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Red Dead Online received its latest content update today, bringing either one or two new game modes depending on what platform you play on. The in-game store has also been updated with new, limited stock items, so catch those before they're gone. The new mode available to all Red Dead Online players is Target Races, combining good aim with riding skills. Adding a new twist to the standard "get to the finish line first" structure of races, Target Races add a number of targets to each track and shooting these will quickly refill your horse's stamina, giving you an edge in speed. The default weapon available is the bow and arrow, though firearm picks are littered about the track. Players can lock onto targets, but if you're sure of your free-aim skills, you might want to turn those weapons against other competitors as well. There's no lock on, but shooting them off their horses is one way to get ahead of the competition. Boosting in slipstreams is also a viable tactic. For tips on how to succeed in other game modes, check out our guide. If you're on PlayStation 4, then a variation on this mode is also available. Open Target Races twists the formula by trading the track for an open arena. Here, shooting the targets is mandatory instead of just being a way to boost your stamina. You need to score a hit on every target, in whatever which order you please, and then rush to the finish line as quick as possible. Xbox One players will get a taste of Open Target Races 30 days from now. Leveling up is going to be a lot easier this week thanks to a 20% boost on all XP earning activities in the game. Just about anything you do in Red Dead Online grants you various amounts of XP, so even if you simply play like you usually do you'll rack up some extra experience. This week we're also seeing some of Red Dead Online's first scheduled weekly discounts. All items found in the Horse care section of the in-game store have a universal 25% discount, including things like medicine and the brush. Saddle upgrades fall under this discount as well. Four new clothing items have been added to the limited section of the catalog too. Grab the Furred Gloves, Strickland Boots, Morning Tail Coat and Bowyer Boots (female only) before they're gone! The post Target Races Now Available In Red Dead Online appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Today saw the release of a small weekly content update for Red Dead Online, adding a fishing challenge to the game. We also know about four other game modes coming to the game in the next three weeks, however the next major Beta Update is planned for later this Spring. Rockstar has detailed their upcoming plans for new features, based on player feedback. Ever since release, one of the developers' main concerns has been griefing - or, rather, the effort to minimize this phenomenon. Over the course of the Beta, new systems have been put in place to mitigate the issue, to varying measures of success. In their continued efforts in this regard, Rockstar's developers have devised the new Hostility system which will be coming to the game soon. The Hostility system seeks to eliminate one of the weaknesses that the proximity-based blip system suffered from. Players who try to defend themselves from griefers run the risk of being marked as violent themselves, thus increasing the visibility of their blip on the map and turning red. The upcoming Hostility system will monitor which party in a conflict is the aggressor, so victims of griefing can safely protect themselves. This way, if you kill a griefer - regardless of whether they were griefing you or someone else - your own hostility stat will not increase, nor will you incur any bounties. Naturally, the Hostility system won't come into play when you are in structured PvP scenarios. However, keep in mind that if you are engaged in free roam PvP activities, killing other players in free roam who are not participating will increase your hostility stat. The Hostility system has additional features that will be detailed in upcoming posts. Additionally, a new system will allow players to mark themselves as either Defensive or Offensive. An evolution of the passive mode system from GTA Online, as well as "marked for PvP" used in many MMOs like World of Warcraft, this new Playing Style system further serves to prevent griefing and unwanted PvP attacks. If you mark yourself as Offensive, then practically nothing changes - you continue to play as you have until now. Marking yourself as Defensive, however, alters a number of factors. Defensive players cannot be lassoed, critical hits can't be dealt against them, headshots incur the same damage as body shots and attacking them will incur major Hostility penalties. As a Defensive player, you may not lock onto other players, nor can they lock onto you, and any hostile action on your part will automatically switch you to Offensive and incur penalties. This way if you set yourself to Defensive, griefing you will be more trouble than it's worth. Players can also expect content expansion beyond the odd game mode here and there. Both the Land Of Opportunities mission-chain will continue with more quests focused on Jessica LeClerk, and the Free Roam Missions will also be increased in number. New random encounters will also be added, such as ambushes or various NPCs in need of help. The Daily Challenges system will be overhauled, removing any challenge that indirectly encouraged griefing in free roam, as well as challenges that require unavailable content. A new weapon returning from Red Dead Redemption is also on its way - keep an eye out for the LeMat Revolver, coming soon. These features will be implemented is a major Beta Update coming sometime later this spring. The post Rockstar Details Upcoming Red Dead Online Features appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Red Dead Online's latest scheduled content update has rolled around and a new free roam event is available for players. Additionally, new limited edition items have been added to the game's item catalog, a new XP boost is live and you can pick up a new care package. Giving the aspiring anglers of the Wild West a chance to shine is the all new Fishing Challenge free roam event, which is now part of the standard even rotation in-game. If you opt-in, you'll be transported to the location of the challenge - which varies between swamps, lakes and rivers - once it is triggered and given all of the equipment necessary to catch the largest amount of fish in weight before the timer runs out. If you come out on top, you'll earn a tidy reward in XP and gold. Rockstar has also revealed the release dates of other upcoming game modes. Target races, which task you not only with crossing the finish line first, but hitting targets in the meantime, is arriving on the 26th of March. On the same day, Open Target Races will be added as a timed exclusive on PS4, staying locked for Xbox players for 30 days. On the 2nd of April, the Up In Smoke showdown mode will be added to the game, followed by Plunder on the 9th. If you like to accessorize, you'll be particularly interested in this week's limited clothing options available from the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Catalogue. The Gator Hat, Ortega Vest, Woodland Gloves and Pelt Half Chaps are available this week only. Satisfy the tracker in you with a bit of hunting as the activity now carries a 30% XP boost this week, allowing you to climb levels faster while downing game in the wild. All players have also received a care package styled after the new Fishing Challenge mode, packed with lures and baits. Check back next week to learn more about the upcoming Target Races. The post Fishing Challenge Swims Into Red Dead Online appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Following the recent possible graphical downgrade administered to Red Dead Redemption 2, the news that a new patch was quietly released today may lead you to assume that the two are connected. However, nothing in update 1.07 seems to address or acknowledge the recent concerns about the apparent lack of ambient occlusion. Noted on our forums, players had to download a 1.248GB patch this morning before launching Red Dead Redemption 2. The patch remains unannounced on any official channel by Rockstar, though patch notes can be perused. It seems 1.07 is a smaller bug fixing and general maintenance update with little direct impact on how players experience the game. Highlights from the patch notes include the following: Addressed issues with save data. Added fixes for exploits with Red Dead Redemption 2 version 1.07. RDR2 version 1.07 added fixes for crashing issues. Fixed stuttering/lag issues. RDR2 update 1.07 has fixed few glitches. Added fixes for framerate drop and freezing issues. Added performance and stability improvements. All of these read as generic and common tweaks that go into any update that doesn't bring new content to the game. Though vague, "added performance and stability improvements" may be construed to include performance tweaks fixing the perceived graphics downgrade, but considering the kind of attention that particular issue gained online we'd assume Rockstar would draw more attention to it. Meanwhile, it seems that both Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online servers are temporarily unavailable, most likely due to standard maintenance. Players will hopefully be able to log into these multiplayer games shortly, as such maintenance rounds rarely take long. Red Dead Online should be getting its next scheduled content update tomorrow. It is likely that 1.07 preloaded the new content, with it remaining invisible and inaccessible until Rockstar flips the switches tomorrow. Keep an eye out for our coverage of the new content then. The post New Red Dead Redemption 2 Patch Quietly Released appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

If you feel like Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't quite seem as visually impressive as it did before since the new patch, you're not alone. Unconfirmed reports based on screenshot comparisons indicate that patch 1.06 may have removed a lighting effect from the game. First noted by Twitter user Darealbandicoot, a comparison of the exact same frame from a cutscene before and after the patch indicates a clear difference in how the game renders lighting. Based on the screenshots, both global lighting and ambient occlusion have been affected. No longer are all objects in the path of the light rays detected making shadows less realistic. Some areas that should be darker have no shadows at all. Before 1.03However, this is simply the most noticeable change, but not the first. Reddit users have been documenting changes made to graphics and lighting effects since patch 1.03. The game has been subtly changing in its visual capabilities with these patches, and while the point of patching is usually to improve optimization, it seems some downgrades slipped in as well. Shadows and lighting have consistently been becoming less and less realistic based on the screenshots, and there isn't any clear explanation as to why. The likeliest scenario is that this is a bug that has gone mostly unnoticed until now and that Rockstar has been causing it by accident. Reports are also unclear as to how universal this phenomenon is, and on what platforms it appears on. 1.03 onwardsNow that the issue is gaining larger traction, it will likely be resolved in upcoming patches. Red Dead Redemption 2 has caused a bit of a ruckus with regards to its graphics before, due to a rather common issue on PS4. This blurring issue resulted in a major uproar and earned an official statement from Rockstar a couple of months ago. We'll keep an eye on any developments and update you. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Graphics Possibly Downgraded appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Rockstar continues to expand Red Dead Online with weekly beta updates and today's release includes an all-new Showdown Series mode which allows players to fulfil their PVP needs without resorting to griefing in free roam. Alongside the new mode, additional clothing items have been added to the game as well. Spoils of War puts a slightly new spin on the traditional capture the flag rules. Two to sixteen players compete on a map with two stockpiles of supplies, with the goal being the theft of enemy supplies. You need to fight your way to the other stockpile, steal some of their stuff, and make it all the way back to your stockpile in order to add to your score. Meanwhile, you need to protect your base from the enemy players. These PVP modes are a great way to complete any combat-related daily challenges you have, since trying to complete them in free roam would constitute griefing. Spoils of War is also a fun new way to rack up XP and gold. This week players can benefit from a 20% XP boost which applies to all Showdown Series game modes, allowing you to level up much faster while taking part in structured PVP. There is added incentive to try out the newest mode too - all players who win a round of Spoils of War will be eligible for a free bonus of 8 explosive arrows, delivered to the post office or their camp. A new selection of clothing has been added to the catalog as well, though the new arrivals will only be around for a limited time. The Tasman Outfit (Male Only), Danube Outfit (Female Only), Tied Pants, Hitched Skirt (Female Only), Winter Shotgun Coat, Gardenia Hat and Squat Stovepipe Top Hat are all available this week. Players can expect the permanent stock of the in-game store to be expanded with upcoming updates as well, and the official Feedback platform has been updated with new content as well. The post Red Dead Online Beta Update Adds Spoils Of War Mode appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

