Use in self defense, against people who attack you

Important, Killing a player horse or any vehicle (except Npc Mission wagons and Moonshine wagons) even in self defense will result in 4.00 Dollars fee so if you want to actively use this tactic you have to spend your cash before going in free roam. I usually stock up on ammo, dynamite, and try to buy items that I want like clothes or upgrades if I have a lot of money to bring it down and not waste it. Because if you kill many horses it is a considerable sum. 10 horses is going to cost you 40 dollars and if you kill a 100 it will be $400.

Keep your money below $4 and it will never be used but you can spend it on fast travel if you need it and I suggest you always keep some animal parts, flowers, collectibles and jewelry as bank for when you need a larger sum of money for more fast travels or a small purchase so you can exchange it with a butcher/doctor/madam nazar, or a fence.

Horses are the mains means of transportation. Disabling them is easy.

You can use a shotgun with standard ammo to get a 1 hit kill from up close or a sniper rifle with express ammo for 1 hit kill from distance. You can only buy express ammo from a vendor. To disable a player for a longer period of time so he cannot use a horse longer only wound the animal but never finish it. It will add extra 30 seconds on top of 2 minute re-spawn timer.

You can also use dynamite to kill horse but it can be tricky if they are on the move so you have to time it right.

Using fire bottles is not recommended.

If a player is riding a wagon, or doing a wagon npc mission, or doing a trader mission, or collecting hunting supplies and decides to attack you whether for fun or in fear of you shooting first there is a way for you to stop the player from following you, and or attacking you by disabling the vehicle.

For this to be effective you need to either have DYNAMITE (or dynamite arrow) and blow up the wagon which will render it useless and thus unable to follow (destroying its wheels). Dynamite can be bought in a max stack of 8 at a fence $1 each or during a showdown mission. Dynamite is generally harder to use as you need to either throw it on stationary vehicle or time the attack right. Next best thing is dynamite arrow, it is a flying stick of dynamite that goes in the straight direction with a much better faster speed and explodes on contact.

DYNAMITE ARROWS seem to be the most effective and you can carry 8 of them at a time. One dynamite arrow can be enough to disable a vehicle if you shoot it in between the side wheels so that both of them fall off or if you shoot behind the horses so that the horses become freed from the wagon. ALWAYS aim your arrows under the wagon or to the lower parts of it. I can confirm hitting an upper part of a trader wagon during a steal mission and it did no damage to the wagon.

DYNAMITE ARROWS are made out of arrow, dynamite and flight feather per dynamite arrow. You can stock up on arrows from catalogue, buy dynamite from a showdown or a fence and feathers can be looted from most birds like crows and geese/ducks or purchased an entire stack of 30 at madam Nazar. You will also need to buy the pamphlet from a fence for $895. I advice you to craft 8 arrows right in front of the fence and buy 8 more for backup so you do not need to travel back. I also advice you not to waste dynamite arrows unless there is a vehicle needs destroying or a trade delivery will be passing by and you won't be able to take the goods or someone will be attacking you on a vehicle.

You can also use EXPLOSIVE AMMUNITION which can be crafted with a pamphlet which can be purchased from a fence [Explosive Slug Pamphlet $950 for shotgun; Express Explosive Pamphlet $1000 for revolvers, pistols, repeaters and rifles, best choice for your money] (using animal fat from animals like bison, bear, duck, goose, boar and others combined with express bullets (1 fat per 1 express bullet or shotgun pellet for shotgun). To disable a cart/wagon you need to shoot it in the wheel, or to be more specific in the center of it, at the disc that attaches it to the shaft. (image included below)


You can also try using INCENDIARY SLUGS for shotgun or fire bottles but those need time to work 1st the wagon needs to catch fire and then spread to the wheel or you can aim directly at the wheel and it will fall off. If you fire 4/5 slugs into a wagon it will most likely burn at its entirety. Pump shotgun has the best range for this but with 2 sawed offs you can almost instantly fire off 4 shots to a devastating effect.

However, if you have INCENDIARY SLUGS shooting at the wheel might make it fall off immediately. Fire arrows will also work for this. Sometimes you will need to shoot a few slugs into rear and front of the wagon to let it catch fire evenly. The amount of ammo you spend to burn something can vary depending on your luck but fire leaves a dot effect but does not always fully destroy the vehicle. However it can be very pleasant to watch it slowly burn after. The reason fire can sometimes be easier is that you do not need to aim too much as it should spread over the entire vehicle, unlike when you use explosive ammo you risk just damaging the frame.



Incendiary slug pamphlet can also be bought from a fence for $950.

As a side note, you can of course also try going for the horses but wagon horses seem to be the most damage withstanding horses so it may sometimes be hard

Tip: you can also buy a stronger dynamite recipe pamphlet from a fence called "volatile dynamite" $785. Explosion is bigger and stronger but it requires a high velocity rifle ammo and animal fat to make.

Sometimes even Moonshiners get spooked or overconfident when they come across players, much like in the section above and you will also need to find a way to disable them. All the same tricks work on the moonshiner's wagon, however, it seems that it has reinforced back wheels (Larger wheels), I shot 6 explosive rounds into them and they wouldn't go off. So the trick with moonshiners is to destroy the front wheels to disable the wagon.

Sometimes a wagon will still function without a single wheel so you will need to destroy both front wheels or both back wheels or both side wheels for it to stop functioning. A cue that it has stopped will be horses unhitching from wagons and running off

Another valid strategy is to attack the moonshine bottles from behind the wagon as it will either make the owner switch his priorities and stop chasing you or will whole together disable the wagon. They can be destroyed with any ammo type

I hope I've made it clear to you how to be effective at disabling players who try to harm you. Be mindful, nice and use these advanced techniques in self-defense

RDO in itself is a great game. If you like winning (possibly in PvP) or grinding i.e restocking the trader, moonshiner to sell different moonshine, you enjoy collecting, doing various daily challenges, have fun with horses, or you enjoy showing off your abilities as bounty hunter, or even like tracking animals as naturalist. Over time you may accumulate a lot of wealth and despite occasional cheaters and connection issues, it is a really really amazing experience.

Please, have fun and enjoy and be well!