Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2

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How to Level Bounty Hunter Role with Minimal Effort
By 1984
This Guide explains how to level up Bounty Hunter role without doing too much. It will also save you time in the long run.
   
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Weather Warning - Bad Visibility
Come Holidays event when it will be snowing everywhere this guide will become extremely painful to do because of low visibility due to blizzard

Triggering Hunter Vision helps highlight darker areas, I usually trigger it a lot, especially since I can use it while sprinting or galloping. Default mouse button is middle mouse button i.e. scroll wheel.

You can use Dead Eye cards to high light enemies during fog or blizzard, best card for this is paint it black. I use it with sniper rifle scope even though I can't mark targets. Highlight is useful. Additionally, paint it black has a hidden spread buff which makes your crosshair ready to fire on point instantly.
Requirements:
- Any Shotgun but Pump is better
- Any Sniper
- Health tonics can be useful
- PvE abiltiy cards that let you recover health based on damage dealt etc. can also be useful


You DO NOT need REINFORCED Lasso for Legendary Bounties as they do not break out and escape like normal bounties.
2 Sniper Rifles
It makes sense to own and use both Carcano and Rolling Block. Since during Legendary Missions all your stored weapons are on your horse you can make use of this. I normally don't have Rolling Block out but during Legendaries I get it out since it does more damage and timing is not as important for PvE. It usually 1 shots NPCs with express bullets at maximum condition even without Focus Fire etc. on 5 star difficulty missions.

I also modded my Carcano with Medium Scope so it gives me better reaction time in PvP but for PvE Long Scope Rolling Block is golden.

So what I do is I get it out when I am hiding far behind the tree snipe everyone and then I can get my Carcano for the close quarter combat at the shack or I keep running with Rolling Block until the mission end.
Yukon Nik Legendary Bounty Grind
To really start getting major EXP gains and money you need to complete a Legendary Bounty until it becomes a 5 star bounty. That is just how the payout scaling in the game works. Any base Legendary Bounty EXP is 1000 but with a 5 star bounty it gets multiplied by 1.5 making it a total of 1500 EXP. It does not matter the amount of targets a Legendary Bounty has. The EXP is always the same. Money varies per bounty, but it is not based on the amount of targets as well. So it is better to take bounties with a single target to make it easier on yourself. The more targets you have the harder it is to bring 'em in and the chances of killing them are higher. Most level 5 bounties require them to be captured alive.

Before you start the mission equip any damage boost/recovery cards or healing cards (healing cards can be very useful during PVE fights like these as enemies have good aim and hit rough). Don't forget to bring a few healing tonics just in case. This is also a good opportunity to level up your ability cards with mission and kill exp. Healing cards and tonics are also important because you only get 1 life on 5 star difficulty.



This mission is my favorite because it is the easiest to play and it is the best for EXP because it has a lot of goons to kill but they are not too hard compared to other missions and the map layout helps you combat them, and they got nice loot.

So you want to do this bounty mission every time it cools down after 48 minutes of you having completed it. You should start a timer of 30 minutes from the start of the mission to know when to turn it in for maximum gold and cash rewards. Because if you want to get full 1500 EXP you need to wait 30 minutes for any in game mission, including Legendary Bounties. You will also get 187.5 dollars for Yukon and 0.4 gold bars if you spend 30 minutes in this bounty.

First, go on the cliff overlooking the Yukon's fort and hide behind this tree. It is the largest tree up there, perfect elevation to snipe everyone down. The cliff is on the way towards Great Plains.
Like this:



After most enemies are down, make your way to the fort and kill remaining enemies, beware of dogs in front of the shack. Do not let bears out of the cages yet or "You're tearing me apart, Lisa" is bound to happen.

Once all enemies are down a cutscene will play and Nik



will come out of his hut with a hostage. You gotta shoot Nik several times in the sawed off shotgun. If you hit the hostage, do not worry, who cares if he lives. Anyway, shoot him around 3 times with a navy revolver in the sawed off and he will drop his gun and lie wounded on the ground. Tie him up and bring him inside the shack. If you can't wound him and end up killing Nik instead just use lasso to tie him up, either tackle with it or throw, but be quick or he will kill you with shotgun.A good idea is to use a strong level 2 or level 3 health tonic here, so you don't die.




There is a total of 3 waves of goons during this mission. You've already cleared 1 wave. The 2nd wave will arrive soon after you tie Nik up. I like to put him in the hut so I do not accidentally target him with right click like you would target a horse for interaction sometimes, during a firefight, which is very annoying.

So you gotta do everything fairly quick, not to be ambushed by those guys.

Anyway, hide in the shack, it will be your outpost of defense against 2 final waves of poachers. Go in 1st person mode as it is easier to shoot in that mode when you are in confined spaces. You can use both shotgun and sniper rifle from inside the shack. It is a perfect defense spot. It has 2 doorways and doors close. When doors are closed enemies usually do not attack you or even come inside. So try having only 1 door open at a time. You can shoot through windows, and holes in the shack, enemies won't usually do that or will miss horribly. Proceed to clear the enemies. If the fight is too hard you can let the bears out by shooting the locks on the cages. They will help you kill the enemies and run off or die in the process. Bears won't enter the shack so you will be safe in there and you can even kill the bears from inside the shack. Bears will steal your non-role related combat EXP.