The question of Red Dead Redemption 2 eventually making its way to PC is hot on the minds of fans months after launch on the PS4 and Xbox One. The first game developed by Rockstar specifically for the current generation of consoles, RDR2 is a wholly different beast compared to Grand Theft Auto 5. Between shifting market dynamics and an unclear business partnership, just how likely is a PC port this year? When fans and analysts try to make predictions about Red Dead Redemption 2, eyes are always aimed at GTA 5 as a basis for comparison. The record-breaking, continuous success of the 2013 game should serve as an example for any AAA studio when it comes to what they can hope to achieve. Shipping over 100 million copies and topping sales charts 5 years after release are achievements that no other game can boast. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released to commercial success and critical praise on two platforms - the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, with Rockstar entering a timed exclusivity and marketing deal with Sony. Many of the game's marketing materials carried PS4 branding and PS4 players gain access to some content earlier. GTA 5 also only launched on the respective Microsoft and Sony consoles of its era (Xbox 360 and PS3), before being ported to the current-gen systems and eventually PC. The main difference between it and Red Dead Redemption 2, however, is history. Grand Theft Auto began on PC, and almost all games in the franchise are available on the platform. No Red Dead game is playable on PC and they never has been. At least natively. This is where the Sony partnership becomes important with respect to the PC question. Red Dead Redemption can be played on PC (albeit only with a Dualshock controller and horrible latency) via the PS Now streaming service, which allows subscribers to stream a number of games from a set library to either their PlayStation consoles or PCs. In the past we've speculated that the game being available on PS Now is what prevented Rockstar from using RDR2's hype to retroactively port the 2011 original to PC, in spite of their being a huge amount of interest ever since it originally launched almost a decade ago. It is also possible that this marketing deal cooked up with Sony is preventing Rockstar from porting RDR2 as well, though we can't know for how long. That said, releasing Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC might be something that Take-Two will be looking at more intently in the coming months. As big of a success as Red Dead Redemption 2 was and is, Red Dead Online is causing the company some problems. The player base is flaky, so Take-Two can't report particularly strong numbers, and the mode has kicked up some controversy over content and monetization. While players have expressed frustrations with the online mode, it is important to remember that Red Dead Online is still in beta phase and that many of its features will be tweaked, and more content is on the way. A PC release, on the other hand, may kick things into gear once again. In spite of some hiccups with the multiplayer features, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still widely regarded as a masterpiece and droves of gamers who don't play on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One are waiting for their chance to experience Arthur Morgan's story. It's important to remember that the main target audience of Red Dead is wholly different from that of GTA, it being a more mature game with slower pacing. Even if one factors in reportedly low sales figures for GTA 5 on PC, you must consider that (1) these usually don't account for digital purchases; and (2) those numbers are low only in comparison to the absolutely insane console figures, and on their own are impressive. Red Dead Redemption 2 was hyped for so long, and so hard, that even an unannounced surprise PC release would turn a massive profit. Players have been clamoring for this, and petitions sprung up the moment the game was announced. Porting a console game to PC isn't as easy as flipping a switch, but it still costs significantly less than developing an entirely new product. It would, however, draw a whole new platform's worth of players to purchase the game, and play Red Dead Online too. Taking advantage of PC hardware, Rockstar would be able release an even more visually impressive game than we have now, and if they foster a healthy modding community (modding is currently only viable on PC for the vast majority of games) it would ensure a steady stream of passive marketing through the discussion and sharing of popular mods and add-ons. In short, releasing a PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 has numerous advantages and no disadvantages that we can see, and doing so in 2019, while the game is still hot off the press, would be the most ideal time to do so. Analysts peg the beginning of the next console generation to be 2020 or 2021, and all three separate launches of GTA 5 came year after year. This way the original release in 2018 could be followed by PC on 2019 and next-gen in 2020, if the predictions hold up. We would certainly like to see Red Dead Redemption 2 come to PC sooner rather than later. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Coming To PC In 2019? appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Red Dead Online is following in GTA Online's footsteps with its weekly content updates that attempt to keep the game fresh and engaging by adding new content every Tuesday. Following last week's major update which... didn't go over too well, Rockstar is at it again with a new weapon and free roam event. Both of these additions were teased previously, as part of the big end-of-February update, but when that DLC actually dropped it was missing much of what was announced. It's now clear that a large chunk of teased content will be released later down the line as drip-feed DLC. Players of Red Dead Redemption will recognize the Evans Repeater, a rifle which was featured in the previous game but not the single player portion of Red Dead Redemption 2. This mid-to-long range repeater is deadly and has a high ammo capacity, allowing you to get off enough shots to score kills before having to reload (if your aim is true). The customizability and high rate of fire also make it a formidable weapon. Fool's Gold is the newest free roam event, a game-mode that takes place in the open world and that you can easily hop into for a short spurt of structured PvP. As detailed previously, you score kills while wearing the golden armor, which also makes you more resilient. Other players will try to kill you and claim the armor in order to score points of their own. Besides earning gold and XP, free roam events like Fool's Gold will let you complete combat challenges without resorting to griefing, which is a big plus for everyone. Keep an eye out for the in-game prompt to play, and remember that when you opt-in, you'll be transported to the location automatically. In order to show their appreciation towards players, Rockstar has also added a temporary care package which every player can redeem once during this week. You can pick up the package at either a post office or your camp (if you have the necessary upgrade), and contains some consumables and supplies that should help you out, such as ammo, arrows and horse medicine. An additional bonus awaits players who successfully complete a total of 5 challenges anytime between now and the 11th of March. If you meet the requirements, you can expect to be rewarded with a Special Spinner next week. This unique lure can attract all sizes of fish and won't be lost if you cut the fishing line. Stay tuned for more Red Dead Online Beta news. The post Red Dead Online Update Adds Evans Repeater, Fool's Gold Mode appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Red Dead Online is struggling to gain momentum in spite of the impressible popularity and success of Red Dead Redemption 2's single player portion. While Arthur's story is both critically acclaimed and popular, Red Dead Online has been facing challenges and criticisms ever since it was launched. According to analytics site SuperData, Red Dead Online isn't just being outperformed by its cousin Grand Theft Auto Online, it's losing ground. The RDR2 multiplayer mode has earned 14% less revenue month-over-month in January, indicating a drop in players and engagement with "recurrent spending opportunities". It's worth reiterating that Red Dead Online is only in its Beta phase. Over the past few months Rockstar has been accepting player feedback regarding just about every aspect of the game. Several updates have been released which sought to incorporate this feedback in an actionable manner to achieve a better game experience. However, it seems many players are content with letting others iron out the creases, and are waiting until this Beta phase is over to start playing. While Rockstar initially stated that they reserve the right to wipe progress and characters at the end of the Beta phase, they have since corrected that and indicated that no such wipe is planned. This is reinforced by the fact that microtransactions have been made available, allowing players to spend real money to get gold bars, with which they can purchase items. Rockstar has also started adding in new content alongside the tweaks and features, however that hasn't gone over too well. Griefing has been, and remains, a problem in Red Dead Online and an effective countermeasure has yet to be developed, which is likely a large factor in players being scared off. Another factor may be the in-game economy, which remains rather imbalanced. The rate at which players can earn gold nuggets is disproportional to the prices of items which are available. The feeling of being backed into using microtransactions is stronger than in the case of GTA Online, even though many fans of that game would complain about the same thing. Red Dead Online is a wholly different beast from GTA Online, but the basis of comparison is still there - both are multiplayer components attached to major AAA Rockstar Games releases. Granted, GTA Online has had over 5 years to accrue popularity and a huge player base, but under normal circumstances, a 5-year-old game is already in a downward spiral. The shoes left by the multiplayer experience set in Los Santos are impossibly big since it is an industry outlier that broke not only records but trends and molds. It has millions upon millions of active players bolstered by over 100 million copies of the game being sold, two decades of brand recognition and even more publicity than Red Dead Redemption 2 had. Grand Theft Auto is also much less mature, and therefore more accessible to a casual audience than Red Dead. When comparing the two games, it's not just the revenue of the Online mode that shows a gap. In January 2019, Red Dead Redemption 2 was the 8th best selling game on consoles. GTA 5 was 4th. A more than five year old game is moving more copies than one of last year's biggest hits. It was always anticipated that Red Dead Redemption 2 wouldn't match GTA 5's success due to the smaller target audience, and this data proves those anticipations correct. We'll see if Red Dead Online picks up speed as it exits the Beta phase. Rockstar is still working on fixing issues and adding features, so the game might look a whole lot different half a year down the track than it does now. Hopefully those changes will bring the player base needed to ramp up revenue. The post Red Dead Online Generating Less Revenue Than GTA Online appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Sometimes the best intentions can backfire, and based on community feedback that has gone up on social sites since the 26th of February, the latest content update for Red Dead Online has kicked up a bit of a controversy. It appears many players believe that some of the new features were implemented in less than ideal ways, while new systems intended to combat griefing simply exasperated the situation. One particular, rather strongly worded, Reddit thread has gained over 26 thousand upvotes, indicating that a large chunk of the playerbase agrees with these issues. Large swathes of players expressed disappointment in Red Dead Online considering how universally praised the single player portion of the game is. The online mode has been struggling to get on its feet since release, but then again that's what Beta phases are for. Keep in mind that Rockstar is open to receiving feedback about the game, and will incorporate player feedback into future updates. Being a Beta, Red Dead Online is still very malleable, meaning upcoming changes in the next few months could radically alter the player experience. Currently, it seems like a radical alteration is what the game desperately needs. Following feedback about how prevalent griefing is in the game, Rockstar has put together a selection of systems intended to reduce the practice as much as possible. But if anything, the update catered to griefers. The proximity-based