We now know when the next major chapter in Red Dead Online is going to open and start. The massive DLC that Rockstar has been teasing for weeks is right around the corner and it packs tons of exciting new content for all fans of Red Dead Online to enjoy. Roles, new features, new abilities, new missions, new challenges and more are on the horizon.
The main attraction here, which Rockstar has been pushing in previous teases of this upcoming update, is the new Role system. Roles provide a more structured way to enjoy roleplaying with your character on the frontier. Considering the large roleplaying community that sprung up around GTA Online, it makes sense that Rockstar would anticipate this for Red Dead Online and implement systems early on.
You can progress with your chosen role by engaging in Pursuits. Each pursuit is tied to a role, and future DLC will be adding new pursuits and new roles periodically. Through pursuits, you'll earn special items, special abilities, as well as a large amount of RDO$ and Gold.
Your role will accumulate its own XP as you complete role-specific activities. As was clarified before, you can have multiple roles at the same time, maybe even all of them at once - and this is probably due to Red Dead Online having a single character slot. Whenever you complete a bounty, you'll earn Bounty Hunter XP, while finding a collectible will grant Collector XP.
As you accumulate role XP, you'll gain role ranks, and as you gain role ranks, you'll accumulate distinctions. A new distinction will be awarded every 5 levels, with a total of 4 distinctions available - Novice, Promising, Established and Distinguished.
Ranks bring with them other rewards. These include Role Tokens, a new kind of role-specific currency that you can spend on role kits, which include a selection of items best suited to that particular role's activities. You also get access to special abilities. The Trader, for example, can train the camp dog to warn of impending bandit attacks, while the Bounty Hunter can duck for cover while on horseback.
Let's take a look at the first three roles that will become available next week.
The Bounty Hunter
To start your journey as a Bounty Hunter travel to Rhodes and purchase the license from the Legendary Bounty Hunter. You need 15 gold bars to purchase a license. For a limited time, Twitch Prime subscribers will be able to buy role licenses for free. With your license, you can begin taking on bounty missions from bounty boards in various locations throughout the game world.
Different missions will be of different difficulty, and the number of opponents will also change. Killing your targets will reduce your reward, but bringing them in alive will confer a nice bonus. In case you're up against a particularly tough opponent, remember to bring your posse along. As a Rank 12 or above Bounty Hunter, the opportunity to take down players with bounties will also be unlocked.
These structured PvP encounters will require you to catch the player within an allotted time. They also have the chance to surrender to you. However, capturing them is half the battle - afterwards, you need to deliver them to the authorities, during which they have the chance to escape from you.
Rockstar has shared a list of Bounty Hunter items and abilities:
- Focus: Targets glow red in Eagle Eye
- Reinforced Lasso: A lasso made with reinforced rope to keep bounties secure
- Reverse Spin: Perform a Reverse Spin with a single pistol or revolver
- Tonics Satchel Upgrade: Store more items in your Tonics Pouch
- Eagle Eye+: Track enemies while sprinting or galloping
- Spin Up: Perform a Spin Up with a single pistol or revolver
- Kit Satchel Upgrade: Store more items in your Kit Pouch
- Tracking Arrow Pamphlet: A pamphlet recipe on how to craft Tracking Arrows
- Reverse Spin Up: Perform a Reverse Spin Up with a single pistol or revolver
- Ducking: Duck for protection while on horseback
- Bolas: A thrown weapon, perfect for tangling the legs of bounties
- Bounty Wagon: A wagon for securely retaining bounty targets
- Perception: Receive a notification of bounties from a greater distance
- Alternating Flips: Perform Alternating Flips with a single pistol or revolver
- Dual Gun Spinning: Perform gun spinning tricks with two pistols or revolvers
The Trader
In order to become a trader you will need to speak to Cripps at your camp. Buying the butcher's table is the entry requirement and costs the standard 15 Gold Bars - unless you're playing on PlayStation 4, in which case it's free. As a Trader, you'll need to collect materials, initially through hunting and theft, to supply Cripps. He'll then turn those materials into goods, which you can sell for a profit.
You'll need to deliver your product to customers and the further away your destination, the larger the price premium you'll get. As your business grows, you'll need to increase the flow of materials. A higher level Trader will have access to larger wagons and various camp upgrades intended to protect your investment, such as the previously mentioned guard dog.
Take a look at a few Trader items and abilities:
- Stew Pot: A camp upgrade that unlocks stew recipes to boost cores
- Ingredients Satchel Upgrade: Store more items in your Ingredients Pouch
- Awareness: Identify rival Trader wagons at an increased range
- Canine Warning: Train your dog to warn of thieves raiding your camp
- Medium and Large Delivery Wagons: Upgraded wagons that can hold more goods for transport
- Weapons Locker: Store weapons for later use
- Lance Knife: A bespoke knife style available to Traders only
- Efficiency: Learn to increase the amount of usable materials from perfect carcasses
- Materials Satchel Upgrade: Store more items in your Materials Pouch
- Hunting Wagon: A sturdy wagon fit for carrying multiple carcasses, hides and pelts
- Protection: Reduce the chance of raids at your camp
The Collector
If you have an eye for hidden treasures, you should seek out traveling saleswoman Madam Nazar to begin your journey as a collector. Once again, the base price of the Collector's Bag is 15 Gold Bars, but you can acquire it for free if you are a player of GTA Online and have successfully collected all 54 hidden vintage playing cards added in the recent Diamond Casino and Resort DLC.
As a Collector, you'll progress by finding or digging up hidden treasures and heirlooms. While individual pieces will fetch decent prices at Madam Nazar, true progress is achieved by collecting full sets. As you become a more adept Collector, your endeavors will be assisted by abilities such as being able collect items from horseback or use a metal detector.
Other Collector items and abilities include the following:
- Divination: Sense when near collectibles
- Pennington Field Shovel: An essential tool for uncovering buried collectibles
- Potential: Detect disturbed earth when using Eagle Eye
- Intuition: Narrow your search area
- Horse Saddlebag Upgrade: Carry more in your Horse’s saddlebag
- Refined Binoculars: Specialized binoculars that make dig sites glow from a great distance
- Águila Machete: A classic machete restyled for the use of adventurous and belligerent Collectors
- Metal Detector: An important tool which can identify collectibles buried underground
- Equine Assistance: Collect herbs from horseback
- Horse Lantern: Light the path ahead with a lantern attached to your horse’s breastplate
- Valuables Satchel Upgrade: Store more items in your Valuables Pouch
The new update contains a lot more than roles, however. New Free Roam Events, new features, gameplay rebalancing to reduce reliance on headshots, more custom outfit slots and a bevy of other additions await on the 10th of September, next Tuesday!
