantly eliminate them with a sidearm.

This is one of the few Ultras that can allow you to lock down an area and hold it till your teammates get to you.

Who are GSK Faction in XDefiant?

The GSK Faction has been lifted from Rainbox Six Siege and dropped into XDefiant, continuing the trend of each playable group being from another Ubisoft title. It is a division of the GSG 9 group present in that game, who are a German counter-terrorism unit.

The operators that you will be able to play with are as follows:

• Kaptan
• Krieger
• Stark

In XDefiant, the GSK is a Faction that is tailored for modes where you have a static objective, like Occupy or even Zone Control. Their skill set mostly revolves around abilities that prevent the enemy from pushing into areas, and in the right hands, can be an absolute nuisance on every single map.

How to unlock

There are two ways to unlock the GSK Faction:

• You can spend 1,000 XCoins to instantly unlock the Faction.
• Alternatively, you can unlock it for free by completing the Major challenge where you need to earn 700,000 XP.

With the Ranked mode finally available, it’s likely that players will be using GSK quite a lot to rank up quickly. The ADS ability could also act as the best counter to the Spiderbot, a Dedsec ability that has annoyed players for a while now.