blip system has backfired, with players trying to protect themselves against griefers having their blips turn red and becoming indicated at longer range. The reworked parleying system is also counterintuitive as it now requires longer waiting times and ends up being a nuisance not only for the griefers, but for the griefed as well. Additionally, alongside all of these anti-griefing measures, as part of the new daily challenge system, Rockstar has added challenges which practically task players to grief - such as to get 3 headshots on other players. While honorable players would relegate the completion of such challenges to PvP modes, the reality is that most will just go off to shoot any player in the head in freeroam. A quick and easy solution would be to only tally the shots for the challenge when done in a PvP mode. Beyond this, hunting challenges now provide even less of a reward than they did before. Another issue with the Daily Challenge system is that it incorporates content not yet released. Some challenges task players with getting a number of kills with a weapon not yet available, and Xbox players see challenges with gear requirements that are still timed exclusive on the PS4. These impossible challenges can break the streaks players need to keep up in order to earn valuable bonuses. All of these are valid concerns. Considering how long Grand Theft Auto Online has combated griefers with all kinds of systems unsuccessfully, it was to be expected that things wouldn't be smooth on day-one, but Red Dead Online is a much slower, less dynamic experience where curtailing griefing should be an easier task. Many comments echo similar sentiments, saying that Red Dead Redemption 2 is fantastic, but currently Red Dead Online isn't worth playing. Hopefully in the coming weeks and months, Rockstar will be able to work player feedback into updates and hammer out these issues. The post Red Dead Online Players Unhappy With New Changes appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Red Dead Online just received its biggest content drop since the game was launched late last year. While not the first content update, today's patch adds the largest amount of new items and features since release. New customization items, new weapons and a large selection of new gameplay opportunities await in the Wild West. The majority of the additions appear in terms of gameplay. Players can now earn additional XP and gold nuggets by completing daily challenges. Each day, you'll get a rotating list of 7 challenges spanning various aspects of the game, each of which offer their own rewards. Completing all 7 will net you a bonus, which can be increased by completing streaks. The more challenges you complete without missing out a day, the bigger the bonus becomes. The Fool's Gold and Target Races modes detailed last week have been made available as well. Fight for possession of the golden armor in the former, and race while practicing your aim for victory in the latter. The more peaceful fishing challenges, which task you with catching the highest weight in fish, are also accessible now. Though teased last week, Rockstar has announced that the three Showdown modes planned will only be coming at a later date. Details about Spoils of War, Up In Smoke and Plunder are scarce, but we'll be hearing more about them soon as we get closer to their release. Of the two weapons teased, we only get our hands on one today. The Rare Shotgun is an upgraded version of the Double Barreled Shotgun and is available from the catalogue or gunsmiths now. The mid-to-long range Evans Repeater will be added to these inventories sometime soon. A large selection of new clothing items and emotes have been added to the game as well, giving you knew ways to customize your character and interact with the world around you. Additional, limited clothes will pop up in the in-game store occasionally, but they'll only be up for purchase temporarily. PlayStation 4 players also gained access to additional emotes and the Jawbone Knife, which will be unlocked on Xbox One in 30 days. Some of the features and enhancements Rockstar has spoken about earlier have gone into effect. The reworked Parley and Feud system seeks to offer new ways to resolve in-game conflicts with other players, while the proximity-based blip system offers a new way to combat griefing. The Law and Bounty system also received an extensive overhaul. Rockstar wants to show its gratitude to the fans who have been submitting Beta feedback all this time. This week, players can receive a care package at the camp or post office consisting of a number of supplies, ammo and consumables. Make sure to claim yours before the 5th of March. The post Red Dead Online Gets Biggest Update Since Launch appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Red Dead Online is getting another beta update next Tuesday and it's packing a lot of content. With new game modes, weapons, customization items and emotes, this is the largest single content drop since Online launched last year. Rockstar has been teasing this for a while now, but finally we have some concrete details on what to expect. The February 26 update will include 5 new modes. One for free roam, three for the Showdown Series and one for the Racing Series. The new free-roam mode is called Fool's Gold, which puts an interesting twist on the deathmatch formula. One player always wears a flashy and utterly impractical suit of golden armor, which increases their health. By killing the armor bearer, it is possible to equip it. You gain points by making kills while wearing the armor. While you have it, your goal is to kill as many opponents as possible and survive as long as possible in order to retain the armor. If you're not wearing it, your goal is to kill the armor bearer and be the one to grab the armor. The three new Showdown Series modes are Up In Smoke, Spoils Of War and Plunder. Rockstar hasn't revealed details about these particular modes yet, but did give hints - they involve CTF-like mechanics, looting other players and survival elements. We know more about the upcoming Racing Series mode however - Target Races will have you shooting targets from horseback while trying to be first across the finish line. A new Competitive Challenge will also be added. Fishing Challenges will grant you rewards if you end up catching the greatest gross weight of fish among all participating players. By opting into the challenge you'll immediately receive all necessary equipment, and will be invincible for the time being, to prevent griefers from ruining your catch. Gunsmiths and the catalogue will be updated with a pair of new weapons. The Evans Repeater and the Rare Shotgun will be available on the 26th of February however we don't yet know what stats these two guns pack. Joining these will be a large selection of new clothing items to further personalize your character with. Some items aren't permanent additions, so keep an eye out on these limited clothes. New emotes will also give you new ways to interact with other players you meet. Rockstar has also announced the next wave of content that is will be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 for a limited time. Xbox One players will have to wait to access the Jawbone Knife, which is a new melee weapon, Open Target Races, a variant of the Target Races mode that will be available to everyone, and 3 new emotes. Keep in mind that the XP bonus is still live, and check back next week to get the full scoop on the upcoming update. The post Upcoming Red Dead Online DLC Game Modes Revealed appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Rockstar Games has outlined what players can expect from this month's Red Dead Online Beta update, coming on the 26th of February. While many of these features have been hinted at before, and are based on community feedback from the beta, it's nice to see a clear idea of what to expect. One of the main changes aims to combat griefing, which the current Parley & Feud system simply isn't well enough suited to curb. Player blips on the map will be proximity based. You will only see the locations of other players on the map if they are within 150 meters of your character and, at slightly longer distances, blips will only appear when the character fires their weapon. At even greater distances the blips will be entirely invisible. This prevents aggressors from hunting a player across long distances by tracking them via the map. If you put enough distance between yourself and the griefer, they won't be able to find you. Rockstar also designed a way to warn players about potential griefers. Committing acts like killing players or mounts outside of modes or missions will increase the detection radius of your blip and change its color. The worse your behavior, the greater the distance at which others will see you - but you won't see them. The blip will also change color to red to indicate a violent player. The somewhat lacking Parley & Feud system is also getting an overhaul, with Posse Parleys, Posse Feuds and Leader Feuds being added as possible conflict resolution options for players to explore in case they get killed outside of PvP modes or missions. Rockstar is hoping that the introduction of the new blip system together with the upgrade of the previous system should minimalize griefing in Red Dead Online. Committing crimes will also incur bounties that, once reaching a high enough amount, will result in NPC bounty hunters spawning and attacking you. Smaller crimes may only decrease your honor, while more severe crimes will add various amounts to the price on your head. The higher the bounty, the more powerful the NPCs that will be sent after you. Daily challenges are also coming to the game, giving players additional ways to earn XP and gold nuggets. The range of challenges available will be broad and will cover just about every aspect of gameplay, meaning everyone will find challenges to their liking and can practice all aspects of the game by completing them. As the content available in Red Dead Online expands, so will the variety of challenges, and bonuses can be earned by completing streaks. Further bug fixes and rebalancing is also planned with the Varmint Rifle being named specifically as having its accuracy tweaked. Players can also earn additional XP this week and next week by joining Posses. The February 26th Update will also bring new content to Red Dead Online, so keep an eye out for news about that! The post New Red Dead Online Features Coming February 26 appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

During the lead-up to the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, we already knew that the game would pack a multiplayer mode not unlike Grand Theft Auto Online. Though continuously popular and profitable, fans of the latter were worried that the Wild West multiplayer romp will spell the end of the increasingly wacky insanity of GTA Online. Take-Two and Rockstar have repeatedly reassured fans this isn't the case. One more such reassurance came recently, when Take-Two reported its quarterly earnings to investors in a scheduled call. Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to perform admirably, with 23 million copies shipped worldwide, not counting digital sales. These numbers surpassed all of Take-Two's internal estimates, though some analysts estimated greater sales. Red Dead Online hasn't exited its beta stage yet, however the developers have already begun expanding its content with free DLC, following a model similar to that applied to the infinitely popular GTA Online. In this same investor call, Take-Two executives stressed that such updates will continue for GTA Online as well, and the two games will be supported side-by-side. Red Dead Online's rise will not affect the other title. This shouldn't come as any real surprise, though. GTA Online continues to be one of the biggest sources of revenue for the company, all these years after release. Though the game was initially launched on the previous generation of consoles, and the next one is right around the corner, it remains one of the most-played, and surprisingly, most bought games. It stood tall on the best-selling games list for 2018 right alongside Red Dead Redemption 2. While Rockstar Games has only been releasing content updates for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC for a very long time now, GTA Online can still be viewed as something of a relic from the previous generation - if it weren't for all the upgrades the current-gen re-release went through. Millions of players still play GTA Online across five platforms, so cutting support in favor of Red Dead Online would be foolish - and unnecessary. With the kind of revenue brought in by both games, Rockstar should have more than enough to cover continued development on both fronts. In technical terms, there are many similarities between GTA Online and Red Dead Online, in spite of the difference in setting and tone. While GTA Online is set in the modern day and is much less serious - there are laser weapons, orbital strikes and colorful flying bikes with lock-on missiles - Red Dead Online follows the more somber and serious tone of the single player story. Nonetheless, both feature structured PvP (Adversary Modes vs Showdown Series), microtransactions (Shark Cards vs Gold Bars), play accommodation that can be upgraded and customized (Apartments vs Camps), modes of transportation to be bought and customized (cars