Red Dead Redemption 2 Tips: Master Hunting, Combat & Exploration
Red Dead Redemption 2 is crammed with things to do. You can explore the vast American wilderness and enjoy the many scenic vistas it presents. Hunt animals to provide for your friends or rob trains to, well, provide for your friends in a less wholesome way.
For the most part, Red Dead Redemption 2 explains the majority of its gameplay systems. But since it’s massive, some of the information is doled out over the course of multiple hours, so you may find yourself asking questions the game isn’t ready to answer yet.
To help you hit the ground running, we’ve put together a few tips that are handy to know from the outset. These are all spoiler-free, so you’re in no danger of hearing about that moment where Red Dead Redemption 2 gets surprisingly in-depth with information on the health and well-being of its main character, Arthur Morgan.
And to really make the most of this information, you should head into the player menu in the paw screen and select Arthur. You’ll be presented with information cards that clue you into the state of your health, stamina, and dead eye cores, which dictate how quickly each of these attributes regenerates.
To guarantee you’re operating at peak performance, you’ll need to maintain your cause by eating, resting, and generally keeping Arthur in good shape. You also get information on the actual numerical percentage of how much of the core you have remaining.
Temperature and weight impact stats for health and stamina, respectively. So, if you’re layering up in the heat or walking around in the chillier parts of the world as if it’s a warm summer’s day, you’ll see Arthur’s health drain faster. All outlaws are beautiful in our eyes, but if you have a specific play style in mind, it’s important to watch your weight and manage it to suit you.
Hunting is a crucial part of Red Dead Redemption 2. It brings in resources for you and the rest of your gang to survive off, but also lets you build a deeper connection with the world around you through study and observation.
When you come across an animal to hunt, don’t just go yoseity Sam on it. Instead, be more Elma FUD and take it slow. Be sure to use the study prompt as you’ll get an entry in the animal section of the compendium that tells you a little more about it. This includes details on how they behave, the best weapons to use to bring them down cleanly and thus increase their value, and what they can be used for.
Early in Red Dead Redemption 2, you’re taken out on a hunt and given a runthrough of how it works. It’s all fairly simple, but there are two main tricks that help considerably.
The first is masking your own scent. Pressing the analog sticks to activate eagle eye, and you’ll see an aura emanating off you. That’s your own body funk. Don’t be ashamed. You’re a rough and ready outlaw living off the land and farting into the winds whenever it sees you. It’s the good life.
You’ll need to make sure those wisps of bo aren’t being carried towards the animal, as they’re super judgmental about odor and will bolt. If you’re out on a tricky hunt, we recommend heading to a vendor first, as they’ll usually sell you an item to mask your smell, or you can craft one yourself. Also, hit the baths regularly. There’s a limit to how much you can smell like sunbaked horse poop.
The other tip is to attract the attention of an animal by locking onto them and then pressing square on the PS4 or X on the Xbox One. This causes the animal to raise its head and leaves it in the perfect position to be brought down cleanly.
We recommend trying to use a bow as often as possible when hunting as it’s quieter and better for getting clean kills. Don’t forget to give your pelts to Pearson back at the camp or one of the trappers that appears. They will hold on to them for you to come back later and use for crafting.
At a certain point in the game, you’ll complete a mission and meet a fence. No, we’re not talking about a wooden partition typically used to enclose outside areas and made of posts connected by either boards, rails, or wires. We’re talking about the criminal variety of offense.
These folk will buy stolen goods from you, which is handy if you’ve just five finger discounted a carriage or horses. However, they’ll also more than happily take small ticket items off your hands. So, if you’re the robbing and heisting type, fences will be your best buddies.
However, if you’re fresh off committing a crime and have a bounty on you, you’ll first need to pay that off at the post office, as fences won’t chat to you otherwise.
The basics of shooting in Red Dead Redemption 2 are familiar, simple, and intuitive. However, your gun has more uses than just filling folk with lead. In fact, it can also be used to get what you want out of a person without killing them.
The thundering clap of gunfire has a way of persuading people to be more compliant. So, if you take out your gun, hold the aim button, and then press up on the directional pad, Arthur will point his gun into the air. When you fire, you may find people are a little more deterred from acting out. Relax. Next one goes in the hair.
While many will usually comply for fear of losing their lives, others may ignore you. You can usually tell when it’s going to work based on the demeanor of another person. The cowardly types tend to stop dead in their tracks. But if you’re robbing someone and they have a defiant attitude, you may be out of luck. Nevertheless, it’s worth a shot into the sky. What the hell? Just let me be.
