In this Red Dead Redemption 2 Beginner’s Guide, we will share some tips and strategies for you on how you play the game from start to finish in an easy way. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a huge game and it is vital that you have a clear strategy while playing the game so that you get to make the most out of your journey through the Wild West. With our tips and strategies, you can easily get started with the game and understand most of the mechanics of the game easily.
We have curated this Red Dead Redemption 2 Beginner’s Guide for you so that you can easily understand all game mechanics, have a clear direction about how to play the game, what you can do in the game and how you can unlock more stuff for yourself in the game. All basics are detailed below which are important for you to understand before you start the game.
Beginner’s Guide – Red Dead Redemption 2
Our Red Dead Redemption 2 Beginner’s Guide details everything that you need to know about playing Red Dead Redemption 2 along with some tips and strategies which will help you figure out a good way to play the game.
Play Story Missions
The most important aspect of Red Dead Redemption 2 is playing the main story. As you play the main story, you will unlock new game mechanics, areas, skills and other important bits here and there. You will get to meet new people who can provide you will valuable things later on in the game and it is a great way of earning more money and resources.
Mission results are based on how well you performed during the mission. Based on your performance, you will be awarded a medal which could be Bronze, Silver or Gold. You can check the options tab to check your score later and play the missions again to improve your medals in the game.
Play Stranger’s Missions
Throughout your journey, you will meet a lot of strangers in the Wild West. You will get to meet them and they will offer you missions or ask for your help in certain things. They are optional and do not count towards the main story of the game but they are exceptionally useful in getting a deeper understanding of the world.
Some of these strangers will grant you bonus items as well once you help them out in completing their tasks. These strangers are marked with question marks on the maps so try to them as many and complete their missions for some extra money and rewards.
Understand the Three Game Cores
Red Dead Redemption 2 has three basic cores which Health, Stamina and Dead Eye. They will drain over time and you must keep an eye on them in order to survive the Wild West. You have the option to fortify each core separately to make it slower to drain. There are different things in the game that will help you fortify each core.
Health is most important of these cores as without this, you will not survive in the game. Stamina and Dead Eye are also equally important in certain situations. To refill their depleted bars, you can simply consume their respective consumable items which are plenty to find in the game. Certain conditions accelerate the depreciation of these cores such as harsh weather or specific reactive attacks such as a snake’s poisonous attack.
It is important that you keep all three Cores maximized in order to explore the world without any trouble. These cores can also be considered as your spare energy for each of the three mechanics and can be consumed in extreme conditions when you really need them. Cores are upgraded the more they are used in the game.
Sleep Plenty
You will need to sleep in the game to keep yourself fresh and healthy. Sleeping also saves your game and restores your health. There are plenty of places where you can sleep in the game. You also have the option to make camps in the wild anywhere to sleep. You can normally sleep in camps, hideouts or rented hotel rooms. If you are away from civilization, makeshift camps can be built anywhere to sleep in and stay fresh.
Unlock Fast Travel
Red Dead Redemption 2 features a very big map and sometimes you might need to get somewhere quick. The game comes with a fast travel option using which you can cover great distances quickly. Once you have unlocked a fair amount of towns and Post Offices, you can use them to fast travel quickly between towns and Post Offices.
Stagecoaches are used to fast travel between towns while Post Offices will sell you train tickets which are also one of the features of the game. If you do not want to opt for fast travel, there is an autopilot option with the game which allows you to simply hop on your horse, set a marker and sit back and relax while your horse goes to the destination itself. However, this only works on roads.
To use the auto-pilot feature, get on your horse, set a marker on the map and start walking by holding the ‘X’ or ‘A’ button. Once it starts moving, hold down the touchpad or view button on Xbox to start the cinematic camera. Now leave the buttons and your horse with automatically move to your destination.
