Read Dead Redemption 2 tips starter guide

#RDR2 #DoubleRainbow sometimes It's the little things pic.twitter.com/6lkulgPluS

— Gamer Geek (@GamerGeekNews) October 27, 2018

Read Dead Redemption 2 has been out for a week and I’m sure you’ve heard how awesome it is. I write more on what I think of it at a later date, but for now here’s a list of tips that I recommend anyone reads before they begin the game. Many of them you will pick up naturally, others will pass you by, but pretty much all of them are useful, and will allow you to get more from the game.

I found these on a Reddit thread on www.reddit.com/r/readdeadredemption it’s a great source of info,tales of other peoples adventures with Arthur… and memes 🙂

This should be called Some useful tips we found out.

Thanks a lot for the kind words and gold people. Appreciate everyone who submitted extra tips. I’m at work, but I’ll keep updating this as I see new things

• Holding start brings up the map straight away.

• Holding circle/B in a menu/shop catalogue lets you exit straight away

• Double tapping L1/LB lets you do a cool trick when you put away your gun

• Holding R2/RT lightly allows you to draw into deadeye

• Pressing up with a gun in your hand allows you to shoot into the air to scare predators away

• Tapping left on the d-pad brings up a task list of requests, hunting challenges etc

• Holding down lets you have quick-access to radar options (expanded, normal, compass, off)

• Likewise, pressing down quickly brings up information on the screen if the map is off etc. Great for them full screen immersions!

• If you press x/A in time with your horse’s gallops, you won’t use as much stamina, this apparently also works when Arthur is on foot

• Waypoints can be enabled from the settings, I’m pretty sure they’re disabled by default? Which is odd (Display settings)

• Toggle to run in the settings lets you just tap x/A once to keep running (still have to tap to sprint) *If you keep x/A held whilst going into the cinematic camera view, you don’t need to hold run anymore, and with a waypoint active, your horse will follow the route

That’s about everything I can think of off of the top of my head, lemme know if you’ve got any others!

Edit:

• Using the ledger in camp, after Dutch’s tent has been upgraded (might be worth doing this early since more people begin to contribute), Arthur’s tent can be upgraded to enable fast travel ($260)

• The lasso is great and can be used for a multitude of things

• You can lasso witnesses without losing honour/being caught

• Lassoing large animals lets you keep them in place and get in close for a (albeit pretty brutal) knife kill without damaging the animal

• Pressing down whilst in first person will enable iron sights

• Crouching whilst crawling up a steep incline may help with grip and stop Arthur from falling over

• If you steal a carriage, train etc. You can just whistle your horse and it will follow behind you

• Holding triangle whilst on your horse will hitch up anywhere, even into the ground or a tree

• Running into someone and pressing triangle will tackle them to the ground

• Courtesy of u/phantomsignal “… if no one’s mentioned this you can sell Legendary Buck Antlers for a trinket that improves the quality of pelt of animals you skin. Super helpful! I’m not 100% the mechanics of it, but looked like it would improve a pelt but one quality level. One good pelt would be perfect. The Legendary Buck is NW of strawberry next to an Indian Burial ground.” (Fences sell the trinket, like the one in Saint Denis)

• You can interact with mirrors by pressing L2+o (LT+B), thanks u/dj4y_94

• “Check the chimneys”, u/DavyJones317

• You can hold square/X to continually loot things from cupboards etc. (thanks u/DoStuffAndStuff)

• You can lasso animals that are dead in rivers and bring them towards you by holding R2/RT (u/Jinghy)

• You can start a fist fight if you have a bounty and let the police arrest you by surrendering to have your bounty go away, but you will lose all your money (spend it first) (u/benedictxxii)

• A dark red X after shooting someone means that their wound is fatal and they will die soon, usually accompanied by a very good animation (u/English_American)

• You can equip a pocket watch from your satchel/buy one from the shop and access it from your inventory in the camera/binocular slot. Great for immersion!

