Titanfall Burn Cards detailed deeper: no trades, no in-game purchases

With just days left before the full official launch of Titanfall, Respawn Entertainment are taking some time to show off more details about in-game play. Today's bit has to do with Burn Cards, giving users the ability to give themselves a temporary burst of abilities in a round. As the game is all multi-player, each round's abilities can have a significant impact on the game.

Burn Cards can give a pilot – you, the player – special abilities for a limited time. These abilities can be Titan Upgrades, Ability Boosts, Amped-up Weapons, and other oddities. While a number of Burn Cards are available once a player levels up inside their first few player levels, the good stuff really starts to appear at Level 7.

At Level 10, a pilot is able to hold 2 burn cards for a session. At level 20, 3 burn cards are able to be held. These burn cards are chosen for use once a player has died once in a session. Each time the player returns to the field of battle, a Burn Card can be played.

There are two rules in how long a Burn Card will last:

1. A Burn Card will last one Pilot life.

2. A Burn Card effect will last multiple rounds in round-based game modes.

Round-based game modes include – for example – Last Titan Standing. If you're still alive after having used a Burn Card and the round ends, you'll have that same ability running through the next round as well. You can earn Burn Cards by completing challenges in-game and by leveling up.

ABOVE: Challenges explored in brief on Titanfall Beta on PC.

You can only hold a certain number of Burn Cards at once, so it's important that you continue to use cards as you play. If your collection is full and you're unable to hold more, but you earn more, new cards will be discarded automatically. Toss or use cards often!

Respawn Entertainment has been clear – this week specifically, that Burn Cards will not be able to be traded between pilots. They've also suggested that Burn Cards will not be offered through microtransaction purchases – you've gotta earn them!