Once you've dealt with this 2nd wave of enemies you probably think you are safe. Well you're not. Leave Nik inside the shack and venture outside the red borders I've shown on the pic below. And run back to the shack very very fast as more enemies will come to fight you in the same fashion as during wave 2. Wave 3 is likely to catch people leaving with Nik off guard on their horse in a field without the protection of the shack.



Picture with me standing shows approximately how far you have to go before turning back, and running as fast as you can inside the shack. Do not waste time, once you reach the red border the enemies are already coming for you with aimbot aim and numbers. That is especially deadly on final difficulties. But this bounty is still the easiest and best to play.

They do not immediately show up so that may deceive you into thinking you did not go far enough but I suggest you venture out and run back inside. Overtime you will get an idea of how far you have to go before returning to the shack.

Once all enemies are dead and looted, pick up Nik and go to Great Plains, there I suggest you hunt animals for EXP and Meat, especially good if you find an entire herd of Bison which I find there very often. By the way, legendary missions are always in a complete solo session so animal spawns are always good. Your aim is to make sure you spend a total of 30 minutes in the mission from the start to get maximum rewards and then turn in the bounty in Blackwater.

Once bounty is turned in there is 48 minutes cooldown so feel free to just forget about leveling Bounty Hunter role for 48 minutes and do something else as the EXP you get for regular, even 3 star bounty missions is small and not worth waiting 30 minutes for, to get the full reward. More so, most regular bounties start count down when you approach the target and only last for 15-18 minutes, sometimes even less, like 7 so they do not allow you to collect bonus for full 30 minutes.

Once you've done this bounty several times you will understand that it is very easy. It will become muscle memory for you when you complete it and it won't be a challenge.
Great game
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!
12 Comments
Tyrax Lightning 3 Dec, 2023 @ 12:45pm 
Thank you so much for this Guide! :)
Dewindae 24 Nov, 2021 @ 5:24pm 
You could do Etta Doyle, solo, with out firing a shot.
Hyper Technic 17 Apr, 2021 @ 4:08am 
i mean getting it is a better guide but ok
gooonman van 5 Apr, 2021 @ 11:20pm 
JUST PLAY THE FUCKING GAME THE BOUNTYHUNTER ROLE IS THE ONLY ONE THATS FUN SO FUCKKING ENJOY IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Andy 24 Jan, 2021 @ 1:21am 
open your catalogue to AFK the remaining 25 minutes as the catalogue prevents kick from idling
Andy 24 Jan, 2021 @ 1:19am 
Try this
Pick Etta Doyle
Go straight ahead and into the tunnel entrance
Wait about four and a half minutes

Etta will instruct her girls to flee, as soon as they respond and start running you can jump out and hogtie her while the other enemies completely ignore you
You can shoot them in the back and they won't even turn around

Police station is a block away where you can call in a bounty wagon and stuff her inside

waiting 30 minutes does work and will net you exactly $225 and 0.48 gold bars playing solo on 5 star difficulty
1984  [author] 30 Dec, 2020 @ 4:49am 
@44

30 minute rule thing applies to most missions in the game, including stranger missions. So it is not just Bounty Hunter thing.

For Yukon Nik I suggest you tie him up and ride to Thief's Landing and kill Del Lobos there for lots of XP, they respawn like lightning, and you can level up cards very fast
44 30 Dec, 2020 @ 12:53am 
@ZERO_K% yeah thats true. I went through an entire spreadsheet that someone had created detailing payouts for both money and gold on an hourly basis.
As you rightly said, 30 mins does seem to be worth it only for the legendary bounties and not the regular ones. Lol seems like bounty hunting is more about waiting the timer out than actual playtime.
For example the yukon nik bounty i just kill the first wave, hogtie and escape the encampment and then proceed to watch some top gear videos waiting for the timer to hit the 30 min mark..sadly this does break the immersion though.
Thanks for the guide. Really appreciate the effort you took in giving the details regarding the zone that triggers the second wave. thankfully the snow seems to be clearing up a bit slowly which will make bounty hunting a little easier since i can shoot people from a little farther away without squinting at my monitor lol
cheers!
1984  [author] 29 Dec, 2020 @ 4:23am 
@44 there is a whole guide on steam and reddit about the bounty hunter payouts, not mine. But it does support my calculations.

Some regular missions won't let you reach 30 minute timer unless you hang out at the start of the mission. But I find it sometimes it is not registered at the start at all.

Besides, R did nerf 30 minute payouts slightly recently. The best payout is in the middle. But I believe 30 minute is still worth it for legendaries.
44 28 Dec, 2020 @ 11:22pm 
The 30 minute thing is quite abstract in my experience. I have experimented extensively with regards to using different lengths of time before turning in legendary bounties, but one thing is for sure that waiting out as long as possible is always more rewarding in terms of gold, however the exp and money payout is the same as mentioned in the op, but only applicable to legendary bounties. the regular ones are just not worth it.
For ex i did the yukon bounty a couple of times and when waiting for over 30mins got a gold payout of .58 and .63, so try to hit the 30 min mark with legendary bounties.
As far as the regular bounties go i have not seen a higher payout than .48 gold and that too is when waiting till the last 10 seconds, which imho is quite a waste of time and more importantly, boring as hell. One thing is for sure though, never turn in a bounty immediately. its always better to waste a bit of time collecting herbs, hunting etc