Complete Challenges
The game comes with tons of challenges for you to complete. Completing challenges is a great way of earning some really cool weapons, upgrades and equipment. You can explore all nine challenge categories in the game and complete as many of them as possible to unlock new rewards.
The nine categories included in the game are Bandits, Explorer, Gambler, Master Hunter, Horseman, Herbalist, Weapons Expert, Sharpshooter, and Survivalist. You can see that each category is diverse and focuses on one specific element. You can complete as many of these as you like for exclusive rewards.
Crafting
Red Dead Redemption 2 comes with a decent crafting mechanic by which you can craft different weapons, food dishes, ammo, tonics, and other supplies in the game. You can collect resources as you explore the map and then use these resources to craft a variety of different items. As you explore the world, you will find more recipes via pamphlets scattered around the map. Try to find as many pamphlets as you can because crafting will help you use the resources that you have lying around more effectively.
Dress Up According to the Weather
Each weather in Red Dead Redemption 2 is unique and will have an effect on you. There are different outfits in the game and they will allow you to survive in harsh extreme weather. Some of the dresses are for extremely hot weather while some of them are for extreme cold weather. Try to change outfits to cater to the changing weather otherwise, your Cores will be effected.
Upgrade your Camps
As you move around from camp to camp, it is vital that you keep your camps fully upgraded to make them better. After reaching a certain part of the story, you will be able to upgrade your camp. By opening up your camp’s ledge, you will be presented by a number of different upgrades that can be purchased to make your camp better.
Make sure that you keep your camp updated with these upgrades. Some of the upgrades will help you keep your camp in good shape while some of the upgrades will give you different sorts of bonuses. If you have some extra cash lying around, the best way to spend it is by upgrading your camp.
Use Bandana to Hide Your Identity
A very unique feature added to Red Dead Redemption 2 is the bandana. It allows you to conceal your identity from people around you. It is located in the item wheel and you can equip it anytime you want. Once it is equipped, people around you will be unable to identify your face. It is a very neat addition to the game.
Stick to One Horse
Red Dead Redemption 2 features many different breeds of horses but we suggest that you stick to one horse and bond with it more. As you spend more time with a horse, it will get better and will listen to you more. Also, certain upgrades will be unlocked for you once it has reached a certain point of affinity with you.
Your bond with the horse gets better with hitching, feeding, brushing and patting. Keep at it and your basic horse will keep upgrading and will eventually max out all stats. This will make it the best horse for you in the game until you unlock the elite horses in later parts of the game.
Switching horses unless it is an elite will be a waste since you will need to bond with it again and will need to redo the complete process again which is why we suggest that you stick with one horse for the game and switch to another horse when you start unlocking the elite horses.
Do Not Forget to Loot
Anything that you kill in the game can be looted. Whether they are enemies, random strangers, animals or gang members. Always loot dead bodies lying around, look for hidden boxes as well. They will give you a decent amount of money, ammo, and resources. Make looting a habit and you will very seldom run out of cash or ammo as you will be refilling your supplies on the go.
Dead bodies are marked with an ‘X’ on the map so you can easily spot how many dead people are lying around you which can be looted. Darker ‘X’ markers will show bodies that can be looted. Already looted bodies will be a light ‘X’ and will be harder to see on the map. You should make looting enemies a habit.
Keep Time in Check
Since Red Dead Redemption features day and night cycle, you can easily check what time it is in the game currently. You can either press D-Pad Down to show the clock at the top of the screen or when you enter the town, time will be automatically shown at the top of your screen.
If you want to know how the time passes in Red Dead Redemption 2 then you must know that 1 day in the game is 48 minutes of real-time, 1 hour is 2 minutes, 30 minutes is 1 minute and 1 minute of in-game time is 2 seconds of real-time.
For more Red Dead Redemption 2 guides, check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 Combat Guide and Crimes Guide.
This concludes our Red Dead Redemption 2 Beginner’s Guide. If you want to add anything to this guide, feel free to use the comments section below.
