RED DEAD ONLINE News (Sept. 3)

Rockstar Games is happy to announce that Red Dead Online’s Summer Update launches next Tuesday, September 10^th and with it comes the first of three new Frontier Pursuits: Specialist Roles that each include a unique path, themed activities, items and more as you progress through each role.

The next Red Dead Online update arrives September 10 and introduces three new Frontier Pursuits, the next step in the continual evolution of Red Dead Online.

Frontier Pursuits are an ongoing series of Roles for players to inhabit, delivering a wide array of themed activities that each offer unique items, skills and more as you progress through each Role.

In addition to the first three new Roles comes dramatic improvements to player control with quicker and more responsive movement across all phases of combat and locomotion; the ability to redesign your character’s appearance without resetting progress; greater damage resistance while in the Defensive playing style; new Ability Cards; new Daily Challenges and Daily Role Challenges; more Dynamic Events happening across the frontier; a slew of new items and much more.

With each Role, you’ll always have new pursuits to embark upon that lead to unique items and skills as you progress, in addition to Cash and Gold payouts. As Red Dead Online continues to evolve, more Frontier Pursuits will be added, giving you new Roles, new choices and more ways to personalize your path through the world of Red Dead Online.

Each Role automatically earns Role XP as you complete a Role’s activities: when you hunt a bounty, you’ll earn Role XP toward the Bounty Hunter; when you find a collectible, you’ll earn Role XP towards the Collector and so on. Role XP counts towards your progression through 20 Role Ranks. You will reach a new tier of distinction every 5 ranks: Novice, Promising, Established and Distinguished.

Unlocking a Role Rank earns Role Tokens and at certain ranks you’ll also unlock new skills, such as the Bounty Hunter ability to duck for protection on horseback or a Trader’s ability to train their camp dog to warn of a camp raid by thieves; upgrades to your satchel’s carrying capacity; or access to new Role specific Free Roam events. Each tier also has a kit of items that are unique to the Role and can be unlocked for purchase using Role Tokens.

For example, the Trader’s Novice Kit gives you access to seven Trader Role items including a unique Saddle, Gun Belt and a Stew Pot that provides your camp with fresh meals to refill your cores and your Posse’s cores (and additional recipes to prepare special stews for Gold Cores), while the Bounty Hunter’s Established Kit gives you access to seven Bounty Hunter Role items – including a Bounty Wagon to hold multiple bounty targets, the Bolas throwing weapon to tangle the legs of bounties, a new outfit and more.

Players that progress to Distinguished ranks will have earned a range of new skills that will be useful in all their pursuits across the frontier; advanced camp styles and comforts; and recognizable clothing items that will show off their accomplishments in each discipline.

Get started as a Bounty Hunter when you meet the Legendary Bounty Hunter in Rhodes and purchase the Bounty Hunter License. The standard cost is 15 Gold Bars, while Twitch Prime Members who link their Twitch and Rockstar Games Social Club accounts by Sunday September 8 will get the Bounty Hunter License for free starting September 10.

Licensed Bounty Hunters can pick up work by visiting bounty boards located near law offices, post offices and train stations across the states. There is no shortage of criminals to be dealt with and the targets range in difficulty, from lone low-level criminals to notorious outlaws with armed protection details and a watchful eye. Taking on an armed gang or bringing multiple targets to justice is made easier with the help of a Posse, who will all earn a cut of the final bounty. And keep in mind, bringing in targets alive will yield a greater reward.

Eclipsing Bounty Hunter Rank 12 will open up the opportunity to take down other players with high bounties of $20 or more. Bounty Hunters will be notified through an invite about the opportunity to hunt down the wanted player when they’re nearby in a structured pursuit. The wanted player must escape (or surrender) within the allotted time and if captured, they’ll also have opportunities to escape and flee. If the Bounty Hunter brings the target in alive, they’ll receive an award while the criminal serves time.

Unique Bounty Hunter skills and items include:

Your trusted camp companion, Cripps, has long dreamed of starting a trading outpost and you’re going to help him make it happen – by becoming a partner in the fledgling Cripps Trading Company. Combining Cripps’ lifetime of working with animal materials and your skills at hunting and frontier security, you’ll have the perfect ingredients to develop a thriving business.

Once you agree to help Cripps, you can start turning your camp into a business by sourcing items for Cripps to convert into sellable goods. An investment of 15 Gold Bars to purchase a Butcher’s Table will get your business up and running, while all PlayStation 4 players will get the Butcher’s Table for free.

Once you’re operational, you’ll provide Cripps with Materials through hunting animals – pristine pelts and carcasses will provide better yields. You’ll also take on Resupply Missions to acquire additional necessities through less than savory tactics. Once supplied, Cripps will begin turning the materials into sellable goods, which can then be sent out on low-risk local deliveries for payment or across greater distances for a premium.

Improve your hunting yields with a Hunting Wagon for larger hauls or upgrade your Delivery Wagons for larger sales. As business flourishes and your presence becomes known in the market, your competition may grow jealous of your success, so keep an eye out for raids on your camp. As your trade grows, you might consider purchasing a camp dog from Wilderness Outfitters. Not only are dogs great camp companions for all players, but a Trader of sufficient rank can teach their dog to warn of incoming attacks.

Unique Trader skills and items include:

Seek out the mysterious travelling saleswoman Madam Nazar to acquire the Collector’s Bag and get started on the path of the Collector. By successfully collecting all 54 hidden playing cards in GTA Online you can forego the upfront cost of the Collector’s Bag and earn it for free. Otherwise, it will cost 15 Gold Bars for access to collecting and selling rare items.

With Madam Nazar’s help, you will be able to explore the world finding valuable treasures, whether they’re discarded Tarot cards in abandoned camps, buried treasures unearthed with your trusty shovel, hidden family heirlooms and more.

Collect individual pieces and sell them off directly to Madam Nazar or collect entire sets for even more valuable sales. As you progress, you’ll unlock enhanced searching skills; more useful tools like a metal detector; benefits like increased carrying capacities; the ability for your horse to directly pluck and pass herbs to you while mounted, and more.

Unique Collector skills and items include:

In addition to these new Specialist Roles, the Update will also include a vast assortment of new features and gameplay updates. These include new Role Free Roam Events that are unlocked as you progress through each Role; additional Stable slots; improved selling prices of Jewelry across the board; lootable containers in ambient wagons; more custom outfit slots and the ability to name saved Outfits in your wardrobe; weapons rebalancing to reduce reliance on headshots as the primary kill method in PvP and much, much more.

Related: RED DEAD ONLINE News (August 20)