Entering the online world of Red Dead Online is a fun and addictive experience. Many players have gotten lost in the wild west amassing fortunes and seeking adventure. Every year more and more people are signing on for this unique experience.
But there are a lot of missteps players make when starting out in Red Dead Online. While most are minor issues that can be overcome others can require a complete restart with a new character to fix. To avoid having to perform a restart here are some mistakes to avoid while playing.
10 Assuming it’s The Same As Redemption
Most players likely played through the singleplayer experience before jumping online. As a result they come into the Online world with some expectations about how things work. The problem is it isn’t exactly the same.
Don’t misunderstand, the player should play through the singelplayer version to get a handle on how things work. But it’s important to know that there are differences that can affect the experience. For instance, horses no longer at risk of dying is perhaps a big one most players aren’t aware of.
9 Rush Through Character Creation
Many players want to hop into the game and start playing. Whether it’s the first character or the hundredth the character creation process is by far the most tedious and least interesting. The mistake players make is quickly whipping out a character only to regret it later.
Admittedly some things can be changed later for a price. But some things can’t under any circumstances and will require a new character to resolve. The rule of thumb is that gender and body shape, such as nose size, cheekbones, etc., can’t be changed while everything else can for gold.
8 Money Mismanagement
This is a problem that affects players across the board. It’s so tempting to snatch a shiny weapon, a faster horse, or a hard to obtain item as soon as it hits the store shelves as soon as cash allows. Many players will also sink money into frivolous things like outfits when they could really use a more reliable gun.
Managing money is a common mistake that arguably has the largest impact on the game. Players should prioritize their purchases on things that will immediately result in greater earnings and not on things that have no impact on earnings. A better gun will always trump a nice hat for instance.
7 Hoarding Items While Poor
Another monetary mistake players make is hanging onto or even collecting items when they’re strapped for cash. The player really only needs a handful of weapons for various scenarios, one outfit, and a horse.
This isn’t to say the player should be miserly or live a minimalist lifestyle, but no one needs five shotguns when one does the job. Its far better to sell item to get better gear, secure a steady cashflow, and then start building collections when the player has massive disposable income.
6 Not Maintaining Weapons
A properly functioning gun is essential in this game. The player will do a tremendous amount of hunting, fighting, and defending over the course of any given moment. A mistake many players make is failing to properly maintain their gun.
When a gun gets filthy it will see a drop in damage, accuracy, and fire rate. It’s also worth pointing out that spending a bit on gun oil is much cheaper than burning through ammo and potions because the gun is dealing less and less damage. Players should keep their weapons in tip top shape and have gun oil on hand.
5 Completing Missions Quickly
When the player is strapped for cash or wanting to level up quickly it’s tempting to burn through missions as quickly as possible. This can often be a mistake as many missions reward the player for taking their time.
Stranger missions and Bounties are examples of missions that will deliver higher payouts the closer to the deadline the player is. As a result the player is incentivized to take their time when delivering a bounty or helping strangers. The player should give themselves plenty of time to finish, but they shouldn’t be afraid to run a couple errands before claiming a Bounty.
4 Ignoring Daily Challenges
Daily Challenges are the single best source of free gold in the game. Every daily challenge completed nets the player Gold Nuggets that can be combined into Gold Bars. Completing several daily challenges in a row can increase the payout until the player is earning Gold Bars on a daily basis.
Many players ignore the daily challenge because they think it’s too tedious or there’s something else they want to do. Taking a few minutes to knock out these challenges before doing anything else is often a wise use of time as it helps the player steadily progress in experience, cash, and gold to support their other pursuits.
3 Not Reseting Awards
Another mistake players make is failing to reset their Awards when they complete them. Awards challenge players to do certain activities in the game and nets them Gold Nuggets when achieved.
What players fail to realize is that each Award can be reset up to ten times thereby netting even more Gold. This isn’t to say players should become completionists and complete every Award 10 times. But if the player is organically achieving certain Awards they should be checking to see if they could reset them now and then.
2 Wasting Gold
Gold is the premium currency in Red Dead Online. It can be used to purchase a variety of things and players often make the mistake of using Gold to save their cash or the time requirement to obtain the necessary cash.
The best things to purchase with Gold are new roles. Some roles like Bounty Hunter and Collector will actually help the player amass more Gold. Afterward it’s important to set aside Gold for future roles that Rockstar may introduce. After all roles are purchased and a set amount is set aside, then the player can go wild buying whatever they want.
1 Not Having Fun
The single biggest mistake players make in this game is forgetting to have fun. At the end of the day Red Dead Online is a game and is meant to provide enjoyment and entertainment for its fans.
Lots of players, new and old, will get into a trap of grinding endlessly for that next milestone. Players will go weeks grinding daily challenges, collecting bounties for Gold, ticking off the next award, and never do what they actually want to be doing. Players shouldn’t get so hung up on the grind they forget to do something fun every now and then.