• Dynamite/Gunshots can be used on lockboxes to open them if you don’t have a lockbreaker yet. Make sure to get rid of the horses first or they may run off (u/standingfierce)

• Eagle eye can be used to locate items in the environment as well, like plants etc (u/longpantsman18)

• “If anyone is trying to figure out the horse perks from bonding with your horse; RB + X from a stand still will rear your horse and it seems to get you into a gallop faster. Horse drifting is holding X while moving LT left or right and helps for dodging trees, rocks, or making wide turns. RB + A is great for stopping on a dime and making sharp turns. To get the drifting like the gameplay video, you actually dont need to drift with X. Get a little bit of speed going (tap A a couple times) and then use LT to spin in a circle. Your horse’s back end will kick out like youre doing donuts and then choose a direction to peel out with your horse. No benefit really, but looks tight.” (u/PsijicMonkey)

• Not sure if anyone put this yet, but if you punch someone with the lasso equipped, you instantly hog tie them. (u/mattwisconsin)

• You can hold triangle/Y to rest on the spot, if you’re not on your horse and craft etc. This also raises stamina a bit

• Left on dpad while ads switches shoulder aim.

• Arthur grabs to most ledges. (Jumping rooftops in St Denise feels great.)

• Full masks work better than the half bandana.

• Running up to someone with a weapon and pressing RT/R2 activates a kill shot animation. Works with lasso to skip the throw. Works also after a tackle.

• Activating dead eye when reloading skips animations. (u/OneManDrinkingGames)

• Pressing square/X whilst aiming lets you dive and it’s really cool (u/HighViscosityLuv)

• Hold right next to the horse to see its cargo, this stuff also automatically appears in the shop menu as long as your horse is close

• You can have an additional horse follow you around on your house for extra hunting storage (pelts/carcasses) just highlight a tamed horse and ask it to follow you (u/peg4sus)

• This one might be obvious but don’t be afraid to drop your guns in order to pick up new ones if you find them, your old guns can be retrieved from your saddle just like your hat. (u/bluebox_breaks)

• I really like the fishing but if you don’t or you’re in a rush you can just shoot the fish. Haven’t tried it but I’m guessing dynamite probably works too. (u/KingOfTheHillBanana)

• Hold X/A to continually craft ammunition at the campfire. It skips most of the animation (u/Greenmanssky) As a note, you can craft split points easily and they do more damage

• You can fire from the hip by tapping R2 without holding L2, bit more inaccurate but useful in a bind and faster

• You can carry multiple skins on the back of your horse (u/Pretty_Sharp)

• You can recall your horse from a stable (u/TunnelVisions_3) also “If you end up in the middle of nowhere without your horse: save and reload it will be teleported near you.” (u/algent)

• “Wearing a mask is not always enough to hide your identity, if you’re known in town people may be able to identify you from your clothing, your horse, or your custom weapons. Set up a “crime outfit” and don’t wear it while you’re out being a law-abiding citizen!” (u/standingfierce)

• Press square/X for more customisation options

• You can store multiple outfits on your horse and access them with L1 while near it

• Sell all of your canned food supplies and instead cook and stow meat from your campfire. Venison and Beef give great benefits, it’s easy to come by, and you won’t clog up your satchel with a bunch of canned corn. (u/ChickerWings)

• Throwing all the hair info out here, if anyone wants it. Everything is straight from strategy guide.

• Hair tonic doubles growth rate, stackable (×4, x8)

• Hair tonic lasts up to two stages of hair growth

• You can only grow one increment at a time before needing a screen fade (sleeping, respawning, fast travel, cut scenes, etc.) Hair pomade applied by barber lasts 5 in game days (2 if done yourself)

• Hair doesn’t grow past stage 7, beard goes to 10

• Beard stops growing without tonic at stage 6

• GROWTH STAGES – REAL TIME:

• 1 – 1.6 hrs, 2 – 1.6 hrs, 3 – 3.2 hrs, 4 – 6.4 hrs, 5 – 9.6 hrs, 6 – 16 hrs 7 – 16 hrs, 8 – 12.8 hrs, 9 – 12.8 hrs, 10 – 20.8 hrs

• These are all without the hair tonic buff. (u/mondomando)

• Holding R1/RB will reverse (u/xreecey)

• You can calm enemy horses and loot the satchels on either side (u/twiggy199)

• You can jump onto your horse from elevated places, like a balcony etc

• When hunting: You can hold L2, use binoculars, zoom in with a gun etc. on an animal to see the quality of its pelt