vs horses) and framework for team-ups (crews vs posses). Creating new content for them wouldn't have awfully different pipelines either. We'd guess there is quite some overlap between players of GTA Online and Red Dead Online, so if you're worried your new multiplayer home will lead to the death of the older one, there's no need to fear. The post Red Dead Online To Be Supported Alongside GTA Online appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2 is something of a casual artist, filling his personal journal with drawings related to the events of the game. These drawings have been the subject of praise from fans ever since the game was released, and recently one particular fan took it upon themselves to recreate the entire thing in real life. If you take the time to read Arthur's journal - which you really should - you'll see portraits of characters encountered during the story, landscapes and cityscapes showing off areas and sketches of animals and plants found throughout the frontier. The creator of this replica, who goes by JamesyMonkey online, has recreated these drawings with loving detail. Arthur also writes summaries of his days, mainly of story missions or side quests that have some narrative significance, or of his interactions with characters. It's all written in old-timey cursive, which JamesyMonkey has managed to copy as well. It must take no small amount of patience and skill to pull something like this off. The replica has been making the rounds on Red Dead related community sites with many fans expressing a desire to buy copies of the replica should it be made in larger quantities. Since this replica isn't even entirely finished - the creator has been posting work-in-progress images - and it's all handcrafted, mass production is unlikely unless Rockstar decides to produce a series of replicas as merchandise. However, seeing as the content of the journal changes based on your actions in the story, if Rockstar would release any one version, it would only be authentic for a small slice of the player base. Creating several version in mass production is unfeasible, and while should he be inclined, JamesyMonkey could potentially launch an Etsy store or something and take up orders, but that might bring with it some legal trouble. So for now, if you also want a custom replica of Arthur Morgan's journal from Red Dead Redemption 2, you'll have to make it yourself. You can check out a larger gallery of the replica here. The post Fan Creates Replica Of Arthur's Journal appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Have you finished Red Dead Redemption 2's storyline? It's a massive game filled to the brim with content, and it's easy to get lost in all of the opportunities, so it's understandable that some players might go off exploring and end up tangled in side-activities for long stretches of time. You might also have very little free time to dedicate to gaming. Nonetheless, if you have finished the story, you are part of a very small minority. Writing for GameRevolution, Tyler Treese compared some statistics on a couple of PlayStation 4 games that were recently released. These games all award players an achievement when they complete the storyline, and you can view what percentage of players have unlocked any given achievement, making it easy to track stats on who finished these titles. Only a mere 22% of players have seen the storyline of Red Dead Redemption 2 through to its end, even though the game has been out for 3 months now. This doesn't mean 100% completion either, just going through the story. None of the side activities are required here, only the main mission. The storyline depicting the early exploits of the Van Der Linde Gang before it fell apart was a major draw of this game, so it's surprising to us that so few players care to complete it. This goes to show that when you fill your game to the brim with content, many players might just burn out. Typically it is considered that the more the content the better the game because you get more value, and if the game is great, then having more of it to play should be good right? However, many folks who need to juggle gaming with work, social obligations, other hobbies, studying and so on aren't left with much time, and 30-40 hour investments seem major, let alone over 100-hour playthroughs the likes of which a massive open-world game like Red Dead Redemption 2 demands. It's also true that Red Dead Redemption 2 ended up selling vastly more copies than Red Dead Redemption, so a large chunk of players may have bought the game just to mess around in an exciting Wild West sandbox, without much care for the characters and storyline. If you haven't finished Red Dead Redemption 2, do you intend to at all? We'd like to hear your input on the forums. The post Barely Anyone Is Finishing Red Dead Redemption 2 appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Players logging into Red Dead Online over the course of this weekend stand to earn some free gold. This bonus is joined by improvements to Gun Rush matchmaking beyond other bug fixes as Rockstar tweaks the beta for Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer mode. Earning gold, Red Dead Online's premium currency, remains notoriously time-consuming even after Rockstar rebalanced the game's economy following a smaller controversy erupting around prices. This week, players have a chance to earn a small bonus. All players who log into Red Dead Online between the 25th and 27th of January will get a bonus of 5 Gold Bars, delivered to the characters by the 29th. If you take a look at our economy guide, you'll see that in terms of buying power 5 bars don't amount to too much. However, since it takes about 2 hours to grind out one gold bar, this little bonus saves you 10 hours of grinding, which makes it look a whole lot more enticing. You only need to log in, after all. Additionally, changes based on player feedback have been implemented in the matchmaking system of Gun Rush. Gun Rush was the first post-launch Showdown Series mode added to Red Dead Online, and is a variation on Make It Count. Taking the same battle royale formula, Gun Rush adds actual guns into the mix. When the game mode was launched, the matchmaking system distributed players in a way that resulted in a lot of half-full lobbies and barely any full ones. The game mode is most enjoyable when it has the most players, so this tweak is bound to improve the experience for everyone. With a maximum player count of 32, hopefully the new tweaks will allow it to shine. While the current matchmaking tweaks are temporary, Rockstar is already working on finalizing the lobby systems of the mode. These lessons learned will certainly make upcoming Showdown Series modes' launches smoother. Rockstar has also clarified that most of the features detailed in their roadmap - meaning daily challenges with gold rewards, law and bounty improvements, proximity blips and tweaks to the parley system are coming in a new title update to be released in the coming months. The post Get Free Gold For Logging Into Red Dead Online This Weekend appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Chapter 5 is among the most unique story chapters in the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode, as you will have lost all your weapons and your horse, and you will have to deal with enemies in the first few missions of the chapter with extremely limited resources. This doesn't last long, thankfully, and you will soon be back in America to reclaim everything that you have lost after the failed bank heist at the end of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 is among the shortest story mode chapters, as it only features 8 main story missions, with an additional mission that can be completed in either this chapter or Chapter 6. Like for all the other story mode chapters, these missions all come with requirements that must be cleared in order to obtain a Gold Medal. These requirements can be cleared during the first playthrough or during repeated ones, which can be started by accessing the Progress section in the main menu. Repeated playthroughs, however, make you play the mission with a limited weapon loadout and no tonics, so it's much more difficult to obtain Gold Medals this way. It's much better to make a manual save before each story mission, play through it once to learn about the requirements and then reload the save to play it again with all your weapons and items. Welcome to the New World Welcome to the New World is the first story mission in Chapter 5 and the 57th mission in the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode. It's unlocked automatically after completing the Banking, the Old American Art mission. At the very beginning of the mission, Arthur will wake up on a beach, completely alone. As soon as you regain control of your character, continue walking until you spot smoke from a campfire. Head over to the source of the smoke to meet back with Dutch and the others, who all have managed to survive. The moment will turn sour quickly, however, as Arthur and the rest of the gang will be captured by a patrol. All of them will be chained and forced to go together with the soldiers. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must not fall behind while walking with the chain gang. This requirement is extremely simple to clear, as all you have to do is to continue walking and follow the line. After a short while, rebels will appear and free all of the captured. Arthur will take advantage of the situation to grab a pistol and help the rebels deal with the soldiers. To get the Gold Medal, you must get 10 headshots. You will start with a full Dead Eye bar so activate the ability, mark enemies' heads and let loose. As you have no tonics, you may have to be more careful than usual while using Dead Eye, as once the bar is depleted, you can only restore it by performing well-placed shots on enemies. Reinforcements will eventually arrive, and Arthur and the rest of the gang will have to follow the rebels' leader to a new position, which you will have to defend. Continue going for headshots to clear the requirement for the Gold Medal, and always keep an eye on the sides of the hill, as enemies will try to catch you unaware. After the fight has gone on for a short while, enemies will start fleeing: use this chance to get some more easy headshots in. Once the enemy has retreated, you will be introduced to the situation in Guarma by Hercule, the rebels' leader. After the cutscene is over, the mission will be complete. A Kind and Benevolent Despot A Kind and Benevolent Despot is the second story mission in Chapter 5 and the 58th mission in the story mode. It becomes available after completing the Welcome to the New World mission earlier in the chapter. To begin the mission, you must speak with Dutch at the marked location on the map. While most of the gang made it out safe, Javier didn't, and he is a prisoner of Colonel Fussar, the despot ruling the island. Dutch has no intention of leaving Javier to his fate and comes up with a plan to infiltrate the fortress and rescue the fellow outlaw. Once you are done talking with Dutch, follow him to get near a cave where a contact of his is waiting to take the two to the fortress. Follow the contact for a short while until you reach a metal door. Help Dutch open it and proceed to get into the fortress. Here, you will see a cutscene of Colonel Fussar interrogating Javier. As there are way too many enemies for Arthur and Dutch to make it out alive, they must create a distraction. Follow Dutch and kill enemies as prompted. Always remember to go for a stealthy approach, otherwise, you will fail the mission. Once inside of the sugar refinery, wait for the guards to move out of your way to kill them silently together with Dutch. After they are dead, it's time to sabotage the refinery: head over to the location marked on the map and open the valve when told to, then close the shutters and slash the sack in the east side of the room. Rejoin Dutch, head out of the refinery and wait for the distraction to do its job. Once guards start rushing to the refinery, go to the cages and release Javier. Sadly, guards are already back and you will have to shoot your way through. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must get Javier to safety in under 2 minutes and get 10 headshots. During this sequence, Dutch will carry Javier, and as long as you stay close to them, they will continue moving toward safety. Guards will be coming after you, obviously, so you'll have plenty of chances to get headshots. Don't abuse Dead Eye, however, as the timer doesn't slow down when it's active: since there are no accuracy requirements for the Gold Medal, you can afford to miss a couple shots. Also, always make sure to take out the enemies that Dutch will point out from time to time, as they are in your way and will likely kill him if left unattended for too long. More enemies will be waiting for you outside the fortress, so continue shooting them down and follow Dutch to make sure to clear the time requirement for the mission. Eventually, Dutch will ask you to stay behind and cover his escape. At this point, you will have cleared the 2 minutes requirement, so feel free to use Dead Eye as much as you want to deal with the remaining pursuers. Once they are all dead, Arthur will catch up with Dutch and Javier at the camp, and the mission will be complete. Savagery Unleashed Savagery Unleashed is the third story mission in Chapter 5 and the 59th mission in the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode. It's unlocked after completing the Welcome to the New World mission earlier in the chapter. To begin the mission, you must head over to the location marked with the question mark on the map. The main mission objective will be to rescue a group of slaves that has recently escaped the sugar factory. They are being pursued by Fussar's men, however, so there may not be much time before they are killed. And the killing seems to have already begun when Arthur reaches the marked area, as he sees a body hanging from a tree. He is then shot with a blow dart, which makes him lose consciousness quickly. Fussar's men manage to capture Arthur after he loses consciousness, and he will wake up in captivity. Not one to give up easily, the outlaw manages to find a way to escape. With your help, of course. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it within 5 minutes and 40 seconds. The time requirement is rather strict, so you must be extremely fast, especially in the following sequence. As soon as you can control Arthur again, look at your hands and try to break free. Once the camera goes back to third-person view, start rocking back and forth with the left analog stick. Do this a few times to fall on the ground and break the chair. As you get up, grapple the guard and beat him to death. A cutscene will play, which you must skip to clear the time requirement for the Gold Medal. During the cutscene, Arthur releases two slaves, Leon and Baptiste, who will then head to another location nearby to free the other slaves together with the outlaw. During this sequence, always crouch and wait for guards to pass by as Leon tells you. After a short while, you will reach an area where three other workers are being held. To get the Gold Medal for the mission, you must release all the workers within 4 seconds. This is incredibly easy to perform with the help of Dead Eye: activate the special ability as soon as you see the workers, and shoot at the ropes. The noise will attract the guards' attention, so Arthur and his companions will have to fight their way out. To get the Gold Medal for the mission, you must get a total of 8 headshots. As the area has very good visibility and cover spots, it shouldn't be too hard to get them, even without Dead Eye. Whatever you do, however, make sure to take care of the sniper on the roof first, as he can deal a lot of damage in a single shot. Once all the guards have been killed, a cutscene will play. Make sure to skip it to complete the mission without wasting any additional time to clear the time requirement for the Gold Medal. Hell Hath No Fury Hell Hath No Fury is the fourth story mission in Chapter 5 and the 60th mission in all of the story mode. The mission begins automatically after completing both A Kind and Benevolent Despot and Savagery Unleashed missions. With the help of the members of the Van der Linde gang, the Guarma rebels have caused a lot of trouble for Colonel Fussar, and the dictator has had enough of them. For this reason, he will mount a massive attack on Cinco Torres right when Arthur and Dutch are discussing with Hercule about a way off the island. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it with at least 70% accuracy. As enemies are going to be far from you most of the times, make sure to use Dead Eye as much as possible. Right after the beginning of the assault, you will have to take care of the enemies coming from the beach to the south of your position. After a short while, Hercule will ask you for help in getting the cannot into position. More enemies will be coming on the beach, so you must head down to prevent more from coming. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must prevent 4 boats from reaching the shore. Make sure to not waste Dead Eye while fighting enemies from the battlements, as you need it to kill all the enemies in at least four boats. The first ones will be coming from the west, while the remaining ones from the east. It's very difficult to prevent all boats from landing while keeping accuracy high so just avoid four from doing so to clear the Gold Medal requirement and then deal with the enemies as they get closer. After taking care of all the boats, you will regroup with Dutch and Hercule. The rebel leader will inform you that the cannon must be used to deal with the warship, as Cinco Torres won't stand for long under the heavy fire. Follow him around until you reach the cannon at the top of the building. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must destroy the Naval ship without missing a single shot. This isn't particularly difficult to do, just make sure to aim a little above the ship to compensate for the drop. Continue shooting, and reloading as needed, and the warship will eventually be destroyed. At this point, the mission will be complete. Paradise Mercifully Departed Paradise Mercifully Departed is the fifth story mission in Chapter 5 and the 61st mission in the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode. This mission starts automatically after completing the Hell Hath No Fury mission. Hercule's plan to let Arthur, Dutch, and the other outlaws escape from Guarma is ready to go, only that Colonel Fussar has no intention of letting them off easily. He has captured the captain of the ship and set up guns to fire on the outlaws if they try to escape. As staying on Guarma is not an option, Arthur has to set out to release the captain and destroy the artillery. At the beginning of the mission, Hercule will lead you to where guns have been mounted. Sneak behind the two guards and kill them silently together with Micah to clear the first requirement for this mission's Gold Medal. After this has been done, plant the explosives on the first gun and watch it getting blown sky high. Having made so much noise, stealth is no longer possible, so it's time to pull your weapons out and start killing enemies. To get the Gold Medal, you must get 25 headshots, which is not to difficult to do, as there are a lot of enemies in this mission. Follow the indications given by your companions to complete the following sequences. Always make sure to kill snipers as soon as possible, since they can deal a lot of damage. Once Micah is done with the second gun, Dutch and Arthur will start heading to the captain's location to release him. Continue killing enemies with headshots, and use Dead Eye as necessary: there is no accuracy requirement for the Gold Medal, but it can be difficult to get headshots due to the poor night visibility. Once inside the building, you will be assaulted by a man hiding behind the door. Dutch will prevent him from killing Arthur, but everything will result in a standstill. At this point, Fussar will make his appearance, and it seems like things are not going to be easy. As soon as you can control Arthur again, look to the right and left and then at the captain, who will point out a gun. Kick it and the captain will take care of the enemies for you. After the captain has been released, it's time to get on the ship. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must escort the captain to the boat within 1 minute and 45 seconds. Always make sure to kill enemies as quickly as possible, as the captain will not move until all in the vicinity have been killed. After a short while, Fussar will start shooting at you from the last artillery gun: head to the left to man the cannon and shoot him down with a single shot. After Fussar has been killed, Arthur and this fellow gang members will finally be able to leave Guarma. Mission complete. Dear Uncle Tacitus Dear Uncle Tacitus is the sixth story mission in Chapter 5 and the 62nd mission in the story mode. This mission begins automatically after completing the previous mission, Paradise Mercifully Departed. The ship will drop Arthur, Dutch, and the others at the Van Horn Trading Post, to the north of the previous camp. The members of the Van der Linde gang need to rendezvous with the others who were left behind and so they must head back to Shady Belle. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it within 8 minutes. This time limit isn't particularly strict, so you should have no trouble clearing it, but you still need to be as quick as possible, since you have to cover some distance on horseback. As soon as you can control Arthur again, get on the marked horse and follow the waypoint to Shady Belle. Here, you will find that the rest of the gang has left the camp, but not without leaving a hint indicating the location of the next camp. Pick up the letter addressed to Uncle and read it to learn that the rest of the gang has gone to Lakay in Lemoyne. Right after you are done reading the letter, a Pinkerton patrol will arrive. You can kill them easily, but not only it will make you waste to much time, but also you must leave Shady Belle without being detected by them to get the Gold Medal. Just wait for the first Pinkerton to enter the house, sneak behind his back, get on your horse and ride to Lakay as hard as you can. Once you arrive, search the yellow marked area it to find Pearson, Abigail, and Sadie, all safe and sound. Once you have regrouped with your companions, the mission will be complete. Fleeting Joy Fleeting Joy is the seventh story mission in Chapter 5 and the 63rd mission in the story mode. The mission begins automatically after completing the Dead Uncle Tacitus mission. Trouble is far from over for the Van der Linde gang, as the new hideout will be discovered by the Pinkertons, who are determined in finishing the job they started in Saint Denis. For this reason, you will be fighting a lot of them during this mission. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it without taking any health items. Dead Eye items are ok as long as they don't restore the Health bar and core. Since you will have to fight a lot of enemies, including a Gatling Gun, completing the mission without using tonics will be difficult if you are not careful and stay behind cover at all times. Right after regaining control of Arthur, follow Sadie around until you reach one of the houses near the shore, enter the trapdoor and continue following her until you get to another house nearby. Get into position and watch Dead Eye getting activated automatically. To get the Gold Medal for the mission, you must kill two Pinkertons during the Dead Eye ambush. This is very easy to achieve as there's a huge amount of enemies in the area. Just make sure you take advantage of the free Dead Eye to kill the man using the Gatling Gun to avoid getting damaged too much for the remainder of the mission. Once the free Dead Eye ends, use a Dead Eye tonic to restore the bar and activate it again to further reduce the number of enemies. Once enough enemies have been killed, Arthur will be told to push to the north to deal with incoming enemies. There will be more reinforcements coming from all sides, so make sure to always move behind cover and use Dead Eye to kill as many enemies as possible. Don't focus on the shooting too much, as conserving health is the most important thing to do. Once the final wave of reinforcements has been dealt with, it's time to truly strike back. Dutch will tell Arthur to man the Gatling Gun to finish the Pinkertons for good. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must get five headshots with the Gatling Gun and get at least 70% accuracy with it. This is more difficult than it sounds like since you will be forced to use the weapon very carefully. Take your time to aim to get your headshots and kill enemies, making sure to stop shooting at a target the moment it's been killed. Reinforcements will be coming from all sides, and Sadie and Dutch will notify you of the direction the enemies are coming from. After the final wave has been cleared, the mission will be complete. A Fork in the Road A Fork in the Road is the eight story mission in Chapter 5 and the 64th mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode. The mission is unlocked after completing the A Fleeting Joy mission by heading into Saint Denis. This mission is rather simple, as it's just a sequence of cutscenes that will play out when Arthur reaches Saint Denis following the end of the previous mission. Even though it's a very straightforward mission with no combat, there is still a Gold Medal to obtain. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it within 3 minutes and 5 seconds. For this reason, you must skip all cutscenes in the mission, so make a manual save before entering Saint Denis to complete the mission regularly and then replay it to get the Gold Medal. After Arthur collapses on the street, a cutscene will play. Skip it and head to the doctor as soon as you regain control of the character. Once inside, speak with the receptionist, then head inside the office and sit down. Another cutscene will play, where Arthur is told that he has tuberculosis and that he doesn't have much to live: his reaction to the news that he is sick and dying will also be different, depending on your current honor rating. Skip this cutscene and then head out and walk away from the doctor. Arthur will hallucinate and will have the vision of a deer if his Honor rating is good and of a wolf if the rating is bad. After walking a short while, the waypoints will appear on the map again, and the mission will be complete. That’s Murfee Country That’s Murfee Country is the ninth story mission in Chapter 5 and the 65th in the story mode. This mission becomes available right after completing the Fleeting Joy mission. To begin it, you must speak with Dutch at the hideout in Lakay. The assault on Lakay by the Pinkertons made it clear that the gang has to move again. Dutch will send Arthur and Charles to scout an area beyond Butcher Creek, but the area is the territory of the Murfree Brood gang, as Charles warns you. To get the Gold Medal for this mission, you must complete it without taking any health item, complete it with 85% accuracy and get 15 headshots. The Murfrees are pretty aggressive and love to get up close and personal, so you must be extra careful when dealing with them later on during the mission. Follow Charles to the north for a bit until he asks you if you want to proceed by canoe or by horse. Choose to go by your horse, as going by canoe isn't any faster and you also won't have access to your saddlebags. Following the auto-travel sequence, you will get close to a Murfree camp. Crouch and follow Charles until you are asked to kill one of the gang members: go for a headshot with a silent weapon like the bow or the throwing knives. Once the two men have been killed, continue following Charles until you reach a cave that would be perfect for the Van der Linde gang to use as a hideout. At this point, Charles will ask you if you want to use dynamite to flush the Murfrees out or continue being stealthy. You must choose the second option for a few reasons: first, as already stated, the Murfree are aggressive, and will rush you down with melee weapons that can kill you in a single hit; second, there are a lot of enemies, and getting the headshots required for the Gold Medal can become difficult. After you have chosen the stealthy approach, kill the enemy in the front of the cave and enter. Continue on and kill enemies as required. Eventually, you will be spotted and will have to fight the Murfree head on. During this fight, always make sure to continue checking the mini-map, as the tunnels make it easy for enemies to flank you. As for the best weapon, any shotgun is a very good choice here, as the Murfree love to rush straight at you. Once all of the enemies have been killed, continue on inside the cave to find a hostage. Use the defuse dialogue option and then open the cage. To get the Gold Medal, you must deliver Meredith to her mother within 2 minutes. Skip the cutscene that plays after saving her and ride as hard as you can to Annesburg. Once you reach the marked area, skip the cutscene to complete the mission and clear the Gold Medal requirement. The post Chapter 5 Missions And Gold Medals Guide appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

The Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode features several optional missions called Stranger missions which see Arthur completing a variety of tasks to help a bunch of rather colorful people. Completing these missions is completely optional, so you may get to the end of the story mode without clearing not even a single one. If you're aiming to get 100% Completion, the Platinum Trophy and all Xbox Achievements for the game, however, you will have to complete at least 10 of them, as this is among the requirements for getting a perfect completion rate. The Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners mission is among the simplest Stranger missions to complete, so we suggest you play through it if you're looking for an optional mission to complete in a short amount of time. Quest Initiation Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners becomes available in Chapter 4 after completing The Gilded Cage story mission and receiving Lemieux's letter. This letter can be collected from any post office after getting a notification about unopened mail or parcels. Head over to the post office in Saint Denis so that you will be close to the mission starting point, which is the mayor's house in the city. The mayor needs some help for his political problems and wants Arthur to take care of a detractor that's spreading supposed misinformation about the mayor himself. Once Arthur agrees to help Lemieux, hop in the carriage together with Jean-Marc, who will lead you to the Art Gallery. Here, Arthur will have to follow a professor who must be convinced to change his views on the mayor. Follow the professor for a short while after he leaves the art gallery. You will end up in a secluded area where you can convince the man that everything he thinks of the mayor is wrong. After you are done, report back to Jean-Marc to complete the first part of the mission. Part II The second part of the mission will become available after a few days have passed since completing the first. Sleep at camp or just play the game normally to make time pass and receive a second invitation. This time, the mayor is willing to do something good for the city of Saint Denis, and build a library. Unfortunately, he is short on funds, but he has heard of a wealthy man who may be willing to donate money to the project with a little bit of convincing. After the cutscene is done playing, head to the marked location on the map. Here, hop on the couch after riding side to side to it and threaten the man a bit. He will eventually give up and promise to give funds to the mayor. Once this is done, wait for the next night and then head to the mayor's house to report your success. Part III The third part of the mission will be available after a few days have passed since completing the second. Make camp outside of Saint Denis, and sleep for the needed amount of time to access the final part of the mission as quickly as possible. This time, the mayor has a problem not with just any detractor, but with Jean-Marc, who has had enough of Lemieux's crooked methods. Arthur will be given his address so to get him and bring him back to the mayor's manor for a talk. Being an extremely direct man, Arthur wastes no time in talking with Jean-Marc. Once at his house, the outlaw will knock the mayor's adjutant out to bring him to Lemieux himself without hearing too many complaints. During this sequence, there will be lawmen to avoid, so make sure to always stay out of their field of vision. As the front of the manor is guarded, you will have to cut through the park to reach your destination undetected. Once at the mayor's house, the two will have a big argument, and Lemieux will leave it to Arthur to deal with the situation for good. If you decide to spare Jean-Marc, your Honor rating will increase; if you choose to kill Jean-Marc, your Honor rating will worsen, but you will get a 10% discount in all of Saint Denis' shops, which is extremely useful. No matter your choice, once you have dealt with Jean-Marc, the mission will be complete. The post "Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners" Stranger Mission Guide appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency is present in Red Dead Redemption 2 as a major opposing force. Funny how it turns out that they'd become something akin to villains in real life as well. Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, the currently existing incarnation of what was once the very real Pinkerton agency is taking Rockstar to court over their depiction in the game. Andrew Milton and Edgar Ross, the latter of whom would go on to play the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption, don't exactly paint the agency in a positive light. Milton is a sadistic, racist, murderous, hypocritical psychopath and Ross is only slightly more reserved. However it is the mere reference to the Pinkertons and the use of their actual badge that is called out in the suit. Pinkerton is seeking damages paid either in a lump sum settlement or via royalties from Rockstar. Should the developer, and parent company Take-Two Interactive, refuse, Pinkerton will sue for copyright infringement among others. This isn't Rockstar's first dance. The developers have faced down lawsuits of all kinds regarding just about every game in their library, and they aren't letting up. In their countersuit, they argue that Red Dead Redemption 2 is protected by the first amendment, and the historically accurate setting means that the existence of Pinkerton needs to be addressed and their presence is lawful. Additionally, other games - like Bioshock Infinite - and a multitude of other media use Pinkerton agents and depict their badge. This is the first time the company has made any legal moves, and Rockstar argues they should have done so earlier with those other properties for this to hold any water. Put simply, Defendants cannot use trademark law to own the past and prevent creators from including historical references to Pinkerton agents in depictions of the American West. Prior to the creation of the BOI (which later developed into the modern FBI) the United States government used private companies to handle intelligence gathering and law enforcement in certain areas of the nation. It's historically accurate to depict Pinkerton agents as de facto law enforcement agents in the Wild West. Historically, the agency has been involved in some highly controversial practices, so the depiction of Milton doesn't exactly land far from home. According to Rockstar's legal team, creative works which seek to depict a historically accurate vision of the old American West are legally allowed to incorporate real individuals and businesses without it being a trademark issue. The judge will likely rule in favor of Rockstar in this matter, but we'll follow the story as it develops. The team also raises the question of this setting a poor precedent should the Pinkerton suit be allowed to proceed, as it would indicate that the stifling of historically accurate creative works over trademarks is possible. This, in turn, could lead to historical revisionism via lawsuit, should such works ever shine a negative light on the poor past practices of companies that still exist. We're eager to hear about how this lawsuit develops. The post Real World Pinkertons Sue Over Red Dead Redemption 2 appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

The Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode features a selection of challenges which reward players with money, experience for the Health, Stamina and Dead Eye cores, and reinforced equipment items which grant permanent bonuses to one of the three main stats once the full set has been acquired. These challenges are divided into different categories - Bandit, Explorer, Gambler, Herbalist, Horseman, Master Hunter, Sharpshooter, Survivalist, and Weapons Expert. While clearing these challenges is in no way required to complete the game and watch any of the endings, there are a few incentives for clearing them, not counting the money, experience and item rewards. As Red Dead Redemption 2 features a lot of different mechanics, attempting to complete any of these challenges will make you more knowledgeable about them and, in turn, make the game way more enjoyable. If you're a completionist, however, you must complete all challenges, as doing so is one of the requirements for obtaining 100% Completion, which is, in turn, required to obtain the Platinum Trophy and 100% clear rate for the Xbox Achievements, as one trophy/achievement is unlocked after achieving full completion percentage. Living means surviving in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, so it's hardly surprising to see a Survivalist category for challenges. These will test your skills in fishing, hunting, and crafting. In this guide, we take a look at the ten Survivalist challenges and give you some useful tips to complete them with ease. Just like for the other categories, the Survivalist challenges must be completed in the order they are unlocked, so bringing five animals to Pearson or any trapper will count toward progression for the second challenge if the first hasn't been completed yet. Survivalist Challenge Overview The Survivalist challenges are among the most varied of the entire game, as they test your fishing, hunting and crafting skills, often tasking you with seemingly difficult tasks like kill scavenging animals while they are feeding a corpse, fishing from a riverboat and while standing on train tracks and more. Despite their difficulty, they're much easier to complete than some other challenges, like the Gambler challenges, as they don't depend on luck at all. Sharpen your skills, and you won't have much trouble completing them. Catch 3 Bluegill Fish The first Survivalist challenge is very simple, and you will likely complete it without even trying if you have been doing a little fishing, as you must simply catch three bluegills. Fishing becomes available once Arthur gains a fishing pole, which happens during the A Fisher of Men story mission in Chapter 2. The mission will also teach you the basics of fishing, which is affected by the timing and the different bait types. Catching bluegills doesn't require incredible fishing skills, as they are among the easiest fishes to catch. They are also extremely common, and you will find them in pretty much any body of water all over the map. Equip cheese as bait and catch the three fishes to complete the challenge. The reward for completing this challenge is the Survivalist Gun Belt. This item is part of the Survivalist equipment set which grants a permanent Dead Eye bonus once all the items in the set have been acquired. Kill 5 Animals With A Varmint Rifle The third