For those after a gun focused tip that’s useful in combat, hit the square or the X button while aiming to execute a dolphin dive. The game has a cover system to keep you safe when bullets are flying, but the dive is a handy way of minimizing risk when moving from point to point.
For those who enjoy exploring the nooks and crannies of far-off virtual lands, Red Dead Redemption 2 provides plenty to uncover. One of the most immersive ways to experience it all is to turn off the in-game map and rely on your own sense of direction and navigational skills to get around.
If you hold down on the directional pad and opt for turning off the mini map, characters that you ride with will be more forthcoming with directions, which makes for a more natural and authentic form of discovery. Go right here.
If you find yourself struggling, however, you can always just tap down again to briefly bring up the map to get your bearings.
While you’re out and about, keep your eyes peeled for smoke in the sky because where there’s smoke, there’s usually a campfire. And this more often than not will either lead to a side mission or a memorable random encounter.
Similarly, listen for things happening in your environment as you may hear someone shouting for help or beckoning you to come over as you pass by. Help me please, kinder.
Sometimes it’s easier to just use public transport to get where you need to. And to make use of fast travel, you can hop on a taxi coach or a train. These are usually only available in towns, but if you upgrade Dutch’s quarters in the camp, you can then also purchase a map for Arthur that allows him to return to previously visited locations.
Money makes the world go round, and you’ll need to keep a constant influx of cash to get by in Red Dead Redemption 2.
While exploring the world and doing missions, it’s common to come upon abandoned camps with lots of items up for picking. Sometimes you’ll have to walk up to the individual items and snatch them up. But you may also stumble upon a bunch of goodies in close proximity to each other. In these situations, instead of tapping the loot button, simply hold it down and Arthur will pocket the valuables as smoothly as one of Fagan’s boys.
One of the most consistent sources of cash and goods is the bodies of your fallen enemies. Naturally, you’ll be taking out a whole load of people, and you should make it a point of stripping them of their valuables while you’re at it.
As with the previous game, enemies you’ve killed are marked on the map with a small X. So once the battles have subsided, ensure you head over to all the corpses and recover your spoils.
As the saying we just made up right this second goes, a cowboy is only as good as the horse he or she rides in on. So you’ll want to spend time strengthening your bond with your noble steed.
The easiest way to deepen your bond with your horse is through positive reinforcement. When you’re moving at a, let’s just check on Google, two beat trot, basically a walk, press in the left analog stick and Arthur will tell his horse how much he values it and how it’s the best and bravest horse around.
From my experience, the cool down on this is around 14 seconds. So, you could minmax hold some horse compliments to build your bond quicker.
As your bond grows, your horse’s health and stamina will improve. You’ll be able to whistle for it from further, and it will come to you even if you’re in combat. It will also cross deeper water and rougher terrain, and if someone tries to steal it, they’ll have a much harder time. Other abilities such as rearing, skid turning or stopping, and even dress also become available.
There’s also some tricks to riding a horse properly, as well as best practices. If you tap the X or A buttons in time with your horse’s gallops, you’ll reduce the rate at which the stamina is consumed, which means you can run faster for longer. Make sure to also give it regular breaks and feed it often.
As the other saying that we made up right this second goes, a healthy horse is the wind beneath a gunslinger’s feet.
When you’re riding long distances, you also have the option to use a cinematic camera. If you set a waypoint on the map and there’s a direct line along a defined route, then switch to the cinematic camera. Your horse will stay true and all you need to do is hold the run button down.
Finally, here’s a quick tip that will keep FOMO at bay. Make sure to do the missions that appear as white icons around your camp. These are usually activities that you undertake alongside other members of the Vanderolin gang and provide some nice characterization moments.
These will disappear after a while, either because they’re time-sensitive or because the narrative advancements wipe them away. If one of these pops up, make sure to prioritize them over the yellow core missions. Those will always be there waiting for you.
So, those were a few tips that I think will be handy in making you the best outlaw you can be. If you’ve got your own, let us know in the comments below or come and find me on Twitter at H.
If you’re after more Red Dead Redemption 2 coverage, make sure to watch Quick Draw, our weekly show focused entirely on the game. Our YouTube channel also has a few other spoiler-free guides for you to check out, too. See you soon, partners.
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