• For easy flight feathers get a good vantage in an area with lots of birds, ducks, etc. Equip varmint rifle. Eat food/tonic to max deadeye. Fire a shot into the air (dpad up while aiming), then enter deadeye and shoot down the startled birds as they take off (u/Eayri)

• The companion app lets you order clothes without having to go to a tailor (the desktop app too, maybe?) (u/code_gremlin)

• If you’re standing over multiple lootable things you can cycle through things to loot with R1/RB (u/K1K3ST31N)

• Door of the house you want to break into locked? Smash a window and climb in (u/xxlukiferxx)

• You can hitch a ride by calling out to a carriage and pressing the request a ride prompt they will continue on to their* destination (u/dancashmoney)

• There’s usually something interesting at places you can see smoke

• Circle/B on the horse will kick in the direction of the analogue

• If you want to set up a camp but there is “too much activity around”, just press L1 and go to the item section. Then choose the tent and release L1. Arthur will then transport instantly to a nearby place where you are able to set up camp (u/noyle)

• You can do insta stealth kills on sleeping NPCs, in contrary to regular stealth kills with b/circle you have to press the trigger with the knife (u/Dead-brother)

• You can decide on which side you want to get off the horse by using the left analog stick immediately after tapping triangle/Y or at the same time (u/vlexs)

• Trains can be used for fast travel

• Always throw away premium cigarettes whenever I’ve picked them up – so I never miss a pack to obtain a card (they fill up at 20) (u/jdrawmer)

• You can enable speaker name from settings, display

• Right stick in first person turns you around 180 degrees

• You can’t sell perfect pelts to standard butchers. The game’s way of forcing you not to let a good item go to waste. Offload at the trapper so the perfect pelts contribute to his unique item recipes (u/floralcunt)

• Legendary quality never goes down (u/cripplerking)

• If you see a large steel door with a small viewport at eye level, approach and knock on it. This signals that there is a hidden room in the building/store. Once you do this, Arthur will now have the option of forcing the shopowner to open the door (u/YorkshireASMR)

• Equipping your load out through a gunshop’s customisation menu will keep that loadout and you won’t have to change it on your horse (u/Gr_z)

• A quick soft vibration in your controller may indicate a point of interest that is not on your map (u/Simpo_B)

• Opossums play dead when you get close to them(!!!) (u/HenlickZetterbark)

• Hunting on someone’s farm is naughty (u/last-flowers)

• Hold R1 or L1 or the bumpers while shopping in catalog to quickly go to the next category (u/AdamDivine)

• You can dead eye while scoping and see the target organs on an animal for a clean kill (u/repost_acquisition)

• If you’re in a fist fight right as an enemy is about to land a punch, you can hit the block button for a parry, then attack right after (u/Jett_Jenkins)

• You can go to the wardrobe in tailor’s/general stores to change your outfit

• Unequipping the bandolier gives you access to the same amount of ammo (?)

• Short whistle to call your horse, long to make it follow you

• Unequipping the bandelior lets you carry the same amount of ammo (u/raimibonn)

• If you haven’t been ID’d as the criminal yet, you can walk up to the investigating lawmen and “defuse”, which has a chance to make them let you walk away/no longer be a suspect (u/rebelled)

• Reinforced weapon gear from the trapper > upgraded gear from gunsmiths > base gear.

• Once you buy the upgraded/reinforced gear you permanently have the benefits and can equip what you like visually

• All satchels, talismen, and trinkets are active once crafted, the equipped one is just which is displayed

• High end stirrups increase your horses speed and acceleration by two points

• Saddles crafted by the trapper are a full pre set kit (eg blanket, horn, stirrups etc). They are likely bugged atm since they give no speed boost despite being a higher end saddle (the core drain rate is higher than bought saddles)

• The weapon wrap customization on rifles decreases deterioration rate

• If a massive animal (bison, bears, etc) you kill dies in deep water you can push it to shore with your horse and them skin it

• Clothes crafted from the trapper are often on a separate tab from other clothes (use RB/R1) in the wardrobe

• Repeaters and standard rifles (ones that don’t come with a scope) can have a scope added and you can toggle between normal aim and scoped. With sniper rifles can only aim scoped (u/Lord_of_Womba)