Survivalist challenge is as simple as the previous two, as you must just kill five animals with the Varmint Rifle. This special rifle is not among the weapons you can obtain automatically during the course of the story and must be bought by any gunsmith. This weapon is not suited for combat at all, due to its terrible stats, but it's perfect for hunting, as it's the only weapon capable of getting perfect kills on varmints like rabbits, rats, raccoons and so on. Finding the five animals to kill with the Varmint Rifle is extremely simple, as rabbits can be found all over the map, quite often running around close to roads. Once you spot one, aim with the rifle and try to get a headshot to kill it with a single shot. Make sure to collect the carcass or harvest its parts to make a profit as well. The reward for completing this challenge is the Survivalist Off-Hand Holster, which grants a permanent Dead Eye bonus once the full set has been obtained. Craft A Dynamite, Fire, Improved, Poison, And Small Game Arrow The fourth Survivalist challenge will test your knowledge of crafting, as you must craft a dynamite, fire, improved, poison, and small game arrow to complete it. These items are not available for crafting automatically, as you need to obtain the related crafting recipes first. They can be purchased by any fences after completing the Spines of America story mission in Chapter 2, which is the mission where fences are permanently unlocked all over the map. Once you have obtained the recipes, you must get the items needed to craft all these arrows. The dynamite arrow requires one arrow, one dynamite, and one flight feather; the fire arrow requires one arrow, one animal fat and one flight feather; the improved arrow requires one arrow and one flight feather; the poison arrow one arrow, one oleander sage, which is found mostly in the swamps near Saint Denis, and one flight feather; the small game arrow requires one arrow, one flight feather, and one shotgun shell. Try crafting at least eight small game arrows, as you will need them for a later challenge. The reward for completing this challenge is $10. You will also get additional Stamina EXP. Catch a Fish in the Bayou From a Riverboat and While Standing On Train Tracks This Survivalist challenge is going to test your fishing skills, as you must catch a fish while standing on a riverboat and while standing on a train track in the Bayou. This area is found in Lemoyne, in the southeastern side of the map. A few story missions will also bring you to the area, so you should be familiar with it if you have reached Chapter 4. While completing this challenge is quite straightforward, at least on paper, there are some additional difficulties. The Bayou Nwa area is filled with alligators, so you must take great care in avoiding them, as they are incredibly resilient and it will take quite a few shots to kill them: if they start coming after you, we suggest you run fast since they can kill Arthur with a single blow. Riverboats are pretty common in the area, but they are most easy to find near the south shore of Lagras lake. Just hop onto one, head south into the river and get fishing. Any fish will do, so you can equip some of the most common baits, like cheese and bread, to catch fishes like the Bluegills. The train tracks are also very easy to spot by looking at the map. They are located to the north of Lagras lake, and there's a specific spot to the northeast of the lake where they are conveniently placed near a river. Get on the track, whip out the fishing rod and catch any fish. Just make sure no train is approaching, as it won't stop for any reckless fisherman, Arthur included. The reward for completing this challenge is $10. You will also get additional Stamina XP. Kill a Scavenging Animal While It's Feeding a Corpse a Total of 5 Times Things are getting slightly more complicated for the sixth Survivalist challenge, as you must kill a scavenging animal while it's feeding a corpse a total of five times. The corpse can be of either another animal or a human. While the challenge sounds complicated, there are a few ways to speed up completion. While well away from any settlement, town or city, you can kill any innocent passerby and you can either wait for any animal to come to feed the corpse or place a predator or potent predator bait to make them appear faster. Once the predator has taken the first bite, you can kill it. In case you don't want to kill any human NPC and avoid the risk of getting your bounty raised, you can kill any animal and use the predator bait to attract predators to the area. In case no animal is on hand, you can use a herbivore bait to make one appear. The reward for completing this challenge is $15. You will also get Stamina experience for your trouble. Kill 8 Small Game Animals With Consecutive Shots Of Small Game Arrows This challenge is rather simple if you have followed our earlier suggestion, as you must kill eight small game animals with consecutive shots of small game arrows. Small game arrows can only be crafted by accessing any campfire with a regular arrow, one flight feather, obtained by killing birds, and one shotgun shell. As you may end up missing a shot, we suggest crafting more than eight to avoid having to make camp again and gather the required items. The challenge tasks players with killing eight small game animals, so you must look for rabbits, opossums, rats, squirrels and other very small animals. Among them, rabbits are the most common, as they are easily found running around even when traveling on the roads. If you're looking for good hunting spots, however, you can head over to Bolger Blade to the south of Rhodes or to the fields to the east of Braithwaite Manor. Since shots must be consecutive, we suggest you go for headshots with the help of Dead Eye. Taking any tonic that fortifies the bar, like the Snake Oil tonics, is also going to be helpful, as it will prevent the bar from draining for short amounts of time. The reward for completing this challenge is the Survivalist Bandolier, part of the Survivalist equipment set which grants a permanent Dead Eye bonus once all items in the set. have been obtained. Craft a Homing Tomahawk, Improved Tomahawk, Volatile Fire Bottle, and Volatile Dynamite The eight Survivalist challenge will put your crafting knowledge and skills to the test again, as you must craft a homing tomahawk, improved tomahawk, volatile dynamite, and volatile fire bottle. None of these items can be crafted from the get-go, so you will need to get your hands on their related crafting recipes first. While all of them can be found for free in different locations, they are also available for purchase by fences, who are unlocked right after completing the Spines of America mission early in Chapter 2. To craft a homing tomahawk, you need one tomahawk and one owl feather; for the improved tomahawk, you need one tomahawk and one eagle feather; for the volatile fire bottle, you need one moonshine and one animal fat; for the volatile dynamite, you need one dynamite, which is sold by fences, one animal fat, and a high-velocity cartridge, which can be either crafted or purchased by gunsmiths. The reward for completing this challenge is $15. You will also earn additional Stamina XP. Catch a Fish That Weighs at Least 19 lbs The final two Survivalist challenges are related to fishing. The ninth requires you to catch a fish that weighs at least 19lb. Since regular fishes hardly reach this weight, the faster way to complete this challenge is by catching any of the fourteen Legendary Fishes. These fishes, which require the Special Lake, River and Swamp lures, all purchasable by the bait shop in Lagras, are extremely strong and will put your fishing skills to the test. A couple of them are located in the New Austin region, which can only be accessed after completing the game, so focus on those that can be found in the other regions. In case you have caught all of the Legendary Fishes before unlocking this Survivalist challenge, your best chance of finding a big enough fish is to fish near the lighthouse located at the south end of the Van Horn Trading Post in the eastern part of the map. Equip the Special River lure and hope to catch a big enough fish. The reward for completing this challenge is $20. You'll also get some Stamina XP. Catch One of Each Type of Fish in the World The tenth and final Survivalist challenge is among the most time-consuming to complete, as you must catch at least one of each type of fish in the world, including all Legendary Fishes. As some of them can only be found in the New Austin area, this challenge can only be cleared once the story mode has been completed. There's no way to speed up the completion process, so be armed with patience, get as much bait as you can, including the Special Lake, River, and Swamp lures, and get to fishing. The reward for completing the tenth and final challenge is the Survivalist Holster, which grants a permanent Dead Eye bonus once the full set has been completed. You can find the locations of all of the regular Red Dead Redemption 2 fishes and the lures needed to catch them below. Bluegill The Bluegill is the most common fish in all of Red Dead Redemption 2, and it can be found easily in all lakes and rivers. Cheese is the best bait to catch it. Bullhead Catfish The Bullhead Catfish is found only in swamps, so the best fishing spots are the swamps surrounding the city if Saint Denis in the southeastern portion of the map. This fish's spawn rate increases when it's raining. Cheese and Corn are the best baits to catch it. Chain Pickerel The Chain Pickerel is quite common, as it can be easily found in all lakes, rivers, and swamps, but only in the morning hours while the weather is good. The Lake Lure is the best bait to catch it. Lake Sturgeon As its name implies, the Lake Sturgeon can be easily found in the southern lakes and swamps. It tends to appear more when the weather is cloudy. The Lake Lure is the best bait to catch it. Largemouth Bass The Largemouth Bass is found in any body of water located in the southern parts of the map, including the New Austin region. Rain makes it appear more often. The Crayfish is the best bait to catch it. Perch The Perch is very common in rivers and lakes, but only in the morning, with good weather. Bread is perfect to catch it. Redfin Pickerel The Redfin Pickerel is located in rivers found to the south of the map, but the weather also needs to be sunny, otherwise, it will not appear. Bread is the best bait to catch it. Rock Bass The Rock Bass is easily found in rivers and lakes, but only in the morning and with sunny weather. Bread is the best bait to catch it. Smallmouth Bass This bass is the exact opposite of the Rock Bass, as it appears more often when it's raining and only in rivers located in the northern part of the map. Any natural bait is good to catch it. Sockeye Salmon Like the Smallmouth Bass, the Sockeye Salmon is found in the rivers to the north of the map, but only when the weather is cloudy. The River Lure is the bait to use to catch it. Steelhead Trout The Steelhead Trout is the final type of fish in Red Dead Redemption 2. It can be found in all lakes in the south of the map, like Flat Iron Lake, but only when it's raining. Worms are the best bait to catch it. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Survivalist Challenge Guide appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

Considering the fact that Red Dead Redemption 2 is as popular as it is, it's surprising there aren't many more cosplays floating about. The setting and character design make it less difficult a subject than, say, Warcraft or Destiny with its armor design. And yet, when compared to other games less popular, Red Dead Redemption 2 cosplays are just hard to come by. That makes this fantastic Sadie Adler cosplay all the more appreciatable. Skunk, a cosplayer and part of the Skunk & Weasel duo, recently created a costume based on Sadie Adler. Sadie is one of the more prominent characters in Red Dead Redemption 2, and a central member of the Van Der Linde gang - even though she joins up at the beginning of the game. Sadie Adler. @Eosandy @RockstarGames #cosplay #sadieadler #RedDeadRedemption2 #RedDeadRedemption pic.twitter.com/F5AGYZrRAS — SKUNK the misthios (@MissSkunk) December 3, 2018 We'll avoid spoilers, but players who have finished the game know how much of an impact she has on the story. This makes it logical for her to be among the first high-profile cosplays to appear, though we're surprised Arthur Morgan or Dutch Van Der Linde himself weren't done sooner. The cosplay, complete with her iconic scarf, cowboy hat and even her typical hairdo certainly do the character justice. Speaking of Dutch, the other member of this cosplaying pair - Weasel - is working on a cosplay of the gang leader. Skunk got ready with her Sadie getup earlier, which is why we got some sneak-peek shots, but the team-up will be the real deal. Some Sadie Again? Yes ? This Lady is love. really. like Kassandra or Aloy. #RockstarGames @RockstarGames #cosplay #sadieadler #reddeadredemption photo taken by @FatalFranPhoto @frostshattered thanks! pic.twitter.com/a2NEPoBnr8 — SKUNK the misthios (@MissSkunk) January 9, 2019 If this outfit is anything to go by, Dutch will be impeccable as well, and we can't wait for the two to appear together on images. Hopefully such a quality outing will kickstart some more Red Dead Redemption 2 cosplays. After all, the game is filled to the brim with characters worth cosplaying, be they friends and allies or enemies of Arthur and the player. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Cosplay Perfectly Captures Sadie Adler appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

The Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode features many optional challenges grouped into different categories which challenge players' knowledge regarding many of the game's most important mechanics such as hunting, crafting, shooting and so on. Completing these challenge will allow players to obtain some additional money as well as special equipment that grants bonuses for Health, Stamina and Dead Eye. To enjoy the bonuses, the full equipment set has to be acquired. All different categories - Bandit, Explorer, Gambler, Herbalist, Horseman, Master Hunter, Sharpshooter, Survivalist and Weapons Expert - include ten different challenges, which must be completed in the order they are unlocked. For this reason, progress made toward the completion of a later challenge will not count until said challenge is effectively unlocked. As already mentioned, these challenges are entirely optional, so completing any of them is not required to see the story's ending. If you are planning, however, to go beyond the ending and achieve full mastery of the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode, you will have to complete all of them, as this is one of the requirements for achieving 100% Completion. As one of the PlayStation Trophies and Xbox Achievements is unlocked only after reaching it, completing all challenges is also needed to unlock the Platinum Trophy and achieve 100% Xbox Achievements completion rate. In this guide, we will take a good look at the Gambler challenges and tell you how to complete all of them with ease. Just make sure to have plenty of money with you before attempting to complete them, as it will definitely be needed. Gambler Challenges Overview Gambler challenges are related to the mini-games included in the story mode - Blackjack, Dominoes, Five Finger Fillet and Poker. As money is needed to play all of them, you will need quite a but of it to complete these challenges: most of the story mode mini-games are luck based, so you will end up playing any of these games over and over trying to complete some of these tasks. Being dependant on luck so much, some of these challenges may drive you mad with frustration, so make sure to be armed with plenty of patience as well. Win Five Hands Of Poker The first Gambler challenge is pretty straightforward, as you must win five hands of poker to clear it. Poker in Red Dead Redemption 2 is based off Texas Hold'Em, so to win a round, players need to have the highest hand using the combination of their own hole cards and the five community cards. Poker can be played at the Van der Linde camp, in Valentine, Tumbleweed, Blackwater, and at Flatneck Station. As poker is entirely luck-based, there's no way to make completing this challenge any easier, as you not only need to have a good hand, but it also has to be better than the other players'. Things are made even harder by the fact that you obviously cannot bluff nor read other players' intentions. The five hands, luckily, must not be won consecutively, so, with a bit of perseverance, you will complete this challenge without too many problems. The reward for completing this challenge is the Gambler Holster, which grants a Stamina bonus once the whole set has been obtained. In Blackjack, Double Down and Win the Hand Five Times The second Gambler challenge is just as straightforward as the first, as you only need to win the hand in Blackjack five times after doubling down. Blackjack is the second card mini-game available in the Red Dead Redemption 2. It is much simpler than poker: to win the round, you must have the cards that are dealt to you add up to 21, or as close as possible. Blackjack is played against the dealer, so there are fewer variables involved than in poker. Once a round has been won, the player has the chance to double down, which is doubling the original bet and continue playing. As Blackjack is entirely luck-based, you may end up spending a lot of money to win after doubling down five times. The wins don't have to be consecutive, thankfully, so a little bit of patience will make completing this challenge less frustrating. The reward for completing this challenge is a meager $5. You will also get additional Dead Eye EXP. Win Three Games of Five Finger Fillet The third Gambler challenge is just as straightforward as the previous two, as you just need to win three games of Five Finger Fillet to complete it. Five Finger Fillet is yet another of the mini-games available in the Red Dead Redemption 2 story mode. This mini-game is very simple: you need to complete laps by pressing the correct button sequence and do it more quickly than your opponent. Five Finger Fillet can be played, among several locations, as the current Van der Linde gang camp. Five Finger Fillet, thankfully, is an entirely skill-based mini-game, so learning how to play the game will be enough to complete this challenge. Your opponent will always go first, so use this to your advantage and memorize the button sequence. As the total number of possible button sequences is limited, playing this mini-game a lot will help you commit them to memory, which will make you faster and more accurate. The reward for completing this challenge is the Gambler Bandolier, which grants a Stamina bonus once all the items in the set have been obtained. Bust one poker location out in each location (Saint Denis, Valentine, Flatneck Station) Completing this challenge requires a good knowledge of poker and its rules, as you need to bust one player out while playing poker in all the available locations, which are Saint Denis, Valentine and Flatneck Station. Busting out a player in poker while playing at the Van der Linde gang doesn't count toward completion. Busting out a player in poker means to force another player out of the game by making them lose all money. The only way to do this is to force them to go all in by raising stakes to a high level. Since there's a good chance you will end up failing due to your opponents' hands being better than yours, you will need quite a bit of money. Force at least a player out at the different poker locations to complete the challenge. The reward for completing this challenge is $10, a very low sum considering how much you can end up spending trying to complete it. You will also get additional Dead Eye experience. Win Three Rounds of Dominoes Without Drawing Any Tiles Against 2 Or Fewer Opponents Completing this challenge requires quite a bit of luck, as you need to win three rounds of dominoes without drawing any additional tile. Dominoes is a rather straightforward mini-game where players must attach dominoes with matching numbers together. The first player who is out of tiles wins the round. In case any of the players cannot attach any domino, they must draw from the graveyard until they get a piece that can be attached. Winning a round of dominoes without drawing tiles from the graveyard can be difficult, but it's definitely doable. While things are luck-based, there's a way to make things slightly easier: if your opponent is forced to draw from the graveyard, you can get an understanding of which numbers on the pieces he is currently missing, and this is information that can be used to close the round quickly. As the entry fee is at possible lowest, only $1, you may want to attempt completing this challenge at the current Van der Linde gang camp to avoid spending too much money. The reward for completing this challenge is $10 and additional Dead Eye experience. Beat the Blackjack Dealer in Two Locations The sixth Gambler challenge is among the easiest to complete, as you need to beat the Blackjack dealer in two different locations, which are Rhodes and the Van Horn Trading Post. Playing Blackjack at the Van der Linde gang camp does not count toward progression. Beating the dealer in Blackjack essentially means to win a round of the game. As explained above, you must get as close as possible to 21 with the cards that are dealt to you. As you have no control over which cards are given to you, completing this challenge is quite luck-based, but with perseverance, you will be able to complete it. The reward for completing this challenge is $15 and some Dead Eye experience. Beat the Fiver Finger Fillet Player in Every Location Like the previous challenge, this one is very, very straightforward, as you simply need to beat the Five Finger Fillet players in Strawberry, Valentine and the Van Horn Trading Post. The locations of these players are marked on the map, so you won't have any trouble finding them. This challenge is more skill-based than most of the other Gambler challenges, as to win in Five Finger Fillet, you just need your fingers to be quick and accurate enough to press the correct button prompts at the right time. Make sure to keep attention at the sequence when your opponent is performing his lap, and you should have no problem winning. The reward for completing this challenge is the Gambler Gun Belt, which provides a Stamina boost once the full Gambler equipment set has been obtained. Win Three Hands of Blackjack With Three Hits or More Things are back to being luck-based for this challenge, as you need to win three hands of Blackjack with three hits or more. Hit in Blackjack are the additional cards that are dealt to you after the first one, so winning a hand with three hits and more requires the first card to be of low value. In case you are dealt a card with a high value, just try to play the game regularly to avoid losing too much money trying to complete this challenge. The three hands don't have to be won consecutively, so it's much less frustrating that it could have been. You will receive $15 and additional Dead Eye EXP for completing this challenge. Win Three Games of Dominoes in a Row The ninth and first to last Gambler challenge is going to require a bit of both skill and luck to complete, as you need to win three games of Dominoes in a row. Due to the nature of Dominoes, you will need quite a bit of luck in getting the right pieces to win three games in a row. Thankfully, you can make things a bit easier by forcing the opponent to draw from the graveyard by placing the right pieces on the table. To make things a bit less expensive, we suggest you attempt completing this challenge at the Van der Linde gang current camp, as the entry fee to play the game is very low, compared to the other locations. The reward for completing this challenge is $20 and additional Dead Eye experience. Win Three Hands of Poker in a Row The tenth and final Gambler challenge is going to be a nightmare to complete for most players, as you need to win three hands of poker in a row. There's no real way to make things any easier, given the nature of Poker, so head over to any of the locations where the game can be played, including the Van der Linde gang camp and Valentine, arm yourself with a lot of patience and money and hope for the best. The reward for completing the final Gambler challenge is the Gambler Off-Hand Holster, which gives a Stamina bonus once the full set has been acquired. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Gambler Challenge Guide appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story

In case you are a PlayStation 4 player who is planning on deleting their Red Dead Online character that owns the pre-order bonus content, don't. The items that were previously free for all eligible players have been altered with the passing of the timed exclusivity, and getting them on new characters will cost you gold. This news hasn't gained widespread recognition yet considering the timed exclusivity deadline elapsed just recently. Since Xbox One players have now gained access to the Red Chestnut Arabian horse and the Grizzlies Outlaw Outfit, which were unlocked free of charge on PlayStation 4 upon the launch of Red Dead Online, PS4 players need to pay for these items if they start a new character. Recently a player who unknowingly fell into this situation posted a screenshot with Rockstar Support's response to his ticket. The player wrote to the support team because they had to pay gold to gain access to these pre-order bonuses on a new character. Unfortunately Red Dead Online only has a single character slot, meaning if you are unhappy with your character for whatever reason, you'll need to make the choice between sticking with them or paying for formerly free content, provided you still want to use it. What makes this situation even more unlucky for players is that there are a multitude of posts circulating online, that predate the switch, that reassure readers of the items remaining accessible for free should they make a new character. As this was true until a few days ago, players looking into the situation may be led astray. This particular caveat of the pre-order bonuses wasn't prominently disclosed on marketing material released by Rockstar. While it is possible that it was noted in fine print or some other obscure way, the fandom at large isn't widely aware of the situation. To prevent many more players from falling into this trap, everyone who knows of this should do their best to spread the word. The post PSA: Red Dead Redemption 2 Pre-Order Bonuses No Longer Free On PS4 appeared first on RDR2.